Shooting Stars in the Quran: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://ia802907.us.archive.org/1/items/TheLiteratureOfAncientEgyptKellySimpsonBySamySalah/The%20Literature%20of%20Ancient%20Egypt%20-%20Kelly%20Simpson%20By%20Samy%20Salah.pdf | title=Literature of Ancient Egypt : An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies, and Poetry. William Kelly Simpson, ed., The Literature of Ancient Egypt (Cairo, 2003), p. 51. }}|...Then a star fell.  

Though there are no direct stories of the functions of stars in this way in the bible (or biblical literature), Dr Julien Decharneux notes in his book ''Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background'', which explores the connections between the cosmology of the Qur’ān and various cosmological traditions of Late Antiquity, with a focus on Syriac Christianity,<ref>Julien Decharneux (2023), ''[https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110794083/html Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur’ān and Its Late Antique Background]'', Berlin: De Gruyter.</ref> that there are some general motifs which link to this imagery; such as Talmudic stories of demons listening in to divine councils, and separately fire as weapons from the upper skies. However, there is no direct story for this (yet) found in biblical literature. He notes it is more likely rooted in Iranian mythology:{{Quote|Decharneux, Julien. (2023) Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background (Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East Book 47)  Berlin: De Gruyter. (pp. 316-317).|The image of fallen angels trying to approach the firmament in order to listen to the heavenly council is found in the Talmud. Crone in fact already notes the presence of the motif in the first-century Greek Testament of Solomon. Here however, demons are not chased by fiery missiles, but they themselves look like shooting stars after falling from the sky out of exhaustion. Although a systematic skimming of the sources would probably reveal the presence of the motif of stars chasing demons away from the heavenly council in patristic and Christian apocryphal literature, our sources show that it was still lively in the imagery of the 8th century in the Church of the East. Theodore bar Koni, in his Scolion, discusses the activity of demons:  

{{Quote|Sinai, Nicolai. <i>Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (p. 184).</i> Princeton University Press. <i>Entry for jinn, jinnah coll. {{!}} demons, jinn jānn {{!}} demon, jinni majnūn {{!}} jinn-possessed</i>|2=...according to b. Ḥag. 16a, demons have wings like ministering angels, enabling them to fly from one end of the world to the other, and possess knowledge of the future since they “listen from behind the curtain, like ministering angels.”15 The Qur’an presupposes this idea, but additionally holds that demonic attempts to overhear God’s decrees will always fail, since the divine creator has secured the celestial realm against any unauthorised interlopers by chasing the latter away with shooting stars (HCI 89). <i>This is not to say that the view that shooting stars serve to dispel demons from the upper reaches of heaven is necessarily a Qur’anic creation, for it appears in two lines of poetry attributed to Umayyah ibn Abī l-Ṣalt that fit the rhyme and metre of an extended poem about God’s creation of the heavens and the earth (Schulthess 1911a, no. 25:27–28, corresponding to al-Saṭlī 1974, no. 10:27–28): “And you see devils turning aside, forced to take refuge (tarūghu muḍāfatan), scattered apart when they are driven away (idhā mā tuṭradū). // Upon them are cast (tulqā ʿalayhā) disgrace in heaven and stars (kawākib), by which they are pelted (turmā bihā), causing them to flee (fa-tuʿarridū).”</i>16 Incidentally, the inaccessibility of the seventh heaven is also evoked in another verse of the same poem (Schulthess 1911a, no. 25:15 = al-Saṭlī 1974, no. 10:15), though without explicit reference to the fending off of inquisitive demons.}}

The Qur'an further asserts that Allah has made them (the stars/lamps) missiles to ward away devils (who are believed to be [[jinn]] in Islam), who attempt to listen in on heavenly meetings (known as the Exalted Assembly). The Quranic concept has a close parallel in an earlier [[Pre-Islamic Arab Religion in Islam#Shooting Stars and Eavesdropping Shaytans|Jewish development from Zoroastrian mythology]]. Such myths are best understood as pre-modern attempts to explain the common phenomenon of meteors streaking across the night sky. The relevant verses are below:{{Quote|{{Quran-range|37|6|10}}|Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven [al-samā’a l-dunyā] with an adornment of <b>stars [al-kawākibi],</b> And as protection against every rebellious devil [wa-ḥifẓan min kulli shayṭānin mārida][So] they may not listen to the exalted assembly [of angels] and are pelted from every side, Repelled; and for them is a constant punishment, Except one who snatches [some words] by theft, <b>but they are pursued by a burning flame, piercing [in brightness] [fa-’atbaʿa-hu shihābun thāqibun].</b>}}{{Quote|{{Quran|67|5}}|And we have, (from of old), adorned <b>the lowest heaven [al-samā’a l-dunyā] with lamps [bi-maṣābīḥa], and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones [wa-jaʿalnā-hā rujūman li-l-shayāṭīni]</b>, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|15|16-18}}|<b>It is We Who have set out the zodiacal signs in the heavens [laqad jaʿalnā fī l-samā’i burūjan],</b> and have beautified it for the beholders; And (moreover) We have guarded them from every <b>cursed devil [shayṭānin rajīmin]</b>: But any that gains a hearing by stealth, <b>is pursued by a flaming fire, bright (to see) [fa-’atbaʿa-hu shihābun mubīnun].</b>}}{{Quote|{{Quran|72|8-9}}|And we have sought [to reach] the heaven but found it filled with <b>powerful guards [ḥarasan shadīdan]</b> and <b>burning flames [wa-shuhuban].</b> And we used to sit therein in positions for hearing, but whoever listens now will find a burning flame lying in wait for him. [yajidu la-hu shihāban raṣadan].}}

Meteor showers were of unknown cause to 7th Century Arabs, as the later (than the Quran's writing) historian and geographer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ya%27qubi Al-Ya'qubi] (d 897/8AD) reports several meteor showers that happened just before and during Muhammad's lifetime (In 571 AD and 609 AD), attributing them to shooting stars/planets striking devils, with the multitude of them potentially leading to the idea they are 'pelted from every side'. Further Muslim historians such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_%27Idhari Ibn 'Idhari] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_al-Jawzi Ibn al-Jawzi] confirm this understanding, with a summary of their assessment of meteor showers held in this [https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1992QJRAS..33....5R&db_key=AST&page_ind=6&plate_select=NO&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_GIF&classic=YES Royal Astronomical Society publication.]

We further see this error in early post-Islamic poetry, such as by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhul-Nun_al-Misri Dhu'l-Nun Al-Misri] (d. 859), who was born in Akhmim, upper Egypt was an Egyptian Sufi Master. He was considered the Patron Saint of the Physicians in the early Islamic era of Egypt and is credited with having introduced the concept of Gnosis into Islam.<ref>Smith, Paul . ANTHOLOGY OF CLASSICAL ARABIC POETRY (From Pre-Islamic Times to Ibn ‘Arabi) . New Humanity Books. Kindle Location 4573</ref> In his Qasida '''Hymn of Creation''<nowiki/>', we find:

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 (see: [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-of-shooting-stars/ The Scientific American. The Science of Shooting Stars. 2023. Phil Plait.] for a further explanation of the science for the casual reader).

Large increases in meteors occur on a predictable schedule each year as the Earth's orbit passes through the stream of particles and debris left in the wake of a number of comets (or in a few cases, of asteroids). They only burn in Earths atmosphere due to friction from travelling extremely fast in a vacuum which takes no energy, to being compressed by air in the atmosphere, rising the temperature and setting fire where there is oxygen.<ref name=":0">Science. How stuff works. ''[https://science.howstuffworks.com/question308.htm Meteors burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Why doesn't the space shuttle?]''</ref><ref>NASA Science. Spaceplace. ''[https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mesosphere/en/ Explore Earth and Space. Mesosphere.]''</ref> The most visible is usually the annual [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids Perseid meteor shower] in August, which easily look like stars with flames being used a weapon in the sky. Meteor showers look like stars 'pelting' from every side.   

Also, stars do not actually 'burn' or cause flame which is caused by chemical burning on Earth needing oxygen.<ref>''[https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24733000-900-lighting-fires-in-space-is-helping-us-make-greener-energy-on-earth/ Lighting fires in space is helping us make greener energy on Earth.]'' New Scientist. 2020. Philip Ball.</ref> Stars create energy via nuclear fusion instead with no flames.  

4. If it meant something like the unknown sources of meteors at the time, it easily could have used another of the many words for objects/things in the heavens rather than those which have a different meaning. Or a generic term such as 'ajrām as-samāwiyya/ الأجرام السماوية' for heavenly bodies, which can be used to cover all things in the sky (and therefore cover the unknown debris), without using words specifically designated to stars.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abul_A'la_Maududi Abul Ala-Maududi] (d. 1979 AD) also wrote:{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://myislam.org/surah-al-hijr/ayat-18/ | title= Tasfir Abul 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). <b>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. </b>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/ November 12-13, 1833: The Night the Stars Fell.] Newspapers.com. 2022. Jenny Ashcraft.''</ref> This comes from a predictable pattern of material left behind by the comet entering earths atmosphere and burning up,<ref>Royal Museums Greenwich. ''[https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/leonid-meteor-shower-when-and-where-see-it-uk When and where to see the Leonid meteor shower.]''</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 Lighting fires in space is helping us make greener energy on Earth.]'' New Scientist. 2020. Philip Ball.</ref>''