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Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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Scientific Errors in the Quran (view source)
Revision as of 08:22, 21 September 2016
, 21 September 2016→Stars are Missiles Shot at Devils
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{{Main|Mistranslations of Quran 67-5|l1=Mistranslations of Qur'an 67:5}} | {{Main|Mistranslations of Quran 67-5|l1=Mistranslations of Qur'an 67:5}} | ||
The Qur'an says that stars ( | The Qur'an says that stars (kawakib ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ) / lamps (masabih مَصَٰبِيحَ) adorn the heavens and guard against devils. | ||
The author of the Qur'an does not seem to know the difference between stars (giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth) and meteors which are small rocky masses of debris which brighten 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 there were often called [[w:Meteoroid|shooting stars]] or falling stars. In the following verse, the Qur'an claims that Allah uses stars as missiles to ward away devils. This repeats a common Arab myth at the time the Qur'an was first recited. | The author of the Qur'an does not seem to know the difference between stars (giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth) and meteors which are small rocky masses of debris which brighten 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 there were often called [[w:Meteoroid|shooting stars]] or falling stars. In the following verse, the Qur'an claims that Allah uses stars as missiles to ward away devils. This repeats a common Arab myth at the time the Qur'an was first recited. | ||
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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,Save him who snatcheth a fragment, Except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness.}} | 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,Save him who snatcheth a fragment, Except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness.}} | ||
The same Arabic words are used at the start of verse 67:5, except the stars are described as lamps. Clearly | The same Arabic words are used at the start of verse 67:5, except the stars are described as lamps. Clearly the lamps that 'beautify the heaven' refer to stars (and perhaps also the 5 visible planets), which are always there. Meteors are generally not much larger than grains of sand and are only visible for a second when they burn up, generating light in the Earth's atmosphere after millions of years in darkness, but the author of the Qur'an believes that meteors (the 'missiles') are a kind of star. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|67|5}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|67|5}}| | ||
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In Sahih Muslim we have a hadith confirming that the | In Sahih Muslim we have a hadith confirming that the pursuing flames / missiles in the two verses refer to what we would call meteors which they saw shooting across the sky. | ||
{{Quote|{{Muslim|26|5538}}|'Abdullah. Ibn 'Abbas reported: | {{Quote|{{Muslim|26|5538}}|'Abdullah. Ibn 'Abbas reported: | ||