The Islamic Whale: Difference between revisions

The Islamic Whale (view source)

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 http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2</ref> The details behind the mentioning of this creature is a unclear topic. There is little mention of Nun in the Quran, however there is further mention of it in other Islamic scriptures such has [[Hadith]] and [[Tafseer|Tafsir]] along with context verses.
-From all of the earliest Sunni and Shi'a sources today available to us, it does appear that the earliest Muslims believed the letter "nun" in the Qur'an surah 68:1 refers to a giant whale upon whose back the entire earth rests. This belief is attributed by all of the trusted sources of Islamic jurisprudence to "tarjumaan al-qur'an" ibn Abbas and was reaffirmed thereafter by many trusted Islamic scholars all the way up until the 19th century. According to this cosmogony, the earth (actually the 7 earths are) is attached to the back of the whale by means of the mountains, which are pegs to balance the earth upon the Nun's back. This cosmogony fits in with a widespread ancient belief that the world was balanced upon the back of giant animals, and the even more primordial belief that the world is surrounded by a giant, unending body of water.
+From all of the earliest Sunni and Shi'a sources today available to us, it does appear that the earliest Muslims believed the letter "nun" in the Qur'an surah 68:1 refers to a giant whale upon whose back the entire earth rests. This belief is attributed by all of the trusted sources of Islamic jurisprudence to "tarjumaan al-qur'an" ibn Abbas and was mentioned thereafter by many trusted Islamic scholars all the way up until the 19th century - though they mention it alongside other different interpretations. According to this cosmogony, the earth (actually the 7 earths are) is attached to the back of the whale by means of the mountains, which are pegs to balance the earth upon the Nun's back. This cosmogony fits in with a widespread ancient belief that the world was balanced upon the back of giant animals, and the even more primordial belief that the world is surrounded by a giant, unending body of water.
 ==Nun in the Qur'an==
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 ==Tafsir Ibn Kathir==
-ibn Kathir spends a good bit of text on this short verse, and attributes different explanations to the verse, all of them more or less agreeing with the following summary: In the beginning, Allah created the pen before all else. The pen asked "what do I write" and Allah told it to write the letter ن "nun" or "N" which is actually a whale upon whose back he balanced the entire world:
+Ibn Kathir lists three different interpretations and spends a good bit of text on the first interpretation which can be summarized as: In the beginning, Allah created the pen before all else. The pen asked "what do I write" and Allah told it to write the letter ن "nun" or "N" which is actually a whale upon whose back he balanced the entire world:
 {{Quote|Ibn Kathir, English abridged version, on the verse 68:1|كَمَا قَالَ الْإِمَام أَبُو جَعْفَر بْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن بَشَّار حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَان هُوَ الثَّوْرِيّ حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَان هُوَ الْأَعْمَش عَنْ أَبِي ظَبْيَان عَنْ اِبْن عَبَّاس قَالَ : أَوَّل مَا خَلَقَ اللَّه الْقَلَم قَالَ اُكْتُبْ قَالَ وَمَاذَا أَكْتَب ؟ قَالَ اُكْتُبْ الْقَدَر فَجَرَى بِمَا يَكُون مِنْ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْم إِلَى قِيَام السَّاعَة ثُمَّ خَلَقَ النُّون وَرَفَعَ بُخَار الْمَاء فَفُتِقَتْ مِنْهُ السَّمَاء وَبُسِطَتْ الْأَرْض عَلَى ظَهْر النُّون فَاضْطَرَبَ النُّون فَمَادَتْ الْأَرْض فَأُثْبِتَتْ بِالْجِبَالِ فَإِنَّهَا لَتَفْخَر عَلَى الْأَرْض
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-This is the definition of ن (Nun) in the Arabic tafsir:
+<br />
-{{Quote|Ibn Kathir tafsir on 68:1 <ref>altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|نۤ حوت عظيم <br>
+{{Quote|2=نۤ حوت عظيم <br>
 * نۤ - ''noon'' - Nun
 * حوت - ''hoot'' - whale
 * عظيم - '''azeem'' - big
-'''Nun is a big whale.'''
+'''Nun is a big whale.'''}}
-}}
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 ==Tafsir At-Tabari==
-At-Tabari had this to say:
+At-Tabari mentions several interpretations. One of them is this:
 {{Quote|At-Tabari tafsir on 68:1 <ref>http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
 هو الحوت الذي عليه الأرَضُون
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 ==ِTafsir Al-Qurtubi==
-Another very respected tafsir of Al-Qurtubi is of the same opinion. The whale is under the 7th (lowest) Earth:
+Al-Qurtubi mentions several interpretations. One of them is that the Nun is the whale which is under the 7th (lowest) Earth:
 {{Quote|Tafsir Al-Qurtubi on 68:1 <ref>http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=5&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
 نۤ> الحوت الذي تحت الأرض السابعة><br>
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 ==ِTafsir Fath Al-Qadir (by Shawkani)==
-This tafsir is from the 18th century re-affirms the idea that the world is carried on the back of a whale:
+This tafsir is from the 18th century and it mentions several interpretations. One of them is the idea that the world is carried on the back of a whale:
 {{Quote|Fath Al-Qadir on 68:1<ref>http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=9&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>|
 هو الحوت الذي يحمل الأرض