Interpretive Innovations

Interpretive Innovations

A Geocosmological Account of Earth’s Early Stages: Correlating Geological Evidence with Qur’anic References

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hadi Ensaf 1
Zahra Ghasemnejad 2
1 MA Student in Qur’anic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Qur’anic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
10.22034/iij.2026.2074354.1051
Abstract
The origin and formation of the Earth remain foundational questions that demand rigorous geological inquiry. This study employs qualitative content analysis together with data from geocosmology, petrology, isotopic geochemistry, and paleontology to reconstruct the planet’s early evolution and to compare these findings with Qur’anic references, particularly in Sūrat Fuṣṣilat. The results indicate that the Qur’anic “two days” (yawmayn) can be mapped onto two major evolutionary phases: the first (ca. 4.567–4.45 Ga) comprised asteroidal accretion, a global magma ocean, and rapid differentiation culminating in core formation, supported by Hf–W isotopic evidence; the second (ca. 4.45–3.8 Ga) involved global cooling, the emergence of a solid proto‑crust (attested by 4.4‑Ga zircons), and the development of an early atmosphere and oceans, with oxygen‑isotope signatures indicating liquid water. Geological data further resolve these phases into four stages that align with the Qur’anic “four days” (arbaʿat ayyām): (1) accumulation of primordial matter and energy; (2) internal differentiation and the onset of mantle convection; (3) surface formation and the initiation of weathering, including crust and ocean development, in connection with the provisioning of sustenance (taqdīr al‑aqwāt); and (4) atmospheric regulation and the establishment of plate tectonics to sustain biogeochemical cycles, consonant with the establishment of mountains (jaʿl al‑rawāsi). Taken together, this integrated geocosmological interpretation proposes a meaningful concordance between Qur’anic descriptions and the timing and complexity of Earth’s earliest evolutionary processes.
Keywords
Qur&‌rsquo
anic geocosmology, yawmayn (two days), arbaʿat ayyām (four days), taqdīr al‑aqwāt (provisioning of sustenance), jaʿl al‑rawāsi (establishment of mountains)
1. ابن کثیر، ابوالفداء اسماعیل، (1412ق)، تفسیر القرآن العظیم، بیروت: دارالمعرفه.
2. طبری، ابن جریر،(1412ق)، جامع البیان عن تاویل آی القرآن‏، بیروت: دار المعرفة.
3. قرطبی، شمس الدین، (1364ش). الجامع لاحکام القرآن، تهران: ناصرخسرو.
4. بیضاوی، ناصرالدین عبدالله بن عمر، (1422ق). انوار التنزیل و اسرار التاویل، بیروت: دار الفکر.
5. سید قطب، ابراهیم، (1425ق). فی ظلال القرآن، بیروت : دارالشروق.
6. طنطاوی، محمد سید، (1997م)، التفسیر الوسیط للقرآن الکریم، قاهره: نهضه مصر.
7. طباطبایی، سید محمدحسین، (۱۳۷۴ش)، المیزان فی تفسیر القرآن، قم: دفتر نشر اسلامی.
8. مکارم شیرازی، ناصر و همکاران، (۱۳۷۴ش)، تفسیر نمونه، بیروت: دارالکتب الاسلامیه.
9. Abe, Y. (1997). Thermal and Volatile Evolution of the Earth and Planets: The Primordial Earth and Its Ocean. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61(19), 4165-4182. 10. Allegre, C. J., et al. (1995). The Early Evolution of the Earth and Moon: Isotopic Evidence. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 131(1-2), 1-15.
11. Amelin, Y., Krot, A. N., Hutcheon, I. D., & Ulyanov, A. A. (2002). Lead Isotopic Ages of Chondrules and Ca–Al-rich Inclusions. Science, 297(5587), 1675-1678.
12. Arndt, N. T., & Nisbet, E. G. (1982). Komatiites. In: Arndt, N. T., Nisbet, E. G. (Eds.), Komatiites. George Allen & Unwin, London, 19-77.
13. Bouvier, A., & Wadhwa, M. (2010). The Age of the Solar System. In: De Gruyter, M. H., Carlson, R. W. (Eds.), Meteorites and Cosmochemical Processes (Vol. 1, pp. 105-108). Elsevier.
14. Condie, K. C. (2005). Earth's Oldest Rocks. Elsevier.
15. Condie, K. C., & Pease, V. (2008). The Archean Earth: A Chronological Approach. In Earth's Oldest Rocks (pp. 27-30). Elsevier.
16. Dalrymple, G. B. (2001). Radiometric Dating: Geological Time Scale. Stanford University Press.
17. Holland, H. D. (1984). The Chemical Evolution of the Atmosphere and Oceans. Princeton University Press.
18. Isley, A. E. (1995). Plate Tectonic Control of the Carbon Cycle and Global Climate Change. Geology, 23(1), 169-172.
19. Kasting, J. F. (1993). Earth's Early Atmosphere. Science, 259(5097), 920-926.
20. Kleine, T., Münker, C., Mezger, K., & Palme, H. (2002). Rapid Accretion and Early Core Formation on Earth and Mars from Hf-W Chronometry. Nature, 418(6895), 15-18.
21. Klopp, F. (2008). Science and Religion: A New Introduction. Blackwell Publishing.
22. Mojzsis, S. J., Harrison, T. M., & Pidgeon, R. T. (2001). Oxygen-isotope Evidence from Ancient Zircons for Liquid Water at the Earth's Surface 4300 Myr Ago. Nature, 409(6819), 178-181.
23. Patterson, C. (1956). Age of Meteorites and the Earth. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 10(4), 230-237.
24. Safronov, V. S. (1969). Evolution of the Protoplanetary Cloud and Formation of the Earth and Planets. NASA Technical Translation TT F-677.
25. Sagan, C. (1980). Cosmos. Random House.
26. Sleep, N. H., Zahnle, K. J., & Kasting, J. F. (2001). Thermodynamic and Kinetic Constraints on the Origin and Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere. In: Rimmer, M. A. (Ed.), The History of the Atmosphere (pp. 173-176). Cambridge University Press.
27. Smithies, R. H., Champion, D. C., & Van Kranendonk, M. J. (2003). Formation of Earth's First Continents: Reconciling Geochemical and Isotopic Evidence from 4.4-3.2 Ga Crust. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 211(3-4), 231-244.
28. Stevenson, D. J. (2001). Planetary Differentiations: Core Formation and Mantle Evolution. In Treatise on Geochemistry (Vol. 1, pp. 31-35). Elsevier.
29. Stevenson, D. J. (2003). Planetary Differentiations: Core Formation and Mantle Evolution. In Treatise on Geochemistry (Vol. 1, pp. 1-16). Elsevier.
30. Taylor, S. R., & Norman, M. D. (1990). The Terrestrial Planets and the Moon. In: Newsom, H. E., Jones, J. H. (Eds.), Origin of the Earth (pp. 17-20). Oxford University Press.
31. Touboul, M., Kleine, T., & Bourdon, B. (2012). Tungsten Isotopes and the Timing of Core Formation on the Earth. In: Rehkämper, M., Schönbächler, M., Wombacher, F. (Eds.), Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes (pp. 1045-1048). Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry.
32. Turcotte, D. L., & Schubert, G. (2002). Geodynamics (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
33. Wetherill, G. W. (1990). Formation of the Earth. In: Newsom, H. E., Jones, J. H. (Eds.), Origin of the Earth (pp. 173-176). Oxford University Press.
34. Wilde, S. A., Valley, J. W., Peck, W. H., & Graham, C. M. (2001). Evidence from Detrital Zircons for the Existence of Continental Crust and Oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr Ago. Nature, 409(6817), 91-94.
Interpretive Innovations

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 11 May 2026