Science and the Seven Earths: Difference between revisions

[[File:Sunset from the ISS.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Limb view of the Earth's atmosphere. Colors roughly denote the layers of the atmosphere.]]

The [[Qur'an]] and a number of [[Sahih]] [[Hadith]] make the claim that there are seven different earths. This concept of multiple different earths or worlds is not unusual in the ancient world; ancient Mesopotamian Cosmology similarly saw seven earths and seven heavens.<ref>''[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Mesopotamian_Cosmic_Geography/P8fl8BXpR0MC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=inauthor:%22Wayne+Horowitz%22&printsec=frontcover Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography.]'' Wayne Horowitz. Eisenbrauns. 1998. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/9780931464997|<bdi>9780931464997</bdi>]]. ''Chapter "Seven Heavens and Seven Earths". pp. 208-222.''

The tradition of the seven earths is also found in hadith collections of Sahih Al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and Tirmidhi:

"‏ مَنْ ظَلَمَ قِيدَ شِبْرٍ طُوِّقَهُ مِنْ سَبْعِ أَرَضِينَ ‏"

Narrated Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Al-Harith:

   

A (Jewish) Rabbi came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and he said, "O Muhammad! We learn that Allah will put all the heavens on one finger, and the earths on one finger, and the trees on one finger, and the water and the dust on one finger, and all the other created beings on one finger. Then He will say, 'I am the King.' Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) smiled so that his pre-molar teeth became visible, and that was the confirmation of the Rabbi. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) recited: 'No just estimate have they made of Allah such as due to Him.' (Qur'an 39.67)}}

Abu Salama, abstain from getting this land, for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: He who usurps even a span of land would be made to wear around his neck seven earths.}}{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2960 | title=Mishkat al-Masabih 2960. In-book reference: Book 11, Hadith 195}}|He told of hearing God’s Messenger say, “If anyone wrongly takes a span of land God who is great and glorious will make him<b> dig it till he gets to the end of seven earths,</b> and then he will have it tied round his neck till the day of resurrection until men are judged.”

==Apologetic Claims==

According to Noble Verse 65:12 above, Allah Almighty created 7 Heavens for form the universe. The new scientific discovery had revealed to us that the earth that we currently live on today is also formed from seven layers. The very bottom layer contains most of the uranium and potonium ("sic") and all the materials that we need to create nuclear weapons and energy. Noble Verse 65:12 above does indeed say that the earth was created with seven layers. <BR>. . .<BR>

1. crust<BR>2. lithosphere<BR>3. upper mantle<BR>4. astenoshpere ("sic")<BR>5. lower mantle<BR>6. outer core<BR>7. inner core}}

There is also no linguistical evidence or historical examples for 'al-ard meaning or being used for layer(s) of the planet.  

A relatively new scientific hypotheses proposed by J. Marvin Herndon and Prof Xiaodong Song suggest the inner core may be further subdivided into four layers; the inner core, the innermost core, a sub-shell of fission material and decay products, and a subcore of uranium and plutonium forming the georeactor.<ref>D. F. Hollenbach, and J. M. Herndon - [http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/98/20/11085 Deep-Earth reactor: Nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field] - PNAS 2001 vol. 98 no. 20 pp 11085-11090</ref> If this new theory is accepted the number of layers of the earth will rise from five to eight.  

===Seven Earths===

While Allah's Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions were sitting clouds came over them and Allah's Prophet (peace be upon him) asked, "Do you know what these are?" On their replying that Allah and His Messenger knew best, he said, "These are the clouds (anan), these are the water-carriers of the Earth, which Allah drives to people who do not thank Him or call upon him." He then asked, "Do you know what is above you?" On their replying that Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) knew best, he said, "It is the firmament, a ceiling which is guarded and waves which are kept back." He then asked, "Do you know what is between you and it?" On their replying that Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) knew best, he said, "Between you and it are five hundred years." He then asked, "Do you knew what is above that?" On their replying that Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) best he said, "Two heavens with a distance of five hundred years between them." He went on speaking like that till he counted seven heavens, the distance between each pair being like between Heaven and Earth. He then asked, "Do you know what is above that?" On their replying that Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) knew best, he said, "Above that is the Throne, and the distance between it and the (seventh) heaven is the same as that between each pair of heavens." He then asked, '''"Do you know what is below you?" On their replying that Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) knew best, he said, "It is the earth." He then asked, "Do you know what is under that?" On their replying that Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) knew best, he said, "Under it there is another Earth with a journey of five hundred years between them," and so on till he had counted seven earths with a journey of five hundred years between each pair. He then said, "By Him in Whose hand Muhammad's soul is, if you were to drop a rope to the lowest earth it would not pass out of Allah's knowledge."''' He then recited, "He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward, and He is omniscient." (Tirmidhi commented that Allah's Messenger's recitation of the verse indicates that it would go down within Allah's knowledge, power and authority, for Allah's knowledge, power and authority are everywhere, while He is on the Throne, as He described Himself in His Book.)}}

===Seven Universes===

The word that in English is translated for heaven(s) in these verses is samā'/سَماء, which can also be translated as sky (which is essentially its modern meaning in Arabic),<ref>[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english-arabic/sky ''Sky.''] Translation English to Arabic. Cambridge dictionary.</ref> or skies samāwāt/ سماوات (plural). This is separate to 'jannah/جَنَّة', which refers to the paradise supposedly in the afterlife for righteous Muslims - which readers may mistake as being the same given the double meaning (of heaven) in English. However, unlike paradise ''(jannah)'', the heaven(s)/skies ''(samā'/samāwāt)'' are part of the cosmos, with the moon being described as in them ({{Quran|71|15-16}}), clouds ({{Quran|2|164}}), along with the stars ({{Quran|41|12}}) etc.  

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>  

====Gates and water of the universe====

{{Quote|{{Quran|54|11}}|So We opened the gates of heaven, with water pouring forth. }}The gates of the heavens are mentioned elsewhere such as below, saying even if God opened a gate so the disbelievers could climb up it, they would still not believe.

Verses in the Quran always describe the heaven and the Earth as separate entities, such as the above verse (Q21:30) describing them as split, with the verse stating that "We clove them" (dual pronoun 'huma'), not "We clove it", thereby indicating that the Earth and skies are distinct after the cloving. Along with things like the moon being described as in them ({{Quran|71|15-16}}), the clouds ''between'' the skies and the Earth ({{Quran|2|164}}), along with the stars being in the nearest sky ({{Quran|41|12}}) etc.

====Between the Universe and the Earth====

There is nothing between the Earth and the rest of the universe, so substituting the 'heavens' with the modern definition of the universe does not make sense here. Yet once again matches the ancient view of the heavens as 'firmaments' in the sky with space between them.   

{{Quote|{{Quran|5|18}}|Say the Jews and the Christians: "We are sons of God and beloved of Him." Say: "Why does He punish you then for your sins? No: You are only mortals, of His creation." He can punish whom He pleases and pardon whom He wills, <b>for God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them,</b> and everything will go back to Him.}}