Whoever interprets them in any way other than this has gone astray, forfeited his share, and presumed knowledge he does not possess.

What Qatādah stated is explicitly affirmed in the Almighty’s words:

“We have indeed adorned the lowest heaven with lamps and made them missiles against the devils.” (al-Mulk 67:5)

And in His words:

“He is the One who has made the stars for you so that you may be guided by them in the darkness of land and sea.” (al-Anʿām 6:97)

Thus, whoever seeks from the stars anything beyond these three purposes—namely, adornment, driving away devils, and navigation—such as deriving earthly events from their motions and conjunctions, has erred. Most of what is said in that field is no more than conjecture, false suppositions, and baseless claims.

The Exalted has further said that He created seven heavens in layers, i.e., one above the other. Astronomers differ: are they contiguous, piled upon one another, or are they separated with empty space between them? There are two opinions, and the correct one is the second, as indicated by the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmīrah—from al-Aḥnaf, from al-ʿAbbās—concerning the mountain goats, in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Do you know the distance between the heaven and the earth?” We replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “It is a journey of five hundred years. Between each heaven and the next is five hundred years, and the thickness of every heaven is five hundred years….” The ḥadīth in full was narrated by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, and al-Tirmidhī, who graded it sound.

In the two Ṣaḥīḥs, Anas relates in the account of the Night Journey that the Prophet found Adam in the lowest heaven. Gabriel said, “This is your father Adam; greet him.” So he greeted him, and Adam returned the greeting, saying, “Welcome, noble son, righteous son….” He then said, “Thereafter we ascended to the second heaven,” and the same is mentioned with respect to the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh heavens.

This shows that the heavens are separate from one another, for he said: “Then we were taken up until we came to the second heaven, and permission was sought for us to enter, and it was asked, ‘Who is this?’” This corroborates what we have stated; Allah knows best.

Ibn Ḥazm, Ibn al-Munayyir, Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī, and many other scholars have transmitted the consensus that the heavens are spherical in form. The evidence is His saying: “Each one is swimming along in its own orbit.” (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:33) He said—