Al-Furqan 46: Then, We have brought it (extending shadow) slowly to Us (shortened it).

Surah Al-Furqan, verse 46. Then that lengthening shadow, that is, Allah Almighty, the earth, sun and moon system that human power cannot make, creating it in the sky, in space, turning them around each other's axis, and how this circulates, He tells us in His verse. What did He say? The shadow, it says, then that lengthening shadow We drew slowly toward Ourselves, it says. We shortened it. That is, His saying here "We drew toward Ourselves" means, with His knowledge creating this earth and the sun, and the moon too, placing them in the sky with His knowledge, and the qamar system too, placing it in the sky.

In this case, with the earth and the moon turning around their own axes, they also turn around the sun. The sun also turns around its own axis. In this case, the earth's turn around its own axis is 24 hours. Turning in 24 hours, it covers a distance of 40,000 kilometers. Now when the earth comes to face the sun, it is light. When it turns, what does it do? Evening, that is, night comes. And when it begins to come around the sun, morning; then the sun reaching its zenith, coming up high, at noon the sun going toward the evening, well, going toward the evening, the shadow lengthening again, well, then night coming again.

Here His saying "We drew it toward Ourselves, We shortened it" is the sun in the morning rising and reaching the zenith point. In the morning, when it strikes an object from here, the shadow of the object the sun strikes lengthens. When it rises upward like this, that is, when the earth turns, the sun turns around its own axis. When the earth turns and comes exactly facing the sun, the shadow too slowly shortens. It falls right at its base. This time is a disliked (karahat) time. Sun worshippers used to worship the sun at this time too. There are three disliked times. One: after the morning prayer, from sunrise until it has risen a spear's length.

The second, when the sun is right overhead at the zenith. And the third disliked time, at the afternoon prayer, 45 minutes before sunset. Is prayer not performed at these times? As far as possible, one must take care not to pray at these times. Only, in the morning prayer you cannot pray. In the disliked time there, you cannot pray. At noon likewise, you cannot pray. In the afternoon prayer you can pray. Why can we not pray in those, but can pray in the afternoon prayer? One time does not end before another time begins. After the morning prayer there is time until the noon prayer. Is that so? You can pray the morning prayer until the noon prayer.

In this case, the morning prayer, that is, in the morning's disliked time, you cannot pray. Because take out the disliked time. After that you have time to pray until noon anyway. Well, in this case, also at the zenith, after that has passed too, the time does not end anyway. The noon time begins. Then too you cannot pray. You can pray after that zenith time has passed. But in the afternoon prayer you do pray. Because one time does not end before another time begins. But since deeds depend on intention, as far as possible one should not pray at the disliked time. That is, one should not delay it until then.

Yes.

So what does Allah Almighty say? Then that lengthening shadow We drew slowly toward Ourselves, restricted, shortened. Allah Almighty's drawing the shadow toward Himself is used in a figurative sense and declares that the earth turns. Namely, with the earth turning around its own axis, the earth, receiving the sun's light, when it comes right opposite the sun, in the lands that receive the sunlight perpendicularly the shadow falls right at the base of the object, so the shadow is fully shortened.

This is noon, a time when the sun is right overhead. Actually, as the earth turns, it is the point where a land on the earth comes exactly opposite the sun and receives its rays perpendicularly. Since Allah Almighty created the universe with knowledge, speaking to people of superhuman powers, that Allah exists and has power over all things, He shows us.