How do Islamic interpretations reconcile Quran 10:3's mention of Allah creating the heavens and the earth in six days with the scientific understanding of the universe's development over billions of years?
How do Islamic interpretations reconcile Quran 10:3's mention of Allah creating the heavens and the earth in six days with the scientific understanding of the universe's development over billions of years?
Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 2 years ago
In both Hebrew and Arabic, the word 'yawm' means 'a period of time', not only 'a day' consisting of twenty-four hours.
In Semitic languages, numbers are also symbolic. E.g. 'Seventy' means 'many'.
'Six days' therefore really means 'a number of periods of time', or 'a number of stages'.
There is also a verse in the Qur'an that says that 'one day for your Lord is as 1000 years in the time that you count.' (22:47)
https://www.islamweb.net/en/article/134278/relativity-in-the-quran