- There is no conflict between the claim of "the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days" and the results of empirical knowledge, because "day" has no meaning before the creation of the earth and the sun, and the term six days refers to a hypothetical amount of time. Also, "day" can mean period and stage.
Quran and Science
Quran and Science
Some atheists and anti-religionists, relying on the results of experimental knowledge, mock monotheistic propositions and say that it is said in the Holy Book that the time spent in creating the heavens and the earth is six days, while numerous evidences show that this creation took millions of years.
In response to this claim, several points are stated:
A- A little thought and reflection on the phrase "six days" can answer this false claim. Because the word "day" in one term means the time interval between sunrise and sunset. In another term it means the passage of 24 hours. Undoubtedly, in order to realize these two meanings, it is necessary that "Earth", "Sun" and "Earth's rotation around the Sun" exist in order to be able to use the expression "day".
While in the mentioned verses in the Holy Quran, it is about the creation of the same heavenly spheres, and at that time there was no earth, sun, and circulation so that the word "day" would have a meaning. Therefore, it is clear that what God meant by the word "six days" is that if the creation of the heavens and the earth were to be measured with the scale of time, this amount of time would be required.[1]
B- Unfortunately, atheists and anti-religionists, with complete and unconditional trust in empirical knowledge, have made it the criterion for the correctness of every statement. Of course, the claim of "creation in six days" is related to empirical issues, but then this claim goes against the results of empirical knowledge if we know that "religion" and "experimental knowledge" have spoken against each other.
While there is a possibility that "six days" in religious terminology does not mean normal days. Rather, "day" means long periods of time. Six days means six periods and accordingly, each period can include millions of years. Due to the fact that cosmologists do not refer to the six-stage creation, but they admit that each stage of creation was a long period, so there will be no conflict and difference between the claims of the Book and empirical knowledge.[2], [3]