Geocentrism and the Quran: Difference between revisions

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In several verses the [[Qur'an]] describes the movement of the sun and moon, a few times mentioning that they travel in a circuitous path, or sphere/hemisphere (''fee falakin'' فِى فَلَكٍ), but does not mention once that the Earth too is in motion.<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak">Falak [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf Lane's Lexicon Volume 1 page 2443] and [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf page 2444] Lane also says that the Arab astronomers said there were seven of these spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref> The geocentric (Earth-centered) view 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.  

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<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" />). 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 visible planets) all moved in celestial spheres around a spherical Earth. This was the theory of Ptolemy (d. 170 CE), who was followed by [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Greek_and_Indian_astronomical_knowledge|Muslim astronomers from the 9th century CE]] onwards, though Islamic texts expressing doubts about his ideas started to appear regularly from the 10th century.<ref>{{citation|last=Hoskin|first=Michael|title=The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-57600-0|date=25 April 2021|page=60}}</ref> 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 [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth|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 geocentrism and general cosmography 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'' later came to be interpreted<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" /><ref name="vanBladelCords">{{citation|last1=van Bladel |first1=Kevin |date=2007 |title=Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=223-246 |doi= |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> 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"<ref>{{citation |last1=Janos |first1=Damien |date=2012 |title=Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some notes on the formation of a religious wordview |journal=Religion |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=215-231}} See p. 224</ref> 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.<ref>Ibid. p. 221</ref> 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 antecedents".<ref>Ibid. p. 228</ref>

==Geocentrism in the Qur'an==

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 cosmos.  

===Quran 36:37-40 - The sun's daily cycle and resting place===

{{Quran-range|36|37|40}} is a passage about night and day and the cycles of the sun and moon in that context.  

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|36|37|40}}|A token unto them is night. '''We strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness and the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him.''' That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.

<br>'''Word by word:''' ''Waalshshamsu'' (and the sun) ''tajree'' (runs) ''limustaqarrin'' (to a resting point) ''laha'' (of it).}}

Immediately after describing the change from day to night the passage states that the sun runs on to a designated "resting place" (ِmustaqarrin مُسْتَقَرٍّ See footnotes regarding the Arabic word here, which differs from similar verses).<ref name="mustaqarrin">A few translations use instead, "appointed term", though in nearly all other verses where we find  mustaqarrin (qaf-ra-ra قرر [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000029.pdf Lane's Lexicon Volume 1 page 2501]) as a participle they translate it as a place of settlement or an abode or resting place. There are other verses (35:13, 31:29, 39:5, 13:2) that mention the sun and moon running (with the same verb as is translated "run" in 36:38) for a term appointed, but these use the words لِأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى which do indeed mean a term appointed - However, note that mustaqarrin مُسْتَقَرٍّ in 36:38 is a different word.</ref> There is also a sahih hadith that uses the same Arabic word as in {{Quran|36|38}} to identify "a resting place" as part of the sun's daily cycle.<ref>See {{Muslim|1|297}} (also {{Bukhari|6|60|326}} and {{Bukhari|6|60|327}} where Q. 36:38 is explained such that the resting place is under the throne)</ref> An alternative view is that this refers to the sun's final resting on the last day rather than some temporal location. Another narration of the same hadith possibly supports this view.<ref>See {{Bukhari|4|54|421}} and {{Bukhari|9|93|520}} where Q. 36:38 is instead mentioned at the end, possibly indicating that the مُسْتَقَرٍّ (resting place) in 36:38 refers to the end of the world when the sun is asked to rise from its setting place (مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا) instead of under the throne each night.</ref> 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.

The phrase "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon" in {{Quran|36|40}} does not, critics point out, comfortably fit a heliocentric perspective whereby the moon orbits the Earth and the Earth orbits the sun, 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 (discussed in another section below). It is also difficult to interpret the verse merely in terms of a visual human perspective since the sun and moon do appear to "catch up" when a solar eclipse occurs. 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"<ref>ba-ghayn-ya [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000269.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book 1 page 233]</ref> and the word translated 'overtake' is ''tudrika'' (تُدْرِكَ), which means "catches up and comes upon".<ref>dal-ra-kaf [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000039.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book 1 page 873]</ref>

====The sun's movement is almost always mentioned in the context of day and night====

An important observation is that the sun's movement is almost always mentioned in the context of night and day, {{Quran|13|2}} being the only exception. See the "floating" of the sun and moon in {{Quran|21|33}} and {{Quran|36|40}} (discussed in the next section), and the "running" of the sun and moon in {{Quran|31|29}}, {{Quran|35|13}}, {{Quran-range|36|37|40}}, and {{Quran|39|5}}. Similarly, {{Quran|14|33}} (the word translated there as "constant in their courses" is daibayni, which is simply a verb meaning to strive, toil, labour, hold on or continue<ref>dal-alif-ba [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000005.pdf Lane's Lexicon Volume 1 page 106]</ref>).

===Quran 21:33 and 36:40 - The sun, moon, night and day all float in a falak===

{{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They all float in rounded courses.

<br>'''Word by word:''' ''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)}}

{{Quote|{{quran-range|36|37|40}}|A token unto them is night. We strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness and the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf. '''It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.'''}}

The last sentence in Arabic is the same in both verses. They state that the sun and moon (and night and day) all "float" or "swim" in an orbit, 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.<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" /> The main definition Lane provides 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. 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 whirl was a hemisphere-shaped object).<ref>The Arabic reads:فِي فَلْكَة كَفَلْكَةِ الْمِغْزَل fee falka, ka-falkati almighzal - [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=36&tAyahNo=40&tDisplay=yes&Page=3&Size=1&LanguageId=1 al-Tabari] and [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=36&tAyahNo=40&tDisplay=yes&Page=4&Size=1&LanguageId=1 Ibn Kathir on 36:40] or for an interpretation in English [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Ya-Seen/Among-the-Signs-of-the-Might-a--- qtafsir.com]</ref> Similarly, Ibn Kathir records in his tafsir for 21:33, "Ibn Abbas said, 'Spinning like as spins the spindle in a whirl'".<ref>[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=21&tAyahNo=33&tDisplay=yes&Page=3&Size=1&LanguageId=1 Ibn Kathir on 21:33] and in English [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Al-Anbiya/In-everything-there-is-a-Sign---- qtafsir.com]</ref> Lane translates the exact same words attributed to Ibn 'Abbas as "the whirl of a spindle...thus called because of its roundness...it is a piece of wood, generally of hemispherical form, or nearly so, through the middle of which the upper part of the spindle-pin is inserted". Such translations 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.<ref>"Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, 'The sun is like flowing water, running in its course [falakha] in the sky [alssama] during the day. When it sets, it travels [at night - bi al-layli (omitted in the translation)] in its course [falakha] beneath the earth until it rises in the east.' He said, 'The same is true in the case of the moon.' Its chain of narration is Sahih."<BR>[http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Luqman/The-Might-and-Power-of-Allah-A--- Tafsir ibn Kathir for Qur'an 31:29]<BR>For the Arabic, see [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=31&tAyahNo=29&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 altafsir.com]</ref> 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).

====No mention of Earth's orbit====

Critics often point out that while, according to the Quran, the stars have certain fixed "settings" (''mawaqi'', {{Quran|56|75}}) (also not scientifically correct as they are constantly orbiting e.g. black holes and other stars - they just appear that way from Earth as they are so far away)<ref>''[https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/10/16/why-are-all-the-stars-fixed-in-space/ Why are all the stars fixed in space?]''. Science Questions with Surprising Answers. West Texas A& University Website. Dr Christopher S. Baird.  Physics professor at West Texas A&M University. 2013. </ref>; and while the day, night, sun and moon are mentioned as all floating in a falak; and while the sun and moon are often mentioned as running their courses, there is never any indication whatsoever that the Earth itself runs any kind of course or orbit.

Some suggest that the word "all" ([https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=kll kullun]) in Q. 21:33 and Q. 36:40 quoted above refers to all heavenly bodies, which would implicitly include the earth. Critics point out that the verses themselves already explicitly state what "all" refers to - they name the sun, moon, night, and day, all of which are described as mobile entities in other verses.

In any case, vast numbers of interstellar objects (even planets and stars) are not currently in circular orbits but rather are travelling in hyperbolic trajectories (becoming ever straighter), having been dynamically ejected at greater than escape velocity from their solar systems or even from their galaxies (indeed, [[w:Intergalactic_star|intergalactic stars]] have been observed by astronomers).

Modern Islamic scholars have often argued that references in the Qur'an to the sun's movement refer to its orbit around our milky way galaxy rather than to a geocentric orbit.  

Critics point out that the 225 million year galactic orbit has no relevance to human time-scales, while the Quran almost always mentions the sun's movement in the context of night and day. Another response is that the entire solar system, and not just the sun, orbits the gravity well of our galaxy. This is considered a problem because therefore the moon can equally be said to orbit the galaxy, yet in verses like {{Quran-range|36|37|40}} the floating of the moon in a falak seems to relate to the phases of the lunar cycle. There is yet another problem discussed in the next section below, which is perhaps even more important.

===Quran 31:29 and 13:2 - The sun's movement is visible and is a sign===

Critics of the galactic orbit interpretation have further responded that 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 interpret as a sign, and for this reason the reference cannot be to the sun's galactic orbit.

{{Quote|{{Quran|31|29}}|'''Do you not see''' that Allah causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term, and that Allah, with whatever you do, is Acquainted?}}

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 the 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 across the sky.

The words "don't you see" (''alam tara'' أَلَمْ تَرَ<ref>ra-alif-ya راي [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000164.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 998</ref>) 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.

{{Quran|13|2}} and {{Quran|36|38}} state that the running of the sun and moon to an appointed term, or the sun running to its resting place, respectively, are signs (''ayaat'') to mankind, implying they are facts known to and appreciated by a 7th century Arabian audience. Verse 13:2 states 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 remained unknown to the Quran's original audience, and thus could not strengthen their faith, nor anyone's faith, until some fourteen centuries after the Quran's authorship.

{{Quote|{{Quran|13|2}}| […] '''He has subjected the sun and the moon! Each one runs for a term appointed'''. He regulates the matter, '''explaining the signs [l-āyāti] in detail''', so you can be certain of meeting with your Lord.

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|36|37|40}}|'''A token [āyatun] unto them''' is night. We strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness and the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. [...]}}  

The word translated "running" (''yajree'' يَجْرِىٓ) in the three above-quoted verses and similar ones was used in classical Arabic to describe the physical travelling of heavenly bodies along their courses, and in general means to run, as in running water. It is used in {{Quran|31|31}} to describe the sailing of ships, two verses after the first example quoted above.<ref>jiim-ra-ya جرى [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000051.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 415</ref>

Some critics also argue that {{Quran|25|45}} indirectly comments on the sun's movement.

{{Quote|{{Quran|25|45|}}|Have you not seen see how your Lord spread the shadow. If He willed he could make it stationary. Then do We make the sun its guide.

<br>'''Word by word:''' ''ash shamsa'' (the sun) ''`alayhi'' (for it) ''dalilaan'' (a guide / an indication)}}

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. Critics note that 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.  

 

 

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|91|1|2}}|By the sun and his brightness, And the moon when she followeth him

<br>'''Word by word:''' ''Waalshshamsi'' (and the sun) ''waduhaha'' (and its brightness) ''Waalqamari'' (and the moon) ''itha talaha'' (when it follows it)}}

 

In the view of critics, this suggests that the sun takes a path or action similar or at least comparable to that of the moon (which goes around earth once per month, and to an ancient person would appear 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", "walk behind", or "follow in way of imitation" or "of action", and was used for animals like camels following behind each other.<ref>Ta-Lam-Waw [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000350.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book 1 page 313]</ref> Critics note that while the moon neither follows behind the sun's movement nor provides its own light like the sun, a pre-modern observer would get the impression that the moon and sun, in a sense, "chase" one another in their course about the Earth (an impression the Quran appears to agree with).

 

In a passage about events on the day of resurrection, the Quran makes an assertion which, critics argue, strongly implies that the sun and moon are of a similar size and are located a similar distance from Earth. As already noted, the Quran says that the moon "follows" the sun ({{Quran-range|91|1|2}}), and "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day." ({{Quran|36|40}}). Verse {{Quran-range|75|8|9}} adds that on the last day the sun and moon will be brought together:

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|75|8|9}}|And the moon darkens And the sun and the moon are joined,}}

The Arabic word translated as "are joined" is ''jumi'a'', a verb which means to collect together, gather together, bring together.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000091.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 455 جُمِعَ]</ref> Critics note that this would involve our moon, which orbits the Earth 93 million miles away from the sun, being brought together with our local star which is over 400 times wider. To say that such mismatched objects will be brought together (jumi'a) in such a scenario would hardly be apt, critics argue, and a very odd apocalyptic event. Rather, the description sits comfortably in the ancient understanding of the cosmos, whereby the sun and moon were assumed to be two roughly equivalent celestial bodies in the sky above the Earth.  

It is worth noting that the "darkening" of the moon in verse 8 is an Arabic word which in hadiths refers to a lunar or solar eclipse (in this case lunar). However, for a lunar eclipse to occur (when the earth's shadow is cast upon the moon) the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth and thus are not in any sense "brought together". Nor does brought together in verse 9 work as a reference to a solar eclipse (when the sun occasionally casts a shadow of the moon on the earth). The moon is invisible during the portion of a month when it can eclipse the sun since it must be on the daylit side of the earth, and hence the moon does not "darken" or itself become eclipsed (verse 8) as it passes between observers and the sun but rather its silhouette becomes visible.

===The sun and its movement is always paired with the moon===

The movement of the sun is always mentioned with that of the moon, whether described as running (yajree/tajree) or floating (yasbahoona), or toiling (daibayni). Additionally, in these verses they are nearly always mentioned in the context of night and day (the exception being 13:2), as discussed in an earlier section above.

Here are some of the many verses where the sun and moon are paired (other examples can be found quoted across the article).

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|36|37|40}}|A token unto them is night. We strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness and the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They all float in rounded courses.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|31|29}}|Do you not see that Allah causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term, and that Allah, with whatever you do, is Acquainted?}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|16|12}}|He has made subject to you the Night and the Day; the Sun and the moon}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|14|33}}|And He hath made subject to you the Sun and the moon, both diligently pursuing their courses; and the night and the day hath he (also) made subject to you.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|41|37}}|Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. [...]}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|39|5}}| He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power - He Who forgives again and again? }}

{{Quran-range|35|11|13}} explains that it is not only humans that were created in pairs (male and female), but also the two bodies of flowing waters (one salty and one sweet), the night and the day, and the sun and the moon.  

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|35|11|13}}|And Allah did create you from dust; then from a sperm-drop; then He made you in pairs. And no female conceives, or lays down (her load), but with His knowledge. Nor is a man long-lived granted length of days, nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Decree (ordained). All this is easy to Allah.  Nor are the two bodies of flowing water alike,- the one palatable, sweet, and pleasant to drink, and the other, salt and bitter. Yet from each (kind of water) do ye eat flesh fresh and tender, and ye extract ornaments to wear; and thou seest the ships therein that plough the waves, that ye may seek (thus) of the Bounty of Allah that ye may be grateful. He merges Night into Day, and he merges Day into Night, and he has subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law): each one runs its course for a term appointed. Such is Allah your Lord: to Him belongs all Dominion.}}

===Quran 2:258 - Abraham's challenge: Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west!===

{{Quran|2|258}} 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 indicate that the sun is conceived of as physically moving.<ref>alif-taa-ya [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000052.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book 1 page 15] The verb means to come, and when it has an object with the bi preposition it means to bring, as in many other instances in the Qur'an.</ref>

{{Quote|{{cite Quran|2|258|style=ref}}|Abraham said, ‘Indeed '''Allah brings the sun from the east'''; now you bring it from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.}}

Critics conclude that the Qur'an is clear about the course of the sun: it does not describe a complete orbit, but rather a rounded course, presumably in a hemisphere (''falak''<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" />) that has a beginning, an end, and a highest point.

===Quran 18:83-90 - The sun sets in a muddy spring and rises on a people without shelter===

{{Quran-range|18|83|90}} also describes the physical, terrestrial locations where the sun is supposed to rise and set in response to a question about an existing legend. Here, in the Quranic account of life of Dhul Qarnayan or Alexander the Great, the physical setting place of the sun, located in muddy spring, can be seen by human eyes. Indeed, in this account, a human tribe is said to live adjacent to this celestial setting place.

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|18|84|90}}|They will ask thee of Dhu'l-Qarneyn. Say: I shall recite unto you a remembrance of him. Lo! We made him strong in the land and gave him unto every thing a road. And he followed a road. '''Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring''', and found a people thereabout. We said: O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness. Then he followed a road. '''Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.'''}}

There is [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One|historical evidence]] from early Quranic commentaries and other sources, including contemporary Arabic and Syriac poems of the same legend, to the effect that early Muslims took this account literally.

The Qur'anic conception of the cosmos accords with its author's visual perception of the sky, even to the extent that in {{Quran-range|79|28|29}} night and day is mistaken as a feature of the entire heaven. In these verses the night and morning brightness are said to be an attribute of the heaven (l-samāu) which Allah built (banāhā) and raised (rafaʿa) as a ceiling (samkahā) and ordered it (fasawwāhā) when he created the heaven and earth.

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|79|27|30}}|Are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that He built? He raised the height thereof and ordered it; And He made dark the night '''thereof''', and He brought forth the morn '''thereof'''. And after that He spread the earth,}}

The possessive hā suffix in laylahā (its night) and ḍuḥāhā (its morning light) relates night and day to the heaven in its entirety. In reality, the night and day we experience is a feature of the earth's rotation on its axis. There is no sense in which the earth's night and day (which happen at the same time) apply across the wider cosmos.

Indeed, {{Quran-range|91|1|6}} has many of the same Arabic words as {{Quran-range|79|27|30}}: "its morning light" (this time of the sun), "the night", and "the heaven" (singular) "built" by Allah. Putting the two passages together, it seems that the author of the Quran intuitively believed that the night and the sun's morning light were features pertaining to the entire visible heaven. This does not accord in any way with the modern heliocentric understanding of our local solar system.

Other verses are helpful to confirm what is meant by the heaven (singular) in this context. {{Quran|2|29}} states that Allah turned (is'tawā) to the heaven and fashioned them (fasawwāhunna) seven heavens. These are two forms of the same Arabic verb as is translated "ordered" in {{Quran|79|28}} in the above quote.

{{Quote|{{Quran|2|29}}|He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}}

The word "raised" in {{Quran|79|28}} is similarly used for the creation of the heaven (singular) and earth in {{Quran|88|18}} and the heavens (plural) raised without visible pillars in {{Quran|13|2}}.

The word "he built it" in v. 27 (banāhā) also occurs in {{Quran|50|6}}, which says regarding the heaven (singular) that Allah "built it" and "adorned it" (wazayyannāhā), a word which in other verses refers to the stars or lamps adorning the lowest heaven ({{Quran|37|6}}, {{Quran|41|12}} and {{Quran|67|5}}).

===The regular cycle of the sun===

According to several verses in the Qur'an, the sun's cycle is repeated on a regular basis and is comparable in this respect to the orbit of the Moon as well as the cycle of night and day.  

{{Quote|{{Quran|55|5}}|The Sun and the moon follow '''courses (exactly) computed'''

<br>'''Word by word:''' ''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  the word 'course' or 'celestial sphere' is used. In this verse, the word ''falak'' is not used; {{Quran|55|5}} only indicates that the sun and the moon behave in a calculated, scheduled, or otherwise pre-appointed manner. This verse and similar verses are consequently marshalled by critics as further evidence that the Quran espouses a geocentric cosmology, as the sun's daily cycle and the moon's monthly cycle serve ritual timekeeping purposes such as for determining prayer and fasting times in Islam (see next section).

===The sun and timekeeping===

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

{{Quote|{{Quran|6|96}}|He it is that cleaves the day-break (from the dark): He makes the night for rest and tranquility and '''the sun and moon for the reckoning [of time]''')}}{{Quote|{{Quran|9|36}}|Indeed, (the) number (of) the months with Allah (is) twelve months in (the) ordinance (of) Allah (from the) Day He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four (are) sacred. That (is) the religion the upright, so (do) not wrong therein yourselves. And fight the polytheists all together, as they fight you all together. And know that Allah (is) with the righteous.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|10|5}}|It is He Who made the Sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for her; '''that ye might know the number of years and the count [of time]'''. Nowise did Allah create this but in truth and righteousness. (Thus) doth He explain His Signs in detail, for those who have knowledge.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|17|12}}|And We have made the night and the day two signs, then We have made the sign of the night to pass away and We have made the sign of the day manifest, so that you may seek grace from your Lord, and '''that you might know the numbering of years and the reckoning'''; and We have explained everything with distinctness.}}

The moon (the sign, or ''ayah'', of the night) is used to count the years, which comprise the twelve [[Islamic Lunar Calendar|lunar months]] making up the Islamic year, and the sun is to be used to keep track of time. The only solar movement to be used for timekeeping is the apparent daily course of the sun (from east up and then down to the west). To this day, virtually all mainstream Islamic authorities use the (less precise and regularly unpredictable) lunar calendar to determine the date and the apparent position of the sun from any given location to determine the ''waqt'' (prescribed time) of daily [[Salah|''salats'']] (prayers). In some cases, as with the Burj Khalifa, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world and which is located in the United Arab Emirates, this means that prayer times differ one the top floor of the building from the prayer times on the bottom floor of the building, as the moment of sunset and sunrise varies as one ascends in elevation.

====The sun and the daily prayers====

In light of the many verses describing a geocentric system and the difficulties this poses in reconciling the Qur'an with the findings of modern science, many modern Islamic scholars have attempted to re-read the Quran as describing a heliocentric system. A major factor in these re-readings, as mentioned above, has been identifying the ''falak'' of the sun described in the Quran as a reference to the sun's orbit of the Milky Way galaxy. Likewise discussed above, {{Quran|36|40}} ('it is not for the sun to overtake the moon...') has been re-read in a manner concordant with a heliocentric model.

===Quran 91:1-4===

In addition to the above two re-readings, two other verses are advanced to suggest that the author of the Quran was aware of the Earth's rotation about its axis.

{{Quote|{{cite quran|91|1|end=4|style=ref}}|By the sun and his brightness, And the moon when she followeth him, And the day when it revealeth him, And the night when it enshroudeth him

<br>'''Word by word:''' ''Waalnnahari'' (and the day) ''itha'' (when) ''jallaha'' (it displays it) ''Waallayli'' (and the night) ''itha'' (when) ''yaghshaha'' (it covers it)}}

In its plain sense, it appears 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 can also fit with a geocentric view where 'day' and 'night' are processes when the sun is above or below the horizon). While modern Islamic scholars frequently use this verse to defend a heliocentric reading of the Quran, critics argue that the verse's agreement with heliocentrism is undermined when certain other verses in the Quran are considered which appear to elucidate its meaning.

In addition, critics argue, because the Earth is actually a globe, 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 being both revealed and concealed. This problem, critics note, would not arise if the word 'when' (''<u>itha</u>'') were simply removed from these verses (an exclusion the author of Quran, if inclined to heliocentrism, would likely have made).

The other verses considered in this context by critics which use the the same Arabic verb as found in {{Quran-range|91|1|4}}, are said to show that the verb here does not simply signify that the body of the earth is blocking the line of sight to something. {{Quran-range|92|1|2}} use the same words found {{Quran-range|91|3|4}}, but without the pronoun suffix at the end. Thus, critics conclude, the "night" is when things generally are "covered", and not just the sun on the other side of the Earth. Likewise, the "day" is when things generally are "revealed". In this reading, the verbs employed are used only in a poetic manner.

{{Quote|{{cite quran|92|1|end=2|style=ref}}|By the night enshrouding, And the day resplendent

<br>'''Word by word:''' ''Waallayli'' (and the night) ''itha'' (when) ''yaghsha'' (it covers) ''Waalnnahari'' (and the day) ''itha'' (when) ''tajalla'' (it displays)}}

In {{Quran|10|27}}, the night's "cover" (the same verb as in {{Quran|91|4}}) is used to apply to all things and not just the sun. As a result, critics argue, it is difficult to interpret the night covering the sun in {{Quran|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.<ref>qaf-taa-ayn [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000244.pdf Lane's Lexicon Suppliment page 2990]</ref>

{{Quote|{{cite quran|10|27|style=ref}}|they will have no one to save them from Allah; as if their faces are covered with pieces of the dark night}}

The same Arabic word for cover appears again in {{Quran|7|54}}, where 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 either or both). Critics argue that it is far from clear how the verse could be interpreted as describing a rotating Earth blocking the night (however that conception may be interpreted) in a manner analogous to the heliocentric interpretation of {{Quran|91|4}}. Critics then assert, instead, that the plain sense of these verses and the Quran at large hold the day and night to be active and physically independent entities.

{{Quote|{{cite quran|7|54|style=ref}}|He covereth the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it}}

===Quran 39:5===

The other verse advanced by modern Islamic scholars as favoring a heliocentric re-reading of the scripture is {{Quran|39|5}}. Here the word translated "wraps" (''kawwara'', as with a turban, for example) is argued to be indicative of the rotation of the Earth. 

{{Quote|{{cite quran|39|5|style=ref}}|He created the heavens and earth in truth. He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term.}}

As with {{Quran|7|54}} and {{Quran|36|37}} and the verses where the day and night (as well as the sun and moon) are said to swim in a ''falak''<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" /> (see above), the night and day in this verse are referred to as some kind of entities. Here, critics argue that it would make sense to describe the Earth as passing through night and day or possibly to say that night and day wrap around the earth, as one might spin an item in order to wrap it with something. But, the critics note, the Qur'an instead says that Allah wraps the day and night over one another rather than the earth, suggesting that the night and day possess some manner of corporeal form.

Another problem is that there is no coherent way to consistently interpret each term in the phrase "wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night" to correspond with scientifically meaningful concepts. For example, if one takes the first half of the phrase to mean that the sunlit side of the Earth revolves into the shadow of the Earth cast by the sun, those definitions of "day" and "night" do not work for the second half of the phrase, "wraps the day over the night". The word "day" would now have to mean the light from the sun and "night" would have to refer to the shadowed side of the earth which rotates into it.

====The argument of timeless comprehensibility====

===Geocentrism in hadiths===

Hadiths graded as authentic by Islamic scholars and found in collections like Sahih Muslim maintain that the sun moves around the earth and goes to its resting place at night, until it is told to return to "its rising place" (matli'iha), a word which also appears in {{Quran|18|90}} when Dhu'l Qarnayn reaches the rising place of the sun (mali'a ash-shamsi).<ref>In contrast, the generic east is always indicated with the word al mashriq or its derivatives everywhere else in the Quran.</ref> One day the sun will be told instead to go and emerge "from the place of your setting" (min maghribiki), and so, it will go and emerge "from the place of its setting" (min maghribiha), often mistranslated as "the west" in other narrations of this prophecy, despite the possessive suffix and lack of definite article<ref>Muhsin Khan, English translator of Sahih Bukhari is particularly guilty of this. Compare with min al maghribi which can in fact be translated as the sun rising "from the west" in {{Quran|2|258}}</ref>. The direct address to the sun and possessive pronouns show that this is not a mere figure of speech about the rotation of the Earth or the east and the west.

{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|297}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said: 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.}}

Similar versions of this hadith are found in Sahih Bukhari and elsewhere in Sahih Muslim. In another hadith Muhammad recorded telling the story of an earlier prophet who asked the sun to stop moving, whereafter the sun complied with his request. This hadith is based on the story of Joshua found in the Bible and is also found in Sahih Muslim<ref>{{Muslim|19|4327}}</ref>:

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|353}}|…So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the ‘Asr prayer, he said to the sun, ‘'''O sun!''' You are under Allah’s Order and I am under Allah’s Order O Allah! '''Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.’''' It was stopped till Allah made him victorious…}}

These Hadiths are all deemed '[[sahih]]' (authentic) according to Islamic scholars. According to historians, however, even if these hadiths are not historically reliable, they nonetheless indicate what very early Muslim authorities believed about the sun and are thus useful in interpreting the intended meaning of the Qur'an.

It is also notable that no major classical Islamic scholar came up with a heliocentric reading based of the language of the Quran (nor an understanding of our universe close to what we know it is today), as can be seen in their writings, particularly their tafsirs/Quranic commentaries. This includes from the most well-known and influential scholars of all time including al-Tabari,<ref>Commentary from al-Tabari (d. 310 AH) on e.g.:

[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=86&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Verse 18:86:] ''The Almighty says: { Even if he reached } Dhul-Qarnayn { sunset and found it setting in a hot eye }, readers differed in reading that, so some readers of Medina and Basra read it: { in a hot spring } meaning: it sets in a spring of water with sludge, and read by a group of readers of the city, and the general readers of Kufa: «in the eye of Hamia» means that it sets in the spring of hot water..''</ref> al-Razi,<ref>For example, the famous tafsir '''al-Tafsir al-Kabir'' ' of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209) (often referred to as Al-Razi), he explains on his ''[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=7&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&Page=22&Size=1&LanguageId=1 commentary on Verse 7:54]'', that the sun has two types of movements; one in a day, and one in a year. </ref> al-Qurtubi, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Kathir,<ref>Commentary of Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), for example:

[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/91.1 Verse 91.2]'':'' ''(By the moon as it Talaha.) Mujahid said, "It follows it (the sun).<nowiki>''</nowiki> Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said..''

[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/36.37 Verse: 36:37] ''(The first view) is that it refers to its fixed course of location, which is beneath the Throne, beyond the earth in that direction. Wherever it goes, it is beneath the Throne [...] When the sun is at its zenith at noon, it is in its closest position to Throne, and when it runs in its fourth orbit at the opposite point to its zenith, at midnight, it is in its furthest position from the Throne. At that point it prostrates and asks for permission to rise...''

[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/91.2 Verse 91:2] ''and [by] the moon when it follows her, rising after she has set''

[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/21.33 Verse 21:33] ''And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, [...] in an orbit, a circular [one] like a mill in the sky, swimming, moving with speed, like a swimmer in water..''</ref> al-Qummi (a prominent Shia scholar), Al-Baghawi and al-Zamakhshari.

===Ancient and modern Muslim astronomers===

Muhammad's Muslim contemporaries all accepted the Qur'an's geocentric cosmology. References in the Hadith of the ''ansari'' or others in Muhammad's environment arguing about this point with their prophet or among themselves are nonexistent. 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 the ‘universe’ that were geocentric (to pre-moderns, the 'universe' comprised the local solar system).

In a televised debate aired on Iraqi Al-Fayhaa TV (October 31, 2007), the Islamic astronomer ''Fadhel Al-Sa'd'' asserted the following:

{{Quote|1=[http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1684.htm Iraqi Researcher Defies Scientific Axioms: The Earth Is Flat and Much Larger than the Sun (Which Is Also Flat)]<BR>MEMRI TV, Video No. 1684|2=The sun circles the Earth because it is smaller than the Earth, as is evident in Koranic verses. Have you ever seen how the sun moves? I have seen the sun moving. The sun makes one move every 24 hours. What I say is based on Koranic science. He bases his arguments on the kind of science that I reject categorically -- the modern science that they teach in schools. This science is a heretic innovation that has no confirmation in the Koran. No verse in the Koran indicates that the Earth is round or that it rotates. Anything that has no indication in the Koran is false.}}

==See also==

==External links==