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قQuranicpediaEncyclopedia of the Glorious Qur’an

Creation Account in the Quran خَلْق السَّمَاوَات وَالْأَرْض

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The Quran's account of Allah creating the heavens and the earth in six days — without specifying the length of those days — and the staged creation of humanity from clay through embryonic stages.

Overview

The Creation Account in the Quran is distributed across many surahs rather than concentrated in a single book. The recurring framing is that Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days — without specifying the length of those days, which the Quran indicates may differ from human time (Surah Al-Ḥajj 22:47: "Indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count"; Surah Al-Maʿārij 70:4: a Day "the extent of which is fifty thousand years").

The six days

Several verses describe the cosmic creation:

  • Surah Al-Aʿrāf 7:54 — "Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six days, then established Himself above the Throne."
  • Surah Yūnus 10:3 — same.
  • Surah Hūd 11:7 — same.
  • Surah Fuṣṣilat 41:9–12 — extended account: two days for the earth; sustenance and apportionment in four days total; two days for the heavens.
  • Surah Q āf 50:38 — "And We did create the heavens and earth and what is between them in six days, and there touched Us no weariness." A response to biblical traditions of divine "rest" on the seventh day; the Quran rejects any divine fatigue.

Creation of humanity

The Quran traces the creation of humanity in stages:

  • From clay / dust (Adam) — Surah Al-Hijr 15:26–29; Surah Sād 38:71–72.
  • From a sperm-drop, then a clinging clot, then an embryonic lump, then bones clothed with flesh, then "another creation" — Surah Al-Mu'minun 23:12–14.
  • From a single soul, with its mate created from it — Surah An-Nisāʾ 4:1; Surah Al-Aʿrāf 7:189.

Quranic references

  • Surah Al-Aʿrāf 7:54; Yūnus 10:3; Hūd 11:7; Furqān 25:59; As-Sajdah 32:4; Fuṣṣilat 41:9–12; Q āf 50:38; Al-Ḥadīd 57:4 — six-day creation.
  • Surah Al-Hijr 15:26–29; Al-Mu'minun 23:12–14; Sād 38:71–72 — human creation.
  • Surah An-Naba 78:6–16 — concise creation hymn.

See also

References

  1. The Quran: Surahs Al-Aʿrāf 7:54; Yūnus 10:3; Hūd 11:7; Al-Hijr 15:26–29; Al-Ḥajj 22:47; Al-Mu'minun 23:12–14; Furqān 25:59; As-Sajdah 32:4; Sād 38:71–72; Fuṣṣilat 41:9–12; Q āf 50:38; Al-Ḥadīd 57:4; Al-Maʿārij 70:4; An-Naba 78:6–16.
  2. Ibn Kathir, Tafsīr, on Surah Fuṣṣilat 41 and An-Naba 78.