Geocentrism and the Quran: Difference between revisions

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.<ref>ra-alif-ya راي [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000164.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 998</ref>

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.<ref>jiim-ra-ya جرى [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000051.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 415</ref>

The following verse 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.