English Translation of Al-Quran
[41]. Ha-Mim_Al-Sajdah (Prostration) also known as Surah Fussilat [They Are Explained in Detail]
Ayat 11. Then He Istawa (rose over) towards the heaven when it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth: “Come both of you willingly or unwillingly.” They both said: “We come, willingly.”
Ayat 12. Then He completed and finished from their creation (as) seven heavens in two Days and He made in each heaven its affair. And We adorned the nearest (lowest) heaven with lamps (stars) to be an adornment as well as to guard (from the devils by using them as missiles against the devils). Such is the Decree of Him the All-Mighty, the All-Knower.
Tafseer of Surah Ha-Mim Al-Sajdah (or Surah Fussilat) Ayat 11. Moreover, He comprehended(4474) in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: “Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly.” They said: “We do come (together), in willing obedience.” For istawa see n. 10:3. Cf. also 2:29 . From 79:30 it would appear as if the earth was spread out after the sky was made. In the present passage the creation of the earth and the evolution of life on our globe are mentioned first; and the making of the sky into the seven firmaments is mentioned last. The two statements are not inconsistent. It is stated here that when the sky was made into seven firmaments, it had existed previously as smoke, or vapor, or steam. The idea I derive from a collation of the relevant Quranic passages is that Allah first created primeval matter, which was as yet without order, shape, or symmetry. This state is called Chaos as opposed to Cosmos in Greek Cosmogony. The next stage would be the condensation of this primeval matter, into gases, liquids, or solids: on this subject no precise information is given us: it belongs to the realm of Physics. About the earth we are told of four stages or Days, and about the heavens, of two stages or Days. For Days. If these stages proceeded or proceed together in time, it is obvious that each stage as we know it on earth is half as long as each stage in the heavens. But these are questions of Physics, Astronomy, or Geology, not questions of Religion. I take this to mean that Allah’s design in creation was not to keep heaven and earth separate, but together, as we indeed are, being part of the solar system, and travelers through space, crossing the path of several comets. And all matter created by Allah willingly obeys the laws laid down for it. 12. So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge. For “Days”, which may include thousands of years, see 7:54, They refer to stages in the evolution of physical nature. In the Biblical cosmogony, (Gen. 1, and 2:1-7), which reflects old Babylonian cosmogony, the scheme is apparently to be taken literally as to days and is as follows: the first day Allah created light; the second, the firmament; the third, the earth and vegetation; the fourth, the stars and planets; the fifth, fish and fowl from the sea; and the sixth, cattle, creeping things, beasts on land, and man; on the seventh day He ended His work and rested. Our scheme is wholly different. (1) Allah did not rest, and never rests. “His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He felt no fatigue in guarding and preserving them”; (2) Allah’s work has not ended; His activity still goes on 32:5; 7:54; (3) man in our scheme does not come in with land animals; his advent is much later; (4) our stages are not sharply divided from each other, as in the above scheme, where the stars and planets having been created on the fourth day, it is not intelligible how the first three days were counted, nor how vegetation grew on the third day. Our stages for earth and heavens are not in sequence of time for the heavens and the earth. Our six stages are broadly speaking, (1) the throwing off of our planet from cosmic matter; (2) its cooling and condensing; (3) and (4) the growth of vegetable and animal life; (5) and (6) the parallel growth of the starry realm and our solar system. Cf. 15:17, also 37:6-9. The transition from the third person (“He completed,” etc.) to the first person (“We adorned etc.) may be noted. The act of creation is an impersonal act: the act of adornment and guarding is a personal favour to Allah’s creatures.
English Translation of Hadith
Hazrat Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-Aas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ [SAWW](PBUH) said, “Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people, but He takes it away by taking away (the lives of) the religious scholars till none of the scholars stays alive. Then the people will take ignorant ones as their leaders, who, when asked to deliver religious verdicts, will issue them without knowledge, the result being that they will go astray and will lead others astray.”
[Al-Bukhari Book 01, Chapter 03, Hadith # 100]
Lesson: It is a sign of the nearness of the Day of Judgment that the world will be deprived of genuine religious scholars, and illiterate people will become leaders who will have neither the knowledge of the Qur’an nor that of the Hadith. Despite their ignorance of the Qur’an and the Hadith, they will be called Mujtahid (jurist entitled to independent reasoning) and Imam (leader) and will mislead people with their legal opinions and self-created problems. Besides urging us to acquire religious knowledge with a view to producing more scholars in the society, this Hadith also warns us against the ignorant self-styled `Ulama’. It also warns us against entrusting religious leadership to them.