In Six days? Or Six Ages?

[unknownuser]

Or did God set the earth and heavens within 6 ages.

The phrase to be found in the Qur'an is

khalaqal-arda wasamawaati (wa maa bainahumaa) fee sittati ayaamin

khalaqa can also mean 'to set (something).' according to it's meaning 'khalqun' meaning 'settings.' So what this could be saying really is that God set the earth and heavens to exists within 6 ages.

Now, I think that this makes better sense.
If you look at the following passages with me my idea will make better sense

Al-A'raf (The Heights) - (Arabic)

754 Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority) He draweth the night as a veil o'er the day, each seeking the other in rapid succession He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, (all) governed by laws under His command. Is it not His to create and to govern? Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds!

All passages were taken from a search at
http//islam.org/mosque/arabicscript/sindex.htm

If you look at the Arabic which I hope is clear you will see that it says
concerning the pertinent issue

inna rabbakum allaahu

Your lord truly is (to be) God
alladhee khalaqasamaawaati wal-arda fee sittati ayaamin
who set the heavens and the earth within six ages
(yawmun can be understood as 'an age a general time period'

THUMMA astawaal- &arshu
THen/Moroever/Additionally/AFTERWARDS
He will assume/sit on the throne.

Now, the argument can be made if 'astawaa' is taken as past tense or as 'has assumed' that God was at one time not on the thrown. If we take it in it's future tense as I have translated it, it would communicate that God is not yet on the throne but WILL take it. In both cases God was or is not on the throne. We look at the throne as the source of power and in that case God has always been on the throne. So looking at the possible meanings of astawaal-&arshu what we think of as throne cannot be meant.
We need to look at 'being on the throne' in all it's capacities. Right now God has given us the chance to disobey him. Does any King who is on the throne allow for his servants to disobey Him? Does he allow for rebels? To my knowledge monarchies do not allow for dissidents. Perhaps this is what is meant. I cannot answer this question fully and will need to look at the lexicions to see just what al-&arshu means in its full meaning(s). However, let's look at the following passages to get a more complete look at how my view is further corroborated without knowing the EXACT meaning of al-&arshu.

Yunus (Jonah) - (Arabic) -
103 Verily your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority), regulating and governing all things. No intercessor (can plead with Him) except after His leave (hath been obtained). This is Allah your Lord; Him therefore serve ye will ye not receive admonition?

Here we have

inna rabbakum allahu
Surely your lord is (to be) God.
alladhee khlaqasamaawaati wal-arda
who set the heavens and the earth
fee sittati ayyaamin
within six ages.
THUMMA astawaa &alaal-arshi yuddabiru al-amra
THEN/AFTERWARDS/MOROEVER he will assume the throne, commanding/delegating the order/the affair.
maa min shafee&in illa min ba&di idhnihi
There will be no/Not being any intercessory except after his permission.

(I think this whole scene of intercession correlates with the day of dues, however let us look at more)

Hud (The Prophet Hud) - (Arabic) - Recite (Baset) - Recite (Hussari) - Recite (Minshawi)
117 He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days - and His Throne was over the waters - that He might try you, which of you is best in conduct. But if thou wert to say to them, "Ye shall indeed be raised up after death", the Unbelievers would be sure to say, "This is nothing but obvious sorcery!"

Again it is obvious that we are being given an obvious context that is distorted by the interpreted 'was' from 'kaana' which can be a 'will be.'

So let us rightfully look at it like this

God is the one who set the heavens and the earth within six ages. Moreover, his throne will be over water(s), to try you as to which one of you is most excellent in action. But if you (Muhammad) would say "Surely you will be raised after death, those who unfaithfully deny (God and the last age) will indeed say "That is obvious beguilement!" or "That is obvious superstition!"

Al-Furqan (The Criterion) - (Arabic)
2559 He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between, in six days, and is firmly established on the Throne (of Authority) Allah Most Gracious ask thou, then, about Him of any acquainted (with such things).

Alladhee khalaqasamaawaati wal-arda wa maa bainahumaa fee sittati ayaamin THUMMA astawaa &alaal-arshi. Arrahmaanu fas'al bihi khabeeran

The one who set the heavens, the earth, and all between, within six ages. Afterwards he will assume the throne. The truly merciful! And ask concerning/to Him as one informed/any informed one.

Nothing contextually supportive here except for the consistent 'THUMMA.' which has consistently been a likely evidence for my postulate.

As-Sajdah (The Prostration) - (Arabic)

324 It is Allah Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, in six Days, and is firmly established on the Throne (of Authority) ye have none, besides Him, to protect or intercede (for you) will ye not then receive admonition? 325 He rules (all) affairs from the heavens to the earth in the end will (all affairs) go up to Him, on a Day, the space whereof will be (as) a thousand years of your reckoning.

326 dhaalika &aalimul-ghaibi wa shahaadati al-&azeezurraheemu

"God is the one who set the heavens, the earth and all between within six ages. AFTERWARDS(THUMMA) he will assume the throne. You will have none, without Him, as your supporter and none as an intercessor. Will you still not be minded?! He will direct the affair from on high/the heavens towards the earth. Then/Afterwards(Thumma) the affair will rise/ascend to Him in an age that will be a measurement of 1000 years from how you reckon. Such a one is discerning of the unsensed and the witnessed "

NOTE the present tense can also be the future tense. Yusuf Ali and me translated things like 'antum mab&uthoona' which is literally 'you are raised' as 'you will be raised' because grammatically and in the context it is obviously the future. So consistent with thumma and with astawaa being 'He will assume' and with the previously mentioned passages and the following passages I translated the supporting and intercessing passage as future tense.

Qaf - (Arabic) -
5038 We created the heavens and the earth and all between them in Six Days, nor did any sense of weariness touch Us.

" We set the heavens and the earth and all between in Six Ages, and no weariness has touched us, or will touch us."

Al-Hadid (Iron) - (Arabic) -
574 He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and is moreover firmly established on the Throne (of Authority). He knows what enters within the earth and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah sees well all that ye do.

He is the one who set the heavens and the earth within Six Ages. Then/Afterwards he will assume the throne. He discerns what enters the earth and what exits it, what descends from on high and what ascends ascends up into it. Moroever, He is withyou wherever you may be. (And) God sees what and how you act.

Suprisingly I've found some of my re-evalutations of the Qur'an leading to some beliefs similar to Christianity. For instance there is the first sin and the human being being a corrupt one (khaleefun) in earth (both under our feet and in our selves). This is a valid meaning of khaleefun that can be seen in Lane's lexicon and is more consistent with the passages that have the retorting against God putting a 'khaleefun' on earth. Why would the angels mention 'blood shed and trouble' if 'successor' and not 'corrupt one' had been meant? Furthermore, we have no evidence for any succession from the Qur'an, so 'corrupt one' is the more logical understanding of 'khaleefatun.'

Secondly, this re-evalution of astawaal-&arshi is so resemblant of the Chrsitian concept of God's coming kingdom that it is uncanny! I don't think the Qu'ran ever goes so far to say what Christians say, saying that the real world is the kingdom of the wicked or some all-powerful Devil figure. However, if an argument could be made for a dissedent mankind concerning God's rule (deenullaahi) and therefore a wicked mankind as being dissident from God's rule makes one wicked(shaitaanun), then saying that the world of men is the kingdom of the wicked (ashaitaanu) soon to be disrupted by the day of dues (yawmudeena) in the last age (yawmul-aakhiri) where God will end and properly deal with such dissidence (Allahu yah-kumu bimaa yakhtalifoona) then the Christian concept seems to be more truthful then what has been fully accepted by followers of the Qu'ran, though in my mind a concept that discourages hope of the power of redemption within man and almost undermining in tone towards the fact that the heavens and the earth are of God's extensive kingdom (malakootullaahi).

Stories about the evils of the flesh in my mind undermine God's dominion over the earth (including our muddy bodies) and all that is on high. However, I am of the opinion that humanity is a corrupted being put into and on earth as a test as to who among us will be the most excellent in action (ahsanu &amalan), that the world of wicked mankind is the dominion/kingdom of the wicked (malakootushaitaan) and that when the last age comes about after the 6th age, and in that last age we face the day of dues and due judgement, that day no one will have any dominion, rule or reign except God and that day he will in the absolute sense of the phrase "assume the throne" (astawaal-&arsha).

Godbless,
Anwar

forgive the mistakes I didn't have time to correct them.

[drfazl]

It is as if the winking of an eye, which we calculate in months and years;
"Be! and it is" is His timing.

In Allah's reckoning we have already lived in His Design, until qiamah and thereafter too. Believe in the unseen! 'Unseen - predestined' has no time that we count with numbers. Timelessness has no days or ages or periods. When Allah mentions six days it is invisible count. Our manifest knowledge is of no use. The wisdom concealed for the followers of the Wise alone can give us clarity regarding the timelessness. Since it is unseen wisdom we can feel but shall find no words to express it.

[phoenix1]

What is going on here? i dont have a clue. ?
Is the Ayah saying that Allah created the earth in 6 ages, or the earth was created to exist for 6 ages. And either of these meanings wouldnt make sense considering the earth is already billions of years old. What's up with this? Also, why will Allah assume the throne? isnt he already on the throne? and what throne is it exactly? help me!