4 – That the earths are seven in number, just like the heavens. Numerous authentic ḥadiths to this effect are found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs and elsewhere, and—Allah willing—we may later devote time to tracing and documenting them. These narrations are supported by the divine statement: “He created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them,” that is, alike in creation and in number. Therefore, pay no attention to those who interpret the verse in a way that also denies this numerical likeness, deluded by Europe’s scientific progress and by the fact that its scholars have not discovered seven earths—when they likewise have not discovered seven heavens! Are we to reject the words of Allah and of His Messenger because of the ignorance of Europeans and others, even though they themselves acknowledge that the more they learn about the universe, the more aware they become of their own ignorance? How true are Allah’s words: “You have been given of knowledge only a little.”

5 – Beautifying oneself with fine clothing is in no way an act of kibr (arrogance); rather, it is something legislated, for Allah is beautiful and loves beauty, as the Prophet ﷺ said on a similar occasion, according to the narration in Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ.

6 – The kibr that is paired with shirk, and that bars from Paradise anyone who harbours even an atom’s weight of it, is none other than arrogance toward the truth—rejecting it after it has become clear—and unjustly belittling innocent people. A Muslim must therefore beware of displaying any trace of such arrogance just as he must beware of any form of shirk, which condemns its doer to eternal punishment in the Fire.

135 – “Indeed, Allah will single out a man from my community before all of creation on the Day of Resurrection. He will lay out for him ninety-nine registers, each register stretching as far as the eye can see…”