“and made the moon a light and set for it phases so that you might know the number of years and the calculation of time.” (Yunus 10:5)

He—exalted is He—also says: “They ask you about the new crescents. Say: they are time markers for people and for the pilgrimage.” (Al-Baqarah 2:189)

The crescents therefore yield great benefit: they enable people to determine fixed times and deadlines—whether the due dates of debts, the waiting periods of women, or the appointed times for acts of worship such as fasting and Hajj. All of these are known through reckoning based on the two celestial lights, the sun and the moon. Both the solar and the lunar calendars contain benefits for all of mankind.

Among His creations are the seven heavens. He says: “Allah is the One who created seven heavens and, from the earth, the like of them.” (At-Talaq 65:12) And: “the One who created seven heavens in layers.” (Al-Mulk 67:3) They are arranged one above another: the lowest heaven, then the next, up to the seventh; and above them all is the Throne of the Most Merciful.

The earths are likewise seven, as He says: “and of the earth the like of them.” They too are seven layers. Every layer of the seven heavens and the seven earths has its own inhabitants and dwellers: in the heavens are the planets, the celestial spheres, the sun, and the moon; on the earth are living creatures of every kind, along with mountains and trees.