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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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'''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 name="LanesLexiconMadda" /> | مَدَدْ = madad = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref name="LanesLexiconMadda" /> | ||
See also [[The_Quran_and_Mountains#Casting_mountains_into_the_earth|Mountains cast into the Earth]] regarding the wording about mountains here and in a few similar verses. | |||
===Qur'an 20:53 - ''mahdan'' ("bed")=== | ===Qur'an 20:53 - ''mahdan'' ("bed")=== | ||
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A hadith in Tirmidhi uses the word ''bisaatan'' to describe the spreading or rolling out of a mat: | A hadith in Tirmidhi uses the word ''bisaatan'' to describe the spreading or rolling out of a mat: | ||
{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi||4|34|2369}}|...Then he came to hug the Prophet (s.a.w) and uttered that his father and mother should be ransomed for him. Then he went to grove of his '''and he spread out a mat for them''' | {{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi||4|34|2369}}|...Then he came to hug the Prophet (s.a.w) and uttered that his father and mother should be ransomed for him. Then he went to grove of his '''and he spread out a mat for them''' [فَبَسَطَ لَهُمْ بِسَاطًا, ''fa-basata la-hum bisaatan'', literally "and-(he)spread for-them a-mat"]. Then he went to a date-palm and returned with a cluster of dates which he put down....}} | ||
===Qur'an 78:6-7 - ''mihadan'' ("bed")=== | ===Qur'an 78:6-7 - ''mihadan'' ("bed")=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|78|6|7}}|أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِهَٰدًا وَٱلْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|78|6|7}}|أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِهَٰدًا وَٱلْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا | ||
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'''He spread it out''' and when He saw that it was settled upon the waters, He fixed the mountains upon it}} | '''He spread it out''' and when He saw that it was settled upon the waters, He fixed the mountains upon it}} | ||
Similar language is found in the Bible. See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2042%3A5&version=NIV Isaiah 42:5] and particularly [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20136%3A6&version=NIV Psalms 136:6]. | |||
For further discussion of this word and of modern claims attempting to associate it with the shape of eggs, see the [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Qur.27an_79:30_-_daha_.28.22spread_out.22.2C_said_to_mean_.22ostrich_egg.22.29|dedicated section below]]. | For further discussion of this word and of modern claims attempting to associate it with the shape of eggs, see the [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Qur.27an_79:30_-_daha_.28.22spread_out.22.2C_said_to_mean_.22ostrich_egg.22.29|dedicated section below]]. | ||
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In the tafsir Al-Jalalayn (from the 15th century) the word ''sutihat'' is used to explain that the Earth is flat. The author of this section, al-Mahalli (d. 1460), maintains that the flat-earth is the opinion of the scholars of the revealed law. | In the tafsir Al-Jalalayn (from the 15th century) the word ''sutihat'' is used to explain that the Earth is flat. The author of this section, al-Mahalli (d. 1460), maintains that the flat-earth is the opinion of the scholars of the revealed law. | ||
{{Quote|[https:// | {{Quote|1=[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=88&tAyahNo=20&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Tafsir al-Jalalayn 88:20] (See [https://tafsir.app/jalalayn/88/20 here] for the Arabic)|2=And the earth how it was laid out flat? and thus infer from this the power of God exalted be He and His Oneness? The commencing with the mention of camels is because they are closer in contact with it the earth than any other animal. '''As for His words sutihat ‘laid out flat’ this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat which is the opinion of''' most [the word "most" is not included in the original Arabic: "وعليه علماء الشرع"; see citation for full text] '''of the scholars of the revealed Law and not a sphere as astronomers ahl al-hay’a have it''' even if this latter does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law. | ||
}} | }} | ||
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Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith Fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth). }} | Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith Fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth). }} | ||
The word translated as canopy is binaa or binaan ( بِنَاء ). This word means | The word translated as canopy is binaa or binaan ( بِنَاء ). This word means building, structure, edifice or tent.<ref>بِنَاء binaa - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000298.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 261</ref> In his tafsir for another verse, {{Quran|2|29}}, Ibn Kathir uses the same word for his analogy of the earth and seven heavens as a multi-story building. | ||
{{quote || These Ayat indicate that Allah started creation by creating earth, then He made heaven into seven heavens. This is how building usually starts, with the lower floors first and then the top floors, <ref>[http://tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=2&tid=1494 Tafsir | {{quote |1=[http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Al-Baqara/The-Beginning-of-the-Creation Tafsir of Ibn Kathir for 2:29] (See [https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/2/29 here] for the Arabic)|2=These Ayat indicate that Allah started creation by creating earth, then He made heaven into seven heavens. This is how building usually starts, with the lower floors first and then the top floors, <ref>[http://tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=2&tid=1494 Tafsir of Ibn Kathir]</ref> }} | ||
==Flat Earth in the hadiths== | ==Flat Earth in the hadiths== | ||
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Ibn Kathir in his tafsir for {{Quran|13|2}} has more narrations of the sahabah and [[Salaf al-Salih (Pious Predecessors)|tabi'un (2nd generation)]] on this topic: | Ibn Kathir in his tafsir for {{Quran|13|2}} has more narrations of the sahabah and [[Salaf al-Salih (Pious Predecessors)|tabi'un (2nd generation)]] on this topic: | ||
{{Quote|1=[https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/13/2 | {{Quote|1=[http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Ar-Rad/Clarifying-Allahs-Perfect-Abi--- Tafsir ibn Kathir 13:2] (see [https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/13/2 here] for the Arabic)|2=Allah said next, (..without any pillars that you can see.) meaning, `there are pillars, but you cannot see them,' according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and several other scholars. Iyas bin Mu`awiyah said, "The heaven is like a dome over the earth," meaning, without pillars. Similar was reported from Qatadah, and this meaning is better for this part of the Ayah, especially since Allah said in another Ayah, (He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His permission.) 22:65 Therefore, Allah's statement, (..that you can see), affirms that there are no pillars. Rather, the heaven is elevated (above the earth) without pillars, as you see. This meaning best affirms Allah's ability and power.}} | ||
===Seven flat Earths=== | ===Seven flat Earths=== | ||
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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 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. | ||
===Plate tectonics=== | |||
One modern Islamic interpretation for verses which mention the spreading of the earth is that Allah is referring to plate tectonics (formerly known as the theory of continental drift). Critics note numerous flaws with this interpretation. | |||
Descriptions of the earth as a bed (20:53 and the other mahdan verses) or carpet (71:19), or the use of verbs for the spreading of such an item (51:48) or stretching it out (13:3 and other verses which use madad), spreading to make it wide (79:30) and flat (88:20), do not remotely sound anything like the process of plate tectonics. | |||
Moreover, the tectonic plate interpretation is reliant on the "spread" verbs in such verses, divorcing them artificially from the nouns which describe the earth as something which was laid out (like a bed or carpet). Yet these are obviously all part of a connected imagery. | |||
It is further notable that verses such as {{Quran-range|88|17|20}} assume that the 7th century listeners are aware of what is being referred to ("Do they not look..."), which can hardly be plate tectonics. Indeed, the earth appears essentially spread out and flat to a scientifically unaware observer. The Judeo-Christian tradition with which the Quran frequently assumes its listerers are familiar uses similar language (see [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2042%3A5&version=NIV Isaiah 42:5] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20136%3A6&version=NIV Psalms 136:6]). | |||
Perhaps most importantly, the spreading out of a flat earth makes sense as a beneficial act of creation for mankind. But it is far less obvious how the process of plate tectonics compares as the same kind of direct benefit as the creation of tracts, rivers and fruits of the Earth mentioned in the same verses. Finally, all these things are consistently described as creation events using verbs in the past tense in Arabic (not always clear in translations), yet all are ongoing processes to this day. | |||
===The Earth is flat, but only from a human perspective=== | ===The Earth is flat, but only from a human perspective=== | ||