Tafsir of At-Talaq 65:12

The concept of "likeness" (al-mithliyyah) is verified by sharing some attributes. The majority of scholars have said: It refers here to their being seven, their being layered one above another, with a distance between each earth and earth similar to the distance between the heaven and the earth, and in every earth there are inhabitants from the creation of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, whose true nature no one knows but Allah the Exalted. From Ibn Abbas, it is related that they are either angels or jinn. Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and al-Hakim (who authenticated it), and al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman and al-Asma' wa al-Sifat related through the path of Abu al-Duha from him that he said regarding this verse: "Seven earths; in every earth is a prophet like your prophet, an Adam like your Adam, a Noah like your Noah, an Abraham like your Abraham, and a Jesus like your Jesus." Al-Dhahabi said: "Its chain of narration is authentic, yet it is extremely anomalous (shadh); I know of no one who followed Abu al-Duha in it." Abu Hayyan mentioned in al-Bahr the like of this from the scholar (Ibn Abbas) and said: "This is a hadith that is undoubtedly forged; it is from the narration of al-Waqidi, the liar."

I say: There is no barrier, rationally or religiously, to its validity. The intent is that in every earth there is a creation that traces back to a single origin, just as the children of Adam on our earth trace back to Adam, peace be upon him; and within it are individuals who are distinguished above the rest, just as Noah, Abraham, and others are among us.

Ibn Abi Hatim and al-Hakim (who authenticated it) related from Ibn Umar in a marfu' (elevated) report that between every earth and the one that follows it is five hundred years, and the highest of them is upon the back of a whale whose two ends meet in the sky, and the whale is upon a rock, and the rock is in the hand of an angel; the second is a prison for the wind; the third contains the stones of Hell; the fourth contains its sulfur; the fifth its snakes; the sixth its scorpions; and the seventh contains Saqar (Hell), and within it is Iblis, shackled in iron, one of his hands in front and one behind, whom Allah, the Exalted, releases to whom He wills. It is a rejected (munkar) hadith, as al-Dhahabi said; it cannot be relied upon at all, so do not be deceived by al-Hakim's authentication. There are many similar reports in this chapter, and had it not been for the fear of weariness, we would have mentioned them to you. However, the fact that the distance between every two earths is five hundred years, as is the case between two heavens, has come in authentic reports. As Imam Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi narrated from Abu Hurayrah, he said: "While the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sitting with his companions, he said: 'Do you know what is above you?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'It is the Raqi' (a preserved ceiling) and a restrained wave.' He said: 'Do you know what is between you and it?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'Between you and it is five hundred years.' Then he said: 'Do you know what is above that?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'A heaven, and the distance between them is five hundred years.' Then he said the same, until he counted seven heavens, the distance between every two heavens being the distance between the heaven and the earth. Then he said: 'Do you know what is above that?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'Above that is the Throne, and between it and the heaven is the distance between the two heavens.' Then he said: 'Do you know what is beneath you?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'It is the earth.' Then he said: 'Do you know what is beneath that?' They said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said: 'Beneath it is another earth, between them a journey of five hundred years,' until he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, counted seven earths, with five hundred years between every two earths."

The reports regarding the estimation of the distance between every two heavens as mentioned are more numerous and more authentic than the reports regarding the estimation of the distance between every two earths. Among these is what is mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari and other authentic collections. It is also mentioned in them that the thickness of every heaven is five hundred years. Thus, al-Razi's statement regarding this—that it is not considered reliable by scholars of verification—is a statement whose ugliness is not hidden to one who has followed the straightest path of the Sunnah. Yes, what he narrated—that the first heaven is a restrained wave, the second is rock, the third is iron, the fourth is copper, the fifth is silver, the sixth is gold, and the seventh is jacinth—is not reliable at all, and no authentic report has been relayed to support this detail. However, regarding his statement that "it is something the intellect rejects": if he means the denial of possibility by intellect, the prevention is evident.

Al-Dahhak said: It refers to their being seven, some above others, not that they are so while there is a distance between every earth and earth. Some preferred this, claiming that what is meant by those seven are: the layer of pure dust adjacent to the center, the clay layer, the mineral layer where minerals form, the layer mixed with other things that is exposed—which is the dwelling of humans and similar animals and in which plants grow—the layer of vapors, the freezing layer, and the layer of extremely thin breeze. It is not hidden that this is most similar to delirium. Similar to this is what some observers of the books of science called "New Philosophy" claim: that the earth separated due to some events from some small celestial bodies, then a layer formed above it, and so on, until the total became seven; and they claimed that they witnessed between every layer and layer traces of different creatures.

Abu Salih said: It is that they are seven, nothing else; they are seven earths, spread out, some above others, separated by seas, and all of them are shaded by the heaven. This was also narrated from Ibn Abbas. The relationship between one earth and another according to this is like the relationship of America to Asia, Europe, or Africa. However, it was said that those separating seas cannot be crossed. It was also said: They are the seven climates, which differ in heat, cold, night, and day, to other matters. Some preferred this, but I do not think it is anything, because the obvious meaning is the consideration of the separation of one earth from another as a real separation in terms of likeness.

It was said: The "likeness" is in creation, not in number or anything else, as a single earth created like the seven heavens. This was supported by the fact that the earth is not mentioned in the Quran except in the singular. This was refuted by the fact that it has been authenticated in the narration of al-Bukhari and others: "O Lord of the seven heavens and what they shade, and Lord of the seven earths and what they carry..." and likewise, it has been authenticated: "Whoever usurps a span of land will be shackled with it from seven earths."

The most authentic of opinions, as al-Qurtubi said, is the aforementioned opinion of the majority. Based on this, there is disagreement regarding whether those who are in other earths witness this heaven and draw light from it. It was said that they witness the heaven from every side of their earth and draw light from it. It was also said that they do not witness the heaven, and that Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, created for them a light by which they see.

Al-Imami narrated from some of the Imams something similar to what the majority said. al-Ayyashi related with his chain of narration from al-Husayn bin Khalid from Abu al-Rida, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "He spread his left palm, then placed the right one upon it and said: 'This is the lowest earth, and the lowest heaven is a dome above it. The second earth is above the lowest heaven, and the second heaven is above it as a dome. The third earth is above the second heaven, and the third heaven is above it as a dome,' until he mentioned the fourth, fifth, and sixth. Then he said: 'And the seventh earth is above the sixth heaven, and the seventh heaven is above it as a dome, and the Throne of the Most Gracious is above the seventh heaven.' This is His saying, the Exalted: (Seven heavens and of the earth the like of them)..."

And I say the like of what the majority said, hoping for protection from the One on the axis of Whose will the spheres of affairs revolve: They are seven earths, between every earth and earth there is a great distance, and in every earth is a creation whose true nature no one knows but Allah the Exalted and Majestic, and they have a light by which they are illuminated. It is possible that they have night and day, and it is not necessarily the case that their light is from this sun or this moon. It has prevailed in the minds of most of the people of the "New Philosophy" that the moon is a world like the world of our earth, and it contains mountains and seas which they claim they sense by means of their observations, and they are diligent in striving to verify the matter. So let what we say regarding the earths be in this manner.

They also said: This sun is in a world for which it is the center of its circle and the sovereign of its kingdom, in the sense that all that is in it of their orbiting planets revolve around it therein in a specific way and a regulated pattern, and they approach it and move away from it to a limit that no one knows but Allah. There are planets with tails (comets) which are, according to them, very numerous, and they move in an elliptical shape, and the sun in its world is one of the followers of a star, revolving around it as its followers, the planets, revolve around it; this is, according to what we hear, one of the stars of the galaxy. They have a conjecture that this also is from the followers of another star, and so on. The great kingdom of Allah, the Exalted, is vast; the zone of thought can hardly encompass it, and the scope of limitation is too narrow for it. The heaven of every world is like the moon, according to them, to the extent that its air reaches, until that body becomes in something like a vacuum, where nothing opposes it nor weakens its movement. When a body moves in a vacuum, it does not stop, due to the lack of an opponent. So let every earth of these earths be carried by the hand of Power between every two heavens, in the manner you heard from al-Rida—may Allah be pleased with his forefathers and grant him peace—and there is what its inhabitants are illuminated by, swimming in the sphere of the sea of the power of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. The relationship of every earth to its heaven is the relationship of a ring to the vast desert, and likewise the relationship of the heaven to the heaven that is above it. It is possible that the earths, and likewise the heavens, are more than seven, and limiting it to the mentioned number, which is a perfect number, does not require denying what is in excess. They declared that the number has no restrictive concept (mafhum). The lowest heaven is the limit of the circle in which the highest of the orbiting planets moves, and between it and this earth is a distant space.

His statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "five hundred years" is for the sake of approximation to the intellects. The matter is approximated if this is considered relative to the diligent traveler, as occurred in many reports containing distance estimations. His saying, peace and blessings be upon him, regarding the lowest heaven, "a restrained wave," can be from the eloquent metaphor in terms of subtlety and the like, or it is according to its literal meaning, and the indefinite tanwin in it is for the sake of categorization, until a correct rational proof is established for its impossibility. The decorating of this heaven with stars is due to their appearing in it as observed, so it does not harm the matter whether they are wholly or partially above it or below it. There is no evidence established that any of the stars are embedded in any of the heavens like a bezel in a ring or a nail in a board; rather, in some reports there is that which indicates the opposite. Yes, most of the reports regarding the matter of the heavens, the earth, and the stars cannot be relied upon, as al-Nasafi indicated in Bahr al-Kalam, and likewise what was said by the ancient and modern scholars of astronomy. In everything that both groups have gone toward, there is that which agrees with our foundations and that which opposes it, and our Sharia is silent about it, not addressing it with negation or affirmation. Since it is one of our foundations that whenever a rational proof opposes a traditional (scriptural) proof, the traditional proof must be interpreted to align with the rational proof—because it (the intellect) is its basis, and if it were invalidated, it would necessitate its own invalidation—then the matter is easy, for the gate of interpretation is wider than the sphere of the fixed stars. I see no harm in committing to interpreting some of the distant apparent meanings with that which is not distant, even if the distance has not reached the point of impossibility, if that contains a religious benefit and does not entail clashing with what is known of the religion by necessity. Sometimes, adherence to the literal meaning is maintained, and the matter is entrusted to the power of Allah, to Whom nothing is impossible, out of consideration for the minds of the commoners who are bound by literal meanings; they count exiting from them—especially toward that which agrees with the new philosophy—as absolute misguidance and pure disbelief. May Allah the Exalted have mercy on a person who avoids backbiting against himself.

Abd bin Humayd, Ibn al-Durays, and Ibn Jarir related through the path of Mujahid from Ibn Abbas regarding this verse: "If I were to tell you its interpretation, you would disbelieve by denying it." In sum, whoever believes in the vastness of the kingdom of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, and the greatness of His power, should not hesitate regarding the existence of seven earths in the manner we have presented. The seven can be interpreted as the climates, or the mineral and clay layers, and the like of what has passed. There is nothing in that which clashes with any necessity of the religion or opposes any definitive evidence of the Muslims. Perhaps the statement of that plurality is the one most immediately understood from the verse, and the reports necessitate it. Despite this, it is not one of the necessities of the religion, so its denier or the one hesitant about it is not a disbeliever. However, I see that only as a result of ignorance of what is most befitting to Power and what is most worthy of Greatness. And Allah the Exalted is the Granter of success to what is correct.