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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)
Revision as of 03:12, 16 June 2022
, 16 June 2022→39:5 - night and day wrapped over each other
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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. | 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 | 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 further 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")=== | ||