He only informed them about the beginning of this world, which He created in six days, and did not disclose what was before that—just as God, in the Qur’an, has told us no more than this. The Sunnah, therefore, is in full accord with the Qur’an. Regarding the future, the Exalted One has foretold the Resurrection, the Reckoning, Paradise, and Hellfire, but He has never said that the universe will be annihilated into sheer nothingness so that nothing whatever remains; rather, He has spoken of the world’s transformation.

Allah, Most High, says:

“On the Day when the earth will be changed into another earth, and the heavens likewise, and they will all appear before Allah, the One, the Subduer.” (Ibrāhīm 14:48)

He also says:

“When the sky is split open and becomes rose-red, like molten oil.” (ar-Raḥmān 55:37)

And He says:

“The Day the sky will be like molten brass, and the mountains like tufts of wool.” (al-Maʿārij 70:8–9)

And He says:

“When the earth is shaken with a violent quake, and the mountains are crushed to powder, so they become scattered dust—and you will be three kinds.” (al-Wāqiʿah 56:4–7)

And He says:

“The Day people will be like scattered moths, and the mountains like fluffed-up wool.” (al-Qāriʿah 101:4–5)

And He says:

“When the sun is folded up, when the stars lose their luster, when the mountains are set in motion, when the pregnant camels are abandoned, when the wild beasts are gathered together, and when the seas are set ablaze.” (at-Takwīr 81:1–6)

And He says:

“When the sky is cleft asunder, when the stars are scattered, when the seas are burst forth, and when the graves are overturned.” (al-Infijār 82:1–4)

And He says:

“When the sky is split open and obeys its Lord as it must, and when the earth is spread out, casting out whatever is within it and becoming empty.” (al-Inshiqāq 84:1–4)

Passages such as these clarify that the heavens, the earth, and the mountains will undergo transformation and change, passing through successive states of alteration at different times.