Given all this—and bearing in mind that the Prophet ﷺ passed away fourteen hundred years ago and the Resurrection has still not occurred—it is clear that the life of this world is lengthy. As for the figures advanced by some geologists who speak of the earth’s past age in “millions upon millions” of years, such numbers are mere khars (conjecture); we neither confirm them nor deny them. Their status is identical to the reports of the Children of Israel: we possess no definitive knowledge from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ about the exact span that has already elapsed, nor about the precise amount that remains. The Prophet ﷺ only offered illustrative comparisons of nearness, nothing more.

Anything concerning past events for which there is no evidence from the Qur’an or the Sunnah is not automatically acceptable; rather, it falls into one of three categories:

1. That which the sacred law attests to as true; this we accept because the law itself confirms it.
2. That which the sacred law declares to be false; this we reject because the law itself refutes it.
3. That about which the sacred law is silent—neither confirming nor denying; regarding this we suspend judgment. It may be true, and it may be false.

The proof for this method is the Almighty’s statement: “Has there not come to you the news of those who lived before you—of the people of Noah, ‘Ād, Thamūd, and those who came after them? None knows them except Allah” (Ibrāhīm 14:9). When Allah, glorified and exalted, confines such knowledge to Himself, it can be obtained only through His revelation—none knows them but Allah. Therefore, anyone who makes claims about past matters—whether concerning humanity, the nature of the earth, the heavenly bodies, or anything else—receives from us neither outright belief nor outright denial. Instead, whatever he reports is placed under the threefold classification outlined above.