Geocentrism and the Qur'an

In Islamic cosmology

The Qur'an says that both the sun and the moon swim or float in a circuitous path, celestial sphere or, more likely, a hemisphere (a falak in the Arabic^[1]). It seems that Allah brings the sun from the east, which then goes high above the Earth, and after sunset goes to a resting place. All this takes place around an Earth that is spread out (or flattened) and which possesses a firmament of seven heavens built atop it without visible pillars.

Historical background

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. This was the theory of Ptolemy (d. 170 CE), who was followed by Muslim astronomers from the 9th century CE, though Islamic texts expressing doubts about his ideas started to appear regularly from the 10th century.^[2] Aside from notable exceptions such as Aristarchus of Samos, heliocentrism was only advocated by occasional figures with small followings and widely rejected before the work of Copernicus.

Geocentrism is different from 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.

Historical influences on Islamic cosmology

The geocentrism and cosmography in general of the Qur'an shows little or no influence from Ptolemaic concepts of heavenly spheres, each containing a celestial body, according to which paradigm the Qur'an and the word falak came to be interpreted^[1][3] In a paper on Qur'anic cosmography, Damien Janos notes that the "Qurʾānic cosmology stems from a different religious background and it does not contain any conspicuous signs of synthesis or assimilation with the cosmological trends indebted to Ptolemaic astronomy"^[4] and observes that in various respects the two paradigms are incompatible, particularly as the celestial bodies move in the lowest part of the seven heavens in the Qur'anic model.^[5] Rather, the Qur'an is more reflective of its Biblical and Mesopotamian predecessors (see also Cosmology of the Quran). In the same paper Janos does, however, theorise that the Qur'anic falak may contain Greek influence given how often it was interpreted in terms of circularity or sphericity by Muslim scholars. He also considers as a possible hypothesis that both the falak and seven heavens "can be construed as having not a fully spherical shape, but rather a hemispherical or domed-shape", and the sun would transit back to its origin in the east "via an underground passage", which "finds some support in traditional Arabic reports [...] and seems to have Mesopotamian antecendents".^[6]

The Qur'an in several places and contexts advances or alludes to descriptions of the heavenly bodies which explicitly or implicitly entail a geocentric model of the solar system. Seven such distinct assertions form the crux of the discussion on geocentrism in the Quran.

First is the strongly implied idea that both the courses or orbits (falak) taken by the sun and moon should be visible to the people addressed in the Qur'an. Second is the Quran's assertion that the moon follows the sun. The orbital "floating" or "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.^[7]

Third, in Quran 36:37-40, which is a passage about night and day, right after describing the change from day to night the passages states that the sun runs on to a designated resting place (see footnotes regarding the Arabic word here, which differs from similar verses).^[8][9] There are also sahih hadith that use the same Arabic word as in Quran 36:38 to identify "a resting place" as part of the sun's daily cycle.^[10] An alternative view is that this refers to the sun's final resting on the last day rather than some temporal location. Another similar sahih hadith apparently supports this view.^[11] Whichever meaning was originally 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.

Fourth is the idea that the sun and moon each float in an orbit (Quran 21:33 and Quran 36:40), or more precisely, each in a falak, a word with various meanings related to the celestial sphere or dome-shaped things, as described in Lane's lexicon of classical arabic.^[1] The main definition Lane provides is of 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. Ibn 'Abbas is recorded in the tafasir (commentaries) of al-Tabari and of ibn Kathir explaining that the sun and moon swimming in a falak means 'in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle' (a hemisphere-shaped object).^[12] 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 or heaven during the day, and when it sets, it runs at night in its falak underneath the Earth until it rises in the east.^[13] Al-Tabari further mentions other opinions, such as that it means the pole of the heavens, and similarly, the shape of an iron millstone (or perhaps the iron axis thereof).

Fifth is the statement that "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon", though on the last day they will be joined together, which is thus suggestive of the two bodies orbiting the same central body and while being positioned at a relatively similar distance. Sixth is the idea that stars have certain fixed "settings" (or mawaqi); and while the day, night, the sun and moon are mentioned as all floating in an orbit (falak), while there is no indication of the Earth possessing its own orbit or falak.^[14] And seventh is the verse which approvingly quotes Abraham saying that Allah brings the sun from the east along and the verses in the Dhu'l Qarnayn story which describe the setting and rising places of the sun as concrete locations which humans can visit and have visited (and even resided nearby) historically.

The visibility of the sun's movement

Modern Islamic scholars have often argued 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 supposed geocentric orbit. Critics have responded that the the author of the Qur'an describes a movement of the sun (as well as of the moon) which he expects its listeners to see and that, for this reason, the reference cannot be to the sun's galactic orbit.

The words 'and that' (wa anna) towards the end of the verse indicate that "Do you not see" applies to the entire verse, suggesting that it is not just the day and night, but also the running of the sun and moon that the 7^th century listeners of the Qur'an were expected to know about. Critics maintain that implication here is that the audience could 'see' the night turn into day and vice versa, and that they could see the sun and the moon running their courses around the earth.

The words "don't you see" (alam tara أَلَمْ تَرَ) may be interpreted in the sense of "don't you know" or "aren't you aware", but nonetheless function as an appeal to common knowledge. To critics, this common 7^th century Arabian knowledge of geocentrism is erroneous, and in affirming this erroneous perception, the Quran itself may be said to err.^[15]

The word translated "running" (yajree يَجْرِىٓ) in this and the next few verses quoted below was used in classical Arabic to describe the physical travelling of heavenly bodies along their courses, and in general means to run, or to flow like water (or even "swim"). It is used two verses later in Quran 31:31 to describe the sailing of ships.^[16]

Quran 13:2 states that the sun and moon running their courses are signs (ayaat) to mankind, implying they are facts known to and appreciated by a 7th century Arabian audience. The verses state that these signs are explained in detail in the Qur'an in order to strengthen the faith of its listeners. Critics argue that this directly undermines the idea that the Quran could have been alluding to the galactic orbit of the sun, for such an orbit was not known to the Quran's audience, and thus could not strengthen their faith, until some fourteen centuries after the Quran's authorship.

Quran 36:37-40 state that the sun follows a daily cycle, which ends every night when the sun goes to its resting place (ِmustaqarrin مُسْتَقَرٍّ)^[9]. As usual in the Qur'an (Quran 13:2 being the only exception), the sun's movement is mentioned in the context of night and day.

The phrase "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon" in Quran 36:40 does not fit a heliocentric perspective, yet is quite natural from a 7^th century perspective where the sun and moon were believed to orbit the same world, and indeed, would one day be joined together (see below). The word translated 'for' in the phrase 'It is not for the sun...' in Quran 36:40 is yanbaghee (يَنۢبَغِى), which means "fitting", "suitable", "proper", "behoves", "right and allowable", "good, "facilitated", "easy", "practicable", or "manageable"^[17] and the word translated 'overtake' is tudrika (تُدْرِكَ), which means "catches up and comes upon".^[18]

Quran 25:45 tells of an indirect observation of the sun's movement.

Aside from other light sources, shadows on Earth are produced when the sun's light is obstructed. The Earth's rotation causes these shadows to change size and lengthen. The above verses state that the reason shadows fluctuate in size rather than being stationary is because Allah has made the sun their guide. This appears to confirm the geocentric outlook widely evidenced elsewhere in the Qur'an, for it is only on a geocentric view that shadows would be of fixed length if the sun (rather than the Earth) were not made to do something.

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 in a passage about events on the day of resurrection 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.^[19] 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, always mentioned together in 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. ^[20] 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 scientifically naive observer to do these things.

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

In the above verse, the sun's movement (as well as day and night) is a token, or sign, that the hearers can readily observe. Many other verses mention the sun and moon together:

...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)

The Qur'an explains that not only are humans created in pairs (male and female), but 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.

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.^[21]

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 (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.

This is further evidence towards a geocentric interpretation since the sun's daily cycle and the moon's monthly cycle have timekeeping purposes such as prayer and fasting times in Islam (see next section).

The movement of the sun and timekeeping

In Muhammad's lifetime it was common practice to use the sun and moon for timekeeping, which provides a ready explanation for the emphasis in the Qur'an on the regulated / scheduled nature of the courses of the sun and moon as a sign from Allah and as a monthly calendar (see previous section).

The moon (the sign of the night) is used to count the years, which comprise 12 lunar months making 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 its 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 employ the sun's apparent daily movement along the sky.

Counter-arguments

Despite all the verses discussed above that strongly indicate a geocentric worldview, a few counter arguments are sometimes used to support a heliocentric interpretation of the Qur'an. The galactic orbit interpretation for the sun's falak is discussed above. Verse 36:40 ('it is not for the sun to overtake the moon...') is sometimes offered as evidence for heliocentrism, and is also discussed above. 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. It seems that 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)

In the verse below, the night's cover (the same verb as in versie 91:4) can apply to anything, not just the sun, so it may seem difficult to interpret the night covering the sun in 91.4 as literally meaning that the body of the earth covers the sun on its other side. The word "pieces" in the translation means portion or piece cut off from the whole^[22].

The same Arabic word for cover appears yet again in verse 7:54, where 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). It seems far from clear how this could be interpreted as the rotating Earth blocking the night (whatever this might mean) in analogy to the heliocentric interpretation of verse 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) is claimed to indicate the rotation of the Earth.

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], the night and day are referred to as active entities, and there is no suggestion that the Earth revolves. It would be quite reasonable to describe the Earth as passing through night and day, or perhaps even to say that night and day wrap around the earth as you could spin an item in order to wrap it with something. But the Qur'an just says that the day or night wrap each other. The night and day are always present on opposite sides of the Earth.

One solution may be 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 the 'night' would instead have to mean the half of the Earth that is currently opposite the sun, and the 'day' would have to mean the light from the sun.

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's message. 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 critics tend to criticise the Qur'an for not giving 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).

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’ (only our solar system, which they believed constituted the entire universe) that were geocentric.

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 that 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:

These Hadiths are all deemed 'sahih' (authentic) according to Islamic scholars, but even if inauthentic, they at least indicate what Muslims around the time of Muhammad (or not long after his demise) believed about the sun and thus prove useful in interpreting the intended meaning of the Qur'an, which appeals to the common knowledge of its listeners.

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

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