The Quran and Mountains: Difference between revisions

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This article analyzes the apologetic claim that the [[Qur'an]] is validated by the geological [[Islam and Science|science]] concerning mountains.
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==Introduction==
The [[Qur'an|Quran]] has a particular conception of the nature of mountains, their formation, and the geological role they play that is is referenced in multiple verses. In recent times, many Islamic scholars have argued that this conception is both scientifically sound and an instance of [[Scientific Miracles in the Quran|miraculous scientific foreknowledge]] on the part of the Quran which, they argue, could not have arrived at the conception it holds without divine insight. Individuals key to the popularization of this idea include the [[Apologists|apologist]] [[Zakir Naik]] and the Saudi-financed surgeon [[Bucailleism|Dr. Maurice Bucaille]].


Many skeptics have already refuted the claim that the Qur'an is validated by the geological science concerning mountains. This article adds to this by addressing several newer points that have been adopted to justify the original claim or to evade contrary scientific evidence.
Parties advocating the description of mountains found in the Quran as a scientific miracle identify two key claims made in the scripture: (1) that Mountains can be described as 'pegs' and (2) that mountains play some role in 'stabilizing the Earth' - these two ideas, advocates hold, are evidence of a miraculous scientific insight. Critics challenge the advocates' interpretations of the relevant verses as well as their use and presentation of scientific information on the topic, arguing instead that the Quran is erroneous in these respects. Critics further claim that the Qur'an is scientifically inaccurate in its description a specific time period in which mountains were supposedly formed and Allah having cast them into the earth.


Due to what some refer to as the ‘richness of the [[Arabic]] language,’ [[apologists]] such as [[I. A. Ibrahim]] have been able to use the vague interpretations of several Qur'anic verses in their attempt to prove the scientific validity of the Qur'an. In this, they are backed by a Muslim geologist specializing in biostratification, Professor Zaghloul Raghib El Naggar, and a western surgeon, [[Dr.]] Maurice Bucaille.
==Formation of mountains in the Quran==
===Stage in the creation account===


===Apologists' Debating Technique===
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|41|8|11}}|Say, "Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds." And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures'] sustenance in four days without distinction - for [the information] of those who ask. Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly." And He completed them as seven heavens within two days and inspired in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.}}


There are two elements to this claim that the Qur'an had foreshadowed the scientific knowledge concerning mountains:
The above verses are the Quranic six day creation account. In this description, mountains are created within a four day period (which is usually understood to overlap with the first two day period mentioned in the creation account). Critics note that rather than being confined to a closed period, mountain formation began early in Earth's history due to the process of [[w:Plate techtonics|plate tectonics]] (with accompanying earthquakes), has continued for billions of years, and continues to do so now and into the future. With each plate collision mountains keep on rising higher little by little. And when the plates start to move away from each other, then these mountains start to erode until after millions of years, they completely disappear. On a geological timescale, mountains are not "firmly set", but rather they rise and fall, and are replaced by other mountain ranges over time. For example, there existed no Mount Everest 250 million years ago. The Himalayan mountain range began to grow when two continental plates collided, which will eventually separate again and Everest will gradually erode and disappear completely.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/science/mountain-landform/Tectonic-processes-that-create-and-destroy-mountain-belts-and-their-components Tectonic processes that create and destroy mountain belts and their components] - Britannica.com</ref>


#Mountains are pegs.
It is also worth noting that in {{Muslim|39|6707}}, Muhammad elaborates that mountains were created on the second day (Sunday), which is even more specific. Other hadiths quoted by Ibn Kathir in his exegesis for {{Quran|22|47}} ("a day with your Lord is like a thousand years") reported Ibn 'Abbas as stating that each of the six days in which Allah created the heavens and the earth was a thousand years.<ref>Ibn Kathir writes under the commentary of this verse 22:47:
#Mountains stabilize the crust or the earth.
{{Quote|1=[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=22&tAyahNo=47&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Verse Quran 22:47]|2=قال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا الحسن بن عرفة، حدثني عبدة بن سليمان عن محمد بن عمرو عن أبي سلمة عن أبي هريرة أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال " يدخل فقراء المسلمين الجنة قبل الأغنياء بنصف يوم خمسمائة عام " ورواه الترمذي والنسائي من حديث الثوري عن محمد بن عمرو به، وقال الترمذي حسن صحيح. وقد رواه ابن جرير عن أبي هريرة موقوفاً، فقال حدثني يعقوب، حدثنا ابن علية، حدثنا سعيد الجريري عن أبي نضرة عن سمير بن نهار قال قال أبو هريرة يدخل فقراء المسلمين الجنة قبل الأغنياء بمقدار نصف يوم، قلت وما مقدار نصف يوم؟ قال أو ما تقرأ القرآن؟ قلت بلى، قال { وَإِنَّ يَوْماً عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ }. وقال أبو داود في آخر كتاب الملاحم من سننه حدثنا عمرو بن عثمان، حدثنا أبو المغيرة، حدثنا صفوان عن شريح بن عبيد عن سعد بن أبي وقاص عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال " إني لأرجو أن لا تعجز أمتي عند ربها أن يؤخرهم نصف يوم " قيل لسعد وما نصف يوم؟ قال خمسمائة سنة. وقال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا أحمد بن سنان، حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن مهدي عن إسرائيل عن سماك، عن عكرمة عن ابن عباس { وَإِنَّ يَوْماً عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ } قال من الأيام التي خلق الله فيها السموات والأرض. ورواه ابن جرير عن ابن بشار عن ابن المهدي، وبه قال مجاهد وعكرمة، ونص عليه أحمد بن حنبل في كتاب الرد على الجهمية، وقال مجاهد هذه الآية كقوله{ يُدَبِّرُ ٱلاَْمْرَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ إِلَى ٱلاَْرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ } السجدة 5.


Some of the tactics that are used to argue their case are as follows:
#If a word has multiple meanings or translations, they will choose the one that suits them best at the time, ignoring all the rest as if they never existed.
#If unable to come up with a valid response, they will claim that only a genuine intimacy with Classical Arabic will enable the proper understanding of a given verse and then, rather ironically, proceed to argue in the English language.
#They will add complexity to an otherwise ‘simple’ verse without explanation nor justification. An example is the extension from ‘peg’ to ‘isostacy’ to ‘stabilize the crust/lithosphere/earth’.
#They will switch from the ‘literal’ to ‘metaphorical’ case whenever convenient. A sure sign of loss will be when they claim that the Qur'an is not a book of Science but [[Islam and Scripture|Scripture]], despite previously or concurrently promulgating the validity of ‘Qur'anic Science’.


===Relevant Verses and Terms===
Rasool Allah told that the poor people will enter in the paradise half a day before the rich people, '''means 500 years before the rich people (while whole day is equal to 1000 years of people's reckoning)'''. al-Tirmidhi and al-Nisai etc recorded it and al-Tirmidhi said that this tradition is 'Hasan Sahih' (i.e. authentic according to al-Tirmidhi). In another tradition, it was asked from Abu Hurayrah, '''how long is this half day'''? He replied: "Didn't you read Quran?" I said: "Yes." '''Upon that he recited me verse 22:47''' ... Companion S'ad was asked: "'''How long is this half day'''." He replied: "'''500 years'''". Ibn Abbas recited this verse and said that '''this is the length of those 6 days, in which Allah created the heavens and the earth''' (Ibn Jarir). While Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal described it in more clear words in his book "Refutation of al-Jahmia". Mujjahid said that this verse is similar to verse  5 of Surah al-Sajdah [(Quran 32:5) He rules (all) affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will (all affairs) go up to Him, '''on a Day, the space whereof will be (as) a thousand years of your reckoning.''']}}</ref> On this basis (and the similar verse {{Quran|70|4}} about fifty thousand years), advocates argue that "day" (yawm) should not be taken literally. Critics argue that this is a synthesis not apparent in the creation account itself, and in any case 1000 or 50000 years would not indicate that the author was aware of the sheer scale of geological and cosmological time (billions of years).


The relevant Qur'anic verses are:
===Casting mountains into the earth===


{{Quote|{{Qtt|31|10}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs.  
The Quran states that the mountains on Earth's surface were cast upon it by God. The imagery is clear when one considers the verse discussed further below which describe the mountains as 'pegs'.


'''Pickthal:''' He hath created the heavens without supports that ye can see, and hath cast into the earth firm hills, so that it quake not with you; and He hath dispersed therein all kinds of beasts. And We send down water from the sky and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.
{{Quote|{{Quran|16|15}}|And He has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it shift with you, and [made] rivers and roads, that you may be guided,}}


'''Shakir:''' He created the heavens without pillars as you see them, and put mountains upon the earth lest it might convulse with you, and He spread in it animals of every kind; and We sent down water from the cloud, then caused to grow therein (vegetation) of every noble kind.
The word 'he has cast' is ''alqā'' (from the root lam-qaf-ya), which in this form (Arabic verb form IV) is frequently used elsewhere in the Quran to mean throw or cast.<ref>alqā أَلْقَىٰ - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000266.pdf Lane's Lexicon, Suppliment p. 3012]<BR />See paragraph number 4 for the form IV verb definition.</ref> It is the same word as is used in {{Quran|3|44}} when lots are cast using pens (it would be easy to imagine that mountains were similarly scattered, though perhaps should not be taken too literally in this context), and {{Quran|12|10}} when the prophet Yusuf is cast down into the well, and in {{Quran|20|20}} when Moses casts down his staff, which becomes a snake.
'''Sher Ali:''' HE has created the heavens without any pillars that you can see, and HE has placed in the earth firm mountains that it may not quake with you, and HE has spread therein all kinds of creatures; and WE have sent down water from the clouds, and have caused to grow therein of every fine species.  


'''Khalifa:''' He created the heavens without pillars that you can see. He established on earth stabilizers (mountains) lest it tumbles with you, and He spread on it all kinds of creatures. We send down from the sky water to grow all kinds of beautiful plants.  
The other verses using alqā in the context of mountains are {{Quran|15|19}} and {{Quran|50|7}} which both begin with "And the earth - We spread it out and cast therein firmly set mountains..." and {{Quran|31|10}} "He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind." In all of these verses the words "firmly set mountains" is rawāsiya in the Arabic text. This word for mountains is from the same Arabic root as words meaning firmly set, steadfast, anchored or anchors.<ref name="LexiconRawaasiya">Rawās رَوَاس - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000253.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 1087</ref> Perhaps the connection with anchors is intended as part of a poetic picture alongside the verb alqā meaning casting or throwing.


'''Palmer:''' He created the heavens without pillars that ye can see, and He threw upon the earth firm mountains lest it should move with you; and He dispersed thereon every sort of beast; and we send down from the heavens water, and we caused to grow therein of every noble kind.  
A very similar verse to {{Quran|16|15}} quoted above is {{Quran|21|31}}, which instead of alqā uses the verb jaʿala ([https://quranx.com/Analysis/Root/jim-ayn-lam made or placed])<ref>jaʿala جعل  - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000066.pdf Lane's Lexicon page 430]</ref>. See also {{Quran|27|61}} where Allah is said to have made (jaʿala) the earth an abode, and made (jaʿala) in its midst rivers and firmly set mountains, and a barrier between the two seas.  Jaʿala is also used in the statement about mountains as pegs discussed in the next section below ({{Quran-range|78|6|7}}) and which uses another word for mountains, jibāla.


'''Sale:''' He hath created the heavens without visible pillars [to sustain them], and hath thrown on the earth [mountains] firmly rooted, lest it should move with you; and he hath replenished the same with all kinds of beasts: And we send down rain from heaven, and cause every kind of noble [vegetable] to spring forth therein.  
Again, mountain formation is described in all these verses only as a past event. However, according to modern science, mountains were not placed or cast into the earth's surface, but rather they are byproducts of an ongoing process driven by [[w:Plate tectionics|plate tectonics]] in which continental and oceanic crust plates slowly move over time, driven by 1) mantle convection currents, 2) by ridge push as buoyant magma upwells at oceanic ridges, and 3) by slab pull, as the leading edges of plates sink at subduction zones, cooling and pulling the rest of the plate behind. A number of processes can result in the gradual formation and disappearance of mountain ranges (often accompanied by earthquakes). Such processes include when the collision of two continental plates results in a thickening of the crust, or when an oceanic plate subducts underneath a continental plate, resulting in volcanic mountain formation and an accretionary wedge, or mountains formed by fault blocks or tilted block faulting (see illustrations below). Eventually, erosion causes the mountain range to disappear as has happened many times over the eons. The implication of the Quranic verses are instead that Allah cast or placed mountains by special creation in certain locations rather them being a byproduct of a larger ongoing process (tectonic movements).


'''Rodwell:''' Without pillars that can be seen hath He created the heavens, and on the earth hath thrown mountains lest it should move with you; and He hath scattered over it animals of every sort: and from the Heaven we send down rain and cause every kind of noble plant to grow up therein.
Some critics also note that in another verse, {{Quran|41|10}} discussed above, says Allah placed (jaʿala) on the earth mountains "from above it" (min fawqiha من فوقها), though almost all modern official translations interpret the Arabic simply to mean the mountains are above the earth's surface.<ref>See a variety of official translations of ''[https://quranx.com/41.10 Verse 41:10 on Quranx.com]''. Note that not all do; see Ahmad Khan and Hilali & Khan,</ref> Either interpretation seems possible based on how the preposition with noun are used in [https://quranx.com/Analysis/Root/fa-waw-gaf some other verses] - see for example {{Quran|6|65}}, {{Quran|29|55}} or {{Quran|33|10}}, though on the other hand {{Quran|39|16}} and {{Quran|39|20}}.
'''“Progressive Muslims”:''' He created the heavens without pillars that you can see. And He placed in the earth firm stabilizers so that it would not tumble with you, and He spread on it all kinds of creatures. And We sent down water from the sky, thus We caused to grow all kinds of good plants.  


Transliteration: Khalaqa alssamawati bighayri AAamadin tarawnaha waalqa fee al-ardi rawasiya an tameeda bikum wabaththa feeha min kulli dabbatin waanzalna mina alssama-i maan faanbatna feeha min kulli zawjin kareemin}}  
==Mountains as pegs==
The Quran makes a claim about mountains in general - that they are made as pegs or stakes. This is stated in the context of the Earth as a wide expanse (''mihadan'' مِهَٰدًا (same as مَهْدًا mahdan in the similar verses {{Quran|20|53}} and {{Quran|43|10}}), which means a 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>).


{{Quote|{{Qtt|21|31}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And We have set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with them, and We have made therein broad highways (between mountains) for them to pass through: that they may receive Guidance.
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|78|6|7}}|Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?}}


'''Pickthal:''' And We have placed in the earth firm hills lest it quake with them, and We have placed therein ravines as roads that haply they may find their way.  
The word for mountains in this case is jibāla and the word translated as pegs is awtādan, which means pegs or stakes placed in the ground<ref>awtādan [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000171.pdf Lane's Lexicon] p. 2917</ref> It also occurs in reference to Pharaoh's "stakes" in {{Quran|38|12}} and {{Quran|89|10}}, sometimes related in exegesis to the crucifixions he is said to have ordered in other verses, though the preceding context around the latter of those two verses makes clear that there l-awtād refers to some kind of lasting rock-hewn monuments.


'''Shakir:''' And We have made great mountains in the earth lest it might be convulsed with them, and We have made in it wide ways that they may follow a right direction.  
See also {{Quran|15|19}}, {{Quran|16|15}}, {{quran|21|31}} and {{Quran|31|10}} (discussed further below in the context of stabilising the earth) which all mention Allah casting rawaasiya (steadfast, immovable, anchors, i.e. mountains)<ref name="LexiconRawaasiya" /> in the earth. Critics would reiterate here that mountains do move over geological time.


'''Sher Ali:''' And WE have placed in the earth firm mountains lest it should quake with them; and WE have made therein wide pathways, that they may be rightly guided.  
An important observation is that the verse is phrased as a question: "Have We not made [...] the mountains as pegs?". Therefore, the author is referring to a concept which he assumes even the Quran's initial audience will understand.


'''Khalifa:''' And we placed on earth stabilizers, lest it tumbles with them, and we placed straight roads therein, that they may be guided.
===Earth anchored by mountains in early or pre-Islamic poetry===
The pre-Islamic poet commonly known as al-Muhalhil, "The poem weaver", whose name was Abu Layla Adi ibn Rabi'ah at-Taghlabi (d. 531 CE), composed a number of famous poems. While possibly post-Quranic, some lines from one poem attributed to al-Muhalhil uses some of the same terminology as the Quranic verses in terms of mountains and the earth shifting/convulsing:


'''Palmer:''' And we placed on the earth firm mountains lest it should move with them, and He made therein open roads for paths, haply they may be guided!
{{Quote|1=Some lines from a poem attributed to al-Muhalhil about the death of his brother.<BR />Arabic of the full poem is avalable on the Poetsgate.com website<ref>https://poetsgate.com/poem.php?pm=27780</ref>. Translation is by D. S. Margoliouth<ref>See p. 438, D. S. Margoliouth (1925) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25220762 The Origins of Arabic Poetry] The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 3 (Jul., 1925), pp. 417-449</ref><ref>See also the same poem by al-Muhalhil quoted and commented on in Abdullah al-Udhari (1991) [https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/28750/1/10672918.pdf Jahili Poetry before Imru al-Qais (4000 BCE–500 CE)] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20230311152446/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/28750/1/10672918.pdf archive]), PhD thesis, London School of Oriental and African Studies, pp. 151-2 (his source for the poem, given in footnote 1, p. 255 with expanded reference on p. 296, is al-Balkhī (Abū Zaid Aḥmad b. Sahl), Kitāb al-Bad' wa al-Tārīkh, I) ed. Huart, Editions Earnest Leroux, 1899-1919 pp. 149-50)</ref>|2=
نعى النعاة كليبا لي فقلت لهم<BR>
They told us Kulaib was dead, and I said:<BR>
مادت بنا الأرض أم مادت رواسيها<BR>
has the earth swayed with us or have its anchors swayed?}}


'''Sale:''' And we placed stable [mountains] on the earth, lest it should move with them; and we made broad passages between them for paths, that they might be directed [in their journeys]:
The next lines of the poem go on to mention the heaven falling and some words about the earth. The above quoted extract uses the word rawāsiya (firmly set mountains), which occurs also in some Quranic verses and whose root has an association with anchoring and anchors as discussed above.<ref name="LexiconRawaasiya" />. It also uses the verb mādati (shift/convulse/incline, which appears in the form tamīda in those same Quranic verses as discussed below).<ref name="tamida" /> In this poem, it is the earth in its entirety whose mountains are involved in preventing it from shifting, which is indicative for the most straightforward reading of the equivalent Quranic verses i.e that they refer to the earth as a whole. Those verses claim that Allah cast mountains into the earth "lest it shift [tamīda] with you", as discussed in the section further below on the alleged role of mountains preventing earthquakes in one interpretation.


'''Rodwell:''' And we set mountains on the earth lest it should move with them, and we made on it broad passages between them as routes for their guidance;
Also perhaps relevant is a poem about the creation of a flat earth attributed to the pre-Islamic poet Zayd b. 'Amr, who reportedly was a monotheist who met Muhammad before his prophetic career began. The poem is recorded in the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq (d. 767 CE) and must pre-date that work.<ref name="Guillaume102">Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, London: Oxford University Press, 1955, p. 102</ref> Much like {{Quran-range|79|27|33}}, the poem says "He spread it out" (daḥāhā<ref>دحو dahawa - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000023.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 857</ref>) i.e. the earth, then even clearer than the Quran, saw that it was level (استوت istawat<ref>استوت istawat - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000201.pdf Lane's Lexicon] p. 1477</ref>) on the water (i.e. flat), "and set firm the mountains on it" (arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā, very similar to wa-l-jibāla ʾarsāhā in verse 79:32 of the Quranic passage).


'''“Progressive Muslims”:''' And We made on the earth stabilizers so that it would not tumble with you, and We made in it wide paths that they may be guided.  
{{Quote|1=Poem attributed to Zayd b. 'Amr, as found for example in Ibn Al Jawzi's Al Muntazam,<ref name="IbnalJawzi">https://shamela.ws/book/12406/736</ref> and Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad (as translated from Ibn Ishaq by Guillaume<ref name="Guillaume102" /> and transliterated by Bravmann<ref name="Bravmann">Bravmann, M. M. (1977) Studies in Semitic Philology, Leiden: Brill p.439</ref>)|2=دحاها فلما رآها استوت ... عَلَى الماء أرسى عليها الجبالا


'''Transliteration:''' WajaAAalna fee al-ardi rawasiya an tameeda bihim wajaAAalna feeha fijajan subulan laAAallahum yahtadoona}}
daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā


{{Quote|{{Qtt|16|15}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And He has set up on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and rivers and roads; that ye may guide yourselves;
'''He spread it out''' and when He saw that it was settled upon the waters, He fixed the mountains upon it}}


'''Pickthal:''' And He hath cast into the earth firm hills that it quake not with you, and streams and roads that ye may find a way.  
Though the idea of mountains preventing the world from shaking is far more ancient, being found even in much earlier Vedic texts,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Veda Veda] | Hinduism | Britannica Entry


'''Shakir:''' And He has cast great mountains in the earth lest it might be convulsed with you, and rivers and roads that you may go aright,  
''..No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the Vedas, but the period of about 1500–1200 BCE is acceptable to most scholars..''</ref> along with a similar creation story of the [[Scientific Errors in the Quran#Earth%20and%20heavens%20torn%20apart|Earth and sky being split]] in  {{Quran|21|30}} and cosmic waters, with all three being folklore of ancient people.<ref>Witzel, E.J. Michael. The Origins of the World's Mythologies (p. 137). Oxford University Press.


'''Sher Ali:''' And HE has placed in the earth firm mountains lest it quake with you and rivers and routes that you may find the way to your destination.  
''Footnote 289 (p. 470): Ṛgveda 1.19.7 etc.; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā 1.10.13; Kaṭha Saṃhitā 36.7 (see above, § 2, n. 167; § 3, n. 283. Note that both the stemming part and the fixing of the Earth occur much later in mythological time than that of Heaven and Earth. Indra is a descendant of the second generation of deities. If we count the Asuras or Titans as the third generation, they are in fact the cousins of the “fourth” generation, to which Indra belongs. In Japan, the feature of preparing the land for habitation occurs again later on (cf. Aston 1972: 59). Probably in both traditions, myths were restructured restructured and attributed to the most important gods.''</ref>


'''Khalifa:''' And He placed stabilizers (mountains) on earth, lest it tumbles with you, as well as rivers and roads, that you may be guided.  
{{Quote|Witzel, E.J. Michael. The Origins of the World's Mythologies (p. 137). Oxford University Press. 2013.|After the permanent separation of heaven and earth, creation continues with the actual formation of land (cf. § 3.3). Usually this is done with the help of a demiurge, such as the Vedic Indra, who created land some time after he had stemmed apart Heaven and Earth: <b>the Earth, floating on the ocean, was shaky still.</b> As mentioned, Indra cut off the wings of the mountains that used to fly around and sit down here and there. <b>Once the mountains sat down permanently, the Earth became fixed.</b> <sup>289</sup>}}


'''Palmer:''' And He has cast firm mountains on the earth lest it move with you; and rivers and roads; haply ye may be guided.  
===Alleged peg-like structure of mountains===
[[File:Ch1-1-b-img2.jpg|alt=|border|thumb|425x425px|''Anatomy of the Earth'' by Cailleux (p. 220)|left]][[File:Anatomy_of_the_Earth-_Cailleux-_p_220.jpg|alt=|thumb|425x425px|Description of figure found on p. 220<ref>Click [[:File:Anatomy of the Earth- Cailleux- pp 220-221.jpg|here]] for a more complete view of the page scan.</ref>|right]]
The schematic diagram taken from page 220 of ''Anatomy of the Earth'' by the French geologist Cailleux is cited by various sources advocating the reality of the proposed miracle.<ref name="A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam">[http://www.islam-guide.com/frm-ch1-1-b.htm A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam/ B) The Quran on Mountains] - Islam-Guide.com, accessed October 1, 2011</ref> The basic underground protrusion of the crust beneath the mountainous region of the Alps, according to miracle advocates, appears as a sort of peg embedded in the lower layer of the Earth. This, the advocates suggest, coheres with {{Quran-range|78|6|7}} which reads, “Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?” The geological phenomenon observed is known as isostasy. This term describes the dynamic by which thickening of the crust results in mountains rising above ground level, compensated for by an increase in the depth of the crust into the lower part of the lithosphere (upper mantle) in the same area, maintaining [[w:Isostasy|isostatic equilibrium]].


'''Sale:''' And he hath thrown upon the earth [mountains] firmly rooted, lest it should move with you, and [also] rivers, and paths, that ye might be directed:
Thus, elevation above sea-level tends to correlate positively with the thickness of the Earth's crust at any given place. The reason why the crust tends to exist in this manner is compared to the same physics of floatation whereby the majority of an iceberg suspended in water extends below sea level and, at the same time, it is the case that the taller the portion of ice above sea level, the deeper the iceberg dips down below.


'''Rodwell:''' And He hath thrown firm mountains on the earth, least it move with you; and rivers and paths for your guidance,
Advocates of the scientific miracle argue that isostasy means that mountains have peg-like structures and that this is what was meant by the Quran.
'''“Progressive Muslims”:''' And He has cast into the earth stabilizers so that it does not sway with you, and rivers, and paths, perhaps you will be guided.  


'''Transliteration:''' Waalqa fee al-ardi rawasiya an tameeda bikum waanharan wasubulan laAAallakum tahtadoona}}
Critics respond to this in a number of ways. Firstly, as noted above, the verse itself assumes that its 7th century listeners understand what is meant, so it can hardly be referring to advanced geological concepts: "Have We not made [...] the mountains as pegs?"


{{Quote|{{Qtt|78|6-7}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?
Secondly, they note that the caption associated with the diagram found in Cailleux's book explicitly points out that the visual representation has had its 'vertical scale greatly exaggerated'. Other visual representations with less exaggerated and more accurate vertical scales, some of which are cited by the advocates themselves, do not depict mountains as in any way resembling pegs.<ref name="A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam" />


'''Pickthal:''' Have We not made the earth an expanse, And the high hills bulwarks?
Thirdly, such images represent a cross section of a mountain range, not individual mountains. These crustal root structures (also called mountain roots) occur at the level of entire ranges which can be thousands of kilometres long and only a few tens of kilometers deep. The entire mountain range whose dominant feature is its length protrudes relatively slightly into the upper mantle, unlike a peg whose depth is greater than its width. Some images of actual crustal roots underlying famous mountain ranges are shown below.


'''Shakir:''' Have We not made the earth an even expanse? And the mountains as projections (thereon)?
Fourthly, critics point out that unlike pegs which are foreign objects placed into something else, mountains caused by plate collisions or faults are of continuous material as the surrounding crust, albeit contorted or faulted into different shapes due to geological processes. Furthermore, plateau mountains (including mesas and buttes) such as those of the Najd Plateau in Saudi Arabia (illustrated below) are caused by the erosion of surrounding material so can hardly be described as having been placed there.


'''Sher Ali:''' Have WE not made the earth as a bed, And the mountains as pegs?
Fifthly, an effect called ''uplift'' maintains the height of mountains for some time even as erosion occurs, by reducing the depth of the crustal root. This is because the thickened subterranean crust is nevertheless buoyant relative to the molten mantle, so it thrusts upwards as erosion lightens the weight above, maintaining isostatic balance and eventually resulting in normal crustal thickness.<ref>Joseph A. DiPietro, ''Geology and Landscape Evolution (Second Edition)'', 2018 quoted at https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/crustal-root</ref>


'''Khalifa:''' Did we not make the earth habitable? And the mountains stabilizers?
Sixthly, some argue that the concept of a subterranean aspect of mountains is found already in the Bible and may in some form have been adopted by Muhammad, if that is indeed the meaning in the Quran. 


'''Palmer:''' Have we not set the earth as a couch, and the mountains as stakes,
{{Quote|1=[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah%202:6&version=NIV Jonah 2:6 NIV]|2=To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.}}
 
'''Sale:''' Have we not made the earth for a bed, and the mountains for stakes [to fix the same]?
 
'''Rodwell:''' Have we not made the Earth a couch? And the mountains its tent-stakes?
 
'''“Progressive Muslims”:''' Did We not make the earth a resting ground? And the mountains as pegs?
 
'''Transliteration:''' Alam najAAali al-arda mihadan Waaljibala awtadan}}
 
{{Quote|{{Qtt|15|19}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.
 
'''Pickthal:''' And the earth have We spread out, and placed therein firm hills, and caused each seemly thing to grow therein.
'''Shakir:''' And the earth -- We have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing.
 
'''Sher Ali:''' And the earth have WE spread out, and set therein firm mountains and cause every thing to grow therein in proper proportion.
 
'''Khalifa:''' As for the earth, we constructed it, and placed on it stabilizers (mountains), and we grew on it a perfect balance of everything.
 
'''Palmer:''' And the earth we have stretched out and have thrown on it firm mountains, and have caused to grow upon it of everything a measured quantity.
 
'''Sale:''' We have also spread forth the earth, and thrown thereon stable [mountains]; and we have caused every kind of [vegetable] to spring forth in the same, according to a determinate weight:
 
'''Rodwell:''' And the Earth have We spread forth, and thrown thereon the mountains, and caused everything to spring forth in it in balanced measure:
 
'''“Progressive Muslims”:''' And the land We have stretched, and placed stabilizers in it, and We have planted in it everything in balance.
 
'''Transliteration:''' Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatna feeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin}}
 
The relevant Arabic terms are: awtad for pegs/bulwarks/stabilizers/ projections;<ref name="Zakir Naik">Dr. Zakir Naik - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.ediscoverislam.com/Quran-Islam-and-Science/Islam-Quran-and-Science/the-holy-quran-and-modern-science|2=2011-10-02}} The Quran and Modern Science: Compatible Or Incompatible?] - Islamic Research Foundation</ref> rawasiya for mountains, and tameeda for tumble/shake/quake/convulse/sway etc.<ref name="Campbell">Dr. William Campbell - [{{Reference archive|1=http://answering-islam.org./Campbell/s4c2a.html|2=2011-10-02}} The Qur'an and the Bible in the light of history and science] - PP. 170 - 182</ref>
 
Wehr translates this word as unshakable mountains. The Munjid says (al-jibal al-thawabat al-ruwasikh) firmly established, fixed mountains. The word comes from the root (arsa), the same root used for the Arabic word for anchor. To throw out or cast the anchor is (alqa almirsah). So instead of "cast the anchor to keep the ship from moving", we have "cast the mountains to keep the earth from shaking."<ref name="Campbell"></ref>
 
Dr. [[Zakir Naik]] translated awtad as stakes or pegs (like those used to anchor a tent).<ref name="Zakir Naik"></ref>
 
The most pertinent verse is 16:15 transliterated as follows:
 
:''Waalqa fee al-ardi rawasiya an tameeda bikum waanharan wasubulan laAAallakum tahtadoona''.
 
Note the verse uses the word 'ard' which can be used to describe the Earth, its surface, or the ground in general, an example of apologetic language vagueness – meaning that it can refer to anything from the Earth, the crust, the lithosphere, the mantle or any combination of the above that suits the apologist's argument at the time.  
 
Also note that the word ‘tameeda’ is claimed to refer to shaking or disturbance, as opposed to ‘zalzala’ which means ‘earthquake.’ A further dissection of this term will be given later.
 
Other interpretations of verse 21:31 are as follows:
 
{{Quote|{{Qtt|21|31}}|'''Bewley:''' We placed firmly embedded mountains on the Earth so it would not move under them...
 
'''Daryabadi:''' And We have placed in the Earth firm mountains lest it should move away with them...
 
'''Hilali & Khan:''' And We have placed in the Earth firm mountains lest it should shake with them...
'''Al-Muntakhab:''' And We furnished the Earth with firm stays, mountains placed in a certain setting, fixed as with an anchor, to stabilize it lest it should sway you from side to side or in all directions...


'''Sarwar:''' We placed firm mountains on Earth lest it would shake them away...  
====Root structures of some actual mountain ranges====
In the below model of a section of the Ural mountains range based on gravity and seismic data, it can be seen (even despite the exaggerated vertical dimension) that there is nothing peg or stake-like about the crust layer in which isostasy occurs.


'''Asad:''' And We have set up firm mountains on Earth lest it sway with them...}}
[[File:Ural_gravity_model.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|Gravity model of a cross section from part of the Ural mountain range (note the exaggerated vertical dimension) by Ognev et. al. (2022). They explain: "Satellite gravity gradient data was applied to determine the Moho depth for the area [i.e. the lower boundary of the crust] ... The Moho discontinuity obtained from the gravity inversion was consequently modified and complemented in order to define a complete 3D crustal model by adding information on the sedimentary cover, upper crust, lower crust, and lithospheric mantle layers in the process of forward gravity modelling, where both seismic and gravity constraints were respected."<ref>Ognev, I., Ebbing, J., and Haas, P.: [https://se.copernicus.org/articles/13/431/2022/ Crustal structure of the Volgo–Uralian subcraton revealed by inverse and forward gravity modelling], Solid Earth, 13, 431–448, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-431-2022, 2022. (Open access)</ref>|center]]


There is another verse that may suggest that Mountains have roots, but only when apologists choose to use a certain definition in a typically vague verse:  
The below crustal cross sections of the Alps show a type of mountain range root formation resulting from subduction during continental crust collision. The present height of the mountains are shown in the solid line slightly above sea level. It is important to note that these are cross sections of a formation which continues all along the length of that part of the plate boundary. Hence even with the most generous imagination, this process does not resemble a peg or stake.
[[File:Alps_crustal_cross_section.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|Two cross sections illustrating part of the Alps by Moores et al. (2013)<ref>Moores, Eldridge & Yıkılmaz, M. & Kellogg, Louise. (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284224939_Tectonics_50_Years_after_the_Revolution Tectonics: 50 Years after the Revolution] 10.1130/2013.2500(10). pp. 347-8</ref>|center]]


{{Quote|{{Qtt|20|105}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' They ask thee concerning the Mountains: say, "My Lord will uproot them and scatter them as dust;
The two cross-sections shown below are across the Apennine mountain range of Italy. Notice the non-peg-like structure of the mountains which protrude slightly above the surface in these images, which have comparable vertical and horizontal scales.
[[File:ApenninesCrossSection.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|Cross section of the Apennine mountain range based on Seismic data (Y. Kelemework et. al (2021) <ref>Fig. 9 in Kelemework, Y., Milano, M., La Manna, M. et al. [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93945-8#citeas Crustal structure in the Campanian region (Southern Apennines, Italy) from potential field modelling] Sci Rep 11, 14510 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93945-8</ref>)|center]]


'''Pickthal:''' They will ask thee of the mountains (on that day). Say: My Lord will break them into scattered dust.  
The below three-dimensional model of the Calabro-Ionian subduction zone near Sicily has a cutaway illustrating the nature of the lithospheric slab containing a mountainous landscape.


'''Shakir:''' And they ask you about the mountains. Say: My Lord will carry them away from the roots.  
[[File:Calabro-IonianSubductionZone.jpg|alt=|thumb|425x425px|Model sketch showing the subduction zone near Sicily based on seismic tomography data by L. Scarfi et. al. (2018)<ref>Fig. 7 in Scarfì, L., Barberi, G., Barreca, G. et al. [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23543-8 Slab narrowing in the Central Mediterranean: the Calabro-Ionian subduction zone as imaged by high resolution seismic tomography] Sci Rep 8, 5178 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23543-8</ref>)|center]]


'''Sher Ali:''' And they ask thee concerning the mountains. Say, `My Lord will break them into pieces and scatter them as dust;
===Types of mountain without crustal roots===
Besides pointing out that the crustal roots (also called mountain roots) described by isostasy do not resemble pegs in either form or function, critics also point out that isostasy, while often observed, is by no means universal and there are several outstanding examples of mountain ranges and other elevated geological structures which have no such roots.


'''Khalifa:''' They ask you about the mountains. Say, "My Lord will wipe them out.  
Mountain formation can occur in a number of ways, not all of which involve the formation of crustal roots nor any other structure that can reasonably be claimed to resemble pegs (if any). Mountain formation with crustal thickening can result from a number of processes including folding, thrust faulting, metamorphism, intrusion, and tectonic accretion.<ref>Joseph A. DiPietro, ''Geology and Landscape Evolution (Second Edition)'', 2018 quoted at https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/crustal-root</ref> However, other types of mountain formation do not create crustal/mountain roots.  


'''Palmer:''' They will ask thee about the mountains; say, 'My Lord will scatter them in scattered pieces,  
'''Fault-block mountains''' (including tilted fault-block mountains, illustrated below) occur when plates move apart and do not form with roots since crust faults do not increase the weight distribution and isostatic balance. The crust thickness is the same before and after their formation. Another type of mountain can be formed when oceanic crust is subducted beneath continental crust. Lava then comes up from inside the earth in repeated volcanic eruptions and falls back down, piling up to form high and big mountains, which are known as [http://www.universetoday.com/29833/how-mountains-are-formed/ '''volcanic mountains'''], and are common in the Arabian peninsula which is itself a minor tectonic plate. Another type of mountain are '''lava domes''' in which magma lifts up the crust but does not erupt. There are also '''plateau mountains''' (including mesas and buttes) in which the surrounding area was eroded away, and chains of hotspot mountains where an oceanic plate has moved across hotspots in the Earth's molten mantle.<ref>https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/main-types-mountains-earths-ups-downs/</ref>


'''Sale:''' They will ask thee concerning the mountains: Answer, my Lord will reduce them to dust, and scatter them abroad;
In some situations other mechanisms reduce the role of isostasy in maintaining equilibrium. Professor of Geodesy, Mehdi Eshagh writes:
{{Quote|1=Mehdi Eshagh, Satellite Gravimetry and the Solid Earth, 2021, Chapter 6.6 Non-isostatic equilibriums, p. 308|2=Generally, we can say that in isostasy it is assumed that mountains or loads have roots beneath, this means that the crust is thicker over the mountainous regions than the oceans. However, there are examples showing that the crust is not as thick as isostasy presents under mountains, and, in fact, there are other compensation mechanisms which keep them in equilibrium.<BR />
[...]<BR />
Another example is high lands due to mantle plumes, which in fact the mantle plumes and thermal isostasy keep the mountains in equilibrium partly. Over the high lands having a mantle plume below no roots or small roots for the mountains or high lands exists. In fact these areas are in non-isostatic equilibrium.}}


'''Rodwell:''' And they will ask thee of the mountains: SAY: scattering my Lord will scatter them in dust;
Mountain ranges which in no way resemble pegs include structures formed by the geological processes of extension and faulting, such as the Nevada Basin and Range, as well as those formed by ''fold and thrust belts'', such as the Appalachians, Eastern Bolivian Andes, Zagros Mountains, and the Calcareous Alps. Indeed, even the Himalayas are underlaid by a crust structure shaped like a broad wedge and which does not resemble a peg.<ref>Dèzes, Pierre (1999) - [http://comp1.geol.unibas.ch/~zanskar/zanskar_geology.pdf Tectonic and metamorphic Evolution of the Central Himalayan Domain in Southeast Zanskar (Kashmir, India)] - Mémoires de Géologie. Doctoral thesis (Universite de Lausanne) 32: 149. ISSN 1015-3578</ref> The same is true for the Pyrenees.<ref>Jaume Vergés, Manel Fernàndez, Albert Martìnez - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.virtualexplorer.com.au/article/2002/58/the-pyrenean-orogen/tert.html#figure.08|2=2011-10-02}} The Pyrenean orogen: pre-, syn-, and post-collisional evolution] - Journal of the Virtual Explorer, Electronic Edition, ISSN 1441-8142, volume 8, paper 4, doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2002.00058</ref>


'''"Progressive Muslims":''' And they ask you about the mountains, say: "My Lord will annihilate them completely."
Plateau mountains of the Najd plataeu in Arabia are formed due to their high resistance to erosion processes.<ref>https://www.fawry.news/237353/where-is-the-najd-plateau-located/</ref>
[[File:NajdPlateau.jpg|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center]]


'''Transliteration:''' Wayas-aloonaka AAani aljibali faqul yansifuha rabbee nasfan}}
Dome mountains like these in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Navada, USA are formed by magma uplifting the crust without breaking through as volcanoes.<ref>[https://www.universetoday.com/29827/dome-mountains/ Dome Mountains] - Universetoday.com</ref>
[[File:YosemiteLavaDomes.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center]]


Many translations translate the word 'yansifuha' as wipe out, break, carry away, annihilate, destroy, and crush, but apologists will prefer the meaning, ‘uproot’, as the Yusuf Ali and Al-Muntakhab versions have done.
Karsk mountains of Guilin, Southwest China. Karsk mountains result from erosion of the surrounding limestone bedrock by running acidic water over millions of years.<ref>[https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/how-were-guilins-magical-mountains-formed/ How were Guilin's magical mountains formed?]</ref>
[[File:Guilin_yangshuo.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center]]


==Discussion==
The diagrams shown below from Stephen Marshak's detailed university textbook, ''Essentials of Geology'', illustrate major types of mountain formation resulting from tectonic activity: Subduction of oceanic plates underneath continental plates; collision of continental plates; and rifting (separation) of plates which can cause fault block mountains.[[File:MarshakSubduction.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|left|Illustration of mountain formation due to subduction of an oceanic plate.<BR />Fig. 9.16 in Stephen Marshak, ''Essentials of Geology'' Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 280]][[File:MarshakFaultBlock.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|left|Illustration of mountain formation due to rifting.<BR />Fig. 9.18 in Stephen Marshak, ''Essentials of Geology'' Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 281<BR />It is apparent that fault block mountains, including tilted (or rotational) fault blocks form mountain ranges without generating crustal roots as their formation does not involve an increase in material, and hence no isostatic rebalancing.]][[File:MarshakContinentalCollisions.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center|Illustration of mountain formation due to continental plate collision.<BR />Fig. 9.17 in Stephen Marshak, ''Essentials of Geology'' Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 281<BR />Note that while this type of mountain formation results in crustal "roots" (thickening), the increased crustal thickness extends all along the length of the mountain range, so does not resemble a peg.]]


A summary of the apologetic case is as follows:


===Mountains have deep roots thus they resemble ‘pegs’===


<center>[[File:Ch1-1-b-img2.jpg|430px]]</center>
===Alleged function as pegs===
Sometimes pictures of mountains used on Islamic videos and websites depict the crust protruding down into the lithospheric mantle (the upper mantle), giving the misleading impression that they "peg" the crust to it. In fact this layer and the crust are both part of the lithosphere and move together as an entire  lithospheric plate (tectonic plate) before mountains form at the boundaries of subduction and continental plate collision. The lithosphere moves over the asthenosphere, which is molten mantle and not a solid object into which something can be "pegged". Mountain ranges can also lose their root when [[w:Delamination_(geology)|delamination]] occurs, for example at the East Anatolian Plataeu.<ref>https://www.mn.uio.no/ceed/english/research/publications/articles/2020/delamination.pdf</ref> An image illustrating a section of the Tibetan Plateau which has also experienced delamination is shown below.


[[File:Tibetan-plateau.jpeg|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center|Delamination underneath part of the Tibetan Plateau. Notice also the wedge-shaped and not at all peg-like crust in the northward cross-section of the plateau.<ref>Fig. 5 in Jikun Feng, Huajian Yao, Ling Chen, Weitao Wang, [https://academic.oup.com/nsr/article/9/4/nwab174/6369358 Massive lithospheric delamination in southeastern Tibet facilitating continental extrusion], National Science Review, Volume 9, Issue 4, April 2022, nwab174, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwab174</ref>]].


The above schematic diagram is taken from "Anatomy of the Earth", Cailleux, p. 220, and is cited by various Islamic [[websites]].<ref name="A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam">[http://www.islam-guide.com/frm-ch1-1-b.htm A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam/ B) The Quran on Mountains] - Islam-Guide.com, accessed October 1, 2011</ref>  
It could be added that far more significant downwards protrusions into the molten asthenosphere are the subducted slabs of lithosphere which descend into the molten mantle at plate boundaries, and are sometimes in a state of partial detachment. Another example of downward protruding material which is far more substantial than crustal roots are craton keels. [[w:Craton|Cratons]] are stable regions of the earth's crust that are no longer subject to mountain building processes. Craton keels are deep extensions of cratons into the mantle which extend any where from 60-300km below the surface. These keels extend far deeper than crustal (mountain) roots. The formation of these craton roots, or keels, is, however, unrelated to mountains or their formation.<ref name="Perchuk2021">Perchuk, A.L., Gerya, T.V., Zakharov, V.S. et al. [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2806-7 Building cratonic keels in Precambrian plate tectonics] Nature 586, 395–401 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2806-7</ref>
<BR />
[[File:TectonicSlabs.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center|Three-dimensional cross section beneath the European Alps showing attached and detached parts of a lithosphere slab based on tomographic profiles by M. R. Handy et. al. (2021)<ref>Fig. 11 in Handy, M. R., Schmid, S. M., Paffrath, M., Friederich, W., and the AlpArray Working Group: [https://se.copernicus.org/articles/12/2633/2021/ Orogenic lithosphere and slabs in the greater Alpine area – interpretations based on teleseismic P-wave tomography], Solid Earth, 12, 2633–2669, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2633-2021, 2021</ref><BR />Subducted slabs are far more significant downward protrusions than the crustal thickening which occurs beneath some mountain ranges.]]
[[File:Craton-keel.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center|Dynamic model of craton keel formation (fig. 5 in Perchuk et al. (2020) ''Building cratonic keels in Precambrian plate tectonics''<ref name="Perchuk2021"/><BR />These too are much larger downward protrusions than the crustal thickening which occurs during any mountain formation process.]]
<BR/>


Superficially it would seem they have a point. Verse 78:6-7 says, “Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?”
==Mountains prevent the Earth from moving / convulsing / inclining==
A number of attempts are commonly made to interpret the following verses in light of modern science.


They point to the fact of isostacy where the bulk of the mountain extends into the upper mantle as proof that Prophet [[Muhammad]] could not have known that mountains were ‘pegs’ staking the crust to the upper mantle unless [[Allah]] told him.
{{Quote|{{Quran|16|15}}|And He has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it shift with you, and [made] rivers and roads, that you may be guided,}}


Sounds convincing? Herein lies the genius of the Qur'an – to make definitions so vague as to provide apologists with sufficient ‘wriggle room’.  
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|31}}|And We placed within the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with them, and We made therein [mountain] passes [as] roads that they might be guided.}}


====Analysis====
{{Quote|{{Quran|31|10}}|He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind}}


What they fail to provide is the accompanying description given directly above the schematic diagram,<ref>Click [[:File:Anatomy of the Earth- Cailleux- pp 220-221.jpg|here]] for a more complete view of the page scan.</ref> pointing out that the vertical scale has been ''greatly'' exaggerated.
As mentioned above, the word describing the mountains in these verses is l-rawāsiya (the steadfast, anchored, anchors, used to mean mountains).<ref name="LexiconRawaasiya" /> As Tabatai & Mirsadri (2016) note:


{{Quote|Tabatabaʾi, Mohammad A.; Mirsadri, Saida, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24811784 "The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself"], Arabica 63 (3/4): 201-234, 2016|One important feature of the earth, in the eyes of the Qur'ân, is its tranquility against sudden motions, for God has put it stable (Kor 27, 61; 35, 41). This stability is due to the massive corpuses, namely mountains, which are put upon the earth (Kor 41,10; 88,19), like pegs (Kor 78,7), in order to fix the earth into its place. It is why the Qur'ân in ten places (Kor 13,3; 15,19; 16,15; 21,31; 27,61; 31,10; 41,10; 50, 7; 77, 27; 79, 32) describes them as rawäsi or räsiyät, both plural forms for râsiya, which stands for something which is fastened to the earth due to its heaviness. So, according to the Qur'än, mountains are the heavy masses upon the earth which like pegs are hammered to it, lest it would shake.}}


<center>[[File:Anatomy of the Earth- Cailleux- p 220.jpg|500px]]</center>
Incidentally, the first two verses state that Allah created mountain passes for the benefit of humans. Critics would observe here that many mountain ranges are inconvenient for humans to traverse, with large detours necessary, and show no sign that they were designed with passes perfectly suited to human needs.


===Refers to the earth as a whole===
While it is common today to interpret the above verses as a reference to earthquakes, it is far more likely that they refer to the earth as a whole. Since the author of these verses would have known that earthquakes do in fact occur, including in Arabia itself, it is unlikely that he would have described mountains as being created lest people suffer earthquakes. The most natural reading is that "the earth" (al-ard) in these verses refer to the entire Earth. This is especially clear in {{Quran|31|10}} and {{Quran-range|21|30|31}} in which the heavens are mentioned immediately beforehand, and fits with the verse discussed above in which mountains are described as pegs or stakes.


The following pictures from the same Islamic sites<ref name="A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam"></ref> resemble ‘very blunt’ pegs. In fact, they resemble pegs only with imagination.
The poem quoted above attributed to the pre-Islamic poet al-Muhalhil links the mountains (rawāsiya, like in these verses of the Quran) to the shifting/convulsing (with the same verb as these verses) of the entire earth. Similarly, the myth of [[The Islamic Whale]] on which the Earth rests according to some hadiths was narrated in terms of mountains holding down the earth to stop it moving on the back of the whale.


Verses which do seem to describe earthquakes use the words zalzalah ({{Quran|22|1}} and {{Quran|99|1}}), or rajfatu ({{Quran|7|78}}, {{Quran|73|14}}). In contrast, the verses which state that Allah cast or placed the mountains to prevent the earth from shaking use the word tamīda, discussed in the next sub-section below.


<center>[[File:Ch1-1-b-img1.jpg]]</center>
Further evidence that the tamīda verses refer to the earth as a whole moving is found in a hadith collected by al-Tirmidhi. Its authenticity is graded hasan (good) by Dar-us-Salam, though regardless, this hadith provides linguistic evidence on the meaning of tamīda in relation to the earth as a whole.
<center>[[File:Ch1-1-b-img3.jpg]]</center>


The observation here is that they equate ‘deep mountain roots’ with ‘pegs’. There are several difficulties with this interpretation in that not all mountains have peg-like roots. An analysis of mountain formation reveals the fact that not all mountains have peg-like roots, for example volcanoes; those formed by extension and faulting (e.g. the Nevada Basin and Range); thrust and fold belts (e.g. Appalachians, Eastern Bolivian Andes, Zagros Mountain, the Calcareous Alps). A cross-section of the collisional Himalayas reveals a broad ‘wedge’ rather than Cailleux’s schematic ‘peg’ diagram,<ref>Dèzes, Pierre (1999) - [http://comp1.geol.unibas.ch/~zanskar/zanskar_geology.pdf Tectonic and metamorphic Evolution of the Central Himalayan Domain in Southeast Zanskar (Kashmir, India)] - Mémoires de Géologie. Doctoral thesis (Universite de Lausanne) 32: 149. ISSN 1015-3578</ref> as do the Pyrenees.<ref>Jaume Vergés, Manel Fernàndez, Albert Martìnez - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.virtualexplorer.com.au/article/2002/58/the-pyrenean-orogen/tert.html#figure.08|2=2011-10-02}} The Pyrenean orogen: pre-, syn-, and post-collisional evolution] - Journal of the Virtual Explorer, Electronic Edition, ISSN 1441-8142, volume 8, paper 4, doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2002.00058</ref>
{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi||5|44|3369}}|Anas bin Malik narrated that:
The Prophet said: “When Allah created the earth, it started shaking [tamīdu]. So He created the mountains, and said to them: ‘Upon it’ so it began to settle. [...]}}Prominent Qur'anic commentator [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Kathir Ibn Kathir] also says in his tafsir:
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/16.15 Tafsir Ibn Kathir 16:15]|...then Allah mentions the earth and how He placed in it mountains standing firm, which make it stable and keep it from shaking in such a manner that the creatures dwelling on it would not be able to live. Hence Allah says, (And the mountains He has fixed firmly.) (79: 32)...}}
Similarly, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafsir_al-Jalalayn Tafsir Al-Jalalayn,]another prominent Sunni commentary says:
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/15.19 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 15:19]|And the earth We have stretched it out, spread it flat, and cast therein firm mountains, lest it should sway beneath its inhabitants, and caused to grow therein every kind of balanced thing, [every kind of thing] known and determined.}}


The diagram below is a true scale cross section of the Andes mountain range. The mountains and their “roots” (which do not resemble “pegs” in the slightest) are in yellow.
====The meaning of tamīda (move, convulse, incline to one side)====
The word translated shift in the above quoted verses is tamīda (from the root ميد). According to Lane's Lexicon, the meanings of this word include to be in a state of motion, convulsion, turn, twist, contort, to incline to one side. Lane even mentions regarding this word a tradition which held that the earth was inclined on its side before mountains were formed.<ref name="tamida">تَمِيدَ tamīda [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000274.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2746</ref>


{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000274.pdf Lane's Lexicon for the root ميد]|
مَادَ, aor. يَمِيدُ, inf. n. مَيْدٌ (Ṣ, L, Mṣb, Ḳ) and مَيَدَانٌ, (L, Mṣb, Ḳ,) It (a thing) was, or became in a state of motion, or commotion; was, or became agitated: (Ṣ, L, Mṣb, Ḳ:) or, in a state of violent motion or commotion; or violently agitated. (El-Basáïr, TA.) So in the expression in the Ḳur, [xvi. 15; and xxxi. 9;] أَنْ تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ Lest it (the earth) should be convulsed with you, and go round with you, and move you about violently. (El-Basáïr, TA.)
مَادَ It turned or twisted about, or became contorted and convulsed. (IḲṭṭ.)
[...]
مَادَ, inf. n. مَيْدٌ and مَيَدَانٌ, It inclined to one side: as the earth is, in a trad., described to have done before the mountains were formed. (L.)}}


<center>[[File:Andestru.gif|430px]]</center>
The usage of this word further supports the interpretation that these verses refer to mountains anchoring the earth as a whole from moving in such a manner.


It is clear that the author of the Quran sought to describe some purposeful benefit for which he supposed mountains had been created. This desire is fulfilled by such a (mistaken) conception of mountains. Other interpretations which seek to interpret mountains as protecting humans from the effects of plate tectonics or earthquakes falter when one considers that an all-powerful creator of the heavens and earth would have been capable of actually ending all dangerous geological activity before humans arrived on the scene. Instead, some mountain ranges are in regions that are still geologically active, while other mountain ranges are in parts of the world which ceased being geologically active hundreds of millions of years before humans arrived (for example the highlands of Scotland).


Therefore it appears likely that they are mistaken when claiming mountains are pegs in the literal sense. They base their claims on a single, greatly exaggerated, schematic diagram and not from a more comprehensive survey of mountain types and genuine geological data.  
===The relationship between mountains and earthquakes===
[[File:MarshakEarthquakes.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center|Fig. 8.18 in Stephen Marshak, ''Essentials of Geology'' Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 236]]


For these reasons, it can be conceded that mountains are pegs only in the metaphorical sense, but definitely not in the literal sense.  
The most common apologetic interpretation is to claim that the Quran speaks of mountains preventing or reducing the severity of earthquakes. However, two major problems with such an interpretation are raised by critics, as set out in the subsections below: 1) Seismic amplification can sometimes mean that mountains actually increase the destruction caused by earthquakes; and 2) Destructive and deadly earthquakes do in fact occur (i.e. they are not prevented by mountains), and are correlated strongly with the location of mountain ranges due to the very nature of the underlying processes.


They also seem incredulous that Muhammad should have known that mountains have 'roots', arguing that since the bulk of the mountain is below ground it is unobservable. Muhammad could only have referred to mountain roots (like pegs) from a divine source. However, this may not be true since ancient people already knew mountains have roots. For example, the ancient Hebrews seemed to have acquired this knowledge.  
====Mountains and the dampening (or amplification) of seismic waves====
{{Quote|{{cite web|url=http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/content/97/6/2066.abstract |title=Effects of Large-Scale Surface Topography on Ground Motions, as Demonstrated by a Study of the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles, California |publisher= |author= |date= |archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}|We investigate the effects of large-scale surface topography on ground motions generated by nearby faulting. We show a specific example studying the effect of the San Gabriel Mountains, which are bounded by the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault on the north and by the Los Angeles Basin on the south. By simulating a Mw 7.5 earthquake on the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault, we show that the San Gabriel Mountains act as a natural seismic insulator for metropolitan Los Angeles. The topography of the mountains scatters the surface waves generated by the rupture on the San Andreas fault, leading to less-efficient excitation of basin-edge generated waves and natural resonances within the Los Angeles Basin. The effect of the mountains reduces the peak amplitude of ground velocity for some regions in the basin by as much as 50% in the frequency band up to 0.5 Hz. These results suggest that, depending on the relative location of faulting and the nearby large-scale topography, the topography can shield some areas from ground shaking.}}


{{Quote|1=[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah%202:6&version=NIV Jonah 2:6 NIV]|2=To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.}}
The above and similar studies are referenced by advocates as specific evidence of mountains stabilizing the Earth's crust and undermining seismic activity. Critics respond in two ways: Firstly, although the phenomenon described has a limited stabilizing effect on certain regions favorably positioned vis-à-vis the mountain range, the mountains do not prevent the earthquake outright and, more importantly, the limited dampening effect observed is only relevant if the inhabited area happens to be favorably positioned vis-à-vis the mountain range - this means that if, for instance, the city were located between the mountain and the fault line where the quake originated, even if the city was located near the foot of the mountain, then the destruction experienced by the city would not be reduced in any significant way.


===Deep roots stabilize the earth (or mountain roots act as pegs)===
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the topography (surface layout) of mountainous landscapes can actually '''amplify''' the seismic waves and thus the groundshaking experienced in some locations while dampening the waves elsewhere. This again depends on a number of factors such as the depth of the fault and the precise topography, but there are real studies showing this effect, both with measured seismic data and with computer modelling.


{{Quote||The role of mountains as stabilizers for the Earth's crust can be clearly seen in their very deep roots, and can be justified by the fact that the motions of the lithospheric plates only come to halt when a continent collides with another, producing a collisional type mountain, which is believed to be the last phase in mountain-building. Without mountains, the movement of lithospheric plates would have been much faster and their collision more drastic. Even though mountains do act as retarders for the plate movements, they should not be understood to be an independent force or factor, because they are the very product of this motion in the first place.}}
In particular, topography amplifies ground shaking at mountain tops and ridges (especially the slopes facing away from the source), while it de-amplifies it in valleys.<ref>Khan, S., van der Meijde, M., van der Werff, H., and Shafique, M. (2020) [https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/20/399/2020/ The impact of topography on seismic amplification during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake], Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 399–411, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-399-2020 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20230225031711/https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/20/399/2020/ archive])</ref> Around the world, human settlements are commonly built not only in valleys but also on mountain and hill-sides.


{{Quote||Modern geologists describe the folds in the Earth as giving foundations to the mountains, and their dimensions go roughly one mile to roughly 10 miles. The stability of the Earth's crust results from the phenomenon of these folds.}}
Seismic amplification can also occur in low-lying areas where cities are more commonly found, especially for deeper earthquakes. The image below from a study of the effect of the mountainous topography around the Taipei basin illustrates that in some circumstances an earthquake would be more destructive to the city of Taipei due to the Central Mountain Range on the Island of Taiwan than if it was surrounded by a smooth topography (click or tap the image to expand the thumbnail).


====Analysis====
[[File:TaipeiWavePropogation.png|alt=|thumb|425x425px|center|3D seismic wave speed models of a deep earthquake in northern Taiwan by Shiann et. al., ''Effects of Topography on Seismic-Wave Propagation: An Example from Northern Taiwan'', (2009)<ref>Fig. 2 from Lee, Shiann-Jong & Komatitsch, Dimitri & Huang, Bor-Shouh & Tromp, Jeroen. (2009). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30771047_Effects_of_Topography_on_Seismic-Wave_Propagation_An_Example_from_Northern_Taiwan Effects of Topography on Seismic-Wave Propagation: An Example from Northern Taiwan]. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 99. 10.1785/0120080020.</ref><BR />The models take into account the basin but not the mountainous topography (top) or take both into account (middle). The most significant net difference between the two (bottom) is that much of the Taipei basin experiences strongly amplified peak ground velocity (how fast any point on the ground shakes) from the earthquake when the topography of the Central Mountain Range is taken into account.]]
The author of this proposition seems to have confused Cause with Effect. In his example of continental-collisional type mountains, he failed to see that mountains are caused by tectonic plate collision and do not effect plate stabilization.  


It is possible that the reason why lithospheric plates come to a (slow) halt is not due to mountains but due to the opposing plates. The author's proposition is akin to saying that in an automobile collision, the crushed engine compartment stabilizes the car during the crash. In reality, the crushed engine compartment (analogy = mountain) is the effect of the crash (analogy = tectonic plate collision). It does not stabilize the car during the collision.  
====Correlation between the location of earthquakes and mountains====
Critics also point out that scientists learned as early as the 1920s that earthquakes are concentrated in very specific and narrow zones arounds the planet (known as Wadati-Benioff zones). In 1954, French seismologist J.P. Rothé published a map showing the concentration of earthquakes along the zones indicated by dots and cross-hatched areas.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/zones.html|2=2011-10-02}} Earthquake zones] - U.S. Geological Survey</ref><center>[[File:Map_by_J.P._Rothé.gif|alt=|center|thumb|425x425px|J.P. Rothé's 1954 map]]</center>


In short, there is no scientific evidence that continental-collisional type mountains stabilize tectonic plates. All assertions to this effect are mere opinion without scientific foundations.
Critics note how the earthquakes originate mainly from the edges of tectonic plates, including collisional mountain ranges and ocean trenches and ridges, which demonstrates that mountains do not stabilize the crust or the earth. The presence of mountains on any part of the Earth's surface thus often suggests the presence of precisely those underground geographical circumstances which generate earthquakes. If there were no mountains, there would also be no tectonic activity, since the two are inextricably linked, and with no tectonic activity there would be no earthquakes.  
 
[[File:Seis-states.gif|alt=|frame]]Critics cite the Himalayan mountain range as a specific example of a mountain range which, rather than preventing earthquakes, is in fact closely associated with them. The collision of tectonic plates causes mountains to form and this same collision also causes earthquakes, which explains the correlation of the two phenomena.{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://asc-india.org/menu/seismi.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Seismicity of South Asia]<BR>ASC India|Why do earthquakes happen here?  
===Mountains stabilize the earth because plate movements are impeded by their formation===
 
{{Quote||The sea-deep roots stabilize the continental masses (or plates), as plate motions are almost completely halted by their formation, especially when the mountain mass is finally entrapped within a continent as an old craton.<ref name="El Naggar">Dr. Zaghlool El-Naggar PhD - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.elnaggarzr.com/en/main.php?id=54|2=2011-10-02}} The Mountains as Stabilizers for the Earth] - September 24, 2002</ref>}}
 
====Analysis====
 
Professor El Naggar also seems to have confused Cause and Effect. Plate motions are almost completely halted not by collisional-type mountain formation (effect) but by the opposing plates.
 
Further, this is merely Professor El Naggar’s opinion – a search of the his CV has singularly failed to find refereed scientific proof of his assertion. In fact, El Naggar’s scientific career is built on the study of biostratification, not on the evidence that mountains stabilize continental masses. The only references to Professor El Naggar on mountains are un-refereed Islamic conferences on supposed Islamic Science.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20050206082002/http://www.elnaggarzr.com/CV-E.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Curriculum Vitae of Professor DR. Z H. M. El-Na ggar] - Elnaggarzr.com</ref>
 
Therefore, El Naggar’s opinion is a classical example of the logical fallacy of Argumentum Ad Verecundiam.
 
If one were to accept such argumentum ad verecundiam, one would also have to accept Professor David A. Young’s opinion:
 
{{Quote||While it is true that many mountain ranges are composed of folded rocks (and the folds may be of large scale) it is not true that the folds render the crust stable. The very existence of the folds is evidence of instability in the crust.<ref name="Zakir Naik"></ref>}}
 
In other words, mountains do not keep the earth from shaking. Their formation caused and still causes the surface of the earth to shake.
 
===Mountain stabilize the lithospheric plates by sinking into the asthenosphere===
 
{{Quote|1=|2=The stabilization of lithospheric plates by mountains is effected by their sinking deeply into the zone of weakness of the Earth (the asthenosphere) as wooden pegs sink into the ground to stabilize the corners of a tent. Such a process of stabilization cannot take place without the presence of a viscous, plastic material under the outer rocky cover of the Earth, into which the mountains "roots" can float. In as much as the ship casts its anchor into the anchorage of a port to avoid the dangers of rolling and swaying by winds and waves, the Glorious Quran uses the term "Rawasi" (=moorings or firm anchors) to describe mountains. Such firm anchors do not only stabilize the lithospheric plates, but also the whole planet in its spinning around its own axis (nutation, recession, etc.).<ref name="El Naggar"></ref>}}
 
====Analysis====
 
Again, this is only Professor El Naggar’s opinion and a confusion of cause and effect. To date, no one has provided the scientific evidence derived by Professor El Naggar or anyone else to prove mountains actually stabilize the lithospheric plates.
 
The available scientific evidence is that the continental plates are stabilized by craton keels. These are deep (60-300km) extensions of cratons into the mantle (far deeper than mountain roots). The formation of these craton roots or keels are unrelated to mountain formation.<ref>Jordan, T. H., Nature, 1978, 274, 544–548; Elasser, W. M., in The Application of Modern Physics to Earth and Planetary Interiors (ed. Runcorn, S. K.), Interscience, New York, 1969, pp. 223– 240; Morgan, W. J., J. Geophys. Res., 1968, 73, 1959–1970</ref>
 
In fact, cratons are stable regions of the earth's crust that are no longer subject to mountain building processes. These craton roots or keels were formed by depletion of basaltic elements into the asthenosphere, leading to less dense material that sinks deeper into the mantle due to the lower buoyancy (i.e. isostacy {of the crust, not mountains} at work). <ref>Sankaran, A.V. - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/nov102001/1158.pdf|2=2011-10-02}} CURRENT SCIENCE] - VOL. 81, NO. 9, 10 NOVEMBER 2001 pp. 1158-1160</ref>
 
===Mountains prevent earthquakes===
 
====Analysis====
 
As early as the 1920s, scientists noted that earthquakes are concentrated in very specific narrow zones (Wadati-Benioff zones). In 1954, French seismologist J.P. Rothé published this map showing the concentration of earthquakes along the zones indicated by dots and cross-hatched areas.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/zones.html|2=2011-10-02}} Earthquake zones] - U.S. Geological Survey</ref>
 
 
<center>[[File:Map by J.P. Rothé.gif|500px]]</center>
 
 
Note how the earthquakes originate mainly from the edges of tectonic plates, including collisional mountain ranges and ocean trenches and ridges, thus suggesting that mountains do not stabilize the crust or the earth.
 
Further evidence is provided by a detailed look at the Himalayan mountain range which shows that it is closely associated with earthquakes, thus proving mountains do not prevent earthquakes.  
 
 
<center>[[File:Seis-states.gif]]</center>
 
 
{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://asc-india.org/menu/seismi.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Seismicity of South Asia]<BR>Amateur Seismic Centre|Why do earthquakes happen here?  
The Indian subcontinent lies upon the Indian Plate. This plate is moving northward at about 5 centimetres per year and in doing so, collides with the Eurasian Plate. Upon the Eurasian Plate lie the Tibet plateau & central Asia. '''Due to this mammoth collision, the Himalayas are thrust higher and very many earthquakes are generated in the process. This is the cause of earthquakes from the Himalayas to the Arakan Yoma.''' The same process, though involving the Indian Plate and the Burmese Micro-plate results in earthquakes in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Sometimes earthquakes of different magnitudes occur within the Indian Plate, in the peninsula and in adjoining parts of the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal. These arise due to localized systems of forces in the crust sometimes associated with ancient geological structures such as in the Rann of Kachchh.}}  
The Indian subcontinent lies upon the Indian Plate. This plate is moving northward at about 5 centimetres per year and in doing so, collides with the Eurasian Plate. Upon the Eurasian Plate lie the Tibet plateau & central Asia. '''Due to this mammoth collision, the Himalayas are thrust higher and very many earthquakes are generated in the process. This is the cause of earthquakes from the Himalayas to the Arakan Yoma.''' The same process, though involving the Indian Plate and the Burmese Micro-plate results in earthquakes in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Sometimes earthquakes of different magnitudes occur within the Indian Plate, in the peninsula and in adjoining parts of the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal. These arise due to localized systems of forces in the crust sometimes associated with ancient geological structures such as in the Rann of Kachchh.}}  


Therefore it seems the collision of tectonic plates causes mountains to form and this collision also causes earthquakes.  
Indeed, a mountainous region is often indicative of a high-earthquake frequency in the same area. Other examples of mountainous regions that are high-frequency earthquake zones include the Andes<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20050319232505/http://wwwshs1.bham.wednet.edu/curric/science/geophys/jacobson/ANDESMT.HTM|2=2011-10-02}} Andes mts.] - Volcanism and Plate Techtonics</ref> and the African mountains.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/reliefweb_pdf/node-100782.pdf|2=2011-10-02}} <!-- http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=248&ArticleID=3047 -->Earthquake Risk Alert for Africa's Mountain Regions] - United Nations Environment Programme, May 6, 2002</ref>


{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://asc-india.org/menu/gquakes.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Great Earthquakes]<BR>Amateur Seismic Centre|Strong and damaging earthquakes have been felt in all parts of the Indian Sub-continent. The most seismically active areas are those in the '''Himalayan regions''' of the sub-continent and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to the peculiar tectonic nature of these regions.}}
{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://asc-india.org/menu/gquakes.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Great Earthquakes]<BR>Amateur Seismic Centre|Strong and damaging earthquakes have been felt in all parts of the Indian Sub-continent. The most seismically active areas are those in the '''Himalayan regions''' of the sub-continent and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to the peculiar tectonic nature of these regions.}}Many of the the largest earthquakes, including the two largest earthquakes ever recorded, are associated with mountainous regions.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://asc-india.org/lib/world10.htm|2=2011-10-02}} 10 Largest Quakes -  Worldwide] - Amateur Seismic Centre</ref> The largest earthquake was the great Chilean earthquake, which occurred 140km south-south-west of Concepción (Biobio), Chile, registered at 9.5Mw – the Andes mountain range, evidently, did not prevent the earthquake or cause the region to be particularly stable.[[File:Chilean_Earthquake_of_1960.gif|alt=|thumb]]The second largest earthquake was the Prince William Sound earthquake, which occurred 33.2km SE of Mt. Goode (Alaska), U.S.A., registered at 9.2Mw – Mt Goode, nearby, was of no assistance. The sixth largest earthquake was the Ecuador earthquake, which occurred 138km west of Tortuga (Esmeraldas Province), Ecuador, registered at 8.8Mw – the nearby Andes mountain range was likewise of no assistance. The eighth largest earthquake was the Arunachal Pradesh, which occurred 20.7 kilometers NW of Tajobum (Arunachal Pradesh), India, registered at 6Mw –  this earthquake took place in the Assam hills and caused landslides in the mountains which, again, did not prevent or stabilize the earthquake. Such examples where formidable mountains and mountain ranges co-exist with earthquakes of immense magnitudes, critics point out, are abundant and thus undermine the idea that mountains stabilize the Earth or play any role in mitigating earthquakes.


Scientists have also proven that other mountain ranges to be earthquake zones, including the Andes<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20050319232505/http://wwwshs1.bham.wednet.edu/curric/science/geophys/jacobson/ANDESMT.HTM|2=2011-10-02}} Andes mts.] - Volcanism and Plate Techtonics</ref> and the African mountains.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/reliefweb_pdf/node-100782.pdf|2=2011-10-02}} <!-- http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=248&ArticleID=3047 -->Earthquake Risk Alert for Africa's Mountain Regions] - United Nations Environment Programme, May 6, 2002</ref>
Critics point out the largest earthquake ever recorded - the Chilean earthquake in 1960 - in particular. The U.S. Geological Survey had the following to say regarding this earthquake:


Does the claim that mountains prevent earthquakes stand up to scientific evidence? Clearly it does not. In fact, the largest earthquakes, particularly the largest 2, ever recorded are associated with mountainous regions.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://asc-india.org/lib/world10.htm|2=2011-10-02}} 10 Largest Quakes -  Worldwide] - Amateur Seismic Centre</ref>
{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1960_05_22_articles.php|2=2011-10-02}} Historic Earthquakes]<BR>U.S. Geological Survey, March 29, 2010|Chile<BR>1960 May 22 19:11:14 UTC <BR>Magnitude 9.5 <BR>The Largest Earthquake in the World <BR><BR>More than 2,000 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the Philippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States.}}The Andes Mountains did not prevent or stabilize this earthquake. On the contrary, later research revealed that the collision of tectonic plates that caused the earthquake also caused the Andes mountains to be raised. Similar earthquakes in the past are responsible for the existence of Andes in the first place. This collision even serves as a textbook example of the general phenomena, as can be seen below.{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.moorlandschool.co.uk/earth/tectonic.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Plate tectonics]<BR>Earth Science From Moorland School|This is a convergent plate boundary, the plates move towards each other. The amount of crust on the surface of the earth remains relatively constant. Therefore, when plates diverge (separate) and form new crust in one area, the plates must converge (come together) in another area and be destroyed. An example of this is the Nazca plate being subducted under the South American plate to form the Andes Mountain Chain.}}[[File:Platetecmap.gif|alt=|center]]


No. 1: The great Chilean earthquake occurring 140 kms SSW of Concepción (Biobio), Chile, registered 9.5Mw – the largest earthquake ever recorded. The Andes mountain range did nothing to prevent or stabilize this earthquake.  
===Tectonic plate interpretations===
Some advocates of the miracle claim argue that where mountains result from the collision of tectonic plates, they also cause the stability of the Earth. Maurice Bucaille in his book ''The Bible, the Quran and Science'' wrote as follows:{{Quote|Maurice Bucaille,''The Bible, the Quran and Science''|Modern geologists describe the folds in the Earth as giving foundations to the mountains, and their dimensions go roughly one mile to roughly 10 miles. The stability of the Earth's crust results from the phenomenon of these folds.}}Critics, in response, point out the difference between cause and effect, suggesting that the advocates conflate the two. The formation of mountains is an incidental result of the collision or rifting (separation) of the tectonic plates, events which in fact cause rather than prevent earthquakes. The formation of mountains and occurance of earthquakes are thus both largely the result of destabilizing tectonic activity. They are part of the same ongoing process and one cannot exist without the other. Like earthquakes, the mountains generated at these plate boundaries and fault lines are a product of the tectonic movement and cannot be said to in any sense prevent its other effects from taking place.  


No. 2: The Prince William Sound earthquake occurring 33.2 kms SE of Mt. Goode (Alaska), U.S.A., registered 9.2Mw - the second biggest earthquake recorded in the 20<sup>th</sup> century. Mt Goode did not stabilize this earthquake.  
Other advocates for the Quran, aware that these mountains result from and do not prevent tectonic collision, proceed differently. These advocates argue that the mountains slow the collision of continental plates down and dampen the impact. To these advocates, critics respond that what stops the collisions are simply the opposing forces of either plate. It is impossible that crustal plates collisions could occur without forming mountains since they are part of the same physical process and laws, so a special divine act of creation to create mountains is unnecessary and meaningless. To put it another way, it is nonsensical to say that the earth would shift/convulse with its inhabitants (per the Quran) if the tectonic plate collisions happened without the formation of mountains. One cannot exist without the other.


No. 6: The Ecuador earthquake occurring 138 kms W of Tortuga (Esmeraldas Province), Ecuador, registered 8.8Mw. The nearby Andes mountain range did not prevent or stabilize this earthquake.  
Moreover, the critics add, considering the above, these mountains are not acting in any capacity that can be described as peg-like (a better analogy might be the bumper of a car, which crumples upon collision to save the driver, for instance, from being crumpled - but this has nothing to do with pegs and does not serve the purpose of 'stabilization'). Nor does such an interpretation take account of the other types of mountain formation discussed above, for example fault block mountains which occur as plates move apart rather than together.


No. 8: The Arunachal Pradesh occurring 20.7 kilometers NW of Tajobum (Arunachal Pradesh), India registering 8.6Mw. This is in the Assam hills and caused landslides in the mountains.


Let’s examine the case of the largest earthquake ever recorded; the Chilean earthquake of 1960:
===Mountains and isostatic stabilization===


{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1960_05_22_articles.php|2=2011-10-02}} Historic Earthquakes]<BR>U.S. Geological Survey, March 29, 2010|Chile<BR>1960 May 22 19:11:14 UTC <BR>Magnitude 9.5 <BR>The Largest Earthquake in the World <BR><BR>More than 2,000 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the Philippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States.}}
Advocates of the miracle point to George Airy's model of isostasy, which supports the idea that isostasy occurring below mountains causes mountains themselves to be more stable than if isostasy were not occurring below. This, they argue, is another point of evidence that mountains stabilize the Earth as described in the Quran. Critics respond to this argument by stating that George Airy's model says nothing special of mountains, per se, and simply demonstrates that isostasy - that is the extension of the earth's crust below the surface to a degree correlated to the height of the surface at any given point - generally causes the crust of the earth to be stable, whether or not a given area is mountainous. Moreover, they point out, the fact that a mountain's isostasy causes the mountain to stabilize 'itself' - that is, just as the isostasy of any region causes that same region to be stable - does not mean that the mountain is in any way stabilizing the Earth in general or even the surrounding region in any meaningful way. They summarize this counterargument by suggesting that, on the basis of Airy's model, it can be said that if there were a region possessing a mountain and subject to isostasy, there is no reason to believe that region would be more stable than another, similar region that did not have a mountain but was also subject to isostasy to the same, natural extent.  
 
 
<center>[[File:Chilean Earthquake of 1960.gif]]</center>
 
 
The Andes Mountains did not seem to prevent or stabilize this earthquake. In fact, it is the collision between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates that causes these earthquakes and raises the Andes mountains.
 
{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.moorlandschool.co.uk/earth/tectonic.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Plate tectonics]<BR>Earth Science From Moorland School|This is a convergent plate boundary, the plates move towards each other. The amount of crust on the surface of the earth remains relatively constant. Therefore, when plates diverge (separate) and form new crust in one area, the plates must converge (come together) in another area and be destroyed. An example of this is the Nazca plate being subducted under the South American plate to form the Andes Mountain Chain.}}
 
 
<center>[[File:Platetecmap.gif]]</center>
 
 
Hence the proposition that mountains prevent earthquakes is false.
 
===Mountains stabilize the earth through isostacy===
 
====Analysis====
 
This is a classical misconception of George Airy’s model of Isostacy and the logical fallacy of “Composition” (i.e. generalization of the specific case to the general). Just because the mountains are themselves stabilized by isostacy does not mean that the mountains stabilize the earth or the crust by isostacy. Every element in the earth’s crust is governed by the same physical laws – in fact the crust ‘floats’ on the upper mantle and is thus self-stabilizing according to its own isostacy, not that of mountains.  


{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2004-03/1079354119.Es.r.html|2=2011-10-02}} Do plates with high moutains float higher then thosewithout moutains]<BR>David Smith, Director of Professional Development, MadSci Network, Earth Sciences, March 14, 2004|Isostacy, which says that any vertical column of the earth above some deep level of "compensation" must have the same mass. This has to do with bouyancy forces and with the tendency of deep materials (the asthenosphere, for example) to flow in response to pressure differences.}}
{{Quote|[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2004-03/1079354119.Es.r.html|2=2011-10-02}} Do plates with high moutains float higher then thosewithout moutains]<BR>David Smith, Director of Professional Development, MadSci Network, Earth Sciences, March 14, 2004|Isostacy, which says that any vertical column of the earth above some deep level of "compensation" must have the same mass. This has to do with bouyancy forces and with the tendency of deep materials (the asthenosphere, for example) to flow in response to pressure differences.}}


Therefore, isostacy stabilizes mountains. Isostacy also stabilizes the earth's crust.  
Another way the critics put it is that the phenomenon of isostasy is itself responsible for the stability of the crust - whether or not the crust is host to mountains in any given region. Isostasy stabilizes mountains, even terrain, and even indented regions on the Earth's surface. The Mountains do not cause this isostasy any more than isostasy causes mountains, as isostasy is co-occurrent with any variety of terrain - mountainous or otherwise. The co-occurrent isostasy is, however, responsible for the stability of the mountains as well as the crust, and not the other way around - that is, a region excepted from the norms of isostasy (as many are) will not be as stable, whether this region is mountainous or not. Isostasy is best understood as a phenomenon separate from the mountains altogether, as it is no more bound in the simple fact of its existence to the presence of mountains than it is to region of simple, flat crust (even if the specific form it takes in either of these cases is).
However, mountains do not stabilize the crust through isostacy. The crust stabilises itself through its own isostacy. Therefore, the stability of the crust, through 'crustal' isostacy, has nothing to do with mountains. It is only wishful thinking to extend this 'mountain-specific' isostacy to the crust (which has its own isostacy) because isostacy is an independent 'force or phenomenon' acting on the mountains as it independently does on the crust.


===The term ‘tameeda’ does not refer to earthquakes but to shaking or disturbances===
===Mountains and stabilization of the Earth about its axis===
Some advocates of the miracles argue that while mountains do not directly stabilize the Earth's surface by functioning as pegs, their presence and the concomitant fact of the crust being thicker at certain locations due to isostasy results in an increased moment of inertia for the earth, thus reducing its rotational speed and axial tilt. Critics respond to this argument by pointing out that the relative impact of the denser crust at the locations of some mountains is infinitesimally small simply because the crust, even where it is thicker, weighs astronomically less than the Earth as a whole, which weighs 5.97*10<sup>24</sup> kgs, such that it has no significant impact on the Earth's rotational speed or axial tilt. While scientists have acknowledged the extremely minimal impact of the mountainous crust in these respects, they have also pointed out that the Earth's rotational speed and axial tilt are more impacted by small factors such as the Earth's distance from the moon and even by the ancient effect of the post-glacial rebound since the ice ages than they are by the mountains.


When shown evidence that collisional-type mountains are associated with earthquakes some Muslims will then claim that the Qur'anic verses do not refer to earthquakes at all. They will claim that tameeda also means stagger, roll, sway, or tilt, and that there's significant difference between them and the short sharp shock of an earthquake (i.e. tameeda refers to some phenomenon, assumed to be associated with geological timescale, that is presently unknown to and undefined by our present understanding of geological science).  
Critics also argue here that it is nearly impossible to correlate this stabilization effect, how minimally real it may be, with any remotely plausible interpretation of the relevant verses.


====Analysis====
== Preventing/lest (أَن) verses 'reducing' ==
As has been discussed in the sections above, the apologists' claim rests on the (incorrect) assumption that mountains reduce the seismic impact of Earthquakes, (or occasionally some other kind of movement) to mean what is meant by Earth's swaying/shaking. However the Arabic word used in the verses is '[https://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=(16:15:5) أَن / an]', for 'lest'.<ref>[https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/01_A/138_An.html أَن] - Lane's Lexicon </ref>
{{Quote|{{Quran|16|15}}|He cast firm mountains in the earth lest (أَن) it should shake with you, and [made] streams and ways, so that you may be guided.}}
Thought the word 'lest' has fallen out of fashion in modern English,<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page68.shtml BBC World Learning Service]. Q&A.</ref> it's meaning is: ''in order to prevent any possibility that something will happen'',<ref>Cambridge Dictionary: [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lest Lest]</ref> i.e. to stop it from happening. It also be translated as 'otherwise' in these contexts. You can see used elsewhere where you can see [https://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?t=1&q=lest here], for example:  
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|127}}|And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Yes! We testify," lest (أَن) you should say on the Day of Resurrection: "Verily, we have been unaware of this."}}
No-one would ever claim mountains actually prevent earthquakes altogether, considering they do not and in fact given the correlation between them and mountain ranges ([[The Quran and Mountains#Mountains prevent the Earth from moving / convulsing / inclining|see above]]), nor any of the nice alternative processes are described as being stopped altogether. The apologists have essentially used a subtle substitution of 'lest' meaning to ''prevent or stop'', to ''lower/reduce'', yet the Qur'an does not say 'reduce/lower shaking' etc.,<ref>E.g. see alternative Arabic words for reducing that could have been used if that is what it meant here: [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-arabic/reduce Cambridge English to Arabic dictionary] and here: [https://www.arabicstudentsdictionary.com/word?word_id=b4b95ee3-4477-4df5-b43a-7dba8a4a5c7f&root_id=d734198e-e468-41a4-b6b7-3f7904ced653&action=wordLink Arabic Student's Dictionary]. This does not even include potential metaphors that could have been used to express lowering.</ref> nor does the Qur'an say mountains prevent the Earth shaking/swaying ''a lot'' - so we would expect to see no shaking/swaying from whichever alleged natural process this is referring to rather than simply a minor reduction - making the entire argument invalid.


The relevant verses are as follows:
And once again, critics note that the language used here perfectly matches a pre-modern worldview of mountains being tent pegs holding down a flat Earth that outright stops it from swaying (given the lack of understanding of physics at the time of revelation), either in space or the cosmic ocean.


{{Quote|Luqman 31:10|He has created the heavens without supports that you can see, and has cast (alqa) onto the earth firm mountains (rawasiya) lest it should shake with you (tamida bikum **) ...}}
==See Also==
 
{{Quote|Al-Anibiya' 21:31|And We have set on the earth firm mountains (rawasiya), lest it should shake with them (tamida bihim**).}}
 
{{Quote|Al-Nahl 16:15|And He has cast onto the earth firm mountains (rawasiya) lest it should shake with you… (tamida bikum**)}}
 
The phrase "tamida bi" from mada, yamidu, is only used in the above three Qur'anic verses which are marked **. Hans Wehr's "Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic" gives the meaning of the verbal phrase "mada bi" as: to shake something violently. "Mada bi" is the very form used in these verses.
 
It is clear that the term ‘tameeda’ is associated with people (i.e. less it should shake with ''you''). Thus, tameeda cannot possibly refer to shaking in a geological timescale as people do not live in geological timescales. For this reason, tameeda and zalzala are synonyms, just as the English terms ‘seismic activity’ and ‘earth tremors’ are synonyms for earthquakes.
 
Even some Muslim commentators do not consider tameeda to mean shaking in geological timescale.
 
{{Quote|1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=21&tid=32959 In everything there is a Sign of Him, showing that He is One]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=(And We have placed on the earth firm mountains,) means, mountains which stabilize the earth and keep it steady and lend it weight, lest it should shake with the people, i.e., move and tremble so that they would not be able to stand firm on it -- because it is covered with water, apart from one-quarter of its surface.}}
 
Admittedly Ibn Kathir was not a geologist, but he certainly knew Classical Arabic and his reading of the relevant verses suggests that tameeda is not associated with a geological timescale.
 
===The word, ‘stabilize’ does not mean ‘prevent earthquakes’===
 
The stabilization is over a geological timescale because of the term ‘tameeda’ as opposed to ‘zalzala’.
 
====Analysis====
 
For the same reason as the previous section, the term ‘stabilize’ must mean ‘prevent earthquakes’ as tameeda cannot be associated with geological timescales.
 
==Conclusion==
 
This article refutes the claim that the Qur'an had foreshadowed the scientific knowledge about Mountains as Pegs stabilizing the crust or even the earth. There are two elements to this ‘Qur'anic Science’ claim:


*Mountains are Pegs.
*[[Scientific Miracles in the Quran]]
*[[Scientific Errors in the Quran]]


This is untrue as not all mountains have peg-like roots.
==External Links==


*Mountains stabilize the crust or the earth.  
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IAPPvDs8qg Sherif Gaber - Are mountains like Pegs?] - ''YouTube Video''
 
*[https://atheism-vs-islam.com/index.php/hoaxes-of-the-quranic-miracles-and-predictions/66-muslim-claim-it-was-a-miracle-of-quran-to-tell-that-mountains-are-pegs Mountains are Pegs (Quranic Miracle turning into a huge Quranic Scientific Mistake)] - ''athiesm-vs-islam.com article on the subject''
This is (at best) unproven. There is no scientific evidence for this assertion, therefore the Qur'an cannot be validated by scientific evidence that does not exist. The mere fact of isostacy is ''not'' proof that mountains stabilize the crust or the earth. The mere fact that collision-type mountains are formed at the edges of tectonic plates is ''not'' proof that mountains stabilize the plates. The mere fact that mountains have deep roots is ''not'' proof that mountains stabilize anything.
 
Lastly, is the Qur'an really the first scripture to make the assertion that Mountains stabilize the earth? Well, some Christians don’t think so,<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.bibleandscience.com/bible/books/genesis/genesis1_pillarsearth.htm|2=2011-10-02}} Pillars of the Earth] - Institute for Biblical & Scientific Studies, April 30, 2008</ref> and the Bible predates the Qur'an by at least 400 years.
 
{{Core Science}}
==See Also==
*[[Qur'an Predicted Land Decreasing]]
{{Hub4|I. A. Ibrahim|I. A. Ibrahim}}


==References==
==References==
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The Quran has a particular conception of the nature of mountains, their formation, and the geological role they play that is is referenced in multiple verses. In recent times, many Islamic scholars have argued that this conception is both scientifically sound and an instance of miraculous scientific foreknowledge on the part of the Quran which, they argue, could not have arrived at the conception it holds without divine insight. Individuals key to the popularization of this idea include the apologist Zakir Naik and the Saudi-financed surgeon Dr. Maurice Bucaille.

Parties advocating the description of mountains found in the Quran as a scientific miracle identify two key claims made in the scripture: (1) that Mountains can be described as 'pegs' and (2) that mountains play some role in 'stabilizing the Earth' - these two ideas, advocates hold, are evidence of a miraculous scientific insight. Critics challenge the advocates' interpretations of the relevant verses as well as their use and presentation of scientific information on the topic, arguing instead that the Quran is erroneous in these respects. Critics further claim that the Qur'an is scientifically inaccurate in its description a specific time period in which mountains were supposedly formed and Allah having cast them into the earth.

Formation of mountains in the Quran

Stage in the creation account

Say, "Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds." And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures'] sustenance in four days without distinction - for [the information] of those who ask. Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly." And He completed them as seven heavens within two days and inspired in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.

The above verses are the Quranic six day creation account. In this description, mountains are created within a four day period (which is usually understood to overlap with the first two day period mentioned in the creation account). Critics note that rather than being confined to a closed period, mountain formation began early in Earth's history due to the process of plate tectonics (with accompanying earthquakes), has continued for billions of years, and continues to do so now and into the future. With each plate collision mountains keep on rising higher little by little. And when the plates start to move away from each other, then these mountains start to erode until after millions of years, they completely disappear. On a geological timescale, mountains are not "firmly set", but rather they rise and fall, and are replaced by other mountain ranges over time. For example, there existed no Mount Everest 250 million years ago. The Himalayan mountain range began to grow when two continental plates collided, which will eventually separate again and Everest will gradually erode and disappear completely.[1]

It is also worth noting that in Sahih Muslim 39:6707, Muhammad elaborates that mountains were created on the second day (Sunday), which is even more specific. Other hadiths quoted by Ibn Kathir in his exegesis for Quran 22:47 ("a day with your Lord is like a thousand years") reported Ibn 'Abbas as stating that each of the six days in which Allah created the heavens and the earth was a thousand years.[2] On this basis (and the similar verse Quran 70:4 about fifty thousand years), advocates argue that "day" (yawm) should not be taken literally. Critics argue that this is a synthesis not apparent in the creation account itself, and in any case 1000 or 50000 years would not indicate that the author was aware of the sheer scale of geological and cosmological time (billions of years).

Casting mountains into the earth

The Quran states that the mountains on Earth's surface were cast upon it by God. The imagery is clear when one considers the verse discussed further below which describe the mountains as 'pegs'.

And He has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it shift with you, and [made] rivers and roads, that you may be guided,

The word 'he has cast' is alqā (from the root lam-qaf-ya), which in this form (Arabic verb form IV) is frequently used elsewhere in the Quran to mean throw or cast.[3] It is the same word as is used in Quran 3:44 when lots are cast using pens (it would be easy to imagine that mountains were similarly scattered, though perhaps should not be taken too literally in this context), and Quran 12:10 when the prophet Yusuf is cast down into the well, and in Quran 20:20 when Moses casts down his staff, which becomes a snake.

The other verses using alqā in the context of mountains are Quran 15:19 and Quran 50:7 which both begin with "And the earth - We spread it out and cast therein firmly set mountains..." and Quran 31:10 "He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind." In all of these verses the words "firmly set mountains" is rawāsiya in the Arabic text. This word for mountains is from the same Arabic root as words meaning firmly set, steadfast, anchored or anchors.[4] Perhaps the connection with anchors is intended as part of a poetic picture alongside the verb alqā meaning casting or throwing.

A very similar verse to Quran 16:15 quoted above is Quran 21:31, which instead of alqā uses the verb jaʿala (made or placed)[5]. See also Quran 27:61 where Allah is said to have made (jaʿala) the earth an abode, and made (jaʿala) in its midst rivers and firmly set mountains, and a barrier between the two seas. Jaʿala is also used in the statement about mountains as pegs discussed in the next section below (Quran 78:6-7) and which uses another word for mountains, jibāla.

Again, mountain formation is described in all these verses only as a past event. However, according to modern science, mountains were not placed or cast into the earth's surface, but rather they are byproducts of an ongoing process driven by plate tectonics in which continental and oceanic crust plates slowly move over time, driven by 1) mantle convection currents, 2) by ridge push as buoyant magma upwells at oceanic ridges, and 3) by slab pull, as the leading edges of plates sink at subduction zones, cooling and pulling the rest of the plate behind. A number of processes can result in the gradual formation and disappearance of mountain ranges (often accompanied by earthquakes). Such processes include when the collision of two continental plates results in a thickening of the crust, or when an oceanic plate subducts underneath a continental plate, resulting in volcanic mountain formation and an accretionary wedge, or mountains formed by fault blocks or tilted block faulting (see illustrations below). Eventually, erosion causes the mountain range to disappear as has happened many times over the eons. The implication of the Quranic verses are instead that Allah cast or placed mountains by special creation in certain locations rather them being a byproduct of a larger ongoing process (tectonic movements).

Some critics also note that in another verse, Quran 41:10 discussed above, says Allah placed (jaʿala) on the earth mountains "from above it" (min fawqiha من فوقها), though almost all modern official translations interpret the Arabic simply to mean the mountains are above the earth's surface.[6] Either interpretation seems possible based on how the preposition with noun are used in some other verses - see for example Quran 6:65, Quran 29:55 or Quran 33:10, though on the other hand Quran 39:16 and Quran 39:20.

Mountains as pegs

The Quran makes a claim about mountains in general - that they are made as pegs or stakes. This is stated in the context of the Earth as a wide expanse (mihadan مِهَٰدًا (same as مَهْدًا mahdan in the similar verses Quran 20:53 and Quran 43:10), which means a cradle or bed; a plain, even, or smooth expanse.[7]).

Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?

The word for mountains in this case is jibāla and the word translated as pegs is awtādan, which means pegs or stakes placed in the ground[8] It also occurs in reference to Pharaoh's "stakes" in Quran 38:12 and Quran 89:10, sometimes related in exegesis to the crucifixions he is said to have ordered in other verses, though the preceding context around the latter of those two verses makes clear that there l-awtād refers to some kind of lasting rock-hewn monuments.

See also Quran 15:19, Quran 16:15, Quran 21:31 and Quran 31:10 (discussed further below in the context of stabilising the earth) which all mention Allah casting rawaasiya (steadfast, immovable, anchors, i.e. mountains)[4] in the earth. Critics would reiterate here that mountains do move over geological time.

An important observation is that the verse is phrased as a question: "Have We not made [...] the mountains as pegs?". Therefore, the author is referring to a concept which he assumes even the Quran's initial audience will understand.

Earth anchored by mountains in early or pre-Islamic poetry

The pre-Islamic poet commonly known as al-Muhalhil, "The poem weaver", whose name was Abu Layla Adi ibn Rabi'ah at-Taghlabi (d. 531 CE), composed a number of famous poems. While possibly post-Quranic, some lines from one poem attributed to al-Muhalhil uses some of the same terminology as the Quranic verses in terms of mountains and the earth shifting/convulsing:

نعى النعاة كليبا لي فقلت لهم

They told us Kulaib was dead, and I said:
مادت بنا الأرض أم مادت رواسيها

has the earth swayed with us or have its anchors swayed?
Some lines from a poem attributed to al-Muhalhil about the death of his brother.
Arabic of the full poem is avalable on the Poetsgate.com website[9]. Translation is by D. S. Margoliouth[10][11]

The next lines of the poem go on to mention the heaven falling and some words about the earth. The above quoted extract uses the word rawāsiya (firmly set mountains), which occurs also in some Quranic verses and whose root has an association with anchoring and anchors as discussed above.[4]. It also uses the verb mādati (shift/convulse/incline, which appears in the form tamīda in those same Quranic verses as discussed below).[12] In this poem, it is the earth in its entirety whose mountains are involved in preventing it from shifting, which is indicative for the most straightforward reading of the equivalent Quranic verses i.e that they refer to the earth as a whole. Those verses claim that Allah cast mountains into the earth "lest it shift [tamīda] with you", as discussed in the section further below on the alleged role of mountains preventing earthquakes in one interpretation.

Also perhaps relevant is a poem about the creation of a flat earth attributed to the pre-Islamic poet Zayd b. 'Amr, who reportedly was a monotheist who met Muhammad before his prophetic career began. The poem is recorded in the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq (d. 767 CE) and must pre-date that work.[13] Much like Quran 79:27-33, the poem says "He spread it out" (daḥāhā[14]) i.e. the earth, then even clearer than the Quran, saw that it was level (استوت istawat[15]) on the water (i.e. flat), "and set firm the mountains on it" (arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā, very similar to wa-l-jibāla ʾarsāhā in verse 79:32 of the Quranic passage).

دحاها فلما رآها استوت ... عَلَى الماء أرسى عليها الجبالا

daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā

He spread it out and when He saw that it was settled upon the waters, He fixed the mountains upon it
Poem attributed to Zayd b. 'Amr, as found for example in Ibn Al Jawzi's Al Muntazam,[16] and Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad (as translated from Ibn Ishaq by Guillaume[13] and transliterated by Bravmann[17])

Though the idea of mountains preventing the world from shaking is far more ancient, being found even in much earlier Vedic texts,[18] along with a similar creation story of the Earth and sky being split in Quran 21:30 and cosmic waters, with all three being folklore of ancient people.[19]

After the permanent separation of heaven and earth, creation continues with the actual formation of land (cf. § 3.3). Usually this is done with the help of a demiurge, such as the Vedic Indra, who created land some time after he had stemmed apart Heaven and Earth: the Earth, floating on the ocean, was shaky still. As mentioned, Indra cut off the wings of the mountains that used to fly around and sit down here and there. Once the mountains sat down permanently, the Earth became fixed. 289
Witzel, E.J. Michael. The Origins of the World's Mythologies (p. 137). Oxford University Press. 2013.

Alleged peg-like structure of mountains

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Anatomy of the Earth by Cailleux (p. 220)
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Description of figure found on p. 220[20]

The schematic diagram taken from page 220 of Anatomy of the Earth by the French geologist Cailleux is cited by various sources advocating the reality of the proposed miracle.[21] The basic underground protrusion of the crust beneath the mountainous region of the Alps, according to miracle advocates, appears as a sort of peg embedded in the lower layer of the Earth. This, the advocates suggest, coheres with Quran 78:6-7 which reads, “Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?” The geological phenomenon observed is known as isostasy. This term describes the dynamic by which thickening of the crust results in mountains rising above ground level, compensated for by an increase in the depth of the crust into the lower part of the lithosphere (upper mantle) in the same area, maintaining isostatic equilibrium.

Thus, elevation above sea-level tends to correlate positively with the thickness of the Earth's crust at any given place. The reason why the crust tends to exist in this manner is compared to the same physics of floatation whereby the majority of an iceberg suspended in water extends below sea level and, at the same time, it is the case that the taller the portion of ice above sea level, the deeper the iceberg dips down below.

Advocates of the scientific miracle argue that isostasy means that mountains have peg-like structures and that this is what was meant by the Quran.

Critics respond to this in a number of ways. Firstly, as noted above, the verse itself assumes that its 7th century listeners understand what is meant, so it can hardly be referring to advanced geological concepts: "Have We not made [...] the mountains as pegs?"

Secondly, they note that the caption associated with the diagram found in Cailleux's book explicitly points out that the visual representation has had its 'vertical scale greatly exaggerated'. Other visual representations with less exaggerated and more accurate vertical scales, some of which are cited by the advocates themselves, do not depict mountains as in any way resembling pegs.[21]

Thirdly, such images represent a cross section of a mountain range, not individual mountains. These crustal root structures (also called mountain roots) occur at the level of entire ranges which can be thousands of kilometres long and only a few tens of kilometers deep. The entire mountain range whose dominant feature is its length protrudes relatively slightly into the upper mantle, unlike a peg whose depth is greater than its width. Some images of actual crustal roots underlying famous mountain ranges are shown below.

Fourthly, critics point out that unlike pegs which are foreign objects placed into something else, mountains caused by plate collisions or faults are of continuous material as the surrounding crust, albeit contorted or faulted into different shapes due to geological processes. Furthermore, plateau mountains (including mesas and buttes) such as those of the Najd Plateau in Saudi Arabia (illustrated below) are caused by the erosion of surrounding material so can hardly be described as having been placed there.

Fifthly, an effect called uplift maintains the height of mountains for some time even as erosion occurs, by reducing the depth of the crustal root. This is because the thickened subterranean crust is nevertheless buoyant relative to the molten mantle, so it thrusts upwards as erosion lightens the weight above, maintaining isostatic balance and eventually resulting in normal crustal thickness.[22]

Sixthly, some argue that the concept of a subterranean aspect of mountains is found already in the Bible and may in some form have been adopted by Muhammad, if that is indeed the meaning in the Quran.

To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.

Root structures of some actual mountain ranges

In the below model of a section of the Ural mountains range based on gravity and seismic data, it can be seen (even despite the exaggerated vertical dimension) that there is nothing peg or stake-like about the crust layer in which isostasy occurs.

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Gravity model of a cross section from part of the Ural mountain range (note the exaggerated vertical dimension) by Ognev et. al. (2022). They explain: "Satellite gravity gradient data was applied to determine the Moho depth for the area [i.e. the lower boundary of the crust] ... The Moho discontinuity obtained from the gravity inversion was consequently modified and complemented in order to define a complete 3D crustal model by adding information on the sedimentary cover, upper crust, lower crust, and lithospheric mantle layers in the process of forward gravity modelling, where both seismic and gravity constraints were respected."[23]

The below crustal cross sections of the Alps show a type of mountain range root formation resulting from subduction during continental crust collision. The present height of the mountains are shown in the solid line slightly above sea level. It is important to note that these are cross sections of a formation which continues all along the length of that part of the plate boundary. Hence even with the most generous imagination, this process does not resemble a peg or stake.

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Two cross sections illustrating part of the Alps by Moores et al. (2013)[24]

The two cross-sections shown below are across the Apennine mountain range of Italy. Notice the non-peg-like structure of the mountains which protrude slightly above the surface in these images, which have comparable vertical and horizontal scales.

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Cross section of the Apennine mountain range based on Seismic data (Y. Kelemework et. al (2021) [25])

The below three-dimensional model of the Calabro-Ionian subduction zone near Sicily has a cutaway illustrating the nature of the lithospheric slab containing a mountainous landscape.

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Model sketch showing the subduction zone near Sicily based on seismic tomography data by L. Scarfi et. al. (2018)[26])

Types of mountain without crustal roots

Besides pointing out that the crustal roots (also called mountain roots) described by isostasy do not resemble pegs in either form or function, critics also point out that isostasy, while often observed, is by no means universal and there are several outstanding examples of mountain ranges and other elevated geological structures which have no such roots.

Mountain formation can occur in a number of ways, not all of which involve the formation of crustal roots nor any other structure that can reasonably be claimed to resemble pegs (if any). Mountain formation with crustal thickening can result from a number of processes including folding, thrust faulting, metamorphism, intrusion, and tectonic accretion.[27] However, other types of mountain formation do not create crustal/mountain roots.

Fault-block mountains (including tilted fault-block mountains, illustrated below) occur when plates move apart and do not form with roots since crust faults do not increase the weight distribution and isostatic balance. The crust thickness is the same before and after their formation. Another type of mountain can be formed when oceanic crust is subducted beneath continental crust. Lava then comes up from inside the earth in repeated volcanic eruptions and falls back down, piling up to form high and big mountains, which are known as volcanic mountains, and are common in the Arabian peninsula which is itself a minor tectonic plate. Another type of mountain are lava domes in which magma lifts up the crust but does not erupt. There are also plateau mountains (including mesas and buttes) in which the surrounding area was eroded away, and chains of hotspot mountains where an oceanic plate has moved across hotspots in the Earth's molten mantle.[28]

In some situations other mechanisms reduce the role of isostasy in maintaining equilibrium. Professor of Geodesy, Mehdi Eshagh writes:

Generally, we can say that in isostasy it is assumed that mountains or loads have roots beneath, this means that the crust is thicker over the mountainous regions than the oceans. However, there are examples showing that the crust is not as thick as isostasy presents under mountains, and, in fact, there are other compensation mechanisms which keep them in equilibrium.

[...]

Another example is high lands due to mantle plumes, which in fact the mantle plumes and thermal isostasy keep the mountains in equilibrium partly. Over the high lands having a mantle plume below no roots or small roots for the mountains or high lands exists. In fact these areas are in non-isostatic equilibrium.
Mehdi Eshagh, Satellite Gravimetry and the Solid Earth, 2021, Chapter 6.6 Non-isostatic equilibriums, p. 308

Mountain ranges which in no way resemble pegs include structures formed by the geological processes of extension and faulting, such as the Nevada Basin and Range, as well as those formed by fold and thrust belts, such as the Appalachians, Eastern Bolivian Andes, Zagros Mountains, and the Calcareous Alps. Indeed, even the Himalayas are underlaid by a crust structure shaped like a broad wedge and which does not resemble a peg.[29] The same is true for the Pyrenees.[30]

Plateau mountains of the Najd plataeu in Arabia are formed due to their high resistance to erosion processes.[31]

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Dome mountains like these in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Navada, USA are formed by magma uplifting the crust without breaking through as volcanoes.[32]

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Karsk mountains of Guilin, Southwest China. Karsk mountains result from erosion of the surrounding limestone bedrock by running acidic water over millions of years.[33]

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The diagrams shown below from Stephen Marshak's detailed university textbook, Essentials of Geology, illustrate major types of mountain formation resulting from tectonic activity: Subduction of oceanic plates underneath continental plates; collision of continental plates; and rifting (separation) of plates which can cause fault block mountains.

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Illustration of mountain formation due to subduction of an oceanic plate.
Fig. 9.16 in Stephen Marshak, Essentials of Geology Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 280
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Illustration of mountain formation due to rifting.
Fig. 9.18 in Stephen Marshak, Essentials of Geology Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 281
It is apparent that fault block mountains, including tilted (or rotational) fault blocks form mountain ranges without generating crustal roots as their formation does not involve an increase in material, and hence no isostatic rebalancing.
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Illustration of mountain formation due to continental plate collision.
Fig. 9.17 in Stephen Marshak, Essentials of Geology Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 281
Note that while this type of mountain formation results in crustal "roots" (thickening), the increased crustal thickness extends all along the length of the mountain range, so does not resemble a peg.


Alleged function as pegs

Sometimes pictures of mountains used on Islamic videos and websites depict the crust protruding down into the lithospheric mantle (the upper mantle), giving the misleading impression that they "peg" the crust to it. In fact this layer and the crust are both part of the lithosphere and move together as an entire lithospheric plate (tectonic plate) before mountains form at the boundaries of subduction and continental plate collision. The lithosphere moves over the asthenosphere, which is molten mantle and not a solid object into which something can be "pegged". Mountain ranges can also lose their root when delamination occurs, for example at the East Anatolian Plataeu.[34] An image illustrating a section of the Tibetan Plateau which has also experienced delamination is shown below.

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Delamination underneath part of the Tibetan Plateau. Notice also the wedge-shaped and not at all peg-like crust in the northward cross-section of the plateau.[35]

.

It could be added that far more significant downwards protrusions into the molten asthenosphere are the subducted slabs of lithosphere which descend into the molten mantle at plate boundaries, and are sometimes in a state of partial detachment. Another example of downward protruding material which is far more substantial than crustal roots are craton keels. Cratons are stable regions of the earth's crust that are no longer subject to mountain building processes. Craton keels are deep extensions of cratons into the mantle which extend any where from 60-300km below the surface. These keels extend far deeper than crustal (mountain) roots. The formation of these craton roots, or keels, is, however, unrelated to mountains or their formation.[36]

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Three-dimensional cross section beneath the European Alps showing attached and detached parts of a lithosphere slab based on tomographic profiles by M. R. Handy et. al. (2021)[37]
Subducted slabs are far more significant downward protrusions than the crustal thickening which occurs beneath some mountain ranges.
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Dynamic model of craton keel formation (fig. 5 in Perchuk et al. (2020) Building cratonic keels in Precambrian plate tectonics[36]
These too are much larger downward protrusions than the crustal thickening which occurs during any mountain formation process.


Mountains prevent the Earth from moving / convulsing / inclining

A number of attempts are commonly made to interpret the following verses in light of modern science.

And He has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it shift with you, and [made] rivers and roads, that you may be guided,
And We placed within the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with them, and We made therein [mountain] passes [as] roads that they might be guided.
He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind

As mentioned above, the word describing the mountains in these verses is l-rawāsiya (the steadfast, anchored, anchors, used to mean mountains).[4] As Tabatai & Mirsadri (2016) note:

One important feature of the earth, in the eyes of the Qur'ân, is its tranquility against sudden motions, for God has put it stable (Kor 27, 61; 35, 41). This stability is due to the massive corpuses, namely mountains, which are put upon the earth (Kor 41,10; 88,19), like pegs (Kor 78,7), in order to fix the earth into its place. It is why the Qur'ân in ten places (Kor 13,3; 15,19; 16,15; 21,31; 27,61; 31,10; 41,10; 50, 7; 77, 27; 79, 32) describes them as rawäsi or räsiyät, both plural forms for râsiya, which stands for something which is fastened to the earth due to its heaviness. So, according to the Qur'än, mountains are the heavy masses upon the earth which like pegs are hammered to it, lest it would shake.
Tabatabaʾi, Mohammad A.; Mirsadri, Saida, "The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself", Arabica 63 (3/4): 201-234, 2016

Incidentally, the first two verses state that Allah created mountain passes for the benefit of humans. Critics would observe here that many mountain ranges are inconvenient for humans to traverse, with large detours necessary, and show no sign that they were designed with passes perfectly suited to human needs.

Refers to the earth as a whole

While it is common today to interpret the above verses as a reference to earthquakes, it is far more likely that they refer to the earth as a whole. Since the author of these verses would have known that earthquakes do in fact occur, including in Arabia itself, it is unlikely that he would have described mountains as being created lest people suffer earthquakes. The most natural reading is that "the earth" (al-ard) in these verses refer to the entire Earth. This is especially clear in Quran 31:10 and Quran 21:30-31 in which the heavens are mentioned immediately beforehand, and fits with the verse discussed above in which mountains are described as pegs or stakes.

The poem quoted above attributed to the pre-Islamic poet al-Muhalhil links the mountains (rawāsiya, like in these verses of the Quran) to the shifting/convulsing (with the same verb as these verses) of the entire earth. Similarly, the myth of The Islamic Whale on which the Earth rests according to some hadiths was narrated in terms of mountains holding down the earth to stop it moving on the back of the whale.

Verses which do seem to describe earthquakes use the words zalzalah (Quran 22:1 and Quran 99:1), or rajfatu (Quran 7:78, Quran 73:14). In contrast, the verses which state that Allah cast or placed the mountains to prevent the earth from shaking use the word tamīda, discussed in the next sub-section below.

Further evidence that the tamīda verses refer to the earth as a whole moving is found in a hadith collected by al-Tirmidhi. Its authenticity is graded hasan (good) by Dar-us-Salam, though regardless, this hadith provides linguistic evidence on the meaning of tamīda in relation to the earth as a whole.

Anas bin Malik narrated that: The Prophet said: “When Allah created the earth, it started shaking [tamīdu]. So He created the mountains, and said to them: ‘Upon it’ so it began to settle. [...]

Prominent Qur'anic commentator Ibn Kathir also says in his tafsir:

...then Allah mentions the earth and how He placed in it mountains standing firm, which make it stable and keep it from shaking in such a manner that the creatures dwelling on it would not be able to live. Hence Allah says, (And the mountains He has fixed firmly.) (79: 32)...

Similarly, Tafsir Al-Jalalayn,another prominent Sunni commentary says:

And the earth We have stretched it out, spread it flat, and cast therein firm mountains, lest it should sway beneath its inhabitants, and caused to grow therein every kind of balanced thing, [every kind of thing] known and determined.

The meaning of tamīda (move, convulse, incline to one side)

The word translated shift in the above quoted verses is tamīda (from the root ميد). According to Lane's Lexicon, the meanings of this word include to be in a state of motion, convulsion, turn, twist, contort, to incline to one side. Lane even mentions regarding this word a tradition which held that the earth was inclined on its side before mountains were formed.[12]

مَادَ, aor. يَمِيدُ, inf. n. مَيْدٌ (Ṣ, L, Mṣb, Ḳ) and مَيَدَانٌ, (L, Mṣb, Ḳ,) It (a thing) was, or became in a state of motion, or commotion; was, or became agitated: (Ṣ, L, Mṣb, Ḳ:) or, in a state of violent motion or commotion; or violently agitated. (El-Basáïr, TA.) So in the expression in the Ḳur, [xvi. 15; and xxxi. 9;] أَنْ تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ Lest it (the earth) should be convulsed with you, and go round with you, and move you about violently. (El-Basáïr, TA.) مَادَ It turned or twisted about, or became contorted and convulsed. (IḲṭṭ.) [...]

مَادَ, inf. n. مَيْدٌ and مَيَدَانٌ, It inclined to one side: as the earth is, in a trad., described to have done before the mountains were formed. (L.)

The usage of this word further supports the interpretation that these verses refer to mountains anchoring the earth as a whole from moving in such a manner.

It is clear that the author of the Quran sought to describe some purposeful benefit for which he supposed mountains had been created. This desire is fulfilled by such a (mistaken) conception of mountains. Other interpretations which seek to interpret mountains as protecting humans from the effects of plate tectonics or earthquakes falter when one considers that an all-powerful creator of the heavens and earth would have been capable of actually ending all dangerous geological activity before humans arrived on the scene. Instead, some mountain ranges are in regions that are still geologically active, while other mountain ranges are in parts of the world which ceased being geologically active hundreds of millions of years before humans arrived (for example the highlands of Scotland).

The relationship between mountains and earthquakes

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Fig. 8.18 in Stephen Marshak, Essentials of Geology Fourth Edition, 2013, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 236

The most common apologetic interpretation is to claim that the Quran speaks of mountains preventing or reducing the severity of earthquakes. However, two major problems with such an interpretation are raised by critics, as set out in the subsections below: 1) Seismic amplification can sometimes mean that mountains actually increase the destruction caused by earthquakes; and 2) Destructive and deadly earthquakes do in fact occur (i.e. they are not prevented by mountains), and are correlated strongly with the location of mountain ranges due to the very nature of the underlying processes.

Mountains and the dampening (or amplification) of seismic waves

We investigate the effects of large-scale surface topography on ground motions generated by nearby faulting. We show a specific example studying the effect of the San Gabriel Mountains, which are bounded by the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault on the north and by the Los Angeles Basin on the south. By simulating a Mw 7.5 earthquake on the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault, we show that the San Gabriel Mountains act as a natural seismic insulator for metropolitan Los Angeles. The topography of the mountains scatters the surface waves generated by the rupture on the San Andreas fault, leading to less-efficient excitation of basin-edge generated waves and natural resonances within the Los Angeles Basin. The effect of the mountains reduces the peak amplitude of ground velocity for some regions in the basin by as much as 50% in the frequency band up to 0.5 Hz. These results suggest that, depending on the relative location of faulting and the nearby large-scale topography, the topography can shield some areas from ground shaking.

The above and similar studies are referenced by advocates as specific evidence of mountains stabilizing the Earth's crust and undermining seismic activity. Critics respond in two ways: Firstly, although the phenomenon described has a limited stabilizing effect on certain regions favorably positioned vis-à-vis the mountain range, the mountains do not prevent the earthquake outright and, more importantly, the limited dampening effect observed is only relevant if the inhabited area happens to be favorably positioned vis-à-vis the mountain range - this means that if, for instance, the city were located between the mountain and the fault line where the quake originated, even if the city was located near the foot of the mountain, then the destruction experienced by the city would not be reduced in any significant way.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the topography (surface layout) of mountainous landscapes can actually amplify the seismic waves and thus the groundshaking experienced in some locations while dampening the waves elsewhere. This again depends on a number of factors such as the depth of the fault and the precise topography, but there are real studies showing this effect, both with measured seismic data and with computer modelling.

In particular, topography amplifies ground shaking at mountain tops and ridges (especially the slopes facing away from the source), while it de-amplifies it in valleys.[38] Around the world, human settlements are commonly built not only in valleys but also on mountain and hill-sides.

Seismic amplification can also occur in low-lying areas where cities are more commonly found, especially for deeper earthquakes. The image below from a study of the effect of the mountainous topography around the Taipei basin illustrates that in some circumstances an earthquake would be more destructive to the city of Taipei due to the Central Mountain Range on the Island of Taiwan than if it was surrounded by a smooth topography (click or tap the image to expand the thumbnail).

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3D seismic wave speed models of a deep earthquake in northern Taiwan by Shiann et. al., Effects of Topography on Seismic-Wave Propagation: An Example from Northern Taiwan, (2009)[39]
The models take into account the basin but not the mountainous topography (top) or take both into account (middle). The most significant net difference between the two (bottom) is that much of the Taipei basin experiences strongly amplified peak ground velocity (how fast any point on the ground shakes) from the earthquake when the topography of the Central Mountain Range is taken into account.

Correlation between the location of earthquakes and mountains

Critics also point out that scientists learned as early as the 1920s that earthquakes are concentrated in very specific and narrow zones arounds the planet (known as Wadati-Benioff zones). In 1954, French seismologist J.P. Rothé published a map showing the concentration of earthquakes along the zones indicated by dots and cross-hatched areas.[40]

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J.P. Rothé's 1954 map

Critics note how the earthquakes originate mainly from the edges of tectonic plates, including collisional mountain ranges and ocean trenches and ridges, which demonstrates that mountains do not stabilize the crust or the earth. The presence of mountains on any part of the Earth's surface thus often suggests the presence of precisely those underground geographical circumstances which generate earthquakes. If there were no mountains, there would also be no tectonic activity, since the two are inextricably linked, and with no tectonic activity there would be no earthquakes.

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Critics cite the Himalayan mountain range as a specific example of a mountain range which, rather than preventing earthquakes, is in fact closely associated with them. The collision of tectonic plates causes mountains to form and this same collision also causes earthquakes, which explains the correlation of the two phenomena.

Why do earthquakes happen here? The Indian subcontinent lies upon the Indian Plate. This plate is moving northward at about 5 centimetres per year and in doing so, collides with the Eurasian Plate. Upon the Eurasian Plate lie the Tibet plateau & central Asia. Due to this mammoth collision, the Himalayas are thrust higher and very many earthquakes are generated in the process. This is the cause of earthquakes from the Himalayas to the Arakan Yoma. The same process, though involving the Indian Plate and the Burmese Micro-plate results in earthquakes in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Sometimes earthquakes of different magnitudes occur within the Indian Plate, in the peninsula and in adjoining parts of the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal. These arise due to localized systems of forces in the crust sometimes associated with ancient geological structures such as in the Rann of Kachchh.

Indeed, a mountainous region is often indicative of a high-earthquake frequency in the same area. Other examples of mountainous regions that are high-frequency earthquake zones include the Andes[41] and the African mountains.[42]

Strong and damaging earthquakes have been felt in all parts of the Indian Sub-continent. The most seismically active areas are those in the Himalayan regions of the sub-continent and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to the peculiar tectonic nature of these regions.
Great Earthquakes
Amateur Seismic Centre

Many of the the largest earthquakes, including the two largest earthquakes ever recorded, are associated with mountainous regions.[43] The largest earthquake was the great Chilean earthquake, which occurred 140km south-south-west of Concepción (Biobio), Chile, registered at 9.5Mw – the Andes mountain range, evidently, did not prevent the earthquake or cause the region to be particularly stable.

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The second largest earthquake was the Prince William Sound earthquake, which occurred 33.2km SE of Mt. Goode (Alaska), U.S.A., registered at 9.2Mw – Mt Goode, nearby, was of no assistance. The sixth largest earthquake was the Ecuador earthquake, which occurred 138km west of Tortuga (Esmeraldas Province), Ecuador, registered at 8.8Mw – the nearby Andes mountain range was likewise of no assistance. The eighth largest earthquake was the Arunachal Pradesh, which occurred 20.7 kilometers NW of Tajobum (Arunachal Pradesh), India, registered at 6Mw – this earthquake took place in the Assam hills and caused landslides in the mountains which, again, did not prevent or stabilize the earthquake. Such examples where formidable mountains and mountain ranges co-exist with earthquakes of immense magnitudes, critics point out, are abundant and thus undermine the idea that mountains stabilize the Earth or play any role in mitigating earthquakes.

Critics point out the largest earthquake ever recorded - the Chilean earthquake in 1960 - in particular. The U.S. Geological Survey had the following to say regarding this earthquake:

Chile
1960 May 22 19:11:14 UTC
Magnitude 9.5
The Largest Earthquake in the World

More than 2,000 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the Philippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States.
Historic Earthquakes
U.S. Geological Survey, March 29, 2010

The Andes Mountains did not prevent or stabilize this earthquake. On the contrary, later research revealed that the collision of tectonic plates that caused the earthquake also caused the Andes mountains to be raised. Similar earthquakes in the past are responsible for the existence of Andes in the first place. This collision even serves as a textbook example of the general phenomena, as can be seen below.

This is a convergent plate boundary, the plates move towards each other. The amount of crust on the surface of the earth remains relatively constant. Therefore, when plates diverge (separate) and form new crust in one area, the plates must converge (come together) in another area and be destroyed. An example of this is the Nazca plate being subducted under the South American plate to form the Andes Mountain Chain.
Plate tectonics
Earth Science From Moorland School
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Tectonic plate interpretations

Some advocates of the miracle claim argue that where mountains result from the collision of tectonic plates, they also cause the stability of the Earth. Maurice Bucaille in his book The Bible, the Quran and Science wrote as follows:

Modern geologists describe the folds in the Earth as giving foundations to the mountains, and their dimensions go roughly one mile to roughly 10 miles. The stability of the Earth's crust results from the phenomenon of these folds.
Maurice Bucaille,The Bible, the Quran and Science

Critics, in response, point out the difference between cause and effect, suggesting that the advocates conflate the two. The formation of mountains is an incidental result of the collision or rifting (separation) of the tectonic plates, events which in fact cause rather than prevent earthquakes. The formation of mountains and occurance of earthquakes are thus both largely the result of destabilizing tectonic activity. They are part of the same ongoing process and one cannot exist without the other. Like earthquakes, the mountains generated at these plate boundaries and fault lines are a product of the tectonic movement and cannot be said to in any sense prevent its other effects from taking place.

Other advocates for the Quran, aware that these mountains result from and do not prevent tectonic collision, proceed differently. These advocates argue that the mountains slow the collision of continental plates down and dampen the impact. To these advocates, critics respond that what stops the collisions are simply the opposing forces of either plate. It is impossible that crustal plates collisions could occur without forming mountains since they are part of the same physical process and laws, so a special divine act of creation to create mountains is unnecessary and meaningless. To put it another way, it is nonsensical to say that the earth would shift/convulse with its inhabitants (per the Quran) if the tectonic plate collisions happened without the formation of mountains. One cannot exist without the other.

Moreover, the critics add, considering the above, these mountains are not acting in any capacity that can be described as peg-like (a better analogy might be the bumper of a car, which crumples upon collision to save the driver, for instance, from being crumpled - but this has nothing to do with pegs and does not serve the purpose of 'stabilization'). Nor does such an interpretation take account of the other types of mountain formation discussed above, for example fault block mountains which occur as plates move apart rather than together.


Mountains and isostatic stabilization

Advocates of the miracle point to George Airy's model of isostasy, which supports the idea that isostasy occurring below mountains causes mountains themselves to be more stable than if isostasy were not occurring below. This, they argue, is another point of evidence that mountains stabilize the Earth as described in the Quran. Critics respond to this argument by stating that George Airy's model says nothing special of mountains, per se, and simply demonstrates that isostasy - that is the extension of the earth's crust below the surface to a degree correlated to the height of the surface at any given point - generally causes the crust of the earth to be stable, whether or not a given area is mountainous. Moreover, they point out, the fact that a mountain's isostasy causes the mountain to stabilize 'itself' - that is, just as the isostasy of any region causes that same region to be stable - does not mean that the mountain is in any way stabilizing the Earth in general or even the surrounding region in any meaningful way. They summarize this counterargument by suggesting that, on the basis of Airy's model, it can be said that if there were a region possessing a mountain and subject to isostasy, there is no reason to believe that region would be more stable than another, similar region that did not have a mountain but was also subject to isostasy to the same, natural extent.

Isostacy, which says that any vertical column of the earth above some deep level of "compensation" must have the same mass. This has to do with bouyancy forces and with the tendency of deep materials (the asthenosphere, for example) to flow in response to pressure differences.
Do plates with high moutains float higher then thosewithout moutains
David Smith, Director of Professional Development, MadSci Network, Earth Sciences, March 14, 2004

Another way the critics put it is that the phenomenon of isostasy is itself responsible for the stability of the crust - whether or not the crust is host to mountains in any given region. Isostasy stabilizes mountains, even terrain, and even indented regions on the Earth's surface. The Mountains do not cause this isostasy any more than isostasy causes mountains, as isostasy is co-occurrent with any variety of terrain - mountainous or otherwise. The co-occurrent isostasy is, however, responsible for the stability of the mountains as well as the crust, and not the other way around - that is, a region excepted from the norms of isostasy (as many are) will not be as stable, whether this region is mountainous or not. Isostasy is best understood as a phenomenon separate from the mountains altogether, as it is no more bound in the simple fact of its existence to the presence of mountains than it is to region of simple, flat crust (even if the specific form it takes in either of these cases is).

Mountains and stabilization of the Earth about its axis

Some advocates of the miracles argue that while mountains do not directly stabilize the Earth's surface by functioning as pegs, their presence and the concomitant fact of the crust being thicker at certain locations due to isostasy results in an increased moment of inertia for the earth, thus reducing its rotational speed and axial tilt. Critics respond to this argument by pointing out that the relative impact of the denser crust at the locations of some mountains is infinitesimally small simply because the crust, even where it is thicker, weighs astronomically less than the Earth as a whole, which weighs 5.97*1024 kgs, such that it has no significant impact on the Earth's rotational speed or axial tilt. While scientists have acknowledged the extremely minimal impact of the mountainous crust in these respects, they have also pointed out that the Earth's rotational speed and axial tilt are more impacted by small factors such as the Earth's distance from the moon and even by the ancient effect of the post-glacial rebound since the ice ages than they are by the mountains.

Critics also argue here that it is nearly impossible to correlate this stabilization effect, how minimally real it may be, with any remotely plausible interpretation of the relevant verses.

Preventing/lest (أَن) verses 'reducing'

As has been discussed in the sections above, the apologists' claim rests on the (incorrect) assumption that mountains reduce the seismic impact of Earthquakes, (or occasionally some other kind of movement) to mean what is meant by Earth's swaying/shaking. However the Arabic word used in the verses is 'أَن / an', for 'lest'.[44]

He cast firm mountains in the earth lest (أَن) it should shake with you, and [made] streams and ways, so that you may be guided.

Thought the word 'lest' has fallen out of fashion in modern English,[45] it's meaning is: in order to prevent any possibility that something will happen,[46] i.e. to stop it from happening. It also be translated as 'otherwise' in these contexts. You can see used elsewhere where you can see here, for example:  

And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Yes! We testify," lest (أَن) you should say on the Day of Resurrection: "Verily, we have been unaware of this."

No-one would ever claim mountains actually prevent earthquakes altogether, considering they do not and in fact given the correlation between them and mountain ranges (see above), nor any of the nice alternative processes are described as being stopped altogether. The apologists have essentially used a subtle substitution of 'lest' meaning to prevent or stop, to lower/reduce, yet the Qur'an does not say 'reduce/lower shaking' etc.,[47] nor does the Qur'an say mountains prevent the Earth shaking/swaying a lot - so we would expect to see no shaking/swaying from whichever alleged natural process this is referring to rather than simply a minor reduction - making the entire argument invalid.

And once again, critics note that the language used here perfectly matches a pre-modern worldview of mountains being tent pegs holding down a flat Earth that outright stops it from swaying (given the lack of understanding of physics at the time of revelation), either in space or the cosmic ocean.

See Also

External Links

References

  1. Tectonic processes that create and destroy mountain belts and their components - Britannica.com
  2. Ibn Kathir writes under the commentary of this verse 22:47:
    قال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا الحسن بن عرفة، حدثني عبدة بن سليمان عن محمد بن عمرو عن أبي سلمة عن أبي هريرة أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال " يدخل فقراء المسلمين الجنة قبل الأغنياء بنصف يوم خمسمائة عام " ورواه الترمذي والنسائي من حديث الثوري عن محمد بن عمرو به، وقال الترمذي حسن صحيح. وقد رواه ابن جرير عن أبي هريرة موقوفاً، فقال حدثني يعقوب، حدثنا ابن علية، حدثنا سعيد الجريري عن أبي نضرة عن سمير بن نهار قال قال أبو هريرة يدخل فقراء المسلمين الجنة قبل الأغنياء بمقدار نصف يوم، قلت وما مقدار نصف يوم؟ قال أو ما تقرأ القرآن؟ قلت بلى، قال { وَإِنَّ يَوْماً عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ }. وقال أبو داود في آخر كتاب الملاحم من سننه حدثنا عمرو بن عثمان، حدثنا أبو المغيرة، حدثنا صفوان عن شريح بن عبيد عن سعد بن أبي وقاص عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال " إني لأرجو أن لا تعجز أمتي عند ربها أن يؤخرهم نصف يوم " قيل لسعد وما نصف يوم؟ قال خمسمائة سنة. وقال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا أحمد بن سنان، حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن مهدي عن إسرائيل عن سماك، عن عكرمة عن ابن عباس { وَإِنَّ يَوْماً عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ } قال من الأيام التي خلق الله فيها السموات والأرض. ورواه ابن جرير عن ابن بشار عن ابن المهدي، وبه قال مجاهد وعكرمة، ونص عليه أحمد بن حنبل في كتاب الرد على الجهمية، وقال مجاهد هذه الآية كقوله{ يُدَبِّرُ ٱلاَْمْرَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ إِلَى ٱلاَْرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ } السجدة 5.


    Rasool Allah told that the poor people will enter in the paradise half a day before the rich people, means 500 years before the rich people (while whole day is equal to 1000 years of people's reckoning). al-Tirmidhi and al-Nisai etc recorded it and al-Tirmidhi said that this tradition is 'Hasan Sahih' (i.e. authentic according to al-Tirmidhi). In another tradition, it was asked from Abu Hurayrah, how long is this half day? He replied: "Didn't you read Quran?" I said: "Yes." Upon that he recited me verse 22:47 ... Companion S'ad was asked: "How long is this half day." He replied: "500 years". Ibn Abbas recited this verse and said that this is the length of those 6 days, in which Allah created the heavens and the earth (Ibn Jarir). While Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal described it in more clear words in his book "Refutation of al-Jahmia". Mujjahid said that this verse is similar to verse 5 of Surah al-Sajdah [(Quran 32:5) He rules (all) affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will (all affairs) go up to Him, on a Day, the space whereof will be (as) a thousand years of your reckoning.]
  3. alqā أَلْقَىٰ - Lane's Lexicon, Suppliment p. 3012
    See paragraph number 4 for the form IV verb definition.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Rawās رَوَاس - Lane's Lexicon page 1087
  5. jaʿala جعل - Lane's Lexicon page 430
  6. See a variety of official translations of Verse 41:10 on Quranx.com. Note that not all do; see Ahmad Khan and Hilali & Khan,
  7. مَهْدً mahdan - Lane's Lexicon page 2739
  8. awtādan Lane's Lexicon p. 2917
  9. https://poetsgate.com/poem.php?pm=27780
  10. See p. 438, D. S. Margoliouth (1925) The Origins of Arabic Poetry The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 3 (Jul., 1925), pp. 417-449
  11. See also the same poem by al-Muhalhil quoted and commented on in Abdullah al-Udhari (1991) Jahili Poetry before Imru al-Qais (4000 BCE–500 CE) (archive), PhD thesis, London School of Oriental and African Studies, pp. 151-2 (his source for the poem, given in footnote 1, p. 255 with expanded reference on p. 296, is al-Balkhī (Abū Zaid Aḥmad b. Sahl), Kitāb al-Bad' wa al-Tārīkh, I) ed. Huart, Editions Earnest Leroux, 1899-1919 pp. 149-50)
  12. 12.0 12.1 تَمِيدَ tamīda Lane's Lexicon page 2746
  13. 13.0 13.1 Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, London: Oxford University Press, 1955, p. 102
  14. دحو dahawa - Lane's Lexicon page 857
  15. استوت istawat - Lane's Lexicon p. 1477
  16. https://shamela.ws/book/12406/736
  17. Bravmann, M. M. (1977) Studies in Semitic Philology, Leiden: Brill p.439
  18. Veda | Hinduism | Britannica Entry ..No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the Vedas, but the period of about 1500–1200 BCE is acceptable to most scholars..
  19. Witzel, E.J. Michael. The Origins of the World's Mythologies (p. 137). Oxford University Press. Footnote 289 (p. 470): Ṛgveda 1.19.7 etc.; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā 1.10.13; Kaṭha Saṃhitā 36.7 (see above, § 2, n. 167; § 3, n. 283. Note that both the stemming part and the fixing of the Earth occur much later in mythological time than that of Heaven and Earth. Indra is a descendant of the second generation of deities. If we count the Asuras or Titans as the third generation, they are in fact the cousins of the “fourth” generation, to which Indra belongs. In Japan, the feature of preparing the land for habitation occurs again later on (cf. Aston 1972: 59). Probably in both traditions, myths were restructured restructured and attributed to the most important gods.
  20. Click here for a more complete view of the page scan.
  21. 21.0 21.1 A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam/ B) The Quran on Mountains - Islam-Guide.com, accessed October 1, 2011
  22. Joseph A. DiPietro, Geology and Landscape Evolution (Second Edition), 2018 quoted at https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/crustal-root
  23. Ognev, I., Ebbing, J., and Haas, P.: Crustal structure of the Volgo–Uralian subcraton revealed by inverse and forward gravity modelling, Solid Earth, 13, 431–448, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-13-431-2022, 2022. (Open access)
  24. Moores, Eldridge & Yıkılmaz, M. & Kellogg, Louise. (2013). Tectonics: 50 Years after the Revolution 10.1130/2013.2500(10). pp. 347-8
  25. Fig. 9 in Kelemework, Y., Milano, M., La Manna, M. et al. Crustal structure in the Campanian region (Southern Apennines, Italy) from potential field modelling Sci Rep 11, 14510 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93945-8
  26. Fig. 7 in Scarfì, L., Barberi, G., Barreca, G. et al. Slab narrowing in the Central Mediterranean: the Calabro-Ionian subduction zone as imaged by high resolution seismic tomography Sci Rep 8, 5178 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23543-8
  27. Joseph A. DiPietro, Geology and Landscape Evolution (Second Edition), 2018 quoted at https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/crustal-root
  28. https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/main-types-mountains-earths-ups-downs/
  29. Dèzes, Pierre (1999) - Tectonic and metamorphic Evolution of the Central Himalayan Domain in Southeast Zanskar (Kashmir, India) - Mémoires de Géologie. Doctoral thesis (Universite de Lausanne) 32: 149. ISSN 1015-3578
  30. Jaume Vergés, Manel Fernàndez, Albert Martìnez - The Pyrenean orogen: pre-, syn-, and post-collisional evolution - Journal of the Virtual Explorer, Electronic Edition, ISSN 1441-8142, volume 8, paper 4, doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2002.00058
  31. https://www.fawry.news/237353/where-is-the-najd-plateau-located/
  32. Dome Mountains - Universetoday.com
  33. How were Guilin's magical mountains formed?
  34. https://www.mn.uio.no/ceed/english/research/publications/articles/2020/delamination.pdf
  35. Fig. 5 in Jikun Feng, Huajian Yao, Ling Chen, Weitao Wang, Massive lithospheric delamination in southeastern Tibet facilitating continental extrusion, National Science Review, Volume 9, Issue 4, April 2022, nwab174, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwab174
  36. 36.0 36.1 Perchuk, A.L., Gerya, T.V., Zakharov, V.S. et al. Building cratonic keels in Precambrian plate tectonics Nature 586, 395–401 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2806-7
  37. Fig. 11 in Handy, M. R., Schmid, S. M., Paffrath, M., Friederich, W., and the AlpArray Working Group: Orogenic lithosphere and slabs in the greater Alpine area – interpretations based on teleseismic P-wave tomography, Solid Earth, 12, 2633–2669, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-12-2633-2021, 2021
  38. Khan, S., van der Meijde, M., van der Werff, H., and Shafique, M. (2020) The impact of topography on seismic amplification during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 399–411, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-399-2020 (archive)
  39. Fig. 2 from Lee, Shiann-Jong & Komatitsch, Dimitri & Huang, Bor-Shouh & Tromp, Jeroen. (2009). Effects of Topography on Seismic-Wave Propagation: An Example from Northern Taiwan. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 99. 10.1785/0120080020.
  40. Earthquake zones - U.S. Geological Survey
  41. Andes mts. - Volcanism and Plate Techtonics
  42. Earthquake Risk Alert for Africa's Mountain Regions - United Nations Environment Programme, May 6, 2002
  43. 10 Largest Quakes - Worldwide - Amateur Seismic Centre
  44. أَن - Lane's Lexicon
  45. BBC World Learning Service. Q&A.
  46. Cambridge Dictionary: Lest
  47. E.g. see alternative Arabic words for reducing that could have been used if that is what it meant here: Cambridge English to Arabic dictionary and here: Arabic Student's Dictionary. This does not even include potential metaphors that could have been used to express lowering.