Did God Create the Earth Before the Sky or the Sky Before the Earth

Say, “Do you indeed disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two Days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds.” (9) And He placed therein firm mountains above it and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four days - alike for those who ask. (10) Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, “Come, willingly or by compulsion.” They said, “We have come.” (11) Obediently , He completed them as seven heavens in two Days, and inspired in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Almighty, the Knowing. (12) Fussilat

It is He who created for you all that is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things. (29)

(Surat Al-Baqarah)

He created the heaven before the earth.

Are you more difficult to create, or is the heaven? He built it, raised its height and proportioned it, and made its night dark and brought forth its morning light. And the earth, after that, He spread it out. He brought forth from it its water and its pasture, and the mountains He fixed firmly.

(Surat An-Nazi’at 79: 27-32)

First: The first verses show, as I mentioned, that the earth was created before the sun, so there is no disagreement among us about that.

Say, “Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two Days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds.” (9) And He placed therein firm mountains above it and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four days - alike for those who ask. (10) Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, “Come, willingly or by force.” They said, “We have come willingly.” (11) So He completed them as seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Almighty, the Knowing. (12) (Surat Fussilat)

It is He who created for you all that is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven and made them seven heavens. And He is Knowing of all things.

(Surat Al-Baqarah / 29)

Second: The last verse does not contain anything that would lead you to conclude incorrectly that the Earth was created after the sun. Let us look at the verses.

Are you more difficult to create, or is the heaven? He constructed it. He raised its ceiling and proportioned it. And He made its night dark and brought forth its brightness . And the earth, after that, He spread it out. He brought forth from it its water and its pasture, and the mountains, He fixed firmly.

(Surat An-Nazi’at 79: 27-32)

The verse explains that after the creation of the heavens, He spread out the earth, not that He created the earth and spread it out, meaning He deposited its benefits in it. Therefore, the earth must have existed before that.

We come to the sayings of scholars, which if you understood them, you would save yourself the trouble of accusing Islam of what is not in it.

First, Al-Saadi’s interpretation:

{And the earth after that} meaning: after creating the heaven {He spread it out} meaning: He deposited its benefits in it.

He explained that by saying: {He brought forth from it its water and its pasture, and the mountains He fixed firmly} meaning: He fixed them on the earth. So He spread the earth out after creating the heaven, as is the text of these [noble] verses. As for the creation of the earth itself, it preceded the creation of the heaven, as God Almighty said: {Say, “Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two Days?”} until He said: {Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, “Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion.” They said, “We have come willingly.”}

Secondly, Ibn Kathir’s interpretation

: Ibn Abbas said: He covered its night: He made it dark. This is what Mujahid, Ikrimah, Saeed bin Jubair, and many others said.

{And He brought forth its morning light} meaning: He illuminated its day.

And His statement: {And the earth after that He spread it} He interpreted it by His statement: {He brought forth from it its water and its pasture}. It was mentioned in Surah “Ha Meem As-Sajdah” (2) that the earth was created before the sky, but it was only spread out after the creation of the sky , meaning that He brought forth what was in it potentially into action. This is the meaning of the statement of Ibn Abbas and more than one, and Ibn Jarir chose it.

Thirdly, Al-Jalalain’s interpretation:

And the earth, after that, He spread out (30)

And the earth, after that, He spread it out.

“And the earth, after that, He spread it out.” He spread it out , and it was created before the heaven without spreading it out.

Thus, we have refuted this doubt with the help, grace, and generosity of God, and we ask God to guide us to what is good and right.