Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One: Difference between revisions

Dr Zakir Naik, a prominent Muslim public speaker, claims that “balagha maghriba alshshamsi” means “he reached at the time of sunset”<ref>lnvestigatelslam - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dad389i4c Scientific Error in Quran SUN SETTING IN MURKY WATER!!?] - YouTube</ref>, and another interpretation appears in Osama Abdallah’s article on the www.answering-christianity.com website, that it means “he reached the time of sunset”.<ref name="Answering Christianity">[http://www.answering-christianity.com/sunrise_sunset.htm Did the Noble Quran really say that the sun sets and rises on earth?] - Answering Christianity</ref> In support of the time interpretation is the fact that both maghrib and matliAA can be used as an ism zaman (a noun to indicate the time that a verb happens). Maghrib is not used as an ism zaman anywhere in the Qur’an, but outside the Qur’an, al maghrib is the name given to the prayer that takes place at the time of sunset (one of the 5 daily prayers for Muslims). The phrase maghriba alshshamsi is also used to mean the time of sunset in two hadith, each with two versions (maghrib has an “-i” suffix here as it follows a preposition):