In Surah Hud, verse 7, the Quran states that before the creation of the heavens and the earth, Allah’s Throne was upon the water:
“And it is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and His Throne was upon the water before that.” (Quran 11:7)
This understanding is reinforced by several Hadiths. In Sunan Ibn Majah (182), Abu Razin asked the Prophet: “O Messenger of Allah, where was our Lord before He created His creation?” The Prophet replied: “He was above the clouds, beneath which was air, and above which was air and water. Then He created His Throne above the water.”
A similar narration appears in Sahih Bukhari (3191): “First of all, there was nothing but Allah, and (then He created His Throne). His Throne was over the water, and He wrote everything in the Book and created the Heavens and the Earth.”
Modern science, however, presents a completely different picture. The universe began with the Big Bang. At that stage, there was no water, no air, and no clouds. Earth itself formed roughly 9 billion years after the Big Bang. It took further billions of years for the planet to cool enough for liquid water to appear. Clouds and an atmosphere developed even later.
Yet according to the Quran and Hadith, Allah was already positioned among clouds, with air above and below Him, and His Throne resting on water — all before the universe even existed.
Muslims today usually offer two responses:
- The Quran is not a book of science.
- Words such as “water,” “clouds,” and “air” should not be taken literally; they are metaphorical.
These explanations face serious difficulties. If the Quran is not a book of science, why does it make specific claims about the state of existence before creation? Why not simply state that the origins of the universe are beyond human understanding? Why repeatedly introduce details that modern cosmology has shown to be incorrect?
Moreover, the earliest Muslims — the Companions, the Tabi‘un, and the Salaf — understood these descriptions literally. There is no indication in the Quran or authentic Hadith that the water under the Throne or the clouds surrounding Allah were meant metaphorically. The metaphorical reading is a modern development, adopted only after science made the literal reading untenable.
Interestingly, similar ideas appear in other ancient traditions. The Bible’s opening verses describe the Spirit of God hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:1-2). In Hindu tradition, Vishnu is often depicted as resting on the cosmic waters. These creation motifs were widespread in the ancient Near East and South Asia long before Islam.
When science exposes such claims, the response from many religious communities is nearly identical: “Our scripture is not a science textbook” and “Those words are symbolic.” This pattern is not unique to Islam; it is a common defensive strategy across traditional religions that made cosmological assertions without knowledge of modern physics and astronomy.
The real question remains: If the descriptions of water, air, and clouds before creation were never meant to be taken at face value, why were they presented in language that the earliest believers understood as literal? And why did the Quran and Hadith not clarify that these details were purely figurative?
