"Do they not look at the sky above them...

"Do they not look at the sky above them, how We have built it and adorned it, and there are no rifts in it." --sura 31, verse 10: "(God) created the heavens without any pillars that you can see..." --sura 13, verse 2: "God is the One Who raised the heavens without any pillars that you can see, then He firmly established Himself on the throne and He subjected the sun and moon . .

." These two verses refute the belief that the vault of the heavens was held up by pillars, the only things preventing the former from crushing the earth. --sura 55, verse 7: "the sky (God) raised it . . ." --sura 22, verse 65: "(God) holds back the sky from falling on the earth unless by His leave . . ." It is known how the remoteness of celestial masses at great distance and in proportion to the magnitude of their mass itself constitutes the foundation of their equilibrium.

The more remote the masses are, the weaker the force is that attracts one to the other. The nearer they are, the stronger the attraction is that one has to the other: this is true for the Moon, which is near to the Earth (astronomically speaking) and exercises an influence by laws of attraction on the position occupied by the waters of the sea, hence the phenomenon of the tides. If two celestial bodies come too close to one another, collision is inevitable.

The fact that they are subjected to an order is the sine qua non for the absence of disturbances. The subjection of the Heavens to divine order is often referred to as well: --sura 23, verse 86. God is speaking to the Prophet. "Say: Who is Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the tremendous throne?" We have already seen how by 'seven heavens' what is meant is not 7, but an indefinite number of Heavens.

--sura 45, verse 13: "For you (God) subjected all that is in the heavens and on the earth, all from Him. Behold! In that are signs for people who reflect." --sura 55, verse 5: "The sun and moon (are subjected) to calculations" --sura 6, verse 96: "(God) appointed the night for rest and the sun and the moon for reckoning." --sura 14, verse 33: "For you (God) subjected the sun and the moon, both diligently pursuing their courses.