at that time this world consisted of water, air, and earth. He tells us in the Glorious Quran that He created the heavens and the earth in six days, and that His Throne was upon the water. In another verse, He says:

“Then He turned to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, ‘Come willingly or unwillingly.’ They said, ‘We come willingly.’”

Reports from the early generations state that the heaven was created from water vapour, which is the smoke mentioned here.

The point here is that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered what they had asked him about, mentioning only the beginning of the creation of the heavens and the earth. This indicates that when they said, “We have come to ask you about the beginning of this matter,” they meant the creation of this world. And Allah knows best.

The second point: Their words “this matter” refer to something present and existing. The word amr (“command” or “matter”) may denote the act of commanding, or its object—that which Allah brought into being by His command. The latter is what they meant. For His saying “Be” is not something they could observe and point to; rather, what they could observe and point to was that which had been commanded into being. Allah Most High says:

“Allah’s command is a decree firmly determined.”

And He Most High says:

“Allah’s command has come.”

There are numerous similar examples. Had they asked him about the very beginning of creation, they would not have referred to it as “this,” for they had not witnessed it and so could not point to it as “this.” Indeed, they did not even know of it, since it can be known only through the reports of the prophets. The Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had not told them about it; had he already told them, they would not have asked him about it. Thus it is clear that they were asking