Allah has created seven heavens, one above another,”

“and placed the moon within them as a light, and made the sun a lamp.”

They say: Allah thus states that the moon is within the heavens. He, Most High, also says:

“And He is the One who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each floating in an orbit.”

And He, Most High, says:

“It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. Each is floating in an orbit.”

In these two verses, He states that the moon is in a celestial sphere, just as He states that it is within the heavens. Furthermore, Allah has told us that we see the heavens, saying:

“He who created seven heavens, one above another. You will see no inconsistency in the creation of the Most Merciful. Look again: do you see any cracks? Then look twice more: your sight will return to you humbled and weary.”

He also says:

“Have they not looked at the heaven above them—how We built it and adorned it, leaving it without any rifts?”

These and similar scriptural texts indicate that heaven is visible. What is visible is the celestial sphere, which indicates that the two are one and the same.

As for his question whether the sun and moon are moved independently of the celestial sphere, or whether their motion results from the sphere’s motion, this too is disputed. Most people, however, hold that their motion results from the motion of the sphere. As for the words of the Most High,

“Each is floating in an orbit,”

this does not preclude the floating He describes from being dependent upon the motion of the sphere, as is the case with night and day: their alternation depends upon the motion of something other than themselves. His words,

“Each is floating in an orbit,”

encompass the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, as He makes clear in Sūrat al-Anbiyā’.