400
edits
Geocentrism and the Quran: Difference between revisions
→Classical Commentators: I have added some geocentric classical exegesis citations - I will continue to add to the others.
| [checked revision] | [pending revision] |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
(→Classical Commentators: I have added some geocentric classical exegesis citations - I will continue to add to the others.) |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 48: | Line 48: | ||
====No mention of Earth's orbit==== | ====No mention of Earth's orbit==== | ||
Critics often point out that while, according to the Quran, the stars have certain fixed "settings" (''mawaqi'', {{Quran|56|75}}); and while the day, night, sun and moon are mentioned as all floating in a falak; and while the sun and moon are often mentioned as running their courses, there is never any indication whatsoever that the Earth itself runs any kind of course or orbit. | Critics often point out that while, according to the Quran, the stars have certain fixed "settings" (''mawaqi'', {{Quran|56|75}}) (also not scientifically correct as they are constantly orbiting e.g. black holes and other stars - they just appear that way from Earth as they are so far away)<ref>''[https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/10/16/why-are-all-the-stars-fixed-in-space/ Why are all the stars fixed in space?]''. Science Questions with Surprising Answers. West Texas A& University Website. Dr Christopher S. Baird. Physics professor at West Texas A&M University. 2013. </ref>; and while the day, night, sun and moon are mentioned as all floating in a falak; and while the sun and moon are often mentioned as running their courses, there is never any indication whatsoever that the Earth itself runs any kind of course or orbit. | ||
Some suggest that the word "all" ([https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=kll kullun]) in Q. 21:33 and Q. 36:40 quoted above refers to all heavenly bodies, which would implicitly include the earth. Critics point out that the verses themselves already explicitly state what "all" refers to - they name the sun, moon, night, and day, all of which are described as mobile entities in other verses. | Some suggest that the word "all" ([https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=kll kullun]) in Q. 21:33 and Q. 36:40 quoted above refers to all heavenly bodies, which would implicitly include the earth. Critics point out that the verses themselves already explicitly state what "all" refers to - they name the sun, moon, night, and day, all of which are described as mobile entities in other verses. | ||
| Line 234: | Line 234: | ||
{{Quote|{{Muslim|1|297}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said: Do you know where the Sun goes? They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the Sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out '''from its rising place''' and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything (unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: Rise up and emerge out '''from the place of your setting''', and it will rise from the place of its setting. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.}} | {{Quote|{{Muslim|1|297}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said: Do you know where the Sun goes? They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the Sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out '''from its rising place''' and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything (unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: Rise up and emerge out '''from the place of your setting''', and it will rise from the place of its setting. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.}} | ||
Similar versions of this hadith are found in Sahih Bukhari and elsewhere in Sahih Muslim. In another hadith Muhammad recorded telling the story of an earlier prophet who asked the sun to stop moving, whereafter the sun complied with his request. This hadith is based on the story of Joshua found in the Bible and is also found in Sahih Muslim: | Similar versions of this hadith are found in Sahih Bukhari and elsewhere in Sahih Muslim. In another hadith Muhammad recorded telling the story of an earlier prophet who asked the sun to stop moving, whereafter the sun complied with his request. This hadith is based on the story of Joshua found in the Bible and is also found in Sahih Muslim<ref>{{Muslim|19|4327}}</ref>: | ||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|353}}|…So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the ‘Asr prayer, he said to the sun, ‘'''O sun!''' You are under Allah’s Order and I am under Allah’s Order O Allah! '''Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.’''' It was stopped till Allah made him victorious…}} | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|353}}|…So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the ‘Asr prayer, he said to the sun, ‘'''O sun!''' You are under Allah’s Order and I am under Allah’s Order O Allah! '''Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.’''' It was stopped till Allah made him victorious…}} | ||
These Hadiths are all deemed '[[sahih]]' (authentic) according to Islamic scholars. According to historians, however, even if these hadiths are not historically reliable, they nonetheless indicate what very early Muslim authorities believed about the sun and are thus useful in interpreting the intended meaning of the Qur'an. | These Hadiths are all deemed '[[sahih]]' (authentic) according to Islamic scholars. According to historians, however, even if these hadiths are not historically reliable, they nonetheless indicate what very early Muslim authorities believed about the sun and are thus useful in interpreting the intended meaning of the Qur'an. | ||
==== Classical Commentators ==== | |||
It is also notable that no major classical Islamic scholar came up with a heliocentric reading based of the language of the Quran (nor an understanding of our universe close to what we know it is today), as can be seen in their writings, particularly their tafsirs/Quranic commentaries. This includes from the most well-known and influential scholars of all time including al-Tabari,<ref>Commentary from al-Tabari (d. 310 AH) on e.g.: | |||
[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=86&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Verse 18:86:] ''The Almighty says: { Even if he reached } Dhul-Qarnayn { sunset and found it setting in a hot eye }, readers differed in reading that, so some readers of Medina and Basra read it: { in a hot spring } meaning: it sets in a spring of water with sludge, and read by a group of readers of the city, and the general readers of Kufa: «in the eye of Hamia» means that it sets in the spring of hot water..''</ref> al-Razi,<ref>For example, the famous tafsir '''al-Tafsir al-Kabir'' ' of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209) (often referred to as Al-Razi), he explains on his ''[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=7&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&Page=22&Size=1&LanguageId=1 commentary on Verse 7:54]'', that the sun has two types of movements; one in a day, and one in a year. </ref> al-Qurtubi, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Kathir,<ref>Commentary of Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), for example: | |||
[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/91.1 Verse 91.2]'':'' ''(By the moon as it Talaha.) Mujahid said, "It follows it (the sun).<nowiki>''</nowiki> Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said..'' | |||
[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/36.37 Verse: 36:37] ''(The first view) is that it refers to its fixed course of location, which is beneath the Throne, beyond the earth in that direction. Wherever it goes, it is beneath the Throne [...] When the sun is at its zenith at noon, it is in its closest position to Throne, and when it runs in its fourth orbit at the opposite point to its zenith, at midnight, it is in its furthest position from the Throne. At that point it prostrates and asks for permission to rise...'' | |||
[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/21.30 Verse 21:33]: ...''adorned it with heavenly bodies both stationary and moving by night and day, such as the sun which completes its circuit in one day and night, until it completes its allotted time..''</ref> Ibn Taymiyyah, Al Jalalayn,<ref>Commentary of Al-Jalalayn (Jalal ad-Din al-Maḥalli (d. 1460) and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505)) on e.g.: | |||
[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/91.2 Verse 91:2] ''and [by] the moon when it follows her, rising after she has set'' | |||
[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/21.33 Verse 21:33] ''And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, [...] in an orbit, a circular [one] like a mill in the sky, swimming, moving with speed, like a swimmer in water..''</ref> al-Qummi (a prominent Shia scholar), Al-Baghawi and al-Zamakhshari. | |||
===Ancient and modern Muslim astronomers=== | ===Ancient and modern Muslim astronomers=== | ||