Rewrite the entire text below, make it sound more coherent and better. Mention everything in great detail, including Hadithes and Quran Verses. Be very sceptical of the author Mohammad Hijab and also add some additional good arguments:

Hijab’s dismissal of this Hadith is not justified, as Islamic tradition contains various references to the mythological creature known as the Islamic whale or “al-hoot al-islami” in Arabic.

Although Nun, corresponding to the Arabic letter “n”, has limited mention in the Quran, references to it appear in Hadith and Tafsir as explanations of Quranic verses. Some early Sunni and Shia sources suggest that early Muslims believed the letter “nun” in Surah 68:1 of the Quran represented this massive whale that supports the Earth. This cosmogony aligns with ancient beliefs in which the world is upheld by giant animals and surrounded by an endless body of water.

While Hijab cautions untrained readers against misinterpretations due to the mixture of authentic and weak or fabricated narrations in Muslim scholars’ exegetical works,  such beliefs have been prevalent in early Islamic thought. Considering that many respected Islamic scholars have mentioned the Islamic whale and its connection to the Quran and the Earth’s cosmogony, issues with the Hadith’s chain of narration may not entirely invalidate its inclusion in these discussions.

Hijab’s assertion that neither the Quran nor the authentic Sunnah lend support to the claim of the Earth resting on a whale’s back may not consider the full range of available interpretations and the evolution of these ideas over time. 

Critics of Islam cite authentic narrations attributed to Ibn Abbas that the Nun Whale having the earth spread on its back, and having the mountains fixed into the earth because it was slipping about on the moving whale. These sahih narrations are certified as Sahih (Authentic) by Tabari, Al-Hakim and Dhahabi. 

Mohammed Hijab cites the weak or fabricated versions of the hadith, usually attributed to Muhammad, where the whale thats carrying the earth is carried by a rock or gemstone, and by an angel, etc. And seems to pretend that this was the arguement of the critics. A weak version of a similar hadith does not negate the authentic version.


3840 - أخبرنا أبو زكريا يحيى بن محمد العنبري ثنا محمد بن عبد السلام ثنا إسحاق بن إبراهيم أنبأ جرير عن الأعمش عن أبي ظبيان عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال : إن أول شيء خلقه الله القلم فقال له : اكتب فقال : و ما اكتب ؟ فقال : القدر فجرى من ذلك اليوم بما هو كائن إلى أن تقوم الساعة قال : و كان عرشه على الماء فارتفع بخار الماء ففتقت منه السموات ثم خلق النون فبسطت الأرض عليه و الأرض على ظهر النون فاضطرب النون فمادت الأرض فأثبتت بالجبال فإن الجبال تفخر على الأرض
هذا حديث صحيح على شرط الشيخين و لم يخرجاه
تعليق الذهبي قي التلخيص : على شرط البخاري ومسلم

"The first thing God created is the pen, He says to it "Write". So it (the pen) asks "What do I write?" Then He says "Destiny". So then it (the pen) rushed down everything that will happen from this day to the arrival of the Hour. He says: "And his throne was above the water". Then he raised the steam from the water and then divided it into seven heavens. Then He created the Nun (Whale) and then spread the Earth on it. And the Earth is on the back of the Nun. So the Nun got agitated [or moved aggressively], hence the Earth was shaken up. So it was fixed with mountains, and hence indeed they (the mountains) stand proud over the Earth. This Hadith is Authentic (Sahih) on/according to the conditions of the two sheikhs, and they did not narrate it. Dhahabi's commentary on the summary: It is on/according to the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim"
- Al-Hakim Mustadrak (Supplication of the two Sahihs)

"According to Ibn Humayd-Jarir (b. 'Abd al-Hamid)-'Ata' b. al-Sa'ib-Abu al-DOA Muslim b. Subayh-Ibn 'Abbas: The first thing created by God is the Pen. God said to it: Write!, and it wrote whatever is going to be until the Coming of the Hour. Then God created the fish upon the water. Then he heaped up the earth upon it.356 This reportedly is a sound tradition as transmitted on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas and on the authority of others in the sense commented upon and explained and does not contradict anything transmitted by us from him on this subject."
- Tabari's History of Prophets and Kings

It's up to you if you consider Ibn Abbas' interpetation as part of the Islamic Creation story. Do bear in mind his interpetation has met no resistance in the Early Islamicate, because he was known to be the "Translator of the Quran" and was understood by early Muslims that any meaning that he can derive out of the Quran was granted to him by God. Similar narrations exist where he explains that this is the meaning for "Nun and by the pen that writes" (68:1)