Short answer
Yes, in the lowest of them, the sky nearest the earth. Qur'an 71:16 says God (﷾) made the moon "a light in their midst", meaning in the seven heavens. Critics say this puts the moon out among the heavens, beyond the stars. But the Qur'an names the lowest heaven three times, and each time God (﷾) has adorned it with lamps or stars. Arabic can say a thing is "in them" when it is in one of them. Al-Qurtubi, a 13th-century commentator (a scholar who explains the Qur'an), reads it as the moon in the lowest heaven. The verse gives no distance, size or order for the moon, sun or stars, so nothing in it can be measured. It calls the moon a light, and the moon does light the night. It does not say where that light comes from. The verse's purpose is to point from the moon to its Maker.
Full explanation
What the verse says, and the objection
Qur'an 71:15-16 asks people to think about how God (﷾) made seven heavens, one above another. It says God (﷾) made the moon "a light in their midst". Yusuf Ali's "in their midst" translates one Arabic word, fihinna, which means "in them". Critics say this puts the moon out among the seven heavens. They add that the Qur'an says God (﷾) adorned the lowest heaven with the stars. So, they say, the moon would lie beyond the stars, although it is the nearest of the heavenly bodies. Some say the classical commentaries (books by scholars of past centuries who explained the Qur'an) put the sun in the higher heavens. Others say the Qur'an calls the moon a light, although its light comes from the sun.
“"'See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, "'And made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp?”
“And we have, (from of old), adorned the lowest heaven with Lamps, and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.”
“We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars,- (For beauty) and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, (So) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted Assembly but be cast away from every side, Repulsed, for they are under a perpetual penalty, Except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness.”
The heaven adorned with the lights
The Qur'an names the lowest heaven three times. Each time it says God (﷾) adorned it with the lights of the night sky: lamps in two verses and the stars in the third. The Arabic is al-sama' al-dunya, the nearest heaven. The word sama' means both heaven and sky. So in the Qur'an's own words, the first of the seven heavens is the one adorned with the lights we see.
“And we have, (from of old), adorned the lowest heaven with Lamps, and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.”
“So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge.”
“We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars,- (For beauty) and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, (So) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted Assembly but be cast away from every side, Repulsed, for they are under a perpetual penalty, Except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness.”
How the commentators read "in them"
Ibn Kathir, a 14th-century commentator, explains the lamps as the planets and fixed stars placed in the lowest heaven. Al-Qurtubi, who died in 1273, places the moon there too. He explains "in them" as "in the lowest heaven". He gives the reason of al-Akhfash, an early expert in Arabic grammar. Arabic says "I came to Banu Tamim" of someone who visited only some of that tribe. He adds Ibn Kaysan's answer: what is in one of them is in them. A second reading, from Qutrub and al-Kalbi, takes "in them" to mean "with them". On that reading, God (﷾) made the moon along with the heavens. The Qur'an itself uses "in them" of a group where each thing is in one part of it. In 17:44, "all beings therein" (man fihinna) are the beings of the seven heavens and the earth, each in its own place. Al-Baghawi, another classical commentator, reports the lowest-heaven reading from al-Hasan al-Basri, an early scholar who died in 728. He gives the same Banu Tamim example. Al-Tabari, an early commentator who died in 923, records the same figure of speech. He gives the same example, from some scholars of Arabic at Basra. So the reading is nearly thirteen hundred years old. It was not devised to answer modern astronomy.
Explains the lamps as the planets and fixed stars placed in the lowest heaven. He says "We have made them missiles" refers to lamps as a kind, not to the lamps themselves, because the devils are not pelted with the stars that are in the sky but with shooting flames below them, which may be drawn from them; and Allah knows best.
Explains "in them" as in the lowest heaven, as one says "I came to Banu Tamim" when one came to some of them; he gives this from the grammarian al-Akhfash. He adds the answer of Ibn Kaysan: if it is in one of them, it is in them, as one says "give me the marked garments" when only one of them was marked. He reports that Qutrub and al-Kalbi took "in them" to mean "with them": God created the sun and the moon along with the heavens and the earth. "A light", in al-Suddi's explanation, is a light for the people of the earth.
“The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; And yet ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft-Forbear, Most Forgiving!”
Reports al-Hasan: "in them" means in the lowest heaven, as one says "I came to Banu Tamim" when one came only to some of them, and "so-and-so is hiding in the houses of Banu so-and-so" when he is in one house. He then reports Abdullah ibn Amr's saying that the faces of the sun and the moon are toward the heavens, with the light of the sun and of the moon in them, and their backs toward the earth, and says this is also narrated from Ibn Abbas.
Records that some of the scholars of Arabic at Basra said the words "and made the moon a light in them" are figurative, as one says "I came to Banu Tamim" when one came only to some of them.
A lamp and a light in the sky
Another verse speaks of the moon in the sky directly. It says God (﷾) made constellations in the sky and placed in it a lamp and a moon giving light. The Arabic has the singular, al-sama', the sky. The Qur'an calls the sun a lamp and a shining glory, and the moon a light. The word for light, nur, says only that the moon gives light, and it does: it lights the night. None of these verses says where the moon's light comes from. The Qur'an adds that God (﷾) measured out stages for the moon so that people can count the years. Anyone can watch those stages month by month.
“Blessed is He Who made constellations in the skies, and placed therein a Lamp and a Moon giving light;”
“It is He Who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for her; that ye might know the number of years and the count (of time). Nowise did Allah create this but in truth and righteousness. (Thus) doth He explain His Signs in detail, for those who understand.”
Reports in the commentaries
The commentaries also record opinions of some Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), the men and women who knew him, about the sun and the moon. Al-Tabari explains the verse simply as "in the seven heavens", naming no particular one. He then reports, through Qatada, a saying of the Companion Abdullah ibn Amr. The faces of the sun and moon, he said, are turned toward the heavens and their backs toward the earth. Al-Qurtubi relates that Ibn Abbas and Ibn Umar said the reverse about the moon. Its face, they said, gives light to the people of the earth and its back to the people of heaven. He also relates, without a chain of narrators, a saying of Ibn Umar. It puts the sun in the fourth heaven in summer and in the seventh in winter. These opinions do not agree with each other. Ibn Kathir, on 71:15, sums up what the astronomers say. They put a planet in each heaven, with the moon in the lowest and the sun in the fourth. He notes that they differ in many places. He says his point is only that God (﷾) created seven heavens one above another. None of this is the Qur'an or a saying of the Prophet (ﷺ). When believers differ, the Qur'an tells them to refer the matter to Allah (﷾) and His Messenger (ﷺ). The Qur'an itself names no particular heaven for the sun, the moon or any planet, and gives no distance or order for them.
Glosses the words as "He made the moon a light in the seven heavens, and the sun a lamp in them", and says the interpreters held the like. He then reports, through Qatada, two sayings of the Companion Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As: that the light of the sun and the moon is in the heaven, and that their faces are toward the heavens and their backs toward the earth. For both he cited these verses. For the first, Qatada says only that it "was mentioned to us".
Records a second answer given by Ibn Kaysan: it is narrated that the moon's face is turned toward the heaven, so it is joined to the heavens. He then relates that Ibn Abbas and Ibn Umar said the moon's face gives light to the people of the earth and its back to the people of heaven. He relates from Ibn Abbas, through al-Qushayri, that the sun's face is in the heavens and its back toward the earth, and notes that the reverse has also been said. And he relates that Abdullah ibn Umar, asked why the sun scorches at some times and is cool at others, said it is in the fourth heaven in summer and in the seventh, by the Throne of the Most Merciful, in winter, and that if it were in the lowest heaven nothing could withstand it. He gives no chain of narrators for these reports.
Asks whether the seven heavens one above another are known only from revelation, or are also perceived by the senses, from what is known of the planets' courses and eclipses. He then sums up what the astronomers say: the seven planets eclipse one another; the lowest, the moon, is in the lowest heaven and eclipses what is above it; Mercury is in the second heaven, Venus in the third, the sun in the fourth, Mars in the fifth, Jupiter in the sixth and Saturn in the seventh. The other stars, the fixed ones, are in an eighth sphere, which those of them who follow the Sharia call the Kursi. He adds their account of a ninth sphere and of how the spheres and planets move. He calls this a summary of what they say, and notes that they disagree in many places, which he is not concerned to explain. The point, he says, is only what the verses say: God created seven heavens one above another, and made the moon a light in them and the sun a lamp.
“O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination.”
The test for claims about the sky
A claim about the sky can be tested when it says something that can be seen or measured. How far a body is from the earth, or which body is nearer, are claims of that kind. Qur'an 71:16 makes no such claim. It gives no distance, size or order for the moon, the sun or the stars. Al-Qurtubi also reads the "See ye not" of 71:15 as said to inform, not to point to something seen with the eyes. The Qur'an asks the same question about the creation of the heavens and the earth, which no one watched (14:19). Other texts do make claims of the measurable kind. The Vishnu Purana is one of the Puranas, Hindu scriptures of the smriti (remembered tradition) kind. It gives the sun's distance from the earth in leagues (yojanas) and sets the moon as far again beyond the sun. It places the lunar constellations beyond the moon. Figures like these can be checked against the sky. A Hindu may reply that Mount Meru and the lokas (the worlds of Hindu teaching) are unseen realms, like the Qur'an's heavens. But the sun and the moon are not unseen, and this passage measures them from the earth. Reading "in them" as "in one of them" follows ordinary Arabic usage, recorded long before modern astronomy. A number of leagues measured from the earth is a different kind of statement. Where the Qur'an does speak of what anyone can see, as with the moon's stages in 10:5, it is right.
“The solar orb is situated a hundred thousand leagues from the earth; and that of the moon an equal distance from the sun. At the same interval above the moon occurs the orbit of all the lunar constellations. The planet Budha (Mercury) is two hundred thousand leagues above the lunar mansions.”
Explains the verse as a further proof Noah set before his people: do you not know that the One who had the power to do this is the One who must be worshipped? He adds that "See ye not" is said to inform them, not to point to something seen with the eyes, as one says "Did you not see how I dealt with so-and-so?"
“Seest thou not that Allah created the heavens and the earth in Truth? If He so will, He can remove you and put (in your place) a new creation?”
What the verse is for
The verse belongs to Noah's call to his people. Al-Qurtubi explains it as one more proof Noah set before them. The One who had the power to make all this is the One who must be worshipped. The Qur'an draws the same line elsewhere. The sun and the moon are among God's (﷾) signs, and people are told not to bow down to them but to Allah (﷾), who created them. So the verse is not a lesson in distances. It points from the moon and the sun to their Maker.
Explains the verse as a further proof Noah set before his people: do you not know that the One who had the power to do this is the One who must be worshipped? He adds that "See ye not" is said to inform them, not to point to something seen with the eyes, as one says "Did you not see how I dealt with so-and-so?"
“Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve.”
The objections answered
Qur'an 71:15-16 — Surat Nuh (Noah), verses 15-16
“"'See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, "'And made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp?”
Cited for
Critics say "in them" places the moon out among the seven heavens, beyond the stars of the lowest heaven. Yet the moon is the nearest of the heavenly bodies.
The response
The Qur'an names the lowest heaven three times, and each time says God (﷾) adorned it with lamps or stars: the lights we see. Arabic can say a thing is in a group when it is in one part of it. So one says "I came to Banu Tamim" after visiting some of that tribe. Al-Qurtubi explains the verse this way: the moon is in the lowest heaven. Al-Tabari records the same figure of speech, with the same example, from some scholars of Arabic at Basra, more than a thousand years ago. And another verse says God (﷾) placed the lamp and the moon in the sky.
Where it lands — Arabic allows "in them" to mean in one of them, and al-Qurtubi reads it as the lowest heaven, the heaven adorned with the stars. The verse does not put the moon beyond the stars, and gives no order between them.
Vishnu Purana 2.7 — book 2, chapter 7
“The solar orb is situated a hundred thousand leagues from the earth; and that of the moon an equal distance from the sun. At the same interval above the moon occurs the orbit of all the lunar constellations. The planet Budha (Mercury) is two hundred thousand leagues above the lunar mansions.”
Cited for
A Hindu may call this a double standard. The page reads "in them" loosely, but holds the Vishnu Purana to its numbers. It sets aside reports in its own commentaries. The Puranas too are only smriti, below the Veda. And Meru and the lokas are unseen realms, like the Qur'an's seven heavens.
The response
The test is the same for both texts, whatever their rank. A text can be checked only where it speaks of what can be seen or measured. Whatever is said of Meru and the lokas, this passage speaks of the sun and the moon, which anyone can see. It measures them in leagues from the earth and puts the moon beyond the sun, so it can be checked. Qur'an 71:16 gives no such figure. Reading "in them" as "in one of them" is ordinary Arabic, recorded by grammarians long before modern astronomy. Setting aside reports in the commentaries is not like setting aside the Puranas. Islam never counted such reports as scripture. Hindu tradition counts the Puranas among its scriptures, as smriti.
Where it lands — One test for both texts: what can be seen and measured can be checked. The Vishnu Purana makes such claims about the sun and the moon, and Qur'an 71:16 makes none.
Tafsir al-Qurtubi, on 71:16 (reports on the sun and moon)
Records a second answer given by Ibn Kaysan: it is narrated that the moon's face is turned toward the heaven, so it is joined to the heavens. He then relates that Ibn Abbas and Ibn Umar said the moon's face gives light to the people of the earth and its back to the people of heaven. He relates from Ibn Abbas, through al-Qushayri, that the sun's face is in the heavens and its back toward the earth, and notes that the reverse has also been said. And he relates that Abdullah ibn Umar, asked why the sun scorches at some times and is cool at others, said it is in the fourth heaven in summer and in the seventh, by the Throne of the Most Merciful, in winter, and that if it were in the lowest heaven nothing could withstand it. He gives no chain of narrators for these reports.
Cited for
Critics say the earliest Muslims pictured the sky the same way. Al-Qurtubi reports that Ibn Umar put the sun in the fourth heaven in summer and the seventh in winter. Ibn Umar added that if it were in the lowest heaven, nothing could withstand it.
The response
This is one report from a Companion, and al-Qurtubi gives it with no chain of narrators. It is not the Qur'an and not a saying of the Prophet (ﷺ). When believers differ, the Qur'an tells them to refer the matter to Allah (﷾) and His Messenger (ﷺ). The Qur'an names no particular heaven for the sun. It says that God (﷾) placed the lamp and the moon in the sky, and 71:16 names no one heaven. And al-Qurtubi himself explains 71:16 as the moon in the lowest heaven.
Where it lands — A Companion's reported opinion is not the Qur'an's teaching, and the Qur'an names no particular heaven for the sun or the moon.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir, on 71:15
Asks whether the seven heavens one above another are known only from revelation, or are also perceived by the senses, from what is known of the planets' courses and eclipses. He then sums up what the astronomers say: the seven planets eclipse one another; the lowest, the moon, is in the lowest heaven and eclipses what is above it; Mercury is in the second heaven, Venus in the third, the sun in the fourth, Mars in the fifth, Jupiter in the sixth and Saturn in the seventh. The other stars, the fixed ones, are in an eighth sphere, which those of them who follow the Sharia call the Kursi. He adds their account of a ninth sphere and of how the spheres and planets move. He calls this a summary of what they say, and notes that they disagree in many places, which he is not concerned to explain. The point, he says, is only what the verses say: God created seven heavens one above another, and made the moon a light in them and the sun a lamp.
Cited for
Critics say the seven heavens are the seven planetary spheres of Greek astronomy, and that Muslim commentators said so. Ibn Kathir, on 71:15, puts the moon in the lowest heaven, the sun in the fourth and Saturn in the seventh. He puts the fixed stars in an eighth sphere.
The response
Ibn Kathir gives this as a summary of what the astronomers say. He notes that they differ in many places. He says his point is only that God (﷾) created seven heavens one above another. It is their account, not the Qur'an and not a saying of the Prophet (ﷺ). The Qur'an names no particular heaven for the sun or for any planet, and gives no distance or order. Even the astronomers' order puts the moon in the lowest heaven. And on 67:5 Ibn Kathir himself places the planets and the fixed stars in the lowest heaven, where that order has only the moon.
Where it lands — The order of the planets is the astronomers' account, which Ibn Kathir reports as theirs. The Qur'an names no particular heaven for the sun or any planet, and gives no distance or order.
Tafsir al-Tabari, on 71:16 (Abdullah ibn Amr)
Glosses the words as "He made the moon a light in the seven heavens, and the sun a lamp in them", and says the interpreters held the like. He then reports, through Qatada, two sayings of the Companion Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As: that the light of the sun and the moon is in the heaven, and that their faces are toward the heavens and their backs toward the earth. For both he cited these verses. For the first, Qatada says only that it "was mentioned to us".
Cited for
Critics say al-Tabari explains the verse as "in the seven heavens". He also reports Abdullah ibn Amr saying that the sun and moon face the heavens, with their backs to the earth. That, they say, is a picture from myth, not from the sky.
The response
Al-Tabari's explanation only spells out the verse's "them" as the seven heavens, for the sun as for the moon, and names no particular heaven. The same commentary also records how some scholars of Arabic at Basra read "in them". They took it as said of a part, as in "I came to Banu Tamim". This report of the faces is one report from a Companion. Al-Qurtubi relates other reports that say the reverse: the moon's face gives light to the earth and its back to the heavens. Reports that disagree like this show they are opinions, not revelation. The Qur'an says nothing of faces or backs.
Where it lands — The explanation only spells out the verse, and the reports of faces are single reports that disagree with each other. The verse says only that the moon is a light in the heavens and the sun a lamp.
Qur'an 10:5 — Surat Yunus (Jonas), verse 5
“It is He Who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for her; that ye might know the number of years and the count (of time). Nowise did Allah create this but in truth and righteousness. (Thus) doth He explain His Signs in detail, for those who understand.”
Cited for
Critics say the Qur'an calls the moon a light, nur, as if it shone by itself, when its light comes from the sun.
The response
Nur means light, and the moon does light the night: moonlight is real light, whatever its source. The Qur'an calls the sun a lamp and a shining glory, and the moon a light and a moon giving light. These verses say nothing about where the moon's light comes from. So there is nothing here for astronomy to contradict.
Where it lands — The Qur'an says the moon gives light, which it does. These verses say nothing of where that light comes from.
Perspectives
The critic's reading
Critics say Qur'an 71:16 puts the moon in the seven heavens, and other verses say God adorned the lowest heaven with the stars. So, they say, the verse places the moon out among the heavens, beyond the stars, though it is the nearest of the heavenly bodies. They add that reports in the classical commentaries put the sun in a higher heaven. They say Ibn Kathir lists a planet for each heaven. They also say the Qur'an calls the moon a light when its light comes from the sun.
Qur'an 71:16 says God made the moon a light "in them", the seven heavens named in 71:15.
Rebuttal
That is what the verse says. But Arabic can say a thing is "in them" when it is in one of them. Al-Qurtubi reads the verse as the moon in the lowest heaven, and al-Tabari records the same figure of speech from scholars of Arabic at Basra.
Reports in the classical commentaries put the sun in the fourth heaven in summer and the seventh in winter. Other reports turn the faces of the sun and moon toward the heavens.
Rebuttal
The reports are there, but they are opinions, and the one on the sun's heaven comes with no chain of narrators. The reports on the faces do not agree. None is the Qur'an or a saying of the Prophet (ﷺ), and the Qur'an names no heaven for the sun.
Ibn Kathir, on 71:15, sums up an order with a planet in each of the seven heavens. It puts the moon in the lowest and the sun in the fourth.
Rebuttal
Ibn Kathir gives this as what the astronomers say, and notes that they differ in many places. He says his point is only that God (﷾) created seven heavens one above another. The Qur'an names no particular heaven for the sun or any planet.
So the verse places the moon beyond the stars of the lowest heaven. Yet the moon is the nearest of the heavenly bodies.
Rebuttal
Three times the Qur'an says God (﷾) adorned the lowest heaven with lamps or stars, the lights we see. Al-Qurtubi reads "in them" as the lowest heaven, and the verse gives no order between the moon and the stars.
Calling the moon a light treats it as a source of light, when it shines with the sun's light.
Rebuttal
Nur means light, and moonlight is real light, whatever its source. These verses say nothing about where the moon's light comes from, so there is nothing for astronomy to contradict.
The Islamic perspective
As al-Qurtubi reads it, Qur'an 71:16 places the moon in the heavens by placing it in the lowest of them. That is the nearest heaven, which the Qur'an says God (﷾) adorned with the lights of the night sky. The classical commentators explain "in them" from ordinary Arabic. The verse gives no distance, size or order that could be measured. It says nothing of where the moon's light comes from. It points from the moon and the sun to the God (﷾) who made them.
The Qur'an names the lowest heaven three times. Each time it says God (﷾) adorned it with lamps or with the stars.
Ibn Kathir explains the lamps of the lowest heaven as the planets and fixed stars placed in it.
Arabic can say a thing is "in them" when it is in one of a group. Al-Qurtubi explains "in them" as the lowest heaven, from al-Akhfash, and gives Ibn Kaysan's answer that what is in one of them is in them. Al-Tabari records the same figure of speech from some scholars of Arabic at Basra.
Another verse says God (﷾) placed a lamp and a moon in the sky, where He made the constellations.
Qur'an 71:16 gives no distance, size or order for the moon, the sun or the stars. The Vishnu Purana gives distances in leagues for the sun, the moon and the lunar constellations.
The Qur'an calls the moon a light and the sun a lamp. These verses say nothing about where the moon's light comes from.
The reports on which way the faces of the sun and moon turn disagree with each other.
A Companion's reported opinion about the sky is not revelation. When believers differ, the matter goes back to the Qur'an and the Prophet (ﷺ).
Ibn Kathir gives the order of the planets on 71:15 as a summary of what the astronomers say, on which they differ. He says his point is only that God (﷾) created seven heavens. The Qur'an names no particular heaven for the sun or any planet.
The verse is a proof that the Maker of the heavens is the One to be worshipped. The Qur'an forbids bowing to the sun and the moon instead of Allah (﷾), who created them.