Tafseer of Explained in detail · Fussilat · 41:9
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."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
And His statement: أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الأرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ ("Do you indeed disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days?") — and these are Sunday and Monday. Concerning this, the reports from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ have been transmitted, and that is what the scholars have said; and we have mentioned much of that in what preceded, and we shall mention something of what we did not mention earlier, if Allah wills.
* The mention of a portion of what we did not mention earlier of the reports concerning this:
Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Baqqāl, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — Hannād said: I read the rest of the narration to Abū Bakr — "that the Jews came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him about the creation of the heavens and the earth. He said: 'Allah created the earth on Sunday and Monday, and He created the mountains on Tuesday with all the beneficial things that are in them, and on Wednesday He created the trees, the water, the cities, the cultivation, and the desolation — that is four. Then He said: Do you indeed disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days, and do you assign to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds. And He placed upon it firm mountains above it and blessed it and determined therein its sustenance in four days, equally for those who ask, for whoever asks. He said: And on Thursday He created the heaven, and on Friday He created the stars, the sun, the moon, and the angels, up to three hours that remained of it. In the first of these three hours He created the appointed terms — when whoever dies shall die; in the second He laid the affliction upon everything from which people derive benefit; and in the third He created Ādam and settled him in the Garden (janna), and commanded Iblīs to prostrate before him, and expelled him from it in the last hour.' The Jews said: 'What then after that, O Muḥammad?' He said: 'After that He rose over the Throne.' They said: 'You have got it right, had you only completed it.' They said: 'After that He rested.' Then the Prophet ﷺ became severely angered, and it was revealed: وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَمَا مَسَّنَا مِنْ لُغُوبٍ * فَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ ('And indeed, We created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days, and no fatigue touched Us. * So be patient with what they say').'"
Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Isḥāq informed us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Ghālib ibn Ghullāb, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Allah created one day and named it Sunday (al-aḥad); then He created a second and named it Monday (al-ithnayn); then He created a third and named it Tuesday (al-thulāthāʾ); then He created a fourth and named it Wednesday (al-arbiʿāʾ); then He created a fifth and named it Thursday (al-khamīs). He said: and He created the earth in two days: Sunday and Monday; and He created the mountains on Tuesday, and that is why the people say: it is a heavy day; and He created the courses of the rivers and the trees on Wednesday; and He created the birds, the game animals, the vermin, and the beasts of prey on Thursday; and He created man on Friday; and He completed the creation of all things on Friday.
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: خَلَقَ الأرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ ("He created the earth in two days"): on Sunday and Monday.
And something other than that has been said.
And that is what al-Qāsim ibn Bishr ibn Maʿrūf and al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī related to me; both of them said: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ismāʿīl ibn Umayya informed me, on the authority of Ayyūb ibn Khālid, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rāfiʿ, the freedman of Umm Salama, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took my hand and said: "Allah created the earth on Saturday, and He created upon it the mountains on Sunday, and He created the trees on Monday, and He created the detestable things on Tuesday, and He created the light on Wednesday, and He spread out upon it the animals on Thursday, and He created Ādam after the afternoon prayer (al-ʿaṣr) on Friday, as the last creature in the last hour of the hours of Friday, in the time between the afternoon prayer and the night."
And His statement: وَتَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ أَنْدَادًا ("and you assign to Him equals") means: and you assign to Him who created that in such a manner equals — and these are the peers among men, whom you obey in disobedience to Allah; and we have already expounded earlier the meaning of "equal" (nidd) with its proof-texts.
And His statement: ذَلِكَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("That is the Lord of the worlds") means: He who performed this deed and created the earth in two days is the owner of all the jinn and mankind and all the remaining kinds of creatures; and everything that stands below Him is in His possession. How then is it permissible that He should have an equal?! Can the powerless owned one, who is capable of nothing, be an equal of his owner who has power over him?
