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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions
Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth (view source)
Revision as of 18:44, 12 December 2025
, Friday at 18:44Linked Alexander Romance page and removed out of place quote covering points already made elsewhere.
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Lightyears (talk | contribs) (Mentioning academic opinion at the start as many muslim and non-muslim critics of the page assume we are presenting an idiosyncratic view) |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) (Linked Alexander Romance page and removed out of place quote covering points already made elsewhere.) |
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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.}} | 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 poems and 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). | 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=== | ===Qur'an 2:187 and 17:78 - fasting and prayer times=== | ||
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[...] al-Farra narrated from Hibban, from al-Kalbi, from Abu Salih, from Ibn ‘Abbas "muddy". He said, "It sets in a black spring".}} | [...] 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. | 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. | ||
===The sky as a dome above the Earth=== | ===The sky as a dome above the Earth=== | ||
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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. | 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]] ( | 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 | {{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 | ||