The Universe
The creation of the heavens, the stars, the sun and moon, and the purpose behind it all.
- How did Allah create the universe? Before anything existed there was only Allah. He created the heavens and the earth by His command, simply saying "Be", in six days. The Quran adds that the heavens and the earth were once joined and then separated, that the sky was "smoke" before it was made into seven heavens, and that every living thing was made from water.
- How old is the universe according to Islam? Neither the Quran nor authentic hadith state the age of the universe or the earth. The Quran says creation took six "days", but it also uses "day" for periods of a thousand or fifty thousand years, and scholars differed on the length of the creation days. Figures like "7,000 years" do not come from authentic revelation.
- Why did Allah create the universe in six days if He can just say "Be"? Allah could have created everything in an instant, since He only says "Be" and it is. He chose to create the heavens and the earth in six days out of His wisdom, and He was touched by no weariness at all. The Quran does not define how long those "days" were, and scholars have differed about it.
- Why did Allah create the universe? Allah did not create the universe in play or without purpose. He created it "in truth": so that we would come to know His power and knowledge, so that people and jinn would worship Him, and so that He could test which of us is best in deeds before the final reckoning.
- Is astrology haram? Can a Muslim read horoscopes or believe in zodiac signs? Yes, astrology is forbidden. The Prophet ﷺ called learning astrology "a branch of magic", and only Allah knows the unseen. Believing that stars control events is a serious matter of belief. Astronomy, using the stars for direction, time and the calendar, is permitted.
- Why did Allah create the stars? The Quran gives three purposes for the stars: they beautify the sky, they guard it against devils who try to eavesdrop, and they guide people through the darkness of land and sea. Above all they are signs that point to their Creator, and they themselves submit to Him.
- What are shooting stars in Islam? Are they thrown at devils? Yes. The Quran and authentic hadith teach that flames (shihab) are shot at devils who try to eavesdrop on the angels in the heavens. The Prophet ﷺ also corrected the pre-Islamic belief that a shooting star means a great person has been born or has died.
- What are the seven heavens in Islam? The seven heavens are real, created layers, one above another, that Allah made after creating the earth. The stars adorn the nearest heaven, and in the Night Journey the Prophet ﷺ ascended through all seven, each with a gate and a gatekeeper, meeting prophets in them. Their full reality is part of the unseen.
- Does the sun prostrate under the Throne and set in a muddy spring? An authentic hadith says the sun goes and prostrates beneath the Throne and asks permission to rise, until one day it will be told to rise from the west. Scholars such as Ibn Kathir explain that the Throne is above all of creation, so the sun is always beneath it, and its prostration is a real submission whose manner we do not perceive. The Quran's verse about Dhul-Qarnayn says he "found it" setting in a dark spring, describing how it appeared to him.
- What should a Muslim do during a solar or lunar eclipse? When the sun or moon is eclipsed, the Sunnah is to hurry to prayer, remember Allah, say takbir, make dua, ask forgiveness and give charity until it clears. The Prophet ﷺ taught that eclipses are signs of Allah, not caused by anyone's death or birth, and he led a special long prayer for them.
- Did the moon really split in the time of the Prophet ﷺ? Yes. The Quran says "the moon has split", and Companions including Ibn Mas'ud, who saw it, and Anas reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim that it split into two parts in Makkah when the people asked the Prophet ﷺ for a sign. It was a miracle, not a natural event. Viral claims that NASA or modern science confirmed it are false and should not be repeated.
- What does the Quran say about the sun and moon orbiting? The Quran says the sun and the moon each move in their own falak (orbit or course), "swimming" through it, by a precise calculation that Allah set, and neither overtakes the other. It calls the sun a shining light and the moon a light, and says both are signs that should lead us to worship their Creator, not them.
- Does the Quran say the universe is expanding? Surah adh-Dhariyat says: "And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander." The Arabic *musi'un* can mean "making vast" or "expanding". Commentators have explained it as Allah making the sky vast or widening its regions, and also as Allah expanding provision. The wording is consistent with an expanding universe, but the verse's main point is Allah's power.
- How big is the universe according to the Quran? The Quran does not give a size, but it repeatedly stresses that the heavens are immense: their creation is greater than the creation of mankind, our sight tires before it finds any flaw in them, and yet Allah's Kursi extends over all the heavens and the earth. On the Day of Judgment the heavens will be folded in His right hand.
- What will happen to the universe on the Day of Judgment? The universe will not last forever. On the Day of Judgment the sky will split open and be folded like a scroll, the sun will be wrapped up, the stars will scatter, and the seas will erupt. Allah will hold the earth and roll up the heavens in His right hand, and the earth and heavens will be replaced by others.
- Why does the Quran keep mentioning the night and the day? Is it wrong to curse time? The Quran calls the alternation of night and day a sign for people of understanding and a mercy: the night for rest, the day for seeking provision, and both for remembering Allah and being grateful. Because Allah is the One who turns the night and day, the Prophet ﷺ forbade cursing time, since that blames the One who controls it.
- What does Islam say about wasting time? Time is one of the blessings we will be asked about. Allah swears by time and says all people are in loss except those who believe, do good, and urge one another to truth and patience. The Prophet ﷺ warned that many people are cheated of two blessings, health and free time.
- Why is the Islamic calendar based on the moon? The Quran says the new moons are "measurements of time for the people and for Hajj", and that Allah fixed twelve months from the day He created the heavens and the earth, four of them sacred. The Prophet ﷺ tied fasting to sighting the crescent. A lunar year is about eleven days shorter than a solar one, so Ramadan moves through every season.