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The Quran and Mountains: Difference between revisions
→Discussions regarding the proposed miracle
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The word ''rawasiya'' comes from the root ''arsa'', the same root used for the Arabic 'anchor'. To 'throw out' or 'cast' 'the anchor' is ''alqa al-mirsah''. Using these terms, similar to the phrase "cast the anchor to keep the ship from moving", one can say "cast the mountains to keep the earth from shaking."<ref name="Campbell" /> Dr. [[Zakir Naik]] translates ''awtad'' as 'stakes' or 'pegs' (like those used to anchor a tent).<ref name="Zakir Naik" /> | The word ''rawasiya'' comes from the root ''arsa'', the same root used for the Arabic 'anchor'. To 'throw out' or 'cast' 'the anchor' is ''alqa al-mirsah''. Using these terms, similar to the phrase "cast the anchor to keep the ship from moving", one can say "cast the mountains to keep the earth from shaking."<ref name="Campbell" /> Dr. [[Zakir Naik]] translates ''awtad'' as 'stakes' or 'pegs' (like those used to anchor a tent).<ref name="Zakir Naik" /> | ||
=== 15:19 === | ===15:19=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|15|19}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. | {{Quote|{{Quran|15|19}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. | ||
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'''Transliteration:''' ''Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatna feeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin''}} | '''Transliteration:''' ''Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatna feeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin''}} | ||
=== 16:15 === | ===16:15=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|16|15}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And He has set up on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and rivers and roads; that ye may guide yourselves; | {{Quote|{{Quran|16|15}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And He has set up on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and rivers and roads; that ye may guide yourselves; | ||
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Critics also argue that it problematic that the Quran uses in these contexts the word ''tameeda'', which advocates of the miracles interpret as meaning 'shaking' or 'disturbance', instead of the word ''zalzala,'' which is used elsewhere in the Quran and means ‘earthquake’. The advocates of the miracle, the critics argue, cannot explain why the Quran would only metaphorically allude to earthquakes rather than naming them outright, as the Quran does elsewhere. To the critics, the usage of an altogether different word than 'earthquakes' suggests that the Quran was not alluding to earthquakes and that the advocates of the miracle have made an arbitrarily favorable interpretation in understanding the verse as they do. | Critics also argue that it problematic that the Quran uses in these contexts the word ''tameeda'', which advocates of the miracles interpret as meaning 'shaking' or 'disturbance', instead of the word ''zalzala,'' which is used elsewhere in the Quran and means ‘earthquake’. The advocates of the miracle, the critics argue, cannot explain why the Quran would only metaphorically allude to earthquakes rather than naming them outright, as the Quran does elsewhere. To the critics, the usage of an altogether different word than 'earthquakes' suggests that the Quran was not alluding to earthquakes and that the advocates of the miracle have made an arbitrarily favorable interpretation in understanding the verse as they do. | ||
=== 21:31 & 20:105 === | ===21:31 & 20:105=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|31}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And We have set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with them, and We have made therein broad highways (between mountains) for them to pass through: that they may receive Guidance. | {{Quote|{{Quran|21|31}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And We have set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with them, and We have made therein broad highways (between mountains) for them to pass through: that they may receive Guidance. | ||
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'''Transliteration:''' ''Wayas-aloonaka AAani aljibali faqul yansifuha rabbee nasfan''}} | '''Transliteration:''' ''Wayas-aloonaka AAani aljibali faqul yansifuha rabbee nasfan''}} | ||
=== 31:10 === | ===31:10=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|31|10}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs. | {{Quote|{{Quran|31|10}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs. | ||
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'''Transliteration:''' ''Khalaqa alssamawati bighayri AAamadin tarawnaha waalqa fee al-ardi rawasiya an tameeda bikum wabaththa feeha min kulli dabbatin waanzalna mina alssama-i maan faanbatna feeha min kulli zawjin kareemin''}} | '''Transliteration:''' ''Khalaqa alssamawati bighayri AAamadin tarawnaha waalqa fee al-ardi rawasiya an tameeda bikum wabaththa feeha min kulli dabbatin waanzalna mina alssama-i maan faanbatna feeha min kulli zawjin kareemin''}} | ||
=== 78:6-7 === | ===78:6-7=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|78|6-7}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs? | {{Quote|{{Quran|78|6-7}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs? | ||
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===Isostasy and the peg-like nature of mountains=== | ===Isostasy and the peg-like nature of mountains=== | ||
==== Schematic from Cailleux's ''Anatomy of the Earth'' ==== | ====Schematic from Cailleux's ''Anatomy of the Earth''==== | ||
The schematic diagram taken from page 220 of ''Anatomy of the Earth'' by the French geologist Cailleux is cited by various sources advocating the reality of the proposed miracle.<ref name="A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam">[http://www.islam-guide.com/frm-ch1-1-b.htm A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam/ B) The Quran on Mountains] - Islam-Guide.com, accessed October 1, 2011</ref> The basic underground protrusion of the crust beneath the mountainous region of the Alps, for instance, appears as a sort of peg embedded in the lower layer of the Earth. This, the advocates suggest, coheres nearly with {{Quran-range|78|6|7}} which reads, “Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?” | The schematic diagram taken from page 220 of ''Anatomy of the Earth'' by the French geologist Cailleux is cited by various sources advocating the reality of the proposed miracle.<ref name="A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam">[http://www.islam-guide.com/frm-ch1-1-b.htm A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam/ B) The Quran on Mountains] - Islam-Guide.com, accessed October 1, 2011</ref> The basic underground protrusion of the crust beneath the mountainous region of the Alps, for instance, appears as a sort of peg embedded in the lower layer of the Earth. This, the advocates suggest, coheres nearly with {{Quran-range|78|6|7}} which reads, “Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?” | ||
The geological phenomenon observed is known as isostasy. This term describes the nature of the Earth's crust such that the height of the crust above the layer of the Earth immediately beneath the crust tends to be proportionate to the depth of the crust into the lower layer in the same area. Thus, elevation above sea-level tends to correlate positively with the thickness of the Earth's crust at any given place. The reason why the crust tends to exist in this manner is compared to the same physics of floatation whereby the majority of an iceberg suspended in water extends below sea level and, at the same time, it is the case that the taller the portion of ice above sea level, the deeper the iceberg dips down below. | The geological phenomenon observed is known as isostasy. This term describes the nature of the Earth's crust such that the height of the crust above the layer of the Earth immediately beneath the crust tends to be proportionate to the depth of the crust into the lower layer in the same area. Thus, elevation above sea-level tends to correlate positively with the thickness of the Earth's crust at any given place. The reason why the crust tends to exist in this manner is compared to the same physics of floatation whereby the majority of an iceberg suspended in water extends below sea level and, at the same time, it is the case that the taller the portion of ice above sea level, the deeper the iceberg dips down below. [[File:Anatomy_of_the_Earth-_Cailleux-_p_220.jpg|alt=|thumb|425x425px|Description of figure found on p. 220]]Advocates of the scientific miracle argue that isostasy affirms the peg-like nature of mountains and that Muhammad could not, in the 7th century, have come to realize this without divine aid. Critics respond to this by arguing that the caption associated with the diagram found in Cailleux's book explicitly points out that the visual representation has had its 'vertical scale greatly exaggerated'.<ref>Click [[:File:Anatomy of the Earth- Cailleux- pp 220-221.jpg|here]] for a more complete view of the page scan.</ref> As a result, critics argue, the peg-like nature of mountains is not so plainly evident as the exaggerated representation found in the diagram would make it seem. Other visual representations with less exaggerated and more accurate vertical scales, some of which are cited by the advocates themselves, do not depict mountains as so plainly resembling pegs.<ref name="A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam"></ref> Advocates respond by suggesting that when viewed in this more accurate representation, the mountains resemble 'blunt pegs'; critics disagree. | ||
[[File:Ch1-1-b-img1.jpg|alt=|thumb|425x425px|A depiction of isostasy with a more accurate vertical scale]] | |||
Critics hold that the 'roots' of the mountains described by isostasy do not resemble pegs in either form or function. Firstly, isostasy, while often observed, is by no means universal and there are several outstanding examples of mountains and other elevated geological structures which have no such roots. Examples include structures formed by the geological processes of extension and faulting, such as the Nevada Basin and Range, as well as those formed thrust and fold belts, such as the Appalachians, Eastern Bolivian Andes, Zagros Mountains, and the Calcareous Alps. Indeed, even the Himalayas are underlaid by a crust structure shaped like a broad wedge and which does not resemble a peg.<ref>Dèzes, Pierre (1999) - [http://comp1.geol.unibas.ch/~zanskar/zanskar_geology.pdf Tectonic and metamorphic Evolution of the Central Himalayan Domain in Southeast Zanskar (Kashmir, India)] - Mémoires de Géologie. Doctoral thesis (Universite de Lausanne) 32: 149. ISSN 1015-3578</ref> The same is true for the Pyrenees.<ref>Jaume Vergés, Manel Fernàndez, Albert Martìnez - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.virtualexplorer.com.au/article/2002/58/the-pyrenean-orogen/tert.html#figure.08|2=2011-10-02}} The Pyrenean orogen: pre-, syn-, and post-collisional evolution] - Journal of the Virtual Explorer, Electronic Edition, ISSN 1441-8142, volume 8, paper 4, doi:10.3809/jvirtex.2002.00058</ref> | |||
[[File:Ch1-1-b-img3.jpg|alt=|thumb|425x425px|Another depiction of isostasy with a more accurate vertical scale]] | |||
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The diagram below is a true scale cross section of the Andes mountain range. The mountains and their “roots” (which do not resemble “pegs” in the slightest) are in yellow. | The diagram below is a true scale cross section of the Andes mountain range. The mountains and their “roots” (which do not resemble “pegs” in the slightest) are in yellow. | ||