Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions

Scientific Errors in the Quran (view source)

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→‎Meteors as stars fired at devils: Removed lengthy digression about asteroid belt. Supplimentary points need to be brief and the 98% from asteroid belt figure in the source is for meteorites (meteors which reach the ground), a small subcategory of all meteors; angels only mentioned in the hadith, and Muslims would see it as a mere theological matter that Allah could redirect meteoroids already near earth. Added brief response to some modern apologetics.

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 The Qur'an states that stars (''kawakib'' ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ) and/or lamps (''masabih'' مَصَٰبِيحَ) adorn the heavens and guard against devils.
-The Qur'an further asserts that Allah has made them (the stars/lamps) flaming missiles to ward away devils/jinns; including in the context of jinn listening in on a meeting of angels (known as the Exalted Assembly) somewhere in the heavens/skies, to steal some of the information, called a “khatfah” (a snatch).
+The Qur'an further asserts that Allah has made them (the stars/lamps) flaming missiles to ward away devils (or in some verses, jinn), who attempt to listen in on heavenly meetings (known as the Exalted Assembly). The Quranic concept has a close parallel in [[Pre-Islamic_Arab_Religion_in_Islam#Shooting_Stars_and_Eavesdropping_Shaytans|an earlier 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.
-While stars are giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth, meteors are small rocky masses or grains of debris which burn up after entering 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 [[w:Meteoroid|shooting stars]] or falling stars. The Quranic concept has a close parallel in [[Pre-Islamic_Arab_Religion_in_Islam#Shooting_Stars_and_Eavesdropping_Shaytans|an earlier Jewish development from Zoroastrian mythology]].
+While stars are giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth, meteors are small rocky masses or grains of debris which burn up after entering 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 [[w:Meteoroid|shooting stars]] or falling stars. 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). The most visible is usually the annual [[w:Perseids|Perseid meteor shower]] in August.
 {{Quote|{{Quran-range|37|6|10}}|
-We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars, (For beauty) '''and for guard''' against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, (So) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted Assembly but be cast away from every side, Repulsed, for they are under a perpetual penalty, Except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness.}}
+Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of stars '''And as protection''' against every rebellious devil [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, but they are pursued by a burning flame, piercing [in brightness].}}
 The same Arabic words are used at the start of {{Quran|67|5}} as in {{Quran|37|6}} (زَيَّنَّا ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا), except that in {{Quran|67|5}} the word lamps is used instead of stars. The lamps that 'beautify the heaven' must refer to stars (and perhaps also the 5 visible planets), which are always there. Meteors, on the other hand, are now known to be distinct from the distant stars. 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.
 {{Quote|{{Quran|67|5}}|
 And verily We have beautified the world's heaven with lamps, '''and We have made them''' missiles for the devils, and for them We have prepared the doom of flame.}}
+The word translated "missiles" is rujūman (رُجُومًا), which are things that are thrown, especially stones.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000214.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 1048 رُجُومًا]</ref>
 A hadith in [[Sahih Muslim]] confirms that the 'pursuant flames / missiles' in the two verses refer to meteors which they saw shooting across the sky.
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 Other relevant verses are {{Quran-range|55|33|35}} (flame of fire and smoke, though a slightly different context) and {{Quran-range|72|8|9}}.
-{{Quote|{{Quran-range|55|33|35}}|O ye assembly of Jinns and men! if it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth pass ye! not without authority shall ye be able to pass!
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|55|33|35}}|O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority [from Allah].
-Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny? On you will be sent (O ye evil ones twain!) a flame of fire (to burn) and a smoke (to choke): No defence will ye have.}}
+So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny? There will be sent upon you a flame of fire and smoke, and you will not defend yourselves.}}
-{{Quote|{{Quran-range|72|8|9}}|And we pried into the secrets of heaven; but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires. We used, indeed, to sit there in (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing; but any who listen now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush.}}
-'''Meteors, meteorites and asteroids:'''
-Clarifying the technical definitions again<ref>https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/on-exhibit-posts/meteor-meteorite-asteroid</ref>: '''''Asteroids''''' are rocky bodies found in space.
-'''''Meteors''''' are objects that enter Earth’s atmosphere from space, which are typically pieces of dust no larger than a grain of rice, burn up before reaching the ground, though can be larger (''meteorites'' refer to rocks that survive left over on Earth). As they vaporize, they leave behind the fiery trails sometimes called “shooting stars,” even though meteors are not really stars.
-The main source of meteors are asteroids, either directly by them being pulled out of the belt by Jupiter's gravity, then moving to the inner solar system where they collide with Earth (99.8% of them),<ref>https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/in-depth/</ref> or indirectly as they collide with other rocky objects, i.e. the moon or Mars (0.02% of them) which then come into Earths gravitational tug.<ref>https://www.astronomy.com/science/where-do-meteorites-come-from/</ref>
-Other than the fact that these asteroids are not stars or 'star-like', but just rocks and metal with no light source, and therefore cannot accurately be said to match the description of 'lamps' - the most densely populated space for these is the asteroid belt.
-This is problematic as despite there being many millions of objects in the asteroid belt, the average distance between them is ~600,000 miles (about 1 million km).<ref>https://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-asteroid-belt/</ref> (Unlike how they are often portrayed in sci-fi movies as being close together with spaceships actively avoiding them, the actual chance of hitting one travelling through the belt is less than one in a billion).<ref>https://www.space.com/16105-asteroid-belt.html</ref> Making them very difficult to use for a protection as the angels could only be close to a maximum of one at a time, having to move millions of miles to pick up more, leaving them unable to ward off one if they miss just once, or one coming after another at different points in time, or multiple using any flanking method. (The plural (devils) implies there are multiple devils/jinns. And this is supported by the fact they repeatedly come to the meetings, with the jinns being successful at stealing information in [https://quranx.com/37.10 Quran 37:6-10], but unsuccessful in [https://quranx.com/72.8 72:8-9].)
-Another problem arises in that they are said to be pursued with flame, however there is no oxygen in space,<ref>https://science.nasa.gov/fire-space</ref> so you can't start a fire (or get smoke).<ref>https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24733000-900-lighting-fires-in-space-is-helping-us-make-greener-energy-on-earth/#:~:text=Fires%20can't%20start%20in,in%20strange%20and%20beautiful%20ways</ref>  Let alone by throwing a rock through space. 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>https://science.howstuffworks.com/question308.htm</ref>
-The distance between Earth and the closest edge of the Belt is approximately a minimum ~179.5, to 329 million km (111.5 to 204.43 million mi). But of course, at any given time, part of the Asteroid Belt will be on the opposite side of the Sun relative to us as well, far, far further than that.<ref>https://www.universetoday.com/130136/far-asteroid-belt-earth/</ref>
-Therefore, for them to make a 'clear flame' by turning into meteors, this would have to be thrown a minimum ~179.5 million km / 111.5 million miles while the jinn are still in the Earths atmosphere, with the flame 'pursuing them' for only a tiny fraction of the process (<0.01%), adding to the problematic nature of these verses.
+{{Quote|{{Quran-range|72|8|9}}|And we have sought [to reach] the heaven but found it filled with powerful guards and burning flames. And we used to sit therein in positions for hearing, but whoever listens now will find a burning flame lying in wait for him.}}
-'''Stars:'''
+If the flaming missiles mentioned by the Quran are to be identified with meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere, this would locate the eavesdropping devils (or jinn) in the upper atmosphere too, which leaves no way for the (extremely distant) stars to serve as guards in this process as outlined in the verses. However, these verses would of course fit a relatively small universe as imagined by 7th century Arabs, in which a heavenly firmament is adorned with stars able to pelt shooting stars at any devils or jinn in their vicinity, seeming to cover interstellar distances in a flaming streak across the sky. This is further supported by {{Quran|21|32}} which describes the heaven as a guarded ceiling.
-Stars are an average 5 light years away from each other in our galaxy<ref>[https://public.nrao.edu/ask/what-is-the-average-distance-between-stars-in-our-galaxy/ What is the Average Distance Between Stars in our Galaxy?] - US National Radio Astronomy Observatory website</ref>. For context, a light year is the distance light travels in one year, which at 186,000 miles/300,000 kilometres per second equals 5.88 trillion miles/9.46 trillion kilometres.<ref>https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/faq/26/what-is-a-light-year/</ref> This again makes them an odd choice for a protection/guard, with trillions of miles/kilometers of mostly empty space between them.
+Two alternative interpretations popular in modern times are that the Quran is referring to [[w:Coronal mass ejections|coronal mass ejections]] (large eruptions of charged matter from the sun or other stars), or [[w:Cosmic raps|cosmic rays]] (high energy, sub-atomic particles travelling through interstellar space). However, coronal mass ejections move slowly in cosmic terms, disperse over distance and do not come from surprise directions ({{Quran|37|8}} states that the devils are pelted from every side, and pursued by a piercing flame if they escape with anything they overheard). Cosmic rays do not emit light as they travel through space and therefore nor could these be the flaming missiles of fire and smoke in the Quran.
-However these verses and story would of course fit a relatively small universe as imagined by 7th century Bedouins, with the stars appearing visible distances away from each other, and were assumed to be the same thing as 'shooting stars'/meteors, as it was interpretated at the time (including by many other cultures), and backed up by 'sahih' (authentic) hadith.
+Stars are an average 5 light years away from each other in our galaxy<ref>[https://public.nrao.edu/ask/what-is-the-average-distance-between-stars-in-our-galaxy/ What is the Average Distance Between Stars in our Galaxy?] - US National Radio Astronomy Observatory website</ref>. For context, a light year is the distance light travels in one year, which is 5.88 trillion miles/9.46 trillion kilometres.<ref>https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/faq/26/what-is-a-light-year/</ref> This again makes them an odd choice for a protection/guard, with trillions of miles/kilometers of mostly empty space between them.
 On a separate note, though stars are described as an ornament or beauty for the sky in {{Quran|37|6}}, {{Quran|37|60}}, and {{Quran|67|5}}, there are an estimated minimum c.100 septillion stars in the known universe<ref>[https://universe.nasa.gov/stars/basics Stars] - NASA website</ref>, but only a few thousand are actually visible to the naked eye.<ref>[https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Herschel/How_many_stars_are_there_in_the_Universe How many stars are there in the Universe?] - ESA website</ref>