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Someone posted this in one of the groups: Sūrat al-Baqara says that God first created the earth and then the heavens, but verse 30 of Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt says that afterward He spread out the earth by rolling it out. Does this verse mean that the earth was created then, or not?
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ
The apparent difference between the accounts of the creation of the earth and the heavens in Sūrat al-Baqara and Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt is resolved by reference to exegetical reports. According to these reports, God first created the earth, then formed the heavens, and finally spread out the earth. Thus, the verse «و الأرض بعد ذلک دحاها» means that the earth was spread out after the heavens were created, not that it was created then.
Al-Baqarah: 29 هُوَ الَّذي خَلَقَ لَكُمْ ما فِي الْأَرْضِ جَميعاً ثُمَّ اسْتَوى إِلَى السَّماءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَماواتٍ وَ هُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَليمٌ
He is the One who created for you everything on earth (as a blessing); then He turned to the heaven and formed it into seven heavens. He has knowledge of all things.
Al-Nāziʿāt: 30 وَ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذلِكَ دَحاها
And after that, He spread out the earth.
These few hadiths provide the best answer to the doubt in question.
And عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ رَجُلًا قَالَ لَهُ آيَتَانِ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ تُخَالِفُ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَى فَقَالَ إِنَّمَا أَتَيْتُ مِنْ قِبَلِ رَأْيِكَ اقْرَأْ قَالَ قُلْ أَ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ حَتَّى بَلَغَ ثُمَّ اسْتَوى إِلَى السَّماءِ وَ قَوْلُهُ وَ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذلِكَ دَحاها قَالَ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الْأَرْضَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَخْلُقَ السَّمَاءَ ثُمَّ خَلَقَ السَّمَاءَ ثُمَّ دَحَا الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَا خَلَقَ السَّمَاءَ وَ إِنَّمَا قَوْلُهُ دَحاها بَسَطَهَا
Biḥār al-Anwār (Beirut ed.), vol. 54, p. 212
It is reported from Ibn ʿAbbās that a man said to him, “Are there not two verses in the Qur’an that contradict one another?” He replied, “They seem to contradict one another to you. Recite them.” The man said, “‘Say: Do you disbelieve in the One who created the earth in two days and set up equals for Him? He is the Lord of all worlds! Then He turned to the creation of the heaven’ (Fuṣṣilat 9–10), and the words of God…” وَ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذلِکَ دَحاها Ibn ʿAbbās said, “God created the earth before the heaven, then created the heaven, and after that spread out the earth. Indeed, دحاها means to spread it out.”
Al-Ṭabrisī said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَی دَحَی الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ السَّمَاءِ وَ إِنْ کَانَتِ الْأَرْضُ خُلِقَتْ قَبْلَ السَّمَاءِ وَ کَانَتْ رَبْوَهًْ مُجْتَمِعَهًْ تَحْتَ الْکَعْبَهًْ فَبَسَطَهَا
Minhāj al-Barāʿa fī Sharḥ Nahj al-Balāgha (Khoʾi ed.), vol. 1, p. 397
Al-Ṭabrisī relates from Ibn ʿAbbās: God spread out the earth after the heaven, though the earth had been created before the heaven. The earth was a mound gathered beneath the Kaʿba, which God then spread out.
Ibn ʿAbbās: إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ بِأَقْوَاتِهَا مِنْ غَیْرِ أَنْ یَدْحُوَهَا ثُمَّ اسْتَوی إِلَی السَّماءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ ثُمَّ دَحَا الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَلِکَ فَذَلِکَ قَوْلُهُ وَ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذلِکَ دَحَاهَا
Biḥār al-Anwār (Beirut ed.), vol. 54, p. 315
Ibn ʿAbbās: God created the earth with its strengths, without spreading it out or laying it flat, ثُمَّ اسْتَوی إِلَی السَّماءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَماواتٍ; then He turned to the heaven and formed it into seven heavens (Al-Baqarah 29). After that, He stretched out and spread the earth. This is what God says وَ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذلِکَ دَحاها.