Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions

Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth (view source)

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 A simple experiment can be done to demonstrate the point. All that is needed is a dark room, table and flashlight. If the flashlight is slowed raised above the edge of the table (similar to a sunrise), a gradual shift from darkness to light will be observed. So verses 31:29, 39:5 and 22:61 give no information about the Earth's shape. They are merely observations that anyone can make.
-In addition, these verses erroneously refer to lightness and darkness as two different things. They are in fact the same thing. The Night does not "overlap" the Day because there is only light, and darkness is nothing but the absence of light.
+In addition, these verses erroneously refer to night and day as two active entities. They are in fact simply the times when, for an observer on the surface of the Earth, they are on the sunlit or shadowed side of the planet as it rotates upon its axis. The night does not "overlap" or "wrap" around the day because there is only light, and darkness is nothing but the absence of light. The Qur'an could hardly be more wrong here. A less bad description would be to say that the Earth passes through night and day. Moreover, attempts to interpret 39:5 as the rotation of the Earth require contradictory shifts in the meaning of the words halfway through the sentence, as explained in a more detailed discussion of 39:5 on the page [[Geocentrism and the Quran#Counter-arguments|Geocentrism and the Qur'an]].
 == Conclusion ==