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Shooting Stars in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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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== | ||
===The Qur'an=== | ===The Qur'an=== | ||
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/zodiac signs (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. | ||
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{{Quote|{{Ibn Majah||1|1|194}}|The Prophet said: "When Allah decrees a matter in heaven, the angels beat their wings in submission to his decree (with a sound) like a chain beating a rock. Then "When fear is banished from their hearts, they say: 'What is it that your Lord has said?' They say: 'The truth. And He is The Most High, The Most Great." He said: 'Then the eavesdroppers (from among the jinn) listen out for that, one above the other, so (one of them) hears the words and passes it on to the one beneath him. The Shihab (shooting star) may strike him before he can pass it on to the one beneath him and the latter can pass it on to the soothsayer or sorcerer, or it may not strike him until he has passed it on. And he ads one hundred lies to it, and only that word which was overheard from the heavens is true."}} | {{Quote|{{Ibn Majah||1|1|194}}|The Prophet said: "When Allah decrees a matter in heaven, the angels beat their wings in submission to his decree (with a sound) like a chain beating a rock. Then "When fear is banished from their hearts, they say: 'What is it that your Lord has said?' They say: 'The truth. And He is The Most High, The Most Great." He said: 'Then the eavesdroppers (from among the jinn) listen out for that, one above the other, so (one of them) hears the words and passes it on to the one beneath him. The Shihab (shooting star) may strike him before he can pass it on to the one beneath him and the latter can pass it on to the soothsayer or sorcerer, or it may not strike him until he has passed it on. And he ads one hundred lies to it, and only that word which was overheard from the heavens is true."}} | ||
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{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/67.5 | title=Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs 67:5}}|(And verily We have beatified the world's heaven) the first heaven (with lamps) with stars, (and We have made them) i.e. the stars (missiles for the devils) such that some of them become bewitched, some are killed while others are burnt, (and for them) for the devils (We have prepared) in the Hereafter (the doom of flame.}} | {{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/67.5 | title=Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs 67:5}}|(And verily We have beatified the world's heaven) the first heaven (with lamps) with stars, (and We have made them) i.e. the stars (missiles for the devils) such that some of them become bewitched, some are killed while others are burnt, (and for them) for the devils (We have prepared) in the Hereafter (the doom of flame.}} | ||
Which even if not from him directly, gives us a more contemporary view of these verses. | Which even if not from him directly, gives us a more contemporary view of these verses. | ||
=== Contemporary Commentaries === | |||
Early more contemporary commentaries also conflated the two, such as Muqatil ibn Sulayman (~80-150AH), believed to be the earliest full authentic tafsir to survive.<ref>John Wansbrough, "The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History" 2006 (Original 1978). Prometheus. 2006. ISBN 10: 1591023785ISBN 13: 9781591023784</ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=67&tSoraNo=37&tAyahNo=6&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 | title=Tafsir al-Kabir on Verse 37:6 | author= Muqatil ibn Sulayman }}|<b>{Dhura} means being expelled by meteors from the stars/planets, then the stars/planets return to their places {And for them is a heavy punishment} </b>[verse: 9] meaning permanent for the doubters whoever listens to them, and whoever does not listen is a permanent punishment in the Hereafter, and the stars/planets hurt and do not diminish, their counterpart in Blessed be {And indeed We have adorned the heaven. The world is full of lamps, and We have made it a pit for the devils, and We have prepared for them the torment of the blazing fire.} [Blessed be He: 5]. | |||
{Except for him who is snatched} of the devils {snatching} of the angels {and then a piercing shooting star follows him} [verse: 10] of the angels the stars, meaning by the piercing shooting star, a luminous fire, as Moses said: {Or will I bring to you a shining shooting star? } [An-Naml: 7], meaning With a bright fire, there is an offering.}} | |||
And Al-Tabari (224-310 AH): | |||
{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=15&tAyahNo=16&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 | title=Al-Tabari Tafsir on Verse 15:16-18}}|...{And indeed We have placed constellations in the sky} He said: Stars/Planets. Bishr told us, he said: Yazid told us, he said: Saeed told us, on the authority of Qatada, his saying: {And We have placed constellations in the sky} <b>and their constellations are their stars.</b> Muhammad bin Abdul-Ala told us, he said: Muhammad bin Thawr told us, on the authority of Muammar, on the authority of Qatada: {zodiac signs} he said: <b>the stars/planets.</b> God Almighty says: And We preserved the lower heaven from every accursed devil whom God had stoned and cursed. {Except he who eavesdrops} He says: But some of the devils may eavesdrop on what is happening in the sky, and then a <b>meteor from the fire</b> follows it clearly, showing its effect on it, either by disturbing it and corrupting it or by burning it.}}See also his commentary on verse [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=1&tSoraNo=67&tAyahNo=5&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 67:5] where he notes that God made stars for three purposes: as decorations for the sky, to stone demons, and as guiding signs (for navigation). | |||
===Muslim Historians=== | ===Muslim Historians=== | ||