WikiIslam:Sandbox/S-shaped Orbit of the Moon
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Muslims claim that the Quran predicted the mooon's S-shaped orbit around the sun correctly.
Yusuf Ali: And the Moon,- We have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. Pickthall: And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf.
Shakir: And (as for) the moon, We have ordained for it stages till it becomes again as an old dry palm branch.The moon orbits the Earth which in turn orbits the Sun. The orbital speed of the moon is 1.022 km/sec and that of the Earth is 29.78 km/sec. So the Moon does not trace loops; it traces a wavy orbit around the sun. The claimed miracle is that a palm twig is also wavy and nobody in the seventh century was aware of shape of the moons orbit around the sun, hence the revelation is divine.
But most claimants mistranslate the word "she" to "it." The verse is talking about what happens to the moon and two of the most common translations also say mansions but there is no reference to the Moon's orbit at all.