How can one reconcile the interpretation of the verse, "He raised its canopy and proportioned it" in Surat An-Nazi'at—meaning that the heaven was created before the Earth—with the fact that the Earth did not yet exist for the heaven's canopy to be raised from it? Does this imply that the Earth was created before the heaven, and how does this align with modern science?

The issue of the chronological order in the creation of the heavens and the earth does not indicate a problem with the creation of the heavens preceding the creation of the earth. This is because the raising of the sky's canopy does not necessitate the existence of the earth; rather, it signifies the grandeur of its own structure and the loftiness from its lowest point to its highest. "Samk" (سمك) refers to raising something in space.