WikiIslam:Sandbox/EDIT THIS PART: Difference between revisions

=== Vs the science ===

As mentioned in the introduction, while stars are giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth, meteors are now known to be distinct from the distant stars, being small rocky masses or grains of debris which burn up after entering the earth's atmosphere. They are often not much larger than grains of sand and only become visible for a second when they burn up, generating light in the Earth's atmosphere. Many ancient people confused the two, as meteors look like stars that are streaking across the sky; this is why they were often called shooting stars or falling stars.

If the flaming missiles mentioned by the Quran are to be identified with meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere, this would locate the eavesdropping devils (or jinn) in the upper atmosphere too, which leaves no way for the (extremely distant) stars to serve as guards in this process as outlined in the verses.  

Meteors are caused by asteroids and comet 'dust' (see final section for full explanation) not stars.  

=== Meteors come from stars ===

Some apologist, for example, the highly influential [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abul_A'la_Maududi Ala-Maududi] (d. 1979 AD) writing in light of much more modern science in his modern tasfir wrote:{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://myislam.org/surah-al-mulk/ayat-5/#:~:text=Ala%2DMaududi,9. | title= Tasfir Ala-Maududi 67.5}}|This does not mean that the stars themselves are pelted at the Satans, nor that the meteorites shoot out only to drive away the Satans, <b>but it means that the countless meteorites which originate from the stars and wander in space at tremendous speeds and which also fall to the earth in a continuous shower prevent the Satans of the earth from ascending to the heavens.</b> Even if they try to ascend heavenward these meteorites drive them away. This thing has been mentioned here because the Arabs believed about the soothsayers, and this also was the claim made by the soothsayers themselves, that the Satans were under their control, or that they had a close contact with them, and through them they received news of the unseen, and thus, could foretell the destinies of the people. That is why at several places in the Quran, it has been stated that there is absolutely no possibility for the Satans ascending to the heavens and bringing news of the unseen. For explanation, see (Surah Al-Hijr, ayat 16-18) note 9-12, (Surah As-Saaffat, ayat 7-10) note 6,7. As for the truth about meteorites, man’s information in this regard is still without a scientific basis. However, the theory which seems best to account for all the facts known today and the information gathered from the examination of the meteorites fallen on the earth, is that meteorites originate from the disintegration of one or more planets and wander in space and sometimes fall to the earth under its gravitational pull. (See Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. XV, under Meteorites).}}

The claim appears to be that stars create heavier elements<ref>[https://new.nsf.gov/science-matters/stars-within-us#:~:text=Creation%20of%20heavier%20elements%20requires,such%20as%20carbon%20and%20iron. https://new.nsf.gov/science-matters/stars-within-us#:~:text=Creation%20of%20heavier%20elements%20requires,such%20as%20carbon%20and%20iron.]</ref> which eventually go on to become the sources of debris which can become meteors.  

However, there are objections to this interpretation.

=== Cosmic rays ===

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abul_A'la_Maududi Ala-Maududi] (d. 1979 AD) also wrote:{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://myislam.org/surah-al-hijr/ayat-18/ | title= Tasfir Ala-Maududi 15.18}}|In Arabic the word shihab-i-mubin literally means a fiery flame. In Surah (Surah As-Saffat, Ayat 10), the same thing has been called shihab-i-thaqib (flame that pierces through darkness). This may or may not necessarily be a meteor for it is just possible that it may be some type of rays such as cosmic rays or even a stronger type which we have not been able to discover as yet. Anyhow, if the fiery flame that pursues Satans may be taken to be a meteor, a countless number of these can form a fortification around our sphere of the universe. Scientific observations made with the help of the telescope have shown that billions of these meteors are rushing from space in a mass of rainfall. towards the earth’s atmosphere. Such a scene was witnessed in an eastern pan of North America on November 13, 1833. This is so strong a fortification that it can prevent Satans from passing through any fortified sphere.}}''Note the meteor shower being referred to here Leonid Meteor Storm, where fragments of ice, rock, and dust left behind by the Comet Tempel-Tuttle. About every 33 years, the Leonid meteor shower intensifies, increasing the possibility of a dazzling display of lights.<ref>https://blog.newspapers.com/november-12-13-1833-the-night-the-stars-fell/</ref> This comes from a predictable pattern of material left behind by the comet entering earths atmosphere and burning up,<ref>https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/leonid-meteor-shower-when-and-where-see-it-uk</ref> they do not actually form a flame in space which is impossible due to there being no oxygen.<ref>https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24733000-900-lighting-fires-in-space-is-helping-us-make-greener-energy-on-earth/#:~:text=Fires%20can't%20start%20in,in%20strange%20and%20beautiful%20ways</ref>''

Two alternative interpretations popular in modern times are that the Quran is referring to coronal mass ejections (large eruptions of charged matter from the sun or other stars), or cosmic rays (high energy, sub-atomic particles travelling through interstellar space). However, coronal mass ejections move slowly in cosmic terms, disperse over distance and do not come from surprise directions (Quran 37:8 states that the devils are pelted from every side, and pursued by a piercing flame if they escape with anything they overheard). Cosmic rays do not emit light as they travel through space and therefore nor could these be the flaming missiles of fire and smoke in the Quran.

== Conclusion ==

The Quran and subsequent Islamic literature shows it confirming local folklore around stars being the same thing as shooting stars, and that one of their functions is to be used as missiles to keep spying evil [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Jinn jinn] away from angel meetings, just how they were understood in their historical context. Modern times have meant apologists have come up with explanations often not included in the text, or that are themselves based on faulty science (such as cosmic rays).

On a separate note, though stars are described as an ornament or beauty for the sky in [https://quranx.com/37.6 Quran 37:6], and [https://quranx.com/67.5 Quran 67:5], there are an estimated minimum c.100 septillion stars in the known universe, but only a few thousand are actually visible to the naked eye.

=== Further Science and the argument of meteors ===

'''Meteors, meteorites and asteroids:'''

Similar to asteroids in the asteroid belt, the source of comets are from extremely distant sections of the solar system, the Kuiper belt (beyond Neptune) being the closest source, and the Oorb field far beyond Pluto (which is itself only theorised).   

The inner edge of the Kuiper Belt begins at the orbit of Neptune and a distance of around 2.8 billion miles (4.8 billion kilometers) from the sun, with its main concentration of bodies ending at around 4.6 billion miles (7.4 billion km) from the star. It's thickness is approximately ~930 million miles (~1.5 billion kilometers / (10AU)).<ref>[https://www.e-education.psu.edu/astro801/content/l11_p8.html#:~:text=The%20Kuiper%20Belt%20is%20a,Belt%20is%20approximately%2010%20AU. https://www.e-education.psu.edu/astro801/content/l11_p8.html#:~:text=The%20Kuiper%20Belt%20is%20a,Belt%20is%20approximately%2010%20AU.]</ref> The Kuiper Belt is far larger than the main asteroid belt, up to 20 times as wide and 20 to 100 times it's mass according to Nine Planets. In fact, astronomers estimate there are hundreds of thousands of objects in the region that are larger than 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide or larger, and potentially trillions overall, however, the total mass of all the material in the Kuiper Belt is estimated to be no more than about 10% of the mass of Earth.<ref>https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/overview/</ref>  Occasionally, one will break of from this orbit and reach the inner solar system, though for one to come anywhere near Earth is rare,<ref>https://www.space.com/comets.html</ref><ref>https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/7721/how-near-to-earth-do-comets-pass</ref> and for two that also happen to be appropriately sized, to be near enough to be used as objects is near impossible, ''making them extremely sparse for use as weapons to pelt jinn from every side from.''

To burn up in the atmosphere to create an actual flame would require them being thrown insanely large distances of usually hundreds of millions of miles to finally create a flame near Earth, other than an unbelievably rare instance of close planet encounters.

<nowiki>https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/in-depth/#:~:text=Small%20comet%20fragments%20generally%20won,been%20traced%20to%20them%20definitively</nowiki>.

Comets main meteors are caused by the earth rotating through the dust left behind

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