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

Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth (view source)

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Context added for verses (almost all the direct verses are expressly in the context of the creation of the entire heavens and earth)

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 ===Qur'an 15:19 - ''madad'' ("extend", "stretch out")===
-{{Quote|{{Quran|15|19}}|''' والارض مددناها''' والقينا فيها رواسي وانبتنا فيها من كل شئ موزون'''
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|15|16|19}}|And We have placed within the heaven great stars and have beautified it for the observers. And We have protected it from every devil expelled [from the mercy of Allah] Except one who steals a hearing and is pursued by a clear burning flame.
+''' والارض مددناها''' والقينا فيها رواسي وانبتنا فيها من كل شئ موزون'''
 Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatnafeeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin
-'''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. }}
+'''And the earth - We have spread it''' and cast therein firmly set mountains and caused to grow therein [something] of every well-balanced thing.}}
 مَدَدْ = madad = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref>مد madda (مدد) - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000223.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2695</ref>
@@ Line 62: / Line 64: @@
 Allathee jaAAala lakumu al-arda mahdan wasalaka lakum feeha subulan waanzala mina alssama-imaan faakhrajna bihi azwajan min nabatinshatta
-'''He Who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread out'''; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down water from the sky." With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants each separate from the others. }}
+'''[It is He] who has made for you the earth as a bed [spread out]''' and inserted therein for you roadways and sent down from the sky, rain and produced thereby categories of various plants.}}
 مَهْدًا = mahdan = cradle or bed; a plain, even, or smooth expanse<ref>مَهْدً mahdan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000267.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2739</ref>
 ===Qur'an 43:10 - ''mahdan'' ("bed")===
-{{Quote|{{Quran|43|10}}| '''الذي جعل لكم الارض مهدا''' وجعل لكم فيها سبلا لعلكم تهتدون
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|43|9|10}}|And if you should ask them, "Who has created the heavens and the earth?" they would surely say, "They were created by the Exalted in Might, the Knowing."
+'''الذي جعل لكم الارض مهدا''' وجعل لكم فيها سبلا لعلكم تهتدون
 Allathee jaAAala lakumu al-arda mahdan wajaAAala lakum feeha subulan laAAallakum tahtadoona
-'''(Yea, the same that) has made for you the earth (like a carpet) spread out''', and has made for you roads (and channels) therein, in order that ye may find guidance (on the way);}}
+'''[The one] who has made for you the earth a bed''' and made for you upon it roads that you might be guided}}
 مَهْدًا = mahdan = cradle or bed; a plain, even, or smooth expanse<ref>مَهْدً mahdan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000267.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2739</ref>
 ===Qur'an 50:7 - ''madad'' ("expand", "stretch out")===
-{{Quote|{{Quran|50|7}}| '''والارض مددناها''' والقينا فيها رواسي وانبتنا فيها من كل زوج بهيج
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|50|6|7}}|Have they not looked at the heaven above them - how We structured it and adorned it and [how] it has no rifts?
+'''والارض مددناها''' والقينا فيها رواسي وانبتنا فيها من كل زوج بهيج
 Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatnafeeha min kulli zawjin baheejin
-'''And the earth- We have spread it out''', and set thereon mountains standing firm, and produced therein every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs)- }}
+'''And the earth - We spread it out''' and cast therein firmly set mountains and made grow therein [something] of every beautiful kind,}}
 مَدَدْ = madad = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref>مد madda (مدد) - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000223.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2695</ref>
-===Qur'an 51:48 - ''farasha'' ("spread out") ''mahidoon'' ("spreaders")===
+===Qur'an 51:48 - ''farasha'' ("spread out") and ''mahidoon'' ("spreaders")===
-{{Quote|{{Quran|51|48}}| والارض فرشناها فنعم الماهدون
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|51|47|48}}|We have built the heaven with might, and We it is Who make the vast extent (thereof).
+والارض فرشناها فنعم الماهدون
 Waal-arda farashnaha faniAAma almahidoona
-And the earth have We laid out, how gracious is the Spreader (thereof)! }}
+'''And the earth have We laid out''', how gracious is '''the Spreader (thereof)!''' }}
 فَرَشَْ = farasha ([[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth#Qur.27an_2:22_-_firashan_.28.22thing_spread_to_sit_or_lie_upon.22.29|verse 2:22]] uses this word in the noun form) = spread or expand, spread a bed or carpet<ref>فرش farasha - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000153.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2369</ref>
@@ Line 98: / Line 106: @@
 ===Qur'an 71:19 - ''bisaatan'' ("carpet")===
-{{Quote|{{Quran|71|19}}| والله جعل لكم الارض بساطا
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|71|15|19}}|See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, [...]
+'''والله جعل لكم الارض بساطا'''
 WaAllahu jaAAala lakumu al-arda bisatan
-And Allah has made the earth for you as a carpet (spread out), }}
+'''And Allah has made the earth for you as a carpet (spread out),''' }}
 بِسَاطًا = bisaatan = A thing that is spread or spread out or forth, and particularly a carpet (from the same root we also have بَسَاطٌ = bisaatun = Land, expanded and even; and wide or spacious)
 <ref>بِسَاطًا bisaatan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000241.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 204</ref>
@@ Line 117: / Line 127: @@
 ===Qur'an 88:20 - ''sutihat'' ("spread out flat")===
-{{Quote|{{Quran|88|20}}| وَإِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|88|18|20}}|And at the sky - how it is raised? And at the mountains - how they are erected?
+'''وَإِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ'''
 Wa-ila al-ardi kayfa sutihat
-And at the Earth, how it is spread out?}}
+'''And at the Earth, how it is spread out?'''}}
 سَطَّحَ = spread out or forth, expand
@@ Line 132: / Line 144: @@
 ===Qur'an 91:6 - ''taha'' ("spread out")===
-{{Quote|{{Quran|91|6}}| والارض وماطحاها
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|91|5|6}}|And the heaven and Him Who built it,
+'''والارض وماطحاها'''
 Waal-ardi wama tahaha
-By the Earth and its (wide) expanse}}
+'''And the earth and Him Who spread it,'''}}
 ==Indirect references to a flat Earth in the Qur'an==
@@ Line 546: / Line 560: @@
 In addition to the disagreement of definitions available in dictionaries, translations, and tafsirs with the definitions required to justify this modern reinterpretation, neither of the connections attempted ("ostrich egg" and ''madaahi'') accurately denote or imply the shape of the Earth.
-The shape of the ''madaahi'', whether in the form of a stone or some other object, is said to be like a "small round cake of bread" or a "قرصة".<ref name=":0" /> Such cakes of bread are defined as being "very small", "of a round, flattened form", like the apparent "disk of the sun"<ref>{{Citation|title=Lane's Lexicon|page=2572|chapter=قرض|url=http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=h898,ll=2609,ls=h8,la=h3587,sg=h848,ha=h610,br=h777,pr=h126,aan=h519,mgf=h722,vi=h296,kz=h2114,mr=h532,mn=h1107,uqw=h1300,umr=h875,ums=h734,umj=h652,ulq=h1407,uqa=h345,uqq=h305,bdw=h711,amr=h517,asb=h787,auh=h1286,dhq=h452,mht=h732,msb=h197,tla=h84,amj=h640,ens=h1,mis=h633}}</ref>, and, on the whole, far more similar in shape to discs or extremely-oblate spheroids (sphere-like shapes with flattened poles) than they are to spheres or the Earth.
+An ostrich egg is a prolate spheroid (a sphere-like shape with pointed poles) like most eggs. This is fundamentally different to the shape of the Earth, which is a very slightly oblate spheroid (a sphere-like shape with flattened poles). The Earth is 0.3% wider at its equator than it is tall between its poles.<ref>{{Citation|title=Shape and Size of the Earth|publisher=University of Hawaii Center for Aerospace Education|publication-date=2010|author=Joseph Ciotti|url=http://aerospace.wcc.hawaii.edu/Curriculum_Voyagers/shape.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031005204/http://aerospace.wcc.hawaii.edu/Curriculum_Voyagers/shape.html}}</ref> This is not merely a matter of perspective or orientation. An oblate spreroid cannot be made prolate simply by rotating it.
-On the other hand, an ostrich egg, being a prolate spheroid (a sphere-like shape with pointed poles) like most eggs, is also unlike the shape of the Earth, which is only very slightly oblate (the Earth is just 0.3% wider than it is tall).<ref>{{Citation|title=Shape and Size of the Earth|publisher=University of Hawaii Center for Aerospace Education|publication-date=2010|author=Joseph Ciotti|url=http://aerospace.wcc.hawaii.edu/Curriculum_Voyagers/shape.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031005204/http://aerospace.wcc.hawaii.edu/Curriculum_Voyagers/shape.html}}</ref>
+The shape of the ''madaahi'', whether in the form of a stone or some other object, is said to be like a "small round cake of bread" or a "قرصة".<ref name=":0" /> Such cakes of bread are defined as being "very small", "of a round, flattened form", like the apparent "disk of the sun"<ref>{{Citation|title=Lane's Lexicon|page=2572|chapter=قرض|url=http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=h898,ll=2609,ls=h8,la=h3587,sg=h848,ha=h610,br=h777,pr=h126,aan=h519,mgf=h722,vi=h296,kz=h2114,mr=h532,mn=h1107,uqw=h1300,umr=h875,ums=h734,umj=h652,ulq=h1407,uqa=h345,uqq=h305,bdw=h711,amr=h517,asb=h787,auh=h1286,dhq=h452,mht=h732,msb=h197,tla=h84,amj=h640,ens=h1,mis=h633}}</ref>, and, on the whole, far more similar in shape to discs or extremely-oblate spheroids than they are to the only very slightly oblate Earth.
 ===The Earth is flat, but only from a human perspective===
@@ Line 562: / Line 576: @@
 At least one senior member of the ulema reproved Bin Baz for his embarrassing assertion, which radicals had seized on to satirize the Wahhabi establishment as “members of the Flat Earth Society.” But the sheikh was unrepentant. If Muslims chose to believe the world was round, that was their business, he said, and he would not quarrel with them religiously. But he was inclined to trust what he felt beneath his feet rather than the statements of scientists he did not know: he would go on believing the earth to be flat until he was presented with convincing evidence to the contrary.}}</ref> and, in a fatwa still hosted on his website, asserts that there is no convincing evidence that the sun is larger than the Earth<ref>{{Citation|publisher=Bin Baz official website|author=Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz|title=مدى صحة قول من قال: بأن الشمس أكبر من الأرض|trans_title=How true is the saying: the sun is larger than the Earth?|url=https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/1770/%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%89-%D8%B5%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D9%82%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B6|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214031427/https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/1770/%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%89-%D8%B5%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D9%82%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B6}}{{Quote||وأما دعوى بعض الفلكيين أن الشمس أكبر من السماوات وأكبر من الأرض إلى غير هذا فهي دعوى مجردة لا نعلم صحتها ولا نعلم دليلاً عليها فهي آية عظيمة، أما القول بأنها أكبر من السماوات والأرض فهذا شيء يحتاج إلى دليل، هذه مجرد دعوى كما يقول العلماء، هذه مجرد دعاوى ليس عليها دليل واضح فيما نعلم.<br>'''Translation:''' As for the claim of some astronomers that the sun is greater than the heavens and greater than the earth to other than this, it is an abstract claim that we do not know its validity and we do not know of evidence for, it is a great sign. Just claims that do not have clear evidence for as far as we know.}}</ref>. Despite the anti-modern nature of views he once held and even, in some cases, apparently held until his passing in 1999, Ibn Baz eventually revised his literal reading of the verses describing the creation and nature of the Earth. Such changes in readings of scripture are characteristic of a large subset of Islamic scholars.
-This modern reinterpretation of Qur'anic cosmology significantly aligns with modern science and historiography insofar as it understands the intent of the Qur'an to be based on the worldview of the 7th-century Arabian city where it is said to have been produced - that is, as far as Muhammad and his companions were concerned and could tell, the world was indeed flat, and this is the same perspective assumed by the Qur'an. The Qur'an and its first audience did not know the Earth was spherical and did not say as much. This reading of the Qur'an also benefits from not relying on faulty linguistic, historic, and geometric ideas. This view is the most common amongst educated Muslims today and is likely to predominate going forward.
+This modern reinterpretation of Qur'anic cosmology significantly aligns with modern science and historiography insofar as it understands the intent of the Qur'an to be based on the worldview of the 7th-century Arabian city where it is said to have been produced - that is, as far as Muhammad and his companions were concerned and could tell, the world was indeed flat, and this is the same perspective assumed by the Qur'an. The Qur'an and its first audience did not know the Earth was spherical and did not say as much. This reading of the Qur'an also benefits from not relying on faulty linguistic, historic, and geometric ideas in order to force fit a round earth reading into the verses. This view is the most common amongst educated Muslims today and is likely to predominate going forward.
+On the other hand, critics, in line with academic scholars such as those quoted earlier in this article, argue that the context of most of the relevant verses is expressly the creation of the heavens and the earth and that these are therefore statements about the earth as a whole, even if the main purpose of the verses are to remind the audience how Allah has thereby made the earth traversible and hospitable to humans.
 ==See Also==