How can the Hadith "Between the first heaven and the one following it is a distance of five hundred years" be reconciled with modern scientific information, and are the five hundred years not to be taken literally?

The following is a summary of the answer: The marfūʿ (attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him) ḥadīths which mention that the distance between each heaven is five hundred years are weak and inauthentic. These ḥadīths have been reported by four Companions:

1. The ḥadīth of Al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib: Its isnād (chain of narration) is weak due to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmayra, who is unknown. 2. The ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah: It is very weak because Qatādah is a mudallis (one who conceals defects in a narration) and did not explicitly state hearing from Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, and Al-Ḥasan did not hear from Abū Hurayrah. 3. The ḥadīth of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī: Its isnād is very weak due to Ibn Lahīʿah and Darrāj Abū al-Samḥ. 4. The ḥadīth of Abū Dharr: Its isnād is munkar (denounced), and Abū Naṣr did not hear from Abū Dharr.

No authentic isnād has been reported that specifies the distance between the heaven and the earth or between the heavens as five hundred years.