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Shooting Stars in the Quran: Difference between revisions
→The Qur'an: I have linked the analysis done by Crone and other scholars (in the Qur'an Seminar Commentary) on this story to this page.
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(→The Qur'an: I have linked the analysis done by Crone and other scholars (in the Qur'an Seminar Commentary) on this story to this page.) |
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And this may have inspired their use much later in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism,] (which was a prominent religion in the Persian (Iranian) empire both before and during the time of the prophet Muhammad/beginning of Islam), where we see the link between stars and meteors as weapons: | And this may have inspired their use much later in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism,] (which was a prominent religion in the Persian (Iranian) empire both before and during the time of the prophet Muhammad/beginning of Islam), where we see the link between stars and meteors as weapons: | ||
{{Quote|Golia, Maria. Meteorite: Nature and Culture (Earth) Reaktion Books. p. 57|..an understanding of the stars set men apart, as evidenced in the emergence of the prophet Zoroaster around 1100 BC. An early Christian text suggests that Zoroaster, ‘a very great observer of the stars’, used his wisdom to his advantage: ‘wishing to be regarded as a divine being [he] began to elicit sparks from the stars and show them to people’. This brief passage and a story recorded in the first century AD have been interpreted as describing a meteor shower that Zoroaster may have anticipated. The oldest portions of Avestan scripture, thought to record Zoroaster’s words, say the sky is made of ‘hardest stone’ and worn as armour by Ahura Mazda, god of creation and cosmic order. Avestan texts contain many astronomical references, and the word asana means both ‘sky’ and ‘stone’. On one occasion, Zoroaster was said to have defeated demons with ‘a massive stone received from God’...}} | {{Quote|Golia, Maria. Meteorite: Nature and Culture (Earth) Reaktion Books. p. 57|..an understanding of the stars set men apart, as evidenced in the emergence of the prophet Zoroaster around 1100 BC. An early Christian text suggests that Zoroaster, ‘a very great observer of the stars’, used his wisdom to his advantage: ‘wishing to be regarded as a divine being [he] began to elicit sparks from the stars and show them to people’. This brief passage and a story recorded in the first century AD have been interpreted as describing a meteor shower that Zoroaster may have anticipated. The oldest portions of Avestan scripture, thought to record Zoroaster’s words, say the sky is made of ‘hardest stone’ and worn as armour by Ahura Mazda, god of creation and cosmic order. Avestan texts contain many astronomical references, and the word asana means both ‘sky’ and ‘stone’. On one occasion, Zoroaster was said to have defeated demons with ‘a massive stone received from God’...}}Patricia Crone and other Islamic scholars examine these relationships further in the [https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110445909/html?lang=en 2012-13 Qur'an Seminar Commentary] (a series of academic conferences) in pages 305 - 317 and 385 - 398. | ||
==Islamic literature== | ==Islamic literature== | ||
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The Qur'an states that stars (kawakib ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ), lamps (masabih مَصَٰبِيحَ) and/or great stars/constellations (burūj بُرُوجًا) adorn the heavens and guard against devils (shayāṭīn شياطين). | The Qur'an states that stars (kawakib ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ), lamps (masabih مَصَٰبِيحَ) and/or great stars/constellations (burūj بُرُوجًا) adorn the heavens and guard against devils (shayāṭīn شياطين). | ||
The Qur'an further asserts that Allah has made them (the stars/lamps) missiles to ward away devils (who are believed to be [[jinn]] in Islam), who attempt to listen in on heavenly meetings (known as the Exalted Assembly). The Quranic concept has a close parallel in 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. The relevant verses are below:{{Quote|{{Quran-range|37|6|10}}|Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven [al-samā’a l-dunyā] with an adornment of <b>stars [al-kawākibi],</b> And as protection against every rebellious devil [wa-ḥifẓan min kulli shayṭānin mārida][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, <b>but they are pursued by a burning flame, piercing [in brightness] [fa-’atbaʿa-hu shihābun thāqibun].</b>}}{{Quote|{{Quran|67|5}}|And we have, (from of old), adorned <b>the lowest heaven [al-samā’a l-dunyā] with lamps [bi-maṣābīḥa], and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones [wa-jaʿalnā-hā rujūman li-l-shayāṭīni]</b>, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|15|16-18}}|<b>It is We Who have set out the zodiacal signs in the heavens [laqad jaʿalnā fī l-samā’i burūjan],</b> and have beautified it for the beholders; And (moreover) We have guarded them from every <b>cursed devil [shayṭānin rajīmin]</b>: But any that gains a hearing by stealth, <b>is pursued by a flaming fire, bright (to see) [fa-’atbaʿa-hu shihābun mubīnun].</b>}}{{Quote|{{Quran|72|8-9}}|And we have sought [to reach] the heaven but found it filled with <b>powerful guards [ḥarasan shadīdan]</b> and <b>burning flames [wa-shuhuban].</b> And we used to sit therein in positions for hearing, but whoever listens now will find a burning flame lying in wait for him. [yajidu la-hu shihāban raṣadan].}} | The Qur'an further asserts that Allah has made them (the stars/lamps) missiles to ward away devils (who are believed to be [[jinn]] in Islam), who attempt to listen in on heavenly meetings (known as the Exalted Assembly). The Quranic concept has a close parallel in an earlier [[Pre-Islamic Arab Religion in Islam#Shooting Stars and Eavesdropping Shaytans|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. The relevant verses are below:{{Quote|{{Quran-range|37|6|10}}|Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven [al-samā’a l-dunyā] with an adornment of <b>stars [al-kawākibi],</b> And as protection against every rebellious devil [wa-ḥifẓan min kulli shayṭānin mārida][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, <b>but they are pursued by a burning flame, piercing [in brightness] [fa-’atbaʿa-hu shihābun thāqibun].</b>}}{{Quote|{{Quran|67|5}}|And we have, (from of old), adorned <b>the lowest heaven [al-samā’a l-dunyā] with lamps [bi-maṣābīḥa], and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones [wa-jaʿalnā-hā rujūman li-l-shayāṭīni]</b>, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|15|16-18}}|<b>It is We Who have set out the zodiacal signs in the heavens [laqad jaʿalnā fī l-samā’i burūjan],</b> and have beautified it for the beholders; And (moreover) We have guarded them from every <b>cursed devil [shayṭānin rajīmin]</b>: But any that gains a hearing by stealth, <b>is pursued by a flaming fire, bright (to see) [fa-’atbaʿa-hu shihābun mubīnun].</b>}}{{Quote|{{Quran|72|8-9}}|And we have sought [to reach] the heaven but found it filled with <b>powerful guards [ḥarasan shadīdan]</b> and <b>burning flames [wa-shuhuban].</b> And we used to sit therein in positions for hearing, but whoever listens now will find a burning flame lying in wait for him. [yajidu la-hu shihāban raṣadan].}} | ||
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 'adorn the heaven' must refer to stars (and perhaps also the 5 visible planets), which are always there. | 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 'adorn the heaven' must refer to stars (and perhaps also the 5 visible planets), which are always there. | ||