Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamo Alaikum Br. Burhan,

When Allah wants something to happen, He says,"be, and it is." Could you elaborate on this? Allah created heaven and earth and between them in six days. Obviously, then when Allah says "BE and IT IS". means something else, otherwise, it should not take six days for Allah (swt) to create universe. Rather, it should happens at His command "be and it is." May Allah strengthen and guide and help you in this effort of dawa....

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Answer:

Why six days to create

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verse 54:

54 Your Guardian-Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six days and is firmly established on the Throne (of Authority).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 36 Surah Yaa Seen verse 82:

82 Verily when He intends a thing His (only) Command is "Be": and it is!

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, indeed when the Lord Most Majestic Desires to do anything, at His mere Command of ‘BE’, that thing or occurrence would come into immediate existence! Glorified, Exalted, and High is Allah Subhanah, the Lord of the Worlds.

There are two abodes: one is the ‘abode of the unseen’ (souls, Angels, Hereafter, Paradise, Hell Fire, etc.) and the other is the ‘abode of the seen’ (the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, the earth and whatever is in it, etc). Although Allah Subhanah is Able and more than Capable of bringing into existence whatever He Wills and Plans, whenever He Wills and Desires, wherever He Wills….it is His Sunnah or Way that in the ‘abode of the unseen’, everything happens or comes into existence instantaneously at His One Command of ‘BE’…..but in the ‘abode of the seen’, unless and until the Lord Wills to Display a ‘miracle’, everything is allowed to happen through the Laws of ‘nature’ which the Lord Himself has created.

Although Allah Subhanah could very well have created everything in the heavens and the earth with His One Command of ‘BE’; the All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord Chose to bring into existence everything in the heavens and the earth in ‘Six Days’ or ‘Six Stages’ so that through these laws of creation, the human being is put to a test….whether or not he sees and observes the wonders of creation in the heavens and the earth, and recognizes that there is a ‘Planner’ and a ‘Creator’ behind these supreme creations…..or did everything happen merely by accident or by chance without any planning or creator!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imraan verses 190-191:

190 Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding.

191 Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth (with the thought): "Our Lord! Not for naught hast thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the fire.’

But in the life of the ‘unseen’ or the Hereafter, because none will be involved in tests or trials thereafter….everything happens and will happen at the One Mere Command of the Lord Most Majestic, Most Supreme. At the Lord Most Supreme’s One Command everything in the heavens and the earth cease to exist One Day; at His One Command the heavens above will be split asunder; at His One Command every soul will be given life again on the Day of Judgment; at His One Command every wish and desire of the fortunate dwellers of Paradise will be fulfilled!

Thus beloved brother, rest absolutely assured that it is not because the Command of ‘BE’ of the Lord would or could not bring the heavens and the earth into existence….but because the All-Wise Lord Willed and Planned to put man through a test and leave His Signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, The Lord All-Knowing, All-Wise Willed to bring the heavens and the earth into existence over a period of prescribed stages. And Allah Alone Knows Best.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Rome verse 22:

22 And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are Signs for those who know.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 45 Surah Jathiya verse 3:

3 Verily in the heavens and the earth are Signs for those who believe.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 6:

6 Verily in the alternation of the Night and the Day and in all that Allah hath created in the heavens and the earth are Signs for those who fear Him.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 29 Surah Ankabut verse 44:

44 Allah created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): verily in that is a Sign for those who believe.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 36 Surah Yaa Seen verses 81-83:

81 "Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof?" Yea indeed! For He is the Creator Supreme of skill and knowledge (infinite)!

82 Verily when He intends a thing His command is "Be" and it is!

83 So Glory to Him in Whose Hands is the dominion of all things; and to Him will ye be all brought back.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan