Question:
Assalamun alaykum wa rahmatullahi taala wa barakatuhu,
I would like to ask you a question about tafsir of one verse of the Holy Quran. It goes like this:
Wa laqad khalaqna fauqakum sab’a tara’iqa wa maa qunna ‘anil khalqi ghafilin…(And we created above you seven Tara’iqa and never have We been of (Our) creation unaware) (El Mu’minun, 23, 17).
What does the word Taraiqa mean? Does it means the seven Heavens, like it is in many translations, or does it means something else?
What is the opinion of mashaykh about this verse?
Answer:
Alaykum Salam,
It can mean seven heavens or seven universes, or it can mean seven in the sense of uncountable multitude as mentioned in Tafsir Ibn Ashur. Another mufassir said “the turuq to Allah are to the number of the breaths of creatures” (Najmuddin Kubra). And Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
