What is the connection between Ibn Kathir's interpretation of the verses from Surat Fussilat, "He created the earth in two days, and yet you ascribe rivals to Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. And He placed therein firm mountains from above it, and blessed it... in four days, equally for those who ask," in which he cites Al-Bukhari's interpretation based on the verse, "And after that He spread the earth. He extracted from it its water and its pasture," and his division of creation into six days, and his statement that Allah created the earth in two days (Sunday and Monday), then created the mountains, rivers, and valleys in two days (Tuesday and Wednesday), then the heavens in two days (Thursday and Friday)?

The esteemed questioner mistakenly understood that Ibn Kathir mentioned the creation of the heavens on Thursday and Friday, whereas this was not stated in Ibn Kathir's text. The correct information is that Al-Suyuti was the one who mentioned this, finding Ibn Kathir's statement problematic because Ibn Kathir's كلام (discourse) is based on the idea that the "flattening" (dahw) of the earth occurred after the creation of the heavens and the earth, which Ibn Kathir clarified in "Al-Bidaya wa Al-Nihaya." There is no contradiction in Ibn Kathir's words, and scholars have differed on this issue. Al-Tabari favored the view that Allah created the earth, then the heavens, then flattened the earth, emphasizing that "flattening" (dahw) is different from "creation" (khalq). Ibn Hajar adopted this narration from Ibn Abbas.