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

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Therefore, the '''Earth has been made flat for us in regards to our relationship to it''' to facilitate our lives upon it and our comfort. The fact that it is round does not prevent that its surface has been made flat for us. This is because something that is round and very large, then its surface will become very vast or broad, having a flat appearance to those who are upon it."}}
Therefore, the '''Earth has been made flat for us in regards to our relationship to it''' to facilitate our lives upon it and our comfort. The fact that it is round does not prevent that its surface has been made flat for us. This is because something that is round and very large, then its surface will become very vast or broad, having a flat appearance to those who are upon it."}}


Some Islamic websites attribute the above quote to Sheikh Ibn Bâz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, who at one time believed the Earth was flat. While some of the verses quoted in this article make reference to humans, most do not. They are describing what Allah supposedly did when creating the entire Earth, not that the Earth seems flat to a human from a small local perspective on its spherical surface (an illusion that would be dispelled for the Arabs in the 8th century as they gained astronomical knowledge). The argument further ignores the very unambiguous choice of word in verse 88:20 quoted above, which also means a flat surface in geometry.  
Some Islamic websites attribute the above quote to Sheikh Ibn Bâz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, who at one time believed the Earth was flat. While some of the verses quoted in this article make reference to humans, most do not. They are describing what Allah supposedly did when creating the entire Earth, not that the Earth seems flat to a human from a small local perspective on its spherical surface (an illusion that would be dispelled for the Arabs in the 8th century as they gained astronomical knowledge). Moreover, some of these verses also mention Allah placing mountains, or the sky as a ceiling or canopy, and therefore such verses must apply to the Earth's shape as a whole. The argument further ignores the very unambiguous choice of word in verse 88:20 quoted above, which also means a flat surface in geometry. Try as they might, apologists cannot give "flat" and "round" the same meaning.


Most importantly, the argument ignores the indirect and further evidence in the [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran#Further_Proof Further Proof] section above. That section contains the best evidence for a flat Earth cosmography in the Qur'an, stronger even than the verses that directly describe the creation of the Earth.
Most importantly, the argument ignores the indirect and further evidence in the [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran#Further_Proof Further Proof] section above. That section contains the best evidence for a flat Earth cosmography in the Qur'an, stronger even than the verses that directly describe the creation of the Earth.
This is a typical [[w:False equivalence|argument of false equivalence]] since the apologists have tried to give "flat" and "round" the same meaning, when in reality they are not the same. Muslims frequently commit this type of logical fallacy when they try to defend those words of the Qur'an that are scientifically incorrect.


== Conclusion ==  
== Conclusion ==  
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