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Fatwa CenterSeven earths and seven heavens
Question
Please give me the details of seven earths and seven heavens in the light of Qur'an, Hadith and science.
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {It is Allâh Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven). His Command descends between them (heavens and earth), that you may know that Allâh has power over all things, and that Allâh surrounds (comprehends) all things in (His) Knowledge.}[65:12].
The scholars differed over the interpretation of this similarity and what is meant by seven earths in three different opinions:
The first opinion is that the earth is constituted of seven layers, one over the other, and between each layer and the following one is a distance equal to the distance that exists between every heaven and the following heaven, and in each earth there are living beings. This is the opinion of the majority of scholars as narrated by Al Qurtubi.
They backed their opinion with the Hadith narrated by Ahmad and Al-Tirmizi from Abu Huraira that between each heaven and the next is a distance of five hundred years. "This Hadith is also narrated by Ishaq Ibn Rahawaihi. But it is a very weak Hadith .
The second opinion is that the earth is seven layers, each one on the other, without distances separating them. This is the view of Al Dhahhak.
The third is that there is one planet with seven earths (continents) separated from each other by oceans and seas and they are shadowed by the same heaven. This opinion is very weak for the sound Hadith narrated by Muslim that the Prophet said: "One should not take a span of land without having legitimate right to it, otherwise Allah would make him wear (around his neck) seven earths on the Day of Resurrection."
Al Munawi said: 'And anybody who thinks that the earth is seven regions is mistaken about the above Hadith'. Allah knows best.
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