Geocentrism and the Qur'an

The Qur'an mentions a few times that the sun and the moon travel in an orbit (falak - a rounded course), but does not mention once that the Earth does too. This is consistent with an Earth-centered (geocentric) view of the cosmos that places a motionless Earth at the center of the universe and all "heavenly bodies" travel around the Earth. This was the prevailing understanding of the universe prior to the 16th century when Copernicus helped explain and popularize a sun-centered (heliocentric) view of the universe. Tellingly, the sun's orbit is almost always mentioned in the context of night and day (Quran 13:12 being the only exception) and is always mentioned with that of the moon (which does in fact orbit the Earth each month), and the sun's orbit likewise appears, to the unaided eye, to traverse the sky each night when it is visible.

Introduction

Geocentrism is the notion that the Earth is the (immovable) center of our universe, thus all celestial bodies move around it. The ancient Greeks and the Europeans of the middle ages thought that the celestial bodies (the sun, the moon and the 5 known planets) all moved in celestial spheres around a spherical Earth.

Geocentrism is not to be confused with the the idea that the Earth is flat. However, while those who believe in geocentrism do not always hold the Earth to be flat, those who hold the Earth to be flat almost invariably believe in geocentrism.

The Qur'an says that both the sun and the moon swim or float in a rounded course, or perhaps in a celestial sphere or hemisphere (a 'falak' in the Arabic^[1]). It seems that Allah brings the sun from the east, it goes high above the Earth and ends after sunset with the Sun going to a resting place. All this took place around an Earth that was spread out and had a firmament of seven heavens built without pillars that can be seen above it. This was a common belief in the region at that time and can be found earlier with the Babylonians, ancient Hebrews, the Assyrians and numerous other cultures in the region.

Primary Evidence

The following is a list of what makes the Qur'an geocentric. A detailed discussion of these and further evidence follows in the rest of the article.

1. The courses taken by both the sun and moon are visible to the people addressed in the Qur'an.
2. The Qur'an says that the moon follows the sun. The floating/swimming (the verb جري) of the sun is always mentioned with that of the moon, and in these verses they are nearly always mentioned in the context of night and day.^[2]

3. Qur'an 36:37-40 is a passage about night and day.^[3] Right after describing the change from day to night it says that the sun runs on to a resting place for it (see footnotes regarding the Arabic word here, which differs from similar verses^[4]). There are also sahih hadith that use the same Arabic word as in verse 36:38 to mean a resting place as part of the sun's daily cycle.^[5].

   The alternative view was that it refers to the sun's final resting on the last day. Another similar sahih hadith probably supports this view.^[6] Whichever interpretation was intended, the sun's movement is nevertheless mentioned right after describing day and night, just as the next verse mentions the different mansions appointed for the moon each night. The whole passage is about day and night and the sun and moon's movement in that context.

4. The sun and moon each float in an orbit (verses 21:33 and 36:40), or more precisely, each in a "falak", a word with various meanings related to rounded or circular, and also hemisphere shaped things, as described in Lane's lexicon of classical arabic^[1]. His main definition is the place of the revolving of the stars, the celestial sphere, generally imagined to be a hemisphere by the Arabs, or the pole of the heavens. The more common English translations, 'orbit', or 'rounded course', seem to be based on the meanings related to roundness or circling (around a hill) and on comments by ibn 'Abbas recorded in the tafasir (commentaries) of al-Tabari and of ibn Kathir, where he explains the sun and moon swimming in a falak to mean 'in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle'^[7]. It may also be based on another ibn 'Abbas comment, as noted by ibn Kathir, that the sun runs in its falak in the sky / heaven during the day, and when it sets, it runs at night in its falak underneath the Earth until it rises in the east.^[8]Al-Tabari further mentions other opinions, such as that it means the pole of the heavens, and similarly, the shape of an iron [axis of a?] millstone.
5. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, though on the last day they will be joined together, which is rather suggestive of them orbiting the same body at a similar distance from us.
6. The stars have settings (mawaqi) ^[9], but only the day, night, the sun and moon are mentioned as all floating in an orbit (falak), while there is no indication of the Earth's own orbit.
7. Abraham is approvingly quoted as saying that Allah brings the sun from the east in one verse, and setting and rising places of the sun are reached and described in the Dhu'l Qarnayn story.

The visibility of the sun's movement

A common claim is that references in the Qur'an to the sun's movement concern its 225 million year orbit around our milky way galaxy rather than to a geocentric orbit. Yet the author of the Qur'an describes a movement of the sun (as well as of the moon) that he expects any of its listeners to see, hence it is difficult to argue that this is referring to the sun's galactic orbit.

The words 'and that' (wa anna) towards the end of the verse indicates that "Do you not see" applies to the entire verse, and leaves no doubt that not just the day and night, but also the running of the sun and moon were things that the 7^th century listeners of the Qur'an were expected to know; they could 'see' the night turn into day and vice versa, they could see the sun and the moon running their courses around the earth. The people could see Allah's signs, and Allah could see them.

It could be argued that "don't you see" (Alam Tara أَلَمْ تَرَ^[10]) means "don't you know" or "aren't you aware". Of course this does not make much of a difference. In this case, the Qur'an clearly reinforces the common but incorrect beliefs of the time, and further uses these erroneous beliefs to support the existence of Allah.

The word translated "running" (yajree يَجْرِىٓ^[11]) in this and the next few verses quoted below was used for the physical travelling of heavenly bodies along their courses, and in general means to run, or to flow like water. It is used two verses later for the sailing of ships (Quran 31:31).

The following verse says that the sun and moon running their courses are signs (ayaat) to mankind and thus they must be visible (or known) to a 7th century Arab audience. It says they are explained in detail in the Qur'an to strengthen the faith of Muslims. Yet the modern galactic orbit explanation requires outside knowledge and recent science, and seems to a pose a challenge to faith rather than encouraging it.

yudabbiru (he arranges / regulates) al amra (the matter) yufassilu (he explains in detail) al ayaat (the signs) la allakum (so you may) biliqai (meeting) rabbikum (with your Lord) tūqinūna (be certain)

In the following verses the Qur'an clearly states that the sun follows a daily cycle, which ends every night when the sun goes to its resting place (ِمُسْتَقَرٍّ See the footnotes for the Primary Evidence section regarding this word). As usual in the Qur'an (13:2 being the only exception), the sun's movement is mentioned in the context of night and day.

Waalshshamsu (and the sun) tajree (runs) limustaqarrin (a resting point) laha (of it). Notice how the sun's movement is almost always mentioned in the context of night and day.

The 225 million year galactic orbit interpretation would have no relevance to human timescales, nor would it be "a token" or sign for 7^th century listeners, nor would it make sense in the context about the night-day cycle.

Moreover, saying that it is not for the sun to overtake the moon in verse 40 is a very strange thing to say unless speaking from the 7^th century human perspective where they orbit the same world, and indeed, will one day be joined together (see below). The word translated 'for' in the phrase 'It is not for the sun...' in verse 36:40 is يَنۢبَغِى yanbaghee, which means is fit, suitable, or proper, or behoves, or is right and allowable, or good, or facilitated or easy, or practicable or manageable^[12] and the word translated 'overtake' is تُدْرِكَ tudrika, which means catches up and comes upon^[13])

In the following verse the Qur'an tells of an indirect observation of the sun's movement.

الشَّمسَ عَلَيهِ دَلِيل = ash shamsa (the sun) `alayhi (for it) dalilaan (a guide / an indication)

Aside from other light sources, shadows on Earth require the sun to exist, but it seems that for them to lengthen rather than being stationary requires the sun to guide them according to this verse. Yet if the Earth did not rotate (so shadows were stationary) and then the Earth was made to rotate (so that they could lengthen and draw in) the sun would not need to be made to do anything different in either case. Thus the most likely explanation is that the verse represents a geocentric worldview where the sun moves across the sky, guiding the shadows.

Interestingly, the length of the shadow cast by the sun is also used to determine the start of the Asr prayer time; the apparent movement of the sun is still used by Muslims as a clock of sorts.

The similar size and distance of the sun and moon

The Qur'an has some statements about the end of the world that are much as one would expect if the author believed the sun and moon to be of similar size and a similar distance from Earth.

The word translated "are joined" is Arabic jumi'a, a verb which means to collect together, gather together, bring together.^[14] Now given that this would actually require the moon to travel 98 million miles away from Earth and into the sun, which is over 600 times wider, it is far less suitable as an apocalyptic event than if the ancient understanding of the cosmos was correct, and it is not credible that an author with accurate knowledge of the solar system would describe such an event using the words found in these verses.

The course of the sun in relation to the course of the moon

The courses of the sun and the moon are also a pair of sorts, according to the Qur'an.

Waalshshamsi (and the sun) waduhaha (and its brightness) Waalqamari (and the moon) itha talaha (when it follows it)

This indicates that the sun takes a path or action similar to that of the moon (which does indeed go around the earth once per month, and to an ancient person seems to do so on a nightly basis). The word translated "follow" is used many other places to mean recite, but is primarily defined as to follow, go or walk behind, follow in way of imitation, of action etc., and is often used for animals like camels following behind each other. ^[15] Yet the Moon does not follow behind the sun's movement, nor does it provide its own light like the sun. It might merely seem to a naive observer to do these things.

There are many more verses where the sun and moon are paired:

Notice also in the above verse that the sun's movement (as well as day and night) are a token, or sign, that the hearers can readily observe.

...khalaqa (created) allayla (the night) waalnnahara (and the day) waalshshamsa (and the sun) waalqamara (and the moon) kullun (each) fee (in) falakin (a rounded course) yasbahoona (they swim)

Here, again: heavens and earth, night and day, sun and moon.

Again: the Qur'an explains, not only are humans created in pairs (male and female), so are the two bodies of flowing waters (one salt and one sweet), and the night and the day and the sun and the moon.

Notice how frequently the sun and the moon are mentioned together as a pair. Its clearly implied that the sun and the moon are a pair of sorts, just like (according to the Qur'an) the heavens and the earth or the night and the day. In Qur'an 36:36 and 35:11-35:13 this belief is expressly stated. The sun and the moon (along with their courses) are mentioned amongst a range of other things that are created in pairs.

The shape of the sun's course

Various verses explain the shape of the sun's course. Apparently Allah brings the sun from east, it travels high and eventually goes down. Most of these, however, could fairly be regarded as the same kind of convenient language we would use today (Quran 20:059, Quran 20:130, Quran 17:078, Quran 6:77-78, Quran 18:17). Some are more interesting, however.

The Qur'an approvingly quotes a few lines from a debate between Abraham and a disbelieving King, where Abraham replies that Allah brings the sun (yatee biashshamsi يَأْتِى بِٱلشَّمْسِ) from the east. The arabic verb and preposition indicates that the sun actually moves.^[16]

The Qur'an also describes the locations where the sun actually rises and sets in response to a question about an existing legend. It can be seen by human eyes in the story of Dhul-Qarnayn (Alexander the Great):

For a detailed discussion of the key words in these verses, evidence showing that early Muslims took it literally, and contemporary Arabic and Syriac poems of the same legend, see the article Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring

The Qur'an is quite clear about the course of the sun. It does not even describe a complete orbit, but merely a rounded course, probably in a hemisphere (falak^[1]) that has a beginning, an end, and a highest point.

The regular cycle of the sun

According to the Qur'an, the sun's cycle is repeated on a regular basis (exactly computed even) just like that of the Moon and night and day.

This Surah reads: Alshamsu (the sun) waalqamaru (and the moon) bihusbanin.

Husban can mean a number of things: definite reckoning, appointed courses, numbering, revolving firmament, running appointed and scheduled course. In many English translations we see the word 'course' or 'celestial sphere' but note that the word 'falak' isn't mentioned here; this verse only indicates that the sun and the moon behave in a calculated / scheduled / appointed manner.

There is a reason why this is important: the sun's daily cycle and the moons monthly cycle are used for timekeeping in Islam.

The movement of the sun and timekeeping

In the days of Muhammad it was common practice to use the sun for timekeeping, so there is little wonder that the Qur'an claims the supposed course of the Sun is regulated / scheduled (see previous section) and a sign from Allah to keep track of the time of day (and likewise the course of the moon is a monthly calendar)

The moon (the sign of the night) is to be used to count the years (12 lunar months make up the Islamic year) and the sun is to be used to keep track of time. The only solar movement Muslims use for timekeeping is the apparent daily course of the Sun (from east up and then down to the west). To this very day, Muslims use the (far less precise and, according to some interpretations, entirely unpredictable) lunar calender, and the waqt (prescribed time) of their daily salats (prayers) is determined by the position of the Sun along it’s apparent course.

Daily salats:

1. Salat Al Fajr – right before sun rise. (mentioned in Quran 17:78, Quran 20:130, and Quran 24:58)
2. Salat Al Zuhr – right after the Sun’s zenith, but before the shadow of the Sun becomes twice its length from midday. (Possibly mentioned in Quran 17:78 as prayer at the "decline of the sun")
3. Salat Al Asr- between zenith and sunset, when the length of a shadow of a stick is either once or twice its length. (Mentioned in Quran 2:238 as "the middle prayer" and Quran 20:130 and Quran 50:39 as "exhalt with praise" before the sun's setting)
4. Salat Al Maghrib – right after sunset. (not clearly mentioned in the Quran - Quran 20:130 and Quran 50:39 mention to "exhalt with praise" before rather than after sunset, though the latter verse also mentions "the two ends of the day")
5. Salat Al Isha'a – at night, between sunset and sunrise. (Mentioned in Quran 11:114, Quran 17:79, and Quran 20:130)

The apparent daily course of the sun dictates the time of each and every daily prayer and the only examples of the sun being used for timekeeping in the Qur'an employs the sun's daily movement along the sky.

Counter-arguments

Despite all the verses discussed above that strongly indicate a geocentric worldview, some present a few counter arguments to try to prove heliocentricism in the Qur'an. We saw above that the galactic orbit interpretation for the sun's falak does not stand up to scrutiny. In the same section above we also saw that 36:40 ('it is not for the sun to overtake the moon...') is evidence of geocentrism rather than heliocentrism. Two other verses are sometimes used to try to demonstrate knowledge that the Earth rotates on its axis.

Waalnnahari (and the day) itha (when) jallaha (it displays it) Waallayli (and the night) itha (when) yaghshaha (it covers it)

At first it seems that 'day' and 'night' here may refer to the process of the Earth's rotation revealing and obstructing the view of the sun (though the verse also fits with a geocentric view where 'day' and 'night' are processes when the sun is above or below the horizon). But the verses apparent alignment with heliocentrism seems less concrete when the verses detailed below are considered. For the Earth is actually a globe, and there are no specific times 'when' (itha) the day reveals the sun or the night conceals it. Rather at all times half the Earth is in daytime and half in nighttime, so the sun is at all times both revealed and concealed. This problem wouldn't arise if the word 'when' (itha) was absent in these verses.

There are other verses that mention the night covering (with the same Arabic verb as 91.4), which show that the verb in this context does not simply mean the body of the earth blocking the line of sight to something. Verses 92:1-2 use identical words as 91:3-4, but without the pronoun suffix at the end. So the night is when things generally are covered, not just the sun on the other side of the Earth, and the day is when things generally are revealed. Clearly the verbs are meant in a poetic sense.

Waallayli (and the night) itha (when) yaghsha (it covers) Waalnnahari (and the day) itha (when) tajalla (it displays)

Indeed, in the verse below the night's cover (same verb as 91:4) can apply to anything, not just the sun, so how can night covering the sun in 91.4 literally mean the body of the earth covering the sun on the other side? (The word "pieces" in the translation means portion or piece cut off from the whole^[17]).

With the same Arabic word for cover yet again in verse 7:54, this time it is the day doing the covering, or possibly the other way round (the Arabic is ambiguous and translations differ, while tafsirs take the view that it means both) and it is quite a stretch if not impossible to interpret this as the rotating Earth blocking the night (whatever this might mean) in analogy to their interpretation of 91:4. Rather it seems that the day and night are active entities in the Qur'an.

The other verse used as evidence of heliocentrism is 39:5. Here the word translated wraps (kawwara, as with a turban, for example) supposedly indicates the rotation of the Earth.

But as with 7:54 mentioned above and the verses where the day and night (as well as the sun and moon) have a falak^[1], it actually indicates that the night and day are active entities rather than any sign that the Earth revolves. You could reasonably describe the Earth as passing through night and day. Perhaps, at a stretch, you could even say that night and day wrap around the earth as you could spin an item in order to wrap it with something. But it would be very difficult to describe what really happens by saying that the the day or night wrap each other, for they are always present on opposite sides of the Earth.

To try to make it work you would have to suppose that 'day' means the half of the Earth that is currently sunward, and 'night' means the shadow of the Earth cast by the sun, but then to make the next phrase work you have to suppose that 'night' means the half of the Earth that is currently opposite the sun, and that 'day' means the light from the sun. So at the halfway point in the sentence you have to change your definition of the word 'day' and the definition of 'night' to make it fit the real situation!

A common claim by some of those who believe that 39:5 is a reference to the Earth's rotation is that this phrase is the most perfect that Allah could use without causing 7th century Arabs to dismiss Muhammad as a lunatic. Yet the Qur'an itself records that Muhammad was much mocked anyway by those who disbelieved what he said, and the Qur'an contains many claims that sounded absurd even to many of his contemporaries, so it would seem reasonable to ask why the Qur'an could not give even some vague indication that the earth itself is revolving or that it has an orbit.

There are also two nearly identical verses to 39.5. These are 31:29 and 35:13 (also with the similar phrase are 3:27 22:61 and 57:6) where instead of 'he wraps', the verb 'he causes to enter' (yooliju) is used. Together, along with 7:54 where the day covers and chases the night (or vice versa), they present a picture of the day and night successively wrapping across each other and in so doing covering the other and entering into it, though the night never outruns (sabiqu) the day (36:40).

Supporting Evidence

Ancient and modern-day Muslim astronomers

Muslims living in Muhammad’s day universally accepted the Qur'an's geocentric cosmology. References in the Hadith of any of the ansari or others in Muhammad's environment arguing about this point with their prophet or among themselves are unknown. Famous Muslim astronomers (people who certainly read, and knew the Qur'an) like the Arab astronomer Ibn al-Shatir and the Persian Nasir al-Din al-Tusi used Greek (geocentric) astronomy to create complex models of our ‘universe’ (basically only our solar system, which they believed constituted the entire universe) that were geocentric just like the Qur'an.

In a televised debate aired on Iraqi Al-Fayhaa TV (October 31, 2007), Muslim Researcher on Astronomy Fadhel Al-Sa'd also declared :

According to Fadhel Al-Sa'd, the moon's diameter is 1,200,000 km, while that of the sun is only 2,400,000 km.

Muslims around the time of Muhammad

In the Hadiths we read Muhammad's own words, and they clearly paint the same picture: the sun moves around the earth and goes to "its resting place" at night, and will one day be told to go to "the place of your setting".

Similar versions of this hadith can be found in Sahih Bukhari and elsewhere in Sahih Muslim. In another hadith Muhammad tells the story of an earlier prophet who asked the sun to stop moving and it does so. This hadith is based on the story of Joshua in the Bible and is also found in Sahih Muslim:

Even though these Hadiths are all deemed 'sahih' (authentic) according to Islamic scholars, some will deny them based purely on their apparent disagreement with science. Of course the Hadiths, at the very least, indicate what Muslims around the time of Muhammad (or not long after his demise) believed about the sun and thus prove useful in helping interpret the intended meaning of the Qur'an.

Conclusion

A lot of details about the sun’s movement are contained within the Qur'an.

According to the Qur'an, the supposed course of the sun:

1. is seen by 7th century listeners without knowledge of galactic orbits.
2. is (almost always) compared to the Moon's course.
3. is followed by the moon
4. will on the last day be physically joined to the moon
5. is almost always mentioned with that of the moon in the context of night and day.
6. is to be used by the Muslims for timekeeping.
7. has setting and rising places. Allah brings it from the east, it goes up high, then goes down, and it has a resting place.

In addition to all these facts; great ancient (and even some modern-day) Muslim astronomers agree that the Qur'anic cosmology is geocentric, and the Hadiths also affirm this geocentric cosmology (so Muhammad or at least the people around him appear to agree with it).

See Also

• Cosmology - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Cosmology

External Link

• Geocentric Islam - Muslim blog, "western atheists deceived us when they taught the Hoax of a Rotating Earth !!"
• Muhammad's Geocentric Universe - YouTube video

References