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Geocentrism and the Quran: Difference between revisions
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[[ | In several verses the [[Qur'an]] describes the movement of the sun and moon, a few times mentioning that they travel in an orbit or sphere/hemisphere (''fee falakin'' فِى فَلَكٍ<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak">Falak [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf Lane's Lexicon Volume 1 page 2443] and [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf page 2444] Lane also says that the Arab astronomers said there were seven of these spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref>), but does not mention once that the Earth does too. The geocentric (Earth-centered) view was the prevailing understanding of the universe prior to the 16th century when Copernicus helped explain and popularize a sun-centered (heliocentric) view of the universe. In the Qur'an, the sun's orbit is almost always mentioned in the context of night and day ({{Quran|13|12}} being the only exception) and is always mentioned with that of the moon, which does in fact orbit the Earth each month, and appears, to the unaided eye, to traverse the sky each night when it is visible. | ||
== | ==Background== | ||
Geocentrism is the notion that the Earth is the (immovable) center of our universe, thus all celestial bodies move around it. The ancient Greeks and the Europeans of the middle ages thought that the celestial bodies (the sun, the moon and the 5 known planets) all moved in celestial spheres around a spherical Earth. This was the theory of Ptolemy (d. 170 CE), who was followed by [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Greek_and_Indian_astronomical_knowledge|Muslim astronomers from the 9th century CE]], though Islamic texts expressing doubts about his ideas started to appear regularly from the 10th century.<ref>{{citation|last=Hoskin|first=Michael|title=The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-57600-0|date=25 April 2021|page=60}}</ref> Aside from notable exceptions such as | Geocentrism is the notion that the Earth is the (immovable) center of our universe, thus all celestial bodies move around it. The ancient Greeks and the Europeans of the middle ages thought that the celestial bodies (the sun, the moon and the 5 known planets) all moved in celestial spheres around a spherical Earth. This was the theory of Ptolemy (d. 170 CE), who was followed by [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Greek_and_Indian_astronomical_knowledge|Muslim astronomers from the 9th century CE]], though Islamic texts expressing doubts about his ideas started to appear regularly from the 10th century.<ref>{{citation|last=Hoskin|first=Michael|title=The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-57600-0|date=25 April 2021|page=60}}</ref> Aside from notable exceptions such as Aristarchus of Samos, heliocentrism was only advocated by occasional figures with small followings and widely rejected before the work of Copernicus. | ||
Geocentrism is | Geocentrism is different from the idea that the [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth|Earth is flat]]. However, while those who believe in geocentrism do not always hold the Earth to be flat, those who hold the Earth to be flat almost invariably believe in geocentrism. | ||
The Qur'an says that both the sun and the moon swim or float in a circuitous path, celestial sphere or, more likely, a hemisphere (a 'falak' in the Arabic<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" />). It seems that Allah brings the sun from the east, | The Qur'an says that both the sun and the moon swim or float in a circuitous path, celestial sphere or, more likely, a hemisphere (a 'falak' in the Arabic<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" />). It seems that Allah brings the sun from the east, which then goes high above the Earth, and after sunset goes to a resting place. All this takes place around an Earth that is spread out (or flattened) and which possesses a firmament of seven heavens built atop it without visible pillars. | ||
The geocentrism and cosmography in general of the Qur'an shows little or no influence from Ptolemaic concepts of heavenly spheres, each containing a celestial body, according to which paradigm the Qur'an and the word falak came to be interpreted<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" /><ref name="vanBladelCords">{{citation|last1=van Bladel |first1=Kevin |date=2007 |title=Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=223-246 |doi= |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> In a paper on Qur'anic cosmography, Damien Janos notes that the "Qurʾānic cosmology stems from a different religious background and it does not contain any conspicuous signs of synthesis or assimilation with the cosmological trends indebted to Ptolemaic astronomy"<ref>{{citation |last1=Janos |first1=Damien |date=2012 |title=Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some notes on the formation of a religious wordview |journal=Religion |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=215-231}} See p. 224</ref> and observes that in various respects the two paradigms are incompatibile, particularly as the celestial bodies move in the lowest part of the seven heavens in the Qur'anic model.<ref>Ibid. p. 221</ref> Rather, the Qur'an is more reflective of its Biblical and Mesopotamian predecessors (see also [[Cosmology of the Quran]]). In the same paper Janos does, however, theorise that the Qur'anic falak may contain Greek influence given how often it was interpreted in terms of circularity or sphericity by Muslim scholars. He also considers as a possible hypothesis that both the falak and seven heavens "can be construed as having not a fully spherical shape, but rather a hemispherical or domed-shape", and the sun would transit back to its origin in the east by "via an underground passage", which "finds some support in traditional Arabic reports [...] and seems to have Mesopotamian antecendents".<ref>Ibid. p. 228</ref> | The geocentrism and cosmography in general of the Qur'an shows little or no influence from Ptolemaic concepts of heavenly spheres, each containing a celestial body, according to which paradigm the Qur'an and the word falak came to be interpreted<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" /><ref name="vanBladelCords">{{citation|last1=van Bladel |first1=Kevin |date=2007 |title=Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=223-246 |doi= |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> In a paper on Qur'anic cosmography, Damien Janos notes that the "Qurʾānic cosmology stems from a different religious background and it does not contain any conspicuous signs of synthesis or assimilation with the cosmological trends indebted to Ptolemaic astronomy"<ref>{{citation |last1=Janos |first1=Damien |date=2012 |title=Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some notes on the formation of a religious wordview |journal=Religion |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=215-231}} See p. 224</ref> and observes that in various respects the two paradigms are incompatibile, particularly as the celestial bodies move in the lowest part of the seven heavens in the Qur'anic model.<ref>Ibid. p. 221</ref> Rather, the Qur'an is more reflective of its Biblical and Mesopotamian predecessors (see also [[Cosmology of the Quran]]). In the same paper Janos does, however, theorise that the Qur'anic falak may contain Greek influence given how often it was interpreted in terms of circularity or sphericity by Muslim scholars. He also considers as a possible hypothesis that both the falak and seven heavens "can be construed as having not a fully spherical shape, but rather a hemispherical or domed-shape", and the sun would transit back to its origin in the east by "via an underground passage", which "finds some support in traditional Arabic reports [...] and seems to have Mesopotamian antecendents".<ref>Ibid. p. 228</ref> | ||
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{{Quote|{{cite Quran|2|258|style=ref}}|Abraham said, ‘Indeed '''Allah brings the sun from the east'''; now you bring it from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.}} | {{Quote|{{cite Quran|2|258|style=ref}}|Abraham said, ‘Indeed '''Allah brings the sun from the east'''; now you bring it from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.}} | ||
The Qur'an also describes the locations where the sun actually rises and sets in response to a question about an existing legend. It can be seen by human eyes in the story of [[Category:Dhul-Qarnayn|Dhul-Qarnayn]] (Alexander the Great): | The Qur'an also describes the locations where the sun actually rises and sets in response to a question about an existing legend. It can be seen by human eyes in the story of | ||
[[Category:Dhul-Qarnayn|Dhul-Qarnayn]] | |||
(Alexander the Great): | |||
{{Quote|{{cite quran|18|84|end=90|style=ref}}| Lo! We made him strong in the land and gave him unto every thing a road. And he followed a road. '''Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring''', and found a people thereabout. We said: O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness. Then he followed a road. '''Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.'''}} | {{Quote|{{cite quran|18|84|end=90|style=ref}}| Lo! We made him strong in the land and gave him unto every thing a road. And he followed a road. '''Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring''', and found a people thereabout. We said: O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness. Then he followed a road. '''Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.'''}} | ||