Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions

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 [[File:Flat Earth The Wonders of Creation.jpg|right|thumb|175px|Taken from Zekeriya Kazvinî's "Acaib-ül Mahlûkat" (The Wonders of Creation). Translated into Turkish from Arabic. Istanbul: ca. 1553. <BR>This map depicts "a traditional Islamic projection of the world as a flat disk surrounded by the sundering seas which are restrained by the encircling mountains of Qaf".<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/earth.html Views of the Earth] - World Treasures of the Library of Congress, July 29, 2010</ref> ]]
-Islamic [[scriptures]] imply, adhere to, and describe a flat-Earth cosmography ([[Geocentrism and the Quran|arranged in a geocentric system]]) which conceives of the earth as existing in the form of a large plane or disk. While knowledge of the spherical shape of the Earth has existed to a greater or lesser degree since at least the classical Greeks (4th Century BCE), such knowledge prominently entered the Islamic milieu in the 9th century CE when many Greek texts were translated into Arabic for the first time under the sponsorship of the Abbasid [[Khilafah (Caliphate)|caliphate]].
+Islamic [[scriptures]] imply, adhere to, and describe a flat-Earth cosmography ([[Geocentrism and the Quran|arranged in a geocentric system]]) according to numerous academic studies. While knowledge of the spherical shape of the Earth has existed to a greater or lesser degree since at least the classical Greeks (4th Century BCE), such knowledge prominently entered the Islamic milieu in the 9th century CE when many Greek texts were translated into Arabic for the first time under the sponsorship of the Abbasid [[Khilafah (Caliphate)|caliphate]].
 Today, some Islamic scholars claim that Islamic scriptures and their first audiences were fully aware of the spherical shape of the Earth and that this was also a consensus view of early scholars. Evidence does not support any of these claims, despite oft-cited statements from the works of [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Classical_perspectives|Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Hazm (see below)]]. Critics note that clear descriptions and assumptions made in the [[Qur'an]], [[hadith]], [[Tafsir|tafsirs]], and writings of early Islamic scholars demonstrate that Muhammad and his companions did not know the Earth was spherical but in fact held it to be flat and disk like, and this is the framework within which the Qur'an operates.
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 {{Quote|Dīwān, Umayya ibn Abī al‐Ṣalt, p. 179 cited in {{citation |last1=Tabatabaʾi |first1=Mohammad A. |last2=Mirsadri |first2=Saida |date=2016 |title=The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24811784 |journal=Arabica |volume=63 |issue=3/4 |pages=201-234}} p. 226<BR />See [https://www.aldiwan.net/poem36172.html here] for the poem in Arabic.|And [he] shaped the earth as a carpet then he ordained it, [the area] under the firmament [are] just like those he uplifted}}
-Damien Janos in another paper on Qur'anic cosmography has similarly noted that while the exact shape of its boundaries are not described, "what is clear is that the Qurʾān and the early Muslim tradition do not uphold the conception of a spherical earth and a spherical universe. This was a view that later prevailed in the learned circles of Muslim society as a result of the infiltration of Ptolemaic astronomy".<ref>{{citation |last1=Janos |first1=Damien |date=2012 |title=Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some notes on the formation of a religious wordview |journal=Religion |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=215-231}} See pp. 217-218</ref>
+Damien Janos in another paper on Qur'anic cosmography has similarly noted that while the exact shape of its boundaries are not described, "what is clear is that the Qurʾān and the early Muslim tradition do not uphold the conception of a spherical earth and a spherical universe. This was a view that later prevailed in the learned circles of Muslim society as a result of the infiltration of Ptolemaic astronomy".<ref>{{citation |last1=Janos |first1=Damien |date=2012 |title=Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some notes on the formation of a religious wordview |journal=Religion |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=215-231}} See pp. 217-218</ref> Likewise, Omar Anchassi in his study of early Islamic cosmography notes, "A plain-sense reading of the Quranic text renders the earth as flat".<ref name="Anchassi" />
 ==Direct references to a flat Earth in the Qur'an==
-The Qur'an frequently describes, in explicit terms, the creation of "al-ard", which can be translated as either "Earth" or "land", as a flat structure. The use of metaphors and words intimately associated with flat objects (such as beds and carpets) is especially common in cases where the context of the verse makes it clear that the word "al-ard" is being used to describe the creation of the Earth at the beginning of time alongside the creation of the "heavens" (rather than in the more limited sense of a certain portion of "land"). The best example of this is perhaps [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth#Qur.27an_88:20_-_sutihat_.28.22spread_out_flat.22.29|verse 88:20]].
+The Qur'an frequently describes, in explicit terms, the creation of "al-ard", which can be translated as either "Earth" or "the land", as a flat structure. The use of metaphors and words intimately associated with flat objects (such as beds and carpets) is especially common in cases where the context of the verse makes it clear that the word "al-ard" is being used to describe the creation of the Earth at the beginning of time alongside the creation of the "heavens" (rather than in the more limited sense of a certain portion of "land"). The best example of this is perhaps [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth#Qur.27an_88:20_-_sutihat_.28.22spread_out_flat.22.29|verse 88:20]].
-The same term 'al-ard' is even used to describe the creation of the next Earth after judgement day,<ref>E.g. {{Quran|14|48}}</ref> and is commonly used alongside 'the heavens' (i.e. the heavens and the Earth) as a reference to the whole Islamic conception of the universe - it's meaning of the whole Earth can be seen in further verses where it is used on [https://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?t=3&q=the%20earth QuranCorpus].
+The same term 'al-ard' is even used to describe the creation of the next Earth after judgement day,<ref>E.g. {{Quran|14|48}}</ref> and is commonly used alongside 'the heavens' (i.e. the heavens and the Earth). In the vast majority of Quranic usage, al-ard refers to the whole Earth rather than "the land", as can be verified on [https://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?t=3&q=the%20earth corpus.quran.com].
 ===Qur'an 2:22 - ''firashan'' ("thing spread to sit or lie upon")===
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 مَهْدًا = mahdan = cradle or bed; a plain, even, or smooth expanse<ref>مَهْدً mahdan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000267.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2739</ref>
-Sinai 2023 notes that also in {{Quran|13|18}}, hell that is called a mihād, a “resting-place spread out.”<ref>Footnote 47 (p. 40): S''inai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary'' (p. 128). Princeton University Press.</ref> This may give further weight to the seven earths found in {{Quran|65|12}} being flat discs one above the other as discussed in the hadith section below, with the lowest being hell as was believed by a number of early and medieval Muslims as this IslamQA post shows.<ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/answers/215011/where-are-paradise-and-hell Where Are Paradise and Hell?] IslamQA. 2015. </ref>
+Sinai (2023) notes that in {{Quran|13|18}}, hell too is called a mihād, a “resting-place spread out.”<ref>Footnote 47 (p. 40): S''inai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary'' (p. 128). Princeton University Press.</ref> Early Muslims pictured the seven earths apparently mentioned in {{Quran|65|12}} as flat discs one above the other, as discussed in the hadith section below. The lowest of these was hell in the view of a number of early and medieval scholars.<ref>See [https://islamqa.info/en/answers/215011/where-are-paradise-and-hell Where Are Paradise and Hell?] IslamQA. 2015. </ref>
 ===Qur'an 43:10 - ''mahdan'' ("bed")===
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 Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.}}
-A flat conception of the Earth is the only sort that permits the setting and rising places of the sun to be visited. Contemporary 7th-century Arabic and Syriac poems telling the same legend suggest that early Muslims understood the story literally, as do early tafsirs and narrations therein (see main article).
+A flat conception of the Earth is the only sort that permits the setting and rising places of the sun to be visited. Contemporary 7th-century Arabic poems and [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance|a mid-6th century Syriac Legend]] telling the same story suggest that early Muslims understood the story literally, as do early tafsirs and narrations therein (see main article).
 ===Qur'an 2:187 and 17:78 - fasting and prayer times===
-{{Main|The Ramadan Pole Paradox}}{{Quote|{{Quran|2|187}}|It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are raiment [clothing] for you and ye are raiment for them. Allah is Aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect and He hath turned in mercy toward you and relieved you. So hold intercourse with them and seek that which Allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn. Then strictly observe the fast till nightfall and touch them not, but be at your devotions in the mosques. These are the limits imposed by Allah, so approach them not. Thus Allah expoundeth His revelation to mankind that they may ward off (evil)}}This verses outlines some of the requirements of the fourth [[Five Pillars of Islam|Pillar of Islam]], fasting: one can not eat, drink, or have [[Reproduction|sexual intercourse]] between "dawn" and "nightfall". The Qur'an conceives of itself as containing guidance for all people in all times in all places, yet the instructions contained here are, taken literally, impracticable for those who live near the North and South poles of the globe, where a single day/night cycle can take any where from weeks to months. While Islamic scholars were and are content to permit exceptions to the literal meaning of the verse for those who live in extreme climes, the original authors and audiences of Islamic scriptures do not seem to have appreciated this problem. Based on this evidence, the earliest believers were either mistaken about the details of the dynamic system existing between the rotating Earth and the star it orbits or, more likely, simply unaware of the system altogether.
+{{Main|The Ramadan Pole Paradox}}{{Quote|{{Quran|2|187}}|It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are raiment [clothing] for you and ye are raiment for them. Allah is Aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect and He hath turned in mercy toward you and relieved you. So hold intercourse with them and seek that which Allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn. Then strictly observe the fast till nightfall and touch them not, but be at your devotions in the mosques. These are the limits imposed by Allah, so approach them not. Thus Allah expoundeth His revelation to mankind that they may ward off (evil)}}
-Similar scriptural instructions for worship based on the position of the Sun relative to the observer confirm the implications of the {{Quran|2|187}}.
+This verses outlines some of the requirements of the fourth [[Five Pillars of Islam|Pillar of Islam]], fasting: one can not eat, drink, or have [[Reproduction|sexual intercourse]] between "dawn" and "nightfall".
+Similar scriptural instructions for worship based on the position of the Sun are given in another verse.
 {{Quote|{{Quran|17|78}}|Establish worship at the going down of the sun until the dark of night, and (the recital of) the Qur'an at dawn. Lo! (the recital of) the Qur'an at dawn is ever witnessed.}}
-For instance, in Aberdeen, Scotland, the time between the night prayer (Isha) and the dawn prayer (Fajr) is around 4 and a half hours in June, such that a practicing Muslim would be required to regularly awaken around 3:20am for prayer. These matters are further complicated by the increasingly relevant and real cases of space travel, and even simply travel through the air aboard a plane, as it is not entirely clear whether someone flying in or opposite the direction of the sun would be required to repeat or skip certain prayers due to the rapidly changing time of day. By these appearances, the rituals and instructions set out in the Qur'an were intended for the more limited audience and understanding of a 7th-century desert city.
+The Qur'an conceives of itself as containing guidance for all people in all times in all places, yet the instructions contained here are, taken literally, impracticable for those who live near the North and South poles of the globe, where above the Artic Circle (and its southern equivalent) a single day/night cycle can take any where from weeks to months.
+Even below the Arctic Circle, for instance in Aberdeen, Scotland, the time between the night prayer (Isha) and the dawn prayer (Fajr) is around 4 and a half hours in June, such that a practicing Muslim would be required to regularly awaken around 3:20am for prayer. These matters are further complicated by the increasingly relevant and real cases of space travel, and even simply travel through the air aboard a plane, as it is not entirely clear whether someone flying in or opposite the direction of the sun would be required to repeat or skip certain prayers due to the rapidly changing time of day. By these appearances, the rituals and instructions set out in the Qur'an were intended for the more limited audience and understanding of a 7th-century desert city.
 Before embarking on the 1985 Discovery space shuttle flight he had been chosen to serve on as payload engineer, Saudi prince Sultan bin Salman, the first Muslim in space, said the following memorable lines to Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, later the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia:
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 {{Quote|{{citation| url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Inside_the_Kingdom/VEYsi7ZmtywC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT99&printsec=frontcover| title=Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia| author=Robert Lacey| publisher=Penguin| date=2009| chapter=Chapter 10| ISBN=9781101140734}}|“‘Look,’” Sultan remembers telling him, “‘we’re going to be traveling at eighteen thousand miles per hour. I’m going to see sixteen sunrises and sunsets every twenty-four hours. So does that mean I’ll get Ramadan finished in two days?' The sheikh loved that one—he laughed out loud.” . . . “It would be no good trying to face Mecca,” remembers the prince. “By the time I’d lined up
 on it, it would be behind me.”}}
+Sometimes, [[The_Ramadan_Pole_Paradox#Hadith_allowing_an_estimate_for_prayer_times|dubiously appealing to a hadith]] about estimating prayer times in an apocalyptic scenario, Islamic scholars were and are content to permit exceptions to the literal meaning of the verses for those who live in extreme climes (though there is no consensus on alternative methods). Yet the original authors and audiences of Islamic scriptures do not seem to have appreciated this problem. Based on this evidence, the earliest believers were either mistaken about the details of the dynamic system existing between the rotating Earth and the star it orbits or, more likely, simply unaware of the system altogether.
 ===Qur'an 2:144 - praying towards the Ka'bah===
@@ Line 313: / Line 319: @@
 Classical tafsirs unanimously<ref>[https://tafsir.app/55/17 Tafsirs 55:17]</ref> understand this verse as a reference to the two easts, or rising places (almashriqayni), and the two wests, or setting places (almaghribayni) of the sun on the summer and winter solstices. This accords with the literal meanings of mashriq<ref>مَشْرِقُ mashriq - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000265.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 1541</ref> and maghrib<ref>مَغْرِبُ maghrib - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000025.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2241</ref>. Similarly, verse 70:40 ({{Quran|70|40}}) was classically understood to refer to all the different places where the sun rises and sets between these ranges (almashariqi waalmagharibi).<ref>[https://tafsir.app/70/40 Tafsirs 70:40]</ref> Taken literally, these descriptions can only concord with a flat Earth, as on a spherical Earth, the "two Easts" and "two Wests" are only relative and everchanging positions lacking any definite, physical nature - that is, there is no place on Earth that could be definitely and universally described as "one of the two Easts", for instance such that Allah could be "Lord of it".
 ===Qur'an 57:21 - a garden, its width like the width of the heaven(s) and the earth===
 {{Quote|{{Quran|57|21}}|سَابِقُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ '''وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا كَعَرْضِ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ''' أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو ٱلْفَضْلِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
 Sabiqoo ila maghfiratin min rabbikum wajannatin AAarduha kaAAardi alssamai waalardi oAAiddat lillatheena amanoo biAllahi warusulihi thalika fadlu Allahi yuteehi man yashao waAllahu thoo alfadli alAAatheemi
-Be ye foremost (in seeking) Forgiveness from your Lord, and '''a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth''', 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}}
+Be ye foremost (in seeking) Forgiveness from your Lord, and '''a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth''', 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}}The words ''ʿarḍuhā kaʿarḍi'' ("its width is like the width") refer to the breadth, width, or side of something.<ref>عَرْضٌ 'ard - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000291.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2006</ref>
-The words ʿarḍuhā kaʿarḍi ("its width is like the width") refer to the breadth, width, or side of something.<ref>عَرْضٌ 'ard - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000291.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2006</ref>
-Some academic scholars cite this verse in support of their argument that the Quranic heavens are flat layers above a flat earth (see [[Cosmology of the Quran]]). In a very similar verse, the garden's width is as the heavens plural and the earth ({{Quran|3|133}}). This interchangable width of the heaven singular (57:21) or heavens plural (3:133) may lend further support to that view. The verse most naturally indicates that the author imagined the heaven or heavens to be of similar width to the earth, whether they were imagined to be dome shaped or flat layers, and that the earth's flatness makes for an ideal width yardstick, though other interpretations are possible.
+The Qur'an says paradise is the width of the heaven and Earth. Some academic scholars cite this verse in support of their argument that the Qur'anic heavens are flat layers above a flat earth (see [[Cosmology of the Quran]]). A very similar verse shown below states that its width is as the width of the heavens (plural) and the Earth.{{Quote|{{Quran|3|133}}|And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and <b>a Garden - its width (is like that of) the heavens and the earth</b> prepared for the pious.}}The interchangeable width of the heaven singular (57:21) with heavens plural (3:133) lends further support to that view. The verses most naturally indicate that the author imagined the heaven(s), the nearest of which contains the stars ({{Quran|41|12}}, {{Quran|37|6}}), to be of similar width to the earth, whether they were imagined to be dome shaped or flat [[Science and the Seven Earths#The%20solid%20universe|solid layers]], and that the earth's flatness makes for an ideal width yardstick.
 ===Qur'an 2:22 - the heavens are a canopy / building===
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 ''Main article: [[Science and the Seven Earths]]''
-Various narrations describe seven stacked flat earths (not spherical layers, طوّقه means put on a neck-ring<ref>طوق tawwaqa [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000179.pdf Lane's Lexicon] p. 1894</ref>):{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|43|634}}|Narrated Salim's father (i.e. `Abdullah):
+Various narrations describe seven stacked flat earths (not spherical layers, طوّقه means put on a neck-ring<ref>طوق tawwaqa [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000179.pdf Lane's Lexicon] p. 1894</ref>):{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||2454|darussalam}}|Narrated Salim's father (i.e. `Abdullah):
 The Prophet said, "Whoever takes a piece of the land of others unjustly, he will sink down the seven earths on the Day of Resurrection."}}
-{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|43|632}}|Narrated Sa`id bin Zaid:
+{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||2452|darussalam}}|Narrated Sa`id bin Zaid:
 Allah's Messenger said, "Whoever usurps the land of somebody unjustly, '''his neck will be encircled with it''' down the seven earths (on the Day of Resurrection). "
 }}
-{{Quote|{{Muslim|10|3923}}|Sa'id b. Zaid reported:
+{{Quote|{{Muslim||1610d|reference}}|Sa'id b. Zaid reported:
 I heard Allah's Apostle say: He who took a span of earth wrongly '''would be made to wear around his neck''' seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.}}
@@ Line 379: / Line 381: @@
 A similar, more elaborate hadith in Sahih Muslim (shown below) describes a cycle in which Allah instructs the sun to go and rise "from its rising place" (min matli'iha مَطْلِعِهَا - this word also occurs as matli'a ash shamsi "the rising place of the sun" in {{Quran|18|90}}). One day, it will instead be told to go and rise "from the place of your setting" (min maghribiki مِنْ مَغْرِبِكِ), so it goes and rises "from the place of its setting" (min maghribiha مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا ). The latter phrase also appears in all the simpler narrations of this hadith despite often being mistranslated as "in the west".<ref>Muhsin Khan is particularly guilty of this in his translation of Sahih Bukhari. Compare with min al maghribi in {{Quran|2|258}} which does mean "from the west".</ref> The sun is commanded to go to some particular place. The words "matli'" and "maghrib", when juxtaposed, refer to a "rising place" and "setting place", while the words "al mashriq" and "al maghrib", when juxtaposed, refer more generically to "the east" and "the west", although some English translations attempt to obscure this detail. The use of the words "matli'iha" and "maghribiha" in reference to specific locations as opposed to general directions is further confirmed by the lack of the definite article (al-) and usage of possessive pronouns (-ha) which make these "the sun's matli'" and "the sun's maghrib" - if the narration were referring to the "east" and "west" generically, the hadith would not refer to "the sun's east" and "the sun's west".
-{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|297}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said:
+{{Quote|{{Muslim||159a|reference}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said:
 '''Do you know where the sun goes?''' They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: '''Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out from its rising place''' and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything ( unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: '''Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting.''' The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.<ref>For the Arabic, see [http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306 sunnah.com] or #159: [http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=81&BookID=25&PID=299 hadith.al-islam.com]</ref>}}
 ===Ends of the Earth===
-{{Quote|{{Muslim|41|6904}}|Thauban reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:
+{{Quote|{{Muslim||2889a|reference}}|Thauban reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:
 '''Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends.''' And the dominion of my Ummah would reach those ends which have been drawn near me and I have been granted the red and the white treasure and I begged my Lord for my Ummah that it should not be destroyed because of famine, nor be dominated by an enemy who is not amongst them to take their lives and destroy them root and branch, and my Lord said: Muhammad, whenever I make a decision, there is none to change it. I grant you for your Ummah that it would not be destroyed by famine and it would not be dominated by an enemy who would not be amongst it and would take their lives and destroy them root and branch even if all the people from the different parts of the world join hands together (for this purpose), but it would be from amongst them, viz. your Ummah, that some people would kill the others or imprison the other}}
@@ Line 394: / Line 396: @@
 The following two narrations alluding to the optional Tahajjud prayer state that there is a particular time of night when Allah approaches the nearest heaven and invites supplications. This concept could only make any sense at all in a flat earth worldview, not in a spherical world in which it is always night-time somewhere.
-{{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1657}}|Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
+{{Quote|{{Muslim||758b|reference}}|Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
 Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven '''when one-third of the first part of the night is over''' and says: I am the Lord; I am the Lord: who is there to supplicate Me so that I answer him? Who is there to beg of Me so that I grant him? Who is there to beg forgiveness from Me so that I forgive him? '''He continues like this till the day breaks.'''}}
@@ Line 400: / Line 402: @@
 The hadith also appears in Sahih al-Bukhari ("to us" is not present in the Arabic).
-{{Quote|{{Bukhari|2|21|246}}|Narrated Abu Huraira:
+{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||1145|darussalam}}|Narrated Abu Huraira:
 Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) said, "'''Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains''', saying: "Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?"}}
@@ Line 453: / Line 455: @@
 [...] al-Farra narrated from Hibban, from al-Kalbi, from Abu Salih, from Ibn ‘Abbas "muddy". He said, "It sets in a black spring".}}
-Al-Tabari (d. 923) in his ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' and al-Baydawi (d. 1286) in his tafsir mention the opinion that the sun has 360 springs into which it can set. A similar idea is found in the so-called pre-Islamic "Jahili" Arab poems.
+Al-Tabari (d. 923) in his ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' and al-Baydawi (d. 1286) in his tafsir mention the opinion that the sun has 360 springs into which it can set. Another, very early tafsir records Abu al-Aliya (d. 93 H) stating that he was informed that "the sun is in a spring; the spring casts it to the East". The story with the sun literally setting in a spring is also found in early (probably post-Islamic) Arab poems. See the main article (Part One) for all of these things.
-As historian of science James Hamman notes, ''when the translation movement began in the late eighth century, the study of the Koran was already a mature discipline. And since the Koran was the product of a very different environment from multicultural Baghdad, its world picture didn’t cohere with the cosmology transmitted by the foreign sciences of Indian and Greek astronomy''.<ref>Hannam, James. ''The Globe: How the Earth Became Round'' (pp. 194-195). REAKTION BOOKS. 2023.</ref>
 ===The sky as a dome above the Earth===
@@ Line 517: / Line 517: @@
 Ibn Taymiyyah proceeds to directly give this evidence for the round shapes of the heavens from the Qur'an, sunnah, and narrations from the early Muslims. Here, he argues that a round heavens and Earth is supported by what specialists on tafsir and language have said about certain words in the Qur'an.
-The Qur'an verses cited by Ibn Taymiyyah in support of the round shape of the heavens are {{Quran|21|33}}, {{Quran|36|40}}, {{Quran|39|5}}, and {{Quran|67|5}}). These evidences are, however, indirect, and rely on what Ibn Taymiyyah and those he references argue is implied by their extrapolations on the linguistic nuances of the verses discussed. The solitary piece of direct evidence that Ibn Taymiyyah brings from the companions about the round shape of the heavens is a narration where Ibn 'Abbas and others comment on {{Quran|36|40}}, which describes the heavenly bodies [[Geocentrism and the Quran|swimming in a falak]] (rounded course):
+The Qur'an verses cited by Ibn Taymiyyah in support of the round shape of the heavens are {{Quran|21|33}}, {{Quran|36|40}}, {{Quran|39|5}}, and {{Quran|67|5}}). These evidences are, however, indirect, and rely on what Ibn Taymiyyah and those he references argue is implied by their extrapolations on the linguistic nuances of the verses discussed. The solitary piece of direct evidence that Ibn Taymiyyah brings from the companions about the round shape of the heavens is a narration where Ibn 'Abbas and others comment on {{Quran|36|40}}, which describes the heavenly bodies [[Geocentrism and the Quran|swimming in a falak]] (celestial dome or sphere):
 {{Quote|1=[https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/36/40 Ibn Kathir 36:40]; see also: [https://tafsir.app/tabari/36/40 al-Tabari 36:40]|2=فِي فَلْكَة كَفَلْكَةِ الْمِغْزَل
@@ Line 525: / Line 525: @@
 in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle}}
-A whirl or whorl was a small wheel or hemisphere that was constructed around a spindle for the purpose of clothes-making<ref>الفَلَكُ falak - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1 page 2444. See also the [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf previous page]. Lane says that the falak was generally imagined as a celestial hemisphere by the Arabs, but also that the Arab astronomers applied the term to seven spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref>. As the sun and moon appear to arc across the sky, even those who imagined the Earth was flat and the heavens a dome (or a sphere) would also imagine some path for the two celestial bodies to continue beneath the Earth upon setting so they could return the for the following day and night cycle. In his commentary on another, related verse ({{Quran|31|29}}), Ibn Kathir quotes Ibn Abbas again, saying exactly this. The sun runs in its falak (فَلَكهَا) in the sky / heaven (السَّمَاء) during the day, and when it sets it runs during the night (بِاللَّيْلِ - omitted from the translation) in the very same "falak" beneath the Earth until it rises from its rising place (من مشرقها - translated below as "in the east").<ref>[https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/31/29 Tafsir Ibn Kathir 31:29]</ref>
+A whirl or whorl was a small wheel or hemisphere that was constructed around a spindle for the purpose of clothes-making<ref>الفَلَكُ falak - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1 page 2444. See also the [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf previous page]. Lane says that the falak was generally imagined as a celestial hemisphere by the Arabs, but also that the Arab astronomers applied the term to seven spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref>. As the sun and moon appear to arc across the sky, even those who imagined the Earth was flat and the heavens a dome (or a sphere) would also imagine some path for the two celestial bodies to continue beneath the Earth upon setting so they could return for the following day and night cycle. In his commentary on another, related verse ({{Quran|31|29}}), Ibn Kathir quotes Ibn Abbas again, saying exactly this. The sun runs in its falak (فَلَكهَا) in the sky / heaven (السَّمَاء) during the day, and when it sets it runs during the night (بِاللَّيْلِ - omitted from the translation) in the very same "falak" beneath the Earth until it rises from its rising place (من مشرقها - translated below as "in the east").<ref>[https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/31/29 Tafsir Ibn Kathir 31:29]</ref>
 {{Quote|1=[http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Luqman/The-Might-and-Power-of-Allah-A--- Tafsir ibn Kathir 31:29]|2=Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn ’Abbas said, “The sun is like flowing water, running in its course in the sky during the day. When it sets, it travels in its course beneath the earth until it rises in the east.” He said, “The same is true in the case of the moon.” Its chain of narration is Sahih.}}
@@ Line 533: / Line 533: @@
 Finally, Ibn Taymiyyah cites the following hadith from al-Bukhari and, returning to his reliance on indirect grammatical nuance, argues that if the structure (the hadith refers to "[[Jannah (Paradise)|Jannah]]" or Paradise in particular, rather than Heaven in general) described below has a "midmost" part, then it must be spherical, for only spherical structures have such a "midmost" point.
-{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|93|519}}|The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever believes in Allah and His Apostle offers prayers perfectly and fasts (the month of) Ramadan then it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise, whether he emigrates for Allah's cause or stays in the land where he was born." They (the companions of the Prophet) said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Should we not inform the people of that?" He said, "There are one-hundred degrees in Paradise which Allah has prepared for those who carry on Jihad in His Cause. The distance between every two degrees is like the distance between the sky and the Earth, so if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for <b>it is the last part of Paradise ["فَإِنَّهُ أَوْسَطُ الْجَنَّةِ", "أَوْسَطُ" is better translated as "midmost" or "medial"<ref>[https://ejtaal.net/aa/#ll=3039,hw4=1262,ls=74,la=h4830,sg=h1231,ha=h880,br=h1049,pr=h168,aan=h720,mgf=h856,vi=h385,kz=h2934,mr=h796,mn=h1557,uqw=h1850,umr=h1171,ums=h987,umj=h941,ulq=h1799,uqa=h450,uqq=h429,bdw=h954,amr=h694,asb=h1077,auh=h1747,dhq=h609,mht=h973,msb=h259,tla=h98,amj=h920,ens=h1,mis=h1 Lane's Lexicon]</ref>]</b> and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise."}}
+{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||7423|darussalam}}|The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever believes in Allah and His Apostle offers prayers perfectly and fasts (the month of) Ramadan then it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise, whether he emigrates for Allah's cause or stays in the land where he was born." They (the companions of the Prophet) said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Should we not inform the people of that?" He said, "There are one-hundred degrees in Paradise which Allah has prepared for those who carry on Jihad in His Cause. The distance between every two degrees is like the distance between the sky and the Earth, so if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for <b>it is the last part of Paradise ["فَإِنَّهُ أَوْسَطُ الْجَنَّةِ", "أَوْسَطُ" is better translated as "midmost" or "medial"<ref>[https://ejtaal.net/aa/#ll=3039,hw4=1262,ls=74,la=h4830,sg=h1231,ha=h880,br=h1049,pr=h168,aan=h720,mgf=h856,vi=h385,kz=h2934,mr=h796,mn=h1557,uqw=h1850,umr=h1171,ums=h987,umj=h941,ulq=h1799,uqa=h450,uqq=h429,bdw=h954,amr=h694,asb=h1077,auh=h1747,dhq=h609,mht=h973,msb=h259,tla=h98,amj=h920,ens=h1,mis=h1 Lane's Lexicon]</ref>]</b> and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise."}}
 Given that Ibn Taymiyyah cited the above-mentioned scholars, the narrations he uses to argue for the spherical shape of the heavens (when asked about the shape of both the heavens and Earth), were most probably the best available. Stronger and clearer evidence might reasonably be expected if a consensus for the round shape of the Earth (in addition to that of the heavens) went back to Muhammad and the companions.
@@ Line 554: / Line 554: @@
 Many further examples of scholars expressing a flat earth interpretation of the Quran are collated in [https://theislamissue.wordpress.com/2019/03/22/scholarly-consensus-of-a-round-earth/ another article.] One can see that all early mufassirūn (Quranic scholars who wrote commentaries/tafsirs, which can be viewed directly on [https://www.altafsir.com/ tafsir.com]) who commented on the relevant verses took the view the Qur'an was describing a flat earth.
-These interpretations contrast with claims of an Islamic scholarly consensus for a round earth. As Dr Omar Anchassi says '<nowiki/>''It is clear that the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic vision of the cosmos remained contested by theologians of all stripes to the end of the fifth/eleventh century''<nowiki/>'<ref>''[https://www.academia.edu/93485940/Against_Ptolemy_Cosmography_in_Early_Kal%C4%81m_2022_ Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām (2022).]'' Omar Anchassi. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', ''142''(4), 851–881. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.7817/jaos.142.4.2022.ar033</nowiki></ref> in his article '''[https://doi.org/10.7817/jaos.142.4.2022.ar033 Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām]''<nowiki/>' (2022).
+These interpretations contrast with claims of an Islamic scholarly consensus for a round earth. As Dr Omar Anchassi says '<nowiki/>''It is clear that the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic vision of the cosmos remained contested by theologians of all stripes to the end of the fifth/eleventh century''<nowiki/>'<ref name="Anchassi">Omar Anchassi. ''[https://www.academia.edu/93485940/ Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām]'', Journal of the American Oriental Society, '''142'''(4), 2022, pp. 851–881. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.7817/jaos.142.4.2022.ar033</nowiki></ref> in his article '''[https://doi.org/10.7817/jaos.142.4.2022.ar033 Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām]''<nowiki/>' (2022).
 ==Modern perspectives and criticisms thereof==
@@ Line 589: / Line 589: @@
 ===Qur'an 79:30 - ''daha'' ("spread out", said to mean "ostrich egg")===
-Verse 79:30 uses the word دَحَىٰهَآ (dahaha), commonly translated as ‘He spread it’ or ‘He stretched it’, to describe to describe a step in the creation of the Earth. Today, it is sometimes argued that word means something to the effect of "he made it to be like an ostrich egg", the implication being that because an ostrich egg is both spherical and slightly oval-shaped, it is comparable to the shape of the Earth. Such a translation and interpretation is, however, not backed by any dictionary of classical Arabic and features in no authoritative translation or tafsir of the Qur'an.
+Verse 79:30 uses the word دَحَىٰهَآ (dahaha), commonly translated as ‘He spread it’ or ‘He stretched it’, to describe a step in the creation of the Earth. Today, it is sometimes argued that word means something to the effect of "he made it to be like an ostrich egg", the implication being that because an ostrich egg is both spherical and slightly oval-shaped, it is comparable to the shape of the Earth. Such a translation and interpretation is, however, not backed by any dictionary of classical Arabic and features in no respected translation or tafsir of the Qur'an.
 {{Quote|{{Quran|79|30}}| '''Arabic:'''  والارض بعد ذلك دحاها
@@ Line 596: / Line 596: @@
 '''Literal:''' And the Earth after that He stretched/spread it.<ref name="ia-79-30">[http://islamawakened.org/Quran/3/default.htm#003_054 Islam Awakened - Quran 79:30]</ref>
-'''Word by word:''' ''Waal-arda'' وَٱلْأَرْضَ (''wa'' - وَ - and; ''al'' - ٱلْ - the; ''ard'' - أَرْضَ - Earth, feminine in Arabic) ''baAAda'' بَعْدَ (after) ''thalika'' ذَٰلِكَ (that) ''dahaha'' دَحَىٰهَآ (''dahaa'' - دَحَىٰ - [he] spread, verb; ''ha'' - هَآ - her or "it" in the English translation, referring to the Earth)}}The هَا (''-ha'') suffix pronoun meaning literally "her" is also repeated in the surrounding verses as a literary device, all referring the different acts of creation Allah is imparting upon the Earth and "the heaven":{{Quote|{{Quran|79|27-32}}|أَأَنْتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ السَّمَاءُ ۚ بَنَاهَا 79:27 - Aantum ashaddu khalqan ami alssamao bana'''ha''' - Are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that He built?
+'''Word by word:''' ''Waal-arda'' وَٱلْأَرْضَ (''wa'' - وَ - and; ''al'' - ٱلْ - the; ''ard'' - أَرْضَ - Earth, feminine in Arabic) ''baAAda'' بَعْدَ (after) ''thalika'' ذَٰلِكَ (that) ''dahaha'' دَحَىٰهَآ (''dahaa'' - دَحَىٰ - [he] spread, verb; ''ha'' - هَآ - her or "it" in the English translation, referring to the Earth)}}
-:28 رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوَّاهَا  - RafaAAa samka'''ha''' fasawwa'''ha''' - He raised the height thereof and ordered it;
-:29 وَأَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَأَخْرَجَ ضُحَاهَا - Waaghtasha layla'''ha''' waakhraja duha'''ha''' - And He made dark the night thereof, and He brought forth the morn thereof.
-:30 وَالْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ دَحَاهَا - Waalarda baAAda thalika daha'''ha''' - And after that He spread the earth,
-:31 أَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا مَاءَهَا وَمَرْعَاهَا - Akhraja min'''ha''' maa'''ha''' wamarAAa'''ha''' - And produced therefrom the water thereof and the pasture thereof,
-:32 وَالْجِبَالَ أَرْسَاهَا - Waaljibala arsa'''ha''' - And He made fast the hills,}}
 Authoritative translations of the Qur'an do not read anything to the effect of an ostrich egg into the verse (see: {{Quran|79|30}}):{{quote ||
 '''Yusuf Ali:''' And the earth, moreover, hath He extended (to a wide expanse);}}
@@ Line 612: / Line 602: @@
 '''Pickthal:''' And after that He spread the earth,}}
 {{quote ||
-'''Arberry:''' and the earth-after that He spread it out,}}
+'''Sahih International:''' And after that He spread the earth.}}
-{{quote ||
-'''Shakir:''' And the earth, He expanded it after that.}}Some less reliable translations, such as the one rendered by the controversial [[Rashad Khalifa]] and the notoriously edited and confessedly non-literal QXP translation (indeed, the QXP translation is better described as a tafsir rather than a translation of the Qur'an, comparable in style to Tafsir al-Jalalayn)<ref>{{citation|title=The Qur'an As It Explains Itself|url=https://archive.org/details/qxpvi-english/page/n5/mode/2up|first=Shabbir|last=Ahmed|publisher=Lighthouse|publication-date=2003|page=12|isbn=978-0974787985|chapter=Introduction}}{{Quote||QXP is a Tasreef-based understanding of the Qur’an that is easy enough even for teenagers. <b>It is not a literal translation</b>.<br>
-Tasreef is the Qur’anic process where verses in one part of the Qur’an explain or provide deeper understanding of the verses in other parts of the Book. Concisely, it means looking at the Qur’an in its Big Picture. Thus the Qur’an lets us look at its terms and concepts from very diverse vantage points. This has helped me explain every verse from within the Qur’an itself.<br>
-<b>The reader should expect to find “The Qur’an As It Explains Itself” different from the prevalent translations and explanations because of the use of Tasreef and the Quraish dialect, and for rejecting extrinsic sources.</b>}}</ref> have interpolated the ostrich-egg theory into the verse:
-{{quote ||
-'''Khalifa:''' He made the earth egg-shaped.}}
-{{quote ||
-'''QXP:''' And after that He made the earth shoot out from the Cosmic Nebula and made it spread out egg-shaped. ('Dahaha' entails all the meanings rendered (21:30), (41:11)).}}
 ====''Daha'' as derived from ''duhiya'' and related to ''madaahi''====
 The specific argument often advanced today is that that word ''daha'' may derive from the word ''duhiya'', which is said to mean "ostrich egg".<ref>{{Citation|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621012849/http://www.quranicteachings.co.uk/earth-shape.htm|publisher=The Quranic Teachings|chapter=Quran and the Shape of the Earth}})</ref> The idea here is that, if these words derive from the same root, they both carry the same "signification" of oval-shaped roundness, and, since the Earth is not perfectly spherical but rather slightly oval, this common "signification" serves as evidence that Qur'anic cosmology is essentially modern. Further buttressing this claim, it is argued, are: another sense of the word ''daha'' (which means "he threw" or "he cast", referring particularly to the casting of a ''madaahi'' into its ''udhiyah'')<ref>{{Citation|title=Lane's Lexicon|chapter=دحا|page=863|url=http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=h327,ll=900,ls=h5,la=h1332,sg=h374,ha=h210,br=h324,pr=h55,aan=h184,mgf=h295,vi=h142,kz=h683,mr=h221,mn=h389,uqw=h506,umr=h356,ums=h288,umj=h236,ulq=h695,uqa=h130,uqq=h101,bdw=h297,amr=h219,asb=h279,auh=h557,dhq=h174,mht=h275,msb=h79,tla=h48,amj=h228,ens=h1,mis=h633}}

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