If you want to follow along at home: https://archive.org/details/the-history-of-al-tabari/Tabari_Volume_01/
What remains of this world?
The age of the world, according to many.
Al-Tabari remarked 6,000 years – honestly – getting into this is a deep dive, and how does one figure it all? It’s probably a “God knows best,” but it’s interesting to see al-Tabari remark on what he knows people were saying at his time.
There’s a bunch to unpack there. First, al-Tabari mentions, as we do today in the 2000s CE, “…in their Torah-the one they possess today…” He is indicating what remains of it, and not the original Torah. Next, al-Tabari goes into what he understands from the Greek Christians of the time:
The extra notes here are interesting, for example, al-Tabari mentions those who await the Antichrist who will mislead them. Again, I don’t have much thought on these timelines at present simply because I have not studied it much.
On what days were such-and-such created?
. . .
To me, this is common sense matter of the nature of God, that God does not rest and does not suffer fatigue, and to me, it’s understandable to God having a strong statement to being accused of having such a need. . .
This is wonderful because you see God using his command, “BE!” Just as was said for the creation of Jesus, pbuh, and so much more, it’s the same process, he commands it so.
What is interesting here is al-Tabari says, “…God created the heavens and the earth before He created time…” So maybe human measurement of such things wasn’t supposed to be?
God Eternal the Creator of Every
This makes sense, “…since it is impossible for something to originate something unless its originator exists before it…” Thus, at some point, there must be the One who was not created, and created everything. al-Tabari might as well just have inserted Al-Iklas here 112:1 to 112:4, per https://quran.com/al-ikhlas:
[1] Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “He is Allah—One ˹and Indivisible˺;
[2] Allah—the Sustainer ˹needed by all˺.
[3] He has never had offspring, nor was He born.
[4] And there is none comparable to Him.”
. . . al-Tabari continues then. . .
The 207 footnote included 88:17-20, and 20 states, “…and the earth—how it was [leveled] out?…” This is a salivation point for naysayers because of the “flat” language. So I do divert a bit here, not because we are obligated to answer naysayers, but to think deeper a moment. Now, the Quran itself is a miracle, and the contents of it at times can be scientific miracles, given the time is was revealed in. But at the same time, just as Jesus and Moses, peace be upon them, had to deal with likely uneducated people of their time, so too did Muhammad via God’s message have to come in a palatable format.
From Quran.com Kathir’s Tafsir says, “(And at the earth, how it is outspread) meaning, how it has been spread out, extended and made smooth. Thus, He directs the bedouin to consider what he himself witnesses. His camel that he rides upon, the sky that is above his head, the mountain that faces him, and the earth that is under him, all of this is proof of the power of the Creator and Maker of these things. These things should lead him to see that He is the Lord, the Most Great, the Creator, the Owner, and the Controller of everything. Therefore, He is the God other than Whom none deserves to be worshipped.”
This then is from the perspective of the person, as they discuss at islamqa: https://islamqa.info/en/answers/211655/does-the-quran-say-the-earth-is-flat where they say, “There is no contradiction between saying that the earth is round and saying that it was spread out, because in fact in its totality it is round, but to the one who stands on it and looks at it, it appears flat, as it appears to everyone.”
My own al-Tabari translation included an opinion (remember, these are collections of what he heard) that stated, “Muhammad ibn Bashar narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ja’far and Ibn Abi ‘Adiyy narrated to me from ‘Awf from Abu al-Mughirah from Abdullah ibn Amr, saying: On the Day of Judgment, “the earth will be stretched out” (Quran 88:20) like a hide, and the animals, beasts, and wild animals will be gathered. Then, justice will be established between them.” Thus suggesting it will apply to the Day of Judgement only.
[That’s sufficient for this purpose, as it’s otherwise outside the scope of the History Book.]
People Would Ask, “Who Created Him?”
He created the pen.
. . . al-Tabari engaged in a review of other statements, including opinions that light and darkness were first, but he concluded. . .
. . . Interestingly, al-Tabari goes into a review of other reports that indicated that God was upon his throne before the Pen, and thus, by logic, the Throne must have been made first, however, he reaffirms that his belief is the correct transmission is that the Pen was first. . .
We have come to greet the Messenger of God and become knowledgeable about the religion and ask about the beginning of this matter (the world).. .
[Below, and before, I’m going to jump around to different parts, this shouldn’t be read as a flowing narrative from the book, if you want that, read the book yourself. I’m attempting to “get to the point” of al-Tabari for the purposes of these notes.]
