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

''Main article: [[Science and the Seven Earths]]''  

The Prophet said, "Whoever takes a piece of the land of others unjustly, he will sink down the seven earths on the Day of Resurrection."}}

Allah's Messenger said, "Whoever usurps the land of somebody unjustly, '''his neck will be encircled with it''' down the seven earths (on the Day of Resurrection). "

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I heard Allah's Apostle say: He who took a span of earth wrongly '''would be made to wear around his neck''' seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.}}

A similar, more elaborate hadith in Sahih Muslim (shown below) describes a cycle in which Allah instructs the sun to go and rise "from its rising place" (min matli'iha مَطْلِعِهَا - this word also occurs as matli'a ash shamsi "the rising place of the sun" in {{Quran|18|90}}). One day, it will instead be told to go and rise "from the place of your setting" (min maghribiki مِنْ مَغْرِبِكِ), so it goes and rises "from the place of its setting" (min maghribiha مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا ). The latter phrase also appears in all the simpler narrations of this hadith despite often being mistranslated as "in the west".<ref>Muhsin Khan is particularly guilty of this in his translation of Sahih Bukhari. Compare with min al maghribi in {{Quran|2|258}} which does mean "from the west".</ref> The sun is commanded to go to some particular place. The words "matli'" and "maghrib", when juxtaposed, refer to a "rising place" and "setting place", while the words "al mashriq" and "al maghrib", when juxtaposed, refer more generically to "the east" and "the west", although some English translations attempt to obscure this detail. The use of the words "matli'iha" and "maghribiha" in reference to specific locations as opposed to general directions is further confirmed by the lack of the definite article (al-) and usage of possessive pronouns (-ha) which make these "the sun's matli'" and "the sun's maghrib" - if the narration were referring to the "east" and "west" generically, the hadith would not refer to "the sun's east" and "the sun's west".  

'''Do you know where the sun goes?''' They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: '''Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out from its rising place''' and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything ( unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: '''Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting.''' The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.<ref>For the Arabic, see [http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306 sunnah.com] or #159: [http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=81&BookID=25&PID=299 hadith.al-islam.com]</ref>}}

===Ends of the Earth===

'''Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends.''' And the dominion of my Ummah would reach those ends which have been drawn near me and I have been granted the red and the white treasure and I begged my Lord for my Ummah that it should not be destroyed because of famine, nor be dominated by an enemy who is not amongst them to take their lives and destroy them root and branch, and my Lord said: Muhammad, whenever I make a decision, there is none to change it. I grant you for your Ummah that it would not be destroyed by famine and it would not be dominated by an enemy who would not be amongst it and would take their lives and destroy them root and branch even if all the people from the different parts of the world join hands together (for this purpose), but it would be from amongst them, viz. your Ummah, that some people would kill the others or imprison the other}}

The following two narrations alluding to the optional Tahajjud prayer state that there is a particular time of night when Allah approaches the nearest heaven and invites supplications. This concept could only make any sense at all in a flat earth worldview, not in a spherical world in which it is always night-time somewhere.

Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven '''when one-third of the first part of the night is over''' and says: I am the Lord; I am the Lord: who is there to supplicate Me so that I answer him? Who is there to beg of Me so that I grant him? Who is there to beg forgiveness from Me so that I forgive him? '''He continues like this till the day breaks.'''}}

The hadith also appears in Sahih al-Bukhari ("to us" is not present in the Arabic).

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) said, "'''Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains''', saying: "Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?"}}

Finally, Ibn Taymiyyah cites the following hadith from al-Bukhari and, returning to his reliance on indirect grammatical nuance, argues that if the structure (the hadith refers to "[[Jannah (Paradise)|Jannah]]" or Paradise in particular, rather than Heaven in general) described below has a "midmost" part, then it must be spherical, for only spherical structures have such a "midmost" point.

Given that Ibn Taymiyyah cited the above-mentioned scholars, the narrations he uses to argue for the spherical shape of the heavens (when asked about the shape of both the heavens and Earth), were most probably the best available. Stronger and clearer evidence might reasonably be expected if a consensus for the round shape of the Earth (in addition to that of the heavens) went back to Muhammad and the companions.