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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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'''[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out]''' and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].}} | '''[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out]''' and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].}} | ||
فِرَٰشًا = firashan = a thing that is spread upon the ground, a thing that is spread for one to sit or lie upon.<ref>فِرَٰشًا firashan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000155.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2371</ref> | فِرَٰشًا = firashan = a thing that is spread upon the ground, a thing that is spread for one to sit or lie upon.<ref>فِرَٰشًا firashan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000155.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2371</ref> | ||
===Qur'an 13:3 - ''madad'' ("extend", "stretch out")=== | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|13|3}}| '''وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى مَدَّ ٱلْأَرْضَ''' وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَٰسِىَ وَأَنْهَٰرًا ۖ وَمِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ ٱثْنَيْنِ ۖ يُغْشِى ٱلَّيْلَ ٱلنَّهَارَ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَءَايَٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ''' | |||
Wahuwa allathee madda alarda wajaAAala feeha rawasiya waanharan wamin kulli alththamarati jaAAala feeha zawjayni ithnayni yughshee allayla alnnahara inna fee thalika laayatin liqawmin yatafakkaroona | |||
'''And it is He who spread the earth''' and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.}} | |||
مَدَدْ = madad (madda) = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref name="LanesLexiconMadda">مد madda (مدد) - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000223.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2695</ref> | |||
===Qur'an 15:19 - ''madad'' ("extend", "stretch out")=== | ===Qur'an 15:19 - ''madad'' ("extend", "stretch out")=== | ||
{{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. | {{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''' | '''والارض مددناها''' والقينا فيها رواسي وانبتنا فيها من كل شئ موزون''' | ||
Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatnafeeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin | Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatnafeeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin | ||
'''And the earth - We have spread it''' and cast therein firmly set mountains and caused to grow therein [something] of every well-balanced thing.}} | '''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 | مَدَدْ = madad = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref name="LanesLexiconMadda" /> | ||
===Qur'an 20:53 - ''mahdan'' ("bed")=== | ===Qur'an 20:53 - ''mahdan'' ("bed")=== | ||
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'''And the earth - We spread it out''' and cast therein firmly set mountains and made grow therein [something] of every beautiful kind,}} | '''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 | مَدَدْ = madad = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref name="LanesLexiconMadda" /> | ||
===Qur'an 51:48 - ''farasha'' ("spread out") and ''mahidoon'' ("spreaders")=== | ===Qur'an 51:48 - ''farasha'' ("spread out") and ''mahidoon'' ("spreaders")=== | ||
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While a non-literal reading of the passage helps to escape these implications, it remains the case that the author of the verse could have used alternative wording to clarify that persons are not literally required to "turn their face" toward Mecca, suggesting that they held the Earth to be flat. | While a non-literal reading of the passage helps to escape these implications, it remains the case that the author of the verse could have used alternative wording to clarify that persons are not literally required to "turn their face" toward Mecca, suggesting that they held the Earth to be flat. | ||
===Qur'an 18:47 - when the | ===Qur'an 18:47 - when the mountains are removed, the entire Earth will be apparent=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|47}}| وَيَوْمَ نُسَيِّرُ ٱلْجِبَالَ وَتَرَى ٱلْأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً وَحَشَرْنَٰهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدًا | {{Quote|{{Quran|18|47}}| وَيَوْمَ نُسَيِّرُ ٱلْجِبَالَ وَتَرَى ٱلْأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً وَحَشَرْنَٰهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدًا | ||
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Wayawma nusayyiru aljibala watara al-arda barizatan wahasharnahum falam nughadir minhum ahadan | Wayawma nusayyiru aljibala watara al-arda barizatan wahasharnahum falam nughadir minhum ahadan | ||
And | And [warn of] the Day when We will remove the mountains and you will see the earth prominent, and We will gather them and not leave behind from them anyone.}} | ||
بَارِزَةً = baarizatan = Wholey, or entirely, apparent or manifest, Land that is open, apparent, or uncovered, upon which is no mountain or any other thing.<ref>بَارِزَةً baarizatan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000224.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 187</ref> | بَارِزَةً = baarizatan = Wholey, or entirely, apparent or manifest, Land that is open, apparent, or uncovered, upon which is no mountain or any other thing.<ref>بَارِزَةً baarizatan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000224.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 187</ref> | ||
Also in accord with this picture are {{Quran|31|10}} and similar verses which state that mountains were cast upon the earth to prevent it from shaking and {{Quran-range|78|6|7}} (quoted above) in which Allah spread out the earth and made the mountains as pegs. | |||
===Qur'an 20:105-107 - when the mountains are scattered, the Earth is a level plain=== | ===Qur'an 20:105-107 - when the mountains are scattered, the Earth is a level plain=== | ||
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أَمْتًا = amtan = curvity, crookedness, distortion, or uneveness; ruggedness and smoothness in different places; depression and elevation; small hills and hollows.<ref>أَمْتًا amtan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000132.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 95</ref> | أَمْتًا = amtan = curvity, crookedness, distortion, or uneveness; ruggedness and smoothness in different places; depression and elevation; small hills and hollows.<ref>أَمْتًا amtan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000132.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 95</ref> | ||
Whereas "AAiwajan" and "amtan " may refer to individual portions of land being flat, "qaAAan safsafan" appears to characterize the Earth as a whole as a "level, barren plain" | Whereas "AAiwajan" and "amtan " may refer to individual portions of land being flat, "qaAAan safsafan" appears to characterize the Earth as a whole as a "level, barren plain". | ||
===Qur'an 66:14 - | ===Qur'an 66:14 - the Earth and mountains will be lifted=== | ||
In a verse about the last day, the {{Quran|69|14}} states that the earth and mountains will be lifted and crushed. The context makes clear that this is a statement concerning the earth as a whole. Such imagery is fully in line with a flat earth worldview, but harder to reconcile with a spherical surface. | In a verse about the last day, the {{Quran|69|14}} states that the earth and mountains will be lifted and crushed. The context makes clear that this is a statement concerning the earth as a whole. Such imagery is fully in line with a flat earth worldview, but harder to reconcile with a spherical surface. | ||
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The verb used to say the earth and mountains "are lifted" is ḥumilati ٱلْجِبَالُ which is used in the sense of taking up or carrying a load.<ref>hamala حمل - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000282.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 646</ref> | The verb used to say the earth and mountains "are lifted" is ḥumilati ٱلْجِبَالُ which is used in the sense of taking up or carrying a load.<ref>hamala حمل - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000282.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 646</ref> | ||
===Qur'an 17:37 - you will not tear / pierce the earth=== | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|17|37}}| وَلَا تَمْشِ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ '''إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ ٱلْأَرْضَ''' وَلَن تَبْلُغَ ٱلْجِبَالَ طُولًا | |||
Wala tamshi fee alardi marahan innaka lan takhriqa alarda walan tablugha aljibala tool | |||
And do not walk upon the earth exultantly. '''Indeed, you will never tear the earth [apart]''', and you will never reach the mountains in height.}} | |||
The verb translated "tear" is kharaqa, which meant to make a hole in, perforate, pierce, or bore through something or to tear or rent such as a cloth, and appears also in {{Quran|18|71}} when Allah's servant makes a hole in a ship.<ref>kharaqa خرق [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000363.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 737</ref> The verse seems to imply that the earth has the kind of predominantly two dimensional shape to which this verb is often applicable, even if humans lack the power to do so. | |||
===Qur'an 55:17 - the two easts and two wests=== | ===Qur'an 55:17 - the two easts and two wests=== | ||
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Grade: Sahih (Darussalam)}} | Grade: Sahih (Darussalam)}} | ||
====39:5 - night and day | ====39:5 - night and day wrapped over each other==== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|5}}| خلق السماوات والارض بالحق يكور الليل على النهار ويكور النهار على الليل وسخر الشمس والقمر كل يجري لاجل مسمى الا هو العزيز الغفار | {{Quote|{{Quran|39|5}}| خلق السماوات والارض بالحق يكور الليل على النهار ويكور النهار على الليل وسخر الشمس والقمر كل يجري لاجل مسمى الا هو العزيز الغفار | ||
Khalaqa alssamawati waal-arda bialhaqqi yukawwiru allayla AAala alnnahari wayukawwiru alnnahara AAala allayli wasakhkhara alshshamsa waalqamara kullun yajree li-ajalin musamman ala huwa alAAazeezu alghaffaru | Khalaqa alssamawati waal-arda bialhaqqi yukawwiru allayla AAala alnnahari wayukawwiru alnnahara AAala allayli wasakhkhara alshshamsa waalqamara kullun yajree li-ajalin musamman ala huwa alAAazeezu alghaffaru | ||
He created the heavens and | He created the heavens and earth in truth. He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. Unquestionably, He is the Exalted in Might, the Perpetual Forgiver.}} | ||
In the very similar verse 39:5 the word يُكَوِّرُ yukawwiru (he overlaps / winds around<ref>كور kawara - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000165.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2637</ref>) is used. The verb كور was used for, among other things, wrapping a turban around a head. Today, it is also sometimes argued that this wrapping connotation of the word comports with a spherical conception of the Earth. | |||
While the words used in 39:5 and 21:33 do not violate a spherical model of the Earth, they are also equally comfortable with a flat model of the Earth. Since all positive evidence in the Islamic scriptures demonstrates that the earliest Muslims though the Earth to be flat, and since these two verses do not contradict that worldview, the simplest explanation of these verses is to relate them to {{Quran|21|33}} and {{Quran|36|40}} which describe the motions of the night, day, sun and moon in a "falak", now popularly translated as "orbit", but meaning a circuitous path, celestial sphere or, more likely, a hemisphere (see [[Geocentrism and the Quran]]). Also relevant are {{Quran|7|54}} where Allah "covers" the night with the day (or possibly vice versa) and {{Quran|36|37}} where Allah strips the day from the night. | |||
Verse 39:5 specifically describes Allah overlapping (or wrapping) the night and the day over each other, with no mention of the Earth, its shape or its rotation. In any case, these two verses are largely irrelevant to the question of the Earth's shape, as it is possible for one to "wrap around" and "orbit" an object of any shape, whether it be flat or spherical. For futher discussion, see [[Geocentrism and the Quran#Quran_39:5|Geocentrism and the Quran]]. | |||
===Qur'an 79:30 - ''daha'' ("spread out", said to mean "ostrich egg")=== | ===Qur'an 79:30 - ''daha'' ("spread out", said to mean "ostrich egg")=== | ||