Science and the Seven Earths: Difference between revisions

← Older edit

Science and the Seven Earths (view source)

Revision as of 22:11, 18 April 2024

6,399 bytes added , 18 April

→‎The universe as a roof/ceiling/canopy: Added a another verse and mini-section on the 'raised universe'

(View all pending changes)

[checked revision]

[pending revision]

CPO675

398

edits

@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 Note the same dishonest approach taken to assign seven layers of the atmosphere - i.e. the ''double counting of layers''.
-There is also no linguistical evidence or historical examples for 'al-ards' meaning or being used for layer(s) of the planet.
+There is also no linguistical evidence or historical examples for 'al-ard meaning or being used for layer(s) of the planet.
 '''The general scientific view is that the earth is composed of four (the dominant view)<ref>[https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/resource-library-earth-structure/ ''Earth Structure'']. Education. National Geographic. </ref>'''<ref>''[https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/08/26/4-layers-of-the-earth-made-easy/ 4 Layers Of The Earth Made Easy.]'' Forbes - Innovation - Science. Trevor Nace. 2019</ref> '''or five major layers depending on whether one splits the mantle or not.<ref>Lisa Gardiner - [http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Interior_Structure/interior.html&edu=high Structure of the Interior of Earth] - Windows to the Universe, January 18, 2010</ref><ref>Eugene C. Robertson - [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/interior/ The Interior of the Earth] - U.S. Geological Survey, May 21, 2007</ref><ref>Maggi Glasscoe - [http://scign.jpl.nasa.gov/learn/plate1.htm Structure of the Earth] - Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN), August 14, 1998</ref>'''
@@ Line 153: / Line 153: @@
 This is due to the Quran stating the nearest/lowest heaven is adorned with stars which cover the known visible universe (such as {{Quran|41|12}}), rather than any philological analysis and ignoring all historical context of the word, which has always meant a 'firmament', or solid layer in the sky to Islamic scholars.<ref>[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/13.2 ''Tafsir on Verse 13:2.''] Ibn Kathir. d. 1373. </ref> Using the term 'heavens/skies' was common to refer to this in pre-Islamic Christian literature too.<ref>''[https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110794083/html?lang=en Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background] (Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East Book 47)''. Decharneux, Julien. 2023. (pp. 255 - 257). De Gruyter. </ref>
-However, by looking at the [https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=smw >200 times]they are mentioned in the Quran, there are many problems substituting this meaning as we will see below, '''with all verses using a form of the word al-samā/سَماء''' (whether translated as the sky/skies or the heaven/heavens).
+However, by looking at the [https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=smw >200 times]they are mentioned in the Quran, there are many problems substituting this meaning as we will see below, '''with all verses using a form of the word al-samā/السماء''' (whether translated as 'the sky/skies' or the 'heaven/heavens').
 ==== Gates and water of the universe ====
@@ Line 177: / Line 177: @@
 However this description does perfectly match the antiquity view of the sky being a literal solid object, made up of 'firmaments':
-{{Quote|{{Quran|2|22}}|who assigned to you the earth for a couch, and heaven for an edifice (binā) , and sent down out of heaven water, wherewith He brought forth fruits for your provision; so set not up compeers to God wittingly.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|52|5}}|And by the canopy (safq) raised ˹high˺!}}{{Quote|{{Quran|79|28}}|He raised its ceiling (samk) and proportioned it.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|40|64}}|It is Allah Who made for you the earth your resting place and the sky a building (binā), and moulded you so gave you the best shape, and gave you pure things for sustenance; such is Allah, your Lord; so Most Auspicious is Allah, the Lord Of The Creation.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|21|32}}|And We made the sky a protected roof (saqf), but they, from its signs, are turning away.}}(Raising the roof/canopy in Q52:2 and Q79:28 also makes no sense in the context of our modern understanding of the Universe, where there is no scientific theory that our visible Universe was 'raised'. But does match the idea of the physical sky being broken from Earth and raised.)
+{{Quote|{{Quran|2|22}}|who assigned to you the earth for a couch, and heaven for an edifice (binā) , and sent down out of heaven water, wherewith He brought forth fruits for your provision; so set not up compeers to God wittingly.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|52|5}}|And by the canopy (safq) raised ˹high˺!}}{{Quote|{{Quran|79|28}}|He raised its ceiling (samk) and proportioned it.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|40|64}}|It is Allah Who made for you the earth your resting place and the sky a building (binā), and moulded you so gave you the best shape, and gave you pure things for sustenance; such is Allah, your Lord; so Most Auspicious is Allah, the Lord Of The Creation.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|21|32}}|And We made the sky a protected roof (saqf), but they, from its signs, are turning away.}}
+===== A raised universe =====
+Raising the roof/canopy in Q52:5 and Q79:28 (above, and see also Q55:7 below) also makes no sense in the context of our modern understanding of the Universe, where there is no scientific theory that our visible Universe was 'raised'. But does match the idea of the physical sky being broken from Earth and raised.
+{{Quote|{{Quran|55|7}}|He raised the heaven high and set up the balance,}}
 ===== The solid universe =====
@@ Line 188: / Line 192: @@
 * They are strong - {{Quran|78|12}}
 * And stacked above each other - {{Quran|67|3}} and {{Quran|71|15}}
-* Can be split open - {{Quran|25|25}}
+* Can be split open - {{Quran|25|25}} and {{Quran|42|5}}
 * And can be rolled up {{Quran|21|104}} and {{Quran|39|67}}
 Which is why the debates around the sky(s) among classical mufassirūn have centred around whether the 'firmament' is flat or domed,<ref>E.g. see: [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/13.2 ''Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Verse 13:2''] and [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/36.37 ''verse 36:37-40'']. Ibn Kathir d. 1373</ref> not solid or gas. And none have come up with a picture of the universe like we now know based off their studying of the Qur'an.
+===== The flat universe =====
+As mentioned above the skies will be ''folded up'' like writing scrolls:
+{{Quote|{{Quran|21|104}}|<b>(The) Day We will fold the heaven like (the) folding (of) a scroll for records.</b> As We began (the) first creation We will repeat it, a promise upon Us. Indeed, We - We are (the) Doers.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|39|67}}|They do not regard Allah with the regard due to Him, yet the entire earth will be in His fist <b>on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens, scrolled, in His right hand.</b> Immaculate is He and exalted above [having] any partners that they ascribe [to Him].}}
+Both of these verses confirm not only the solidness and corporeality of the the sky/heavens, but also their 'flatness/planeness', with no hint of the majority gaseous state with occasional solids for e.g. planets and stars sparsely scattered that our universe exists in.
+The Quran could simply have said the sky/heavens would be 'destroyed' or 'disappear' on judgement day to avoid this issue, rather than using words that imply and only really make sense with a flat and solid sky (''and one separate to the space in-between the heaven and the Earth as explored in sections [[Science and the Seven Earths#The Universe as a separate entity to Earth]] and [[Science and the Seven Earths#Between the Universe and the Earth]]''). These verses were taken literally by classical exegetes.<ref>For example:
+''Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Verse [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/21.104 21:104]'' and [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/39.67 ''39:67'']. Ibn Kathir d. 1373.
+''Tafsir Al-Jalalayn Verse [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/39.67 39:67].'' Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 864 ah / 1459 ce) and his pupil Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 ah / 1505 ce).
+''Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs Verse [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/21.104 21:104] and [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/39.67 39:67]''. A popular medieval commentary ascribed to Ibn Abbas. Unknown date.
+</ref>
+With the way our spherical Earth is floating in tiny section of space it it hard to imagine a scenario in which 'rolling up' the much larger universe (approximately 1.9 X 10^22 times larger than Earth)<ref>''[https://futurism.com/earth-compared-to-the-universe Earth Compared to the Universe.]'' Futurism. Joshua Filmer. 2015.</ref> would not destroy Earth in the process, but it follows the ancient view of a flat earth with a firmament that is the literal sky being pulled away above us by God at the end of the world, for dramatic effect to frighten unbelievers on judgement day.
+Also, the sky 'universe' will be ''split open'' (on judgement day) so angels can ascend to Earth (from an extremely far distance of >46 billion light years away),<ref>''[https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/01/21/how-far-is-it-to-the-edge-of-the-universe/ How Far Is It To The Edge Of The Universe?]'' Ethan Siegel. 2020. Forbes.</ref> furthering the flat solid image, as our current universe being mostly empty space<ref>''[https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a44050735/the-universe-is-mostly-empty-space/ Most of the Universe Is a Void. Here’s How That Emptiness Will Eventually Gobble Up All of Space.]'' Paul M. Sutter. 2023. Space. Popular Mechanics. A Part of Hearst Digital Media. ''P.M. Sutter is a science educator and a theoretical cosmologist at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Stony Brook University''</ref> would not need this to travel through.
+{{Quote|{{Quran|25|22-26}}|<b>The day they will see the angels, there will be no good news for the guilty on that day, and they will say, ‘Keep off [from paradise]!’</b>
+Then We shall attend to the works they have done and then turn them into scattered dust.
+On that day the inhabitants of paradise will be in the best abode and an excellent resting place.
+<b>The day when the sky with its clouds will be split open, and the angels will be sent down [in a majestic] descent,</b>
+on that day true sovereignty will belong to the All-beneficent, and it will be a hard day for the faithless.}}Similarly we see:
+{{Quote|{{Quran|42|5}}|<b>The heavens are about to be rent apart from above them,</b> while the angels celebrate the praise of their Lord and plead for forgiveness for those [faithful] who are on the earth. Indeed, Allah is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful!}}
 ==== The universe as day and night ====
@@ Line 201: / Line 230: @@
 In reality, the night and day we experience is a feature of the earth's rotation on its axis and is only applicable to Earth itself. There is no sense in which the earth's night and day apply across the wider cosmos as it would need to to be able to substitute the word/modern concept 'universe' with heaven/heavens (samā).
 {{Quote|{{Quran|79|27-29}}|Is your creation more prodigious or that of the heaven He has built? He raised its vault and fashioned it, and <b>darkened its night</b>, and <b>brought forth its forenoon<b/>.}}
+==== The Universe, Universes and Earth's width compared ====
+We are told that jannah/paradise/'the garden' is as wide as the heaven and earth. The words ʿarḍuhā kaʿarḍi ("its width is like the width") refer to the breadth, width, or side of something.<ref>[https://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000291.pdf ''See: عَرْضٌ 'ard''] - Lane's Lexicon page 2006</ref>{{Quote|{{Quran|57|21}}|Be ye foremost (in seeking) Forgiveness from your Lord, <b>and a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth,</b> prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers: that is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom he pleases: and Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding}}
+Given the huge difference in the size of the rest of our visible universe compared to the earth (as mentioned it's approximately 1.9 X 10^22 times larger than Earth),<ref>''[https://futurism.com/earth-compared-to-the-universe Earth Compared to the Universe.]'' Futurism. Joshua Filmer. 2015.</ref> this comparison makes little sense. However if one believed the heaven/sky was a firmament above Earth (whether it be a flat disk or a dome as debated in Islamic tradition), this fits far better.
+This idea is reinforced in the following verse, where similarly now paradise is as wide as seven heavens and the Earth, which the space of the six other universes (as would be needed by the apologists interpretation of samā as universe), would contradict the width given in verse 57:12. This would not contradict, however, if the skies/heavens were their historical definition of simply firmaments, one above the other, over the flat earth (and no further in the limited cosmos). {{Quote|{{Quran|3|133}}|And vie with one another, hastening to forgiveness from your Lord, and to <b>a garden whose breadth is as the heavens and earth,</b> prepared for the godfearing}}
 ==== The universe split from the Earth ====
 The ancient concept of the sky splitting from the Earth can be traced back to Mesopotamian<ref>''[https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/epic/hd_epic.htm Mesopotamian Creation Myths.]'' Ira Spar. 2009. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Met Musuem. </ref> and Egyptian<ref>''[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338646511_Skyscapes_Landscapes_and_the_drama_of_Proto-Indo-European_myth Skyscapes, Landscapes, and the drama of Proto-Indo-European myth.]'' John Grigsby PhD Synthesis. 2020.