Was the universe created in six days? By Omer Atilla Ergi Christian and Jewish scriptures indicate that the universe was created in six days. The holy Quran also mentions that God Almighty has created the heavens and the earth in six days. 1 Some people challenge these scriptures with the assumption that the term ‘days’ used in divine revelations refers to earth days which are approximately 24 hours. This challenge can easily be refuted with astronomical data which states that the 24-hour earth days did not even exist during the creation of the universe. The Quranic version of six-day creation narrative is based on the term yawm (day), ayyamin (days). The Arabic term yawm is usually translated into English as “day”. However, in its plural form, ayyamin also refers to period, era, or stages. The context in which the term ayyamin used in the above verse can only be limited to a specified period of time elapsed in six stages, as the earth days, based on the time that earth takes to spin around its own axis, can only be valid after the formation of the earth. Moreover, there are other verses in the Quran where the term yawm indicates different periods of time that has elapsed between the beginning and the end of an event. For example, “the angels and the spirit ascend to Him in a day (yawm), which is 50,000 years according to your days [earth days].” 2 This verse establishes that elapsed time during an event is proportional to certain physical conditions which include increase in velocity. This concept is supported by special relativistic time dilation based on Einstein’s Special Relativity which states that time slows down with increase in velocity. 3 Accordingly, ayyamin (six days) mentioned in the creation of the heavens and the earth indicates six periods or stages during which certain amount of time has elapsed. The question here is, can the elapsed time during these stages of creation be calculated. I propose a theory that allows us to calculate the elapsed time in each period of the six stages narrated by the Quran. The proposed calculation can be based on one specific evidence mentioned in another Quranic verse: “Say, do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days…” 4 This verse indicates that the earth was created in two days, while the previous verse suggests that the heaven and the earth, meaning the entire universe was created in six days. This means that the period for the creation of the earth is 1/3 of the creation of the universe. According to radiometric dating the age of the earth is estimated to be around 4.6 billion years. Since the Quran indicates that it was created in two days, a day of creation is 4.6 / 2 = 2.3, that is 2.3 billion years. Now, we can easily workout the total time elapsed during the creation of the universe: 2.3 x 6 = 13.8, that is 13.8 billion years. This agrees with the estimated age of the universe proposed by modern astronomy. Astronomers estimated the age of the universe by observing the oldest stars in the universe and measuring the rate of expansion of the universe since the Big Bang. 5 1 Quran, 7:54 2 Quran, 70:4 3 Calder, Nigel (2006). Magic Universe: A grand tour of modern science. Oxford University Press. p. 378 4 Quran, 41:9 5 Edward J. Wollack (2012). How Old is the Universe? Nasa, retrieved from https://wmap.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe