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This is part one of a [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two#Part Two: What do Qur’an 18:86 and 18:90 say happened next?|two-part]] article providing a comprehensive examination of the different interpretations of [[Qur'an]] 18:86 and 18:90. | This is part one of a [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two#Part Two: What do Qur’an 18:86 and 18:90 say happened next?|two-part]] article providing a comprehensive examination of the different interpretations of [[Qur'an]] 18:86 and 18:90. | ||
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Hoskin, Michael and Gingerich, Owen, “Islamic Astronomy” in The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy, Ed. M. Hoskin, p.50-52, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999 | Hoskin, Michael and Gingerich, Owen, “Islamic Astronomy” in The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy, Ed. M. Hoskin, p.50-52, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999 | ||
<BR><BR> | <BR><BR> | ||
It can be viewed free online at | It can be viewed free online at http://books.google.com/books?id=4nmjGztzfZwC&pg=PA50 | ||
</ref> | </ref> | ||
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Why say that Allah gave Dhu’l Qarnayn a course/way/road to everything without telling us what it was about the physical locations of the peoples he visited that made this a remarkable achievement? | Why say that Allah gave Dhu’l Qarnayn a course/way/road to everything without telling us what it was about the physical locations of the peoples he visited that made this a remarkable achievement? | ||
The next problem is that verses 18:86 and 18:90 seem to be explaining the reason why Dhu’l Qarnayn followed the ways mentioned in the previous verses. It could be argued that the purpose of each journey was to find a people, but the beginnings of each verse seem to suggest that the intention related to the sun and that this unexpectedly resulted in the discovery of some people. He would be traveling distances in order to reach the times of sunset and sunrise, which seems rather pointless. Similar points are made by P. Newton<ref name="P. Newton">P. Newton - [http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Newton/spring.html The Qur'an: Is It A Miracle?/ Zul-Qarnain and the Sun] - Answering Islam</ref> and Cornelius<ref>Cornelius - [http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/cornelius/sun_in_muddy_pool.html The Sun in the Muddy Pool and the Prophethood of Muhammad] - Answering Islam</ref> at | The next problem is that verses 18:86 and 18:90 seem to be explaining the reason why Dhu’l Qarnayn followed the ways mentioned in the previous verses. It could be argued that the purpose of each journey was to find a people, but the beginnings of each verse seem to suggest that the intention related to the sun and that this unexpectedly resulted in the discovery of some people. He would be traveling distances in order to reach the times of sunset and sunrise, which seems rather pointless. Similar points are made by P. Newton<ref name="P. Newton">P. Newton - [http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Newton/spring.html The Qur'an: Is It A Miracle?/ Zul-Qarnain and the Sun] - Answering Islam</ref> and Cornelius<ref>Cornelius - [http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/cornelius/sun_in_muddy_pool.html The Sun in the Muddy Pool and the Prophethood of Muhammad] - Answering Islam</ref> at Answering Islam. | ||
A related problem is that if he just followed a way until the time when the sun sets rather than until he reached the place where the sun sets, there is no reason to then describe what he found the sun to be doing. | A related problem is that if he just followed a way until the time when the sun sets rather than until he reached the place where the sun sets, there is no reason to then describe what he found the sun to be doing. | ||
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{{Quote||Abu Dharr said: I was sitting behind the Apostle of Allah who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water.<ref>Kitab Al-Ahruf Wa Al-Qira’at [Book of Dialects and Readings Of The Qur’an], Chapter 1498, p. 1120 in Prof. Ahmad Hasan (trans.), Sunan Abu Dawud – English Translation With Explanatory Notes, Volume III. Chapters 1338-1890, XXV, hadith 3991, Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1984 quoted in [http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/shamoun/mhmd_on_sunset.html Muhammad and the Sun’s Setting Place] - Sam Shamoun, Answering Islam</ref> [The references section includes a link to the Arabic<ref>For the Arabic, see #4002 [http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=1520&BookID=28&PID=3490 here] and for the Arabic, English, and grading by al-Albani, see [http://sunnah.com/abudawud/32/34 here]</ref>]}} | {{Quote||Abu Dharr said: I was sitting behind the Apostle of Allah who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water.<ref>Kitab Al-Ahruf Wa Al-Qira’at [Book of Dialects and Readings Of The Qur’an], Chapter 1498, p. 1120 in Prof. Ahmad Hasan (trans.), Sunan Abu Dawud – English Translation With Explanatory Notes, Volume III. Chapters 1338-1890, XXV, hadith 3991, Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1984 quoted in [http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/shamoun/mhmd_on_sunset.html Muhammad and the Sun’s Setting Place] - Sam Shamoun, Answering Islam</ref> [The references section includes a link to the Arabic<ref>For the Arabic, see #4002 [http://hadith.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=192&TOCID=1520&BookID=28&PID=3490 here] and for the Arabic, English, and grading by al-Albani, see [http://sunnah.com/abudawud/32/34 here]</ref>]}} | ||
There is also another version of the hadith in Musnad Ahmad (this time the spring is muddy rather than warm - the Arabic words sound similar and the same variant readings exist for Qur’an verse 18:86). The same hadith is also recorded by al-Zamakhshari (1075-1143 CE) in his commentary on the Qur’an, al-Kashshaf.<ref>For a translation see Al-Zamakhshari, Al-Kashshaf 3rd Edition, Volume 2, p. 743, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah, 1987 quoted in (trans.) [http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Shabir-Ally/science11.htm Science in the Quran/ Chapter 11: The Sun & Moon and Their Orbits] - Sam Shamoun, Answering Islam (''The phrase translated “spring of slimy water” is actually, “hot spring” in the Arabic. For the Arabic, click [http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=2&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=86&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 here]'')</ref> Even if one doubts that this is an authentic report about Muhammad, it is certainly further evidence that early Muslims understood 18:86 to mean a literal setting place. The possibility that Muhammad ever claimed a different interpretation thus further diminishes. | |||
There are also numerous sahih hadith that state that the sun rises and sets between the horns of Satan, for example: | There are also numerous sahih hadith that state that the sun rises and sets between the horns of Satan, for example: | ||
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{{Quote||(Till, when he reached the setting place of the sun) where the sun sets, (he found it setting in a muddy spring) a blackened, muddy and stinking spring; it is also said that this means: a hot spring…<ref>[http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=86&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Sura 18 Verse 86] - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs</ref>}} | {{Quote||(Till, when he reached the setting place of the sun) where the sun sets, (he found it setting in a muddy spring) a blackened, muddy and stinking spring; it is also said that this means: a hot spring…<ref>[http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=86&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 Sura 18 Verse 86] - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs</ref>}} | ||
''Tafsir al-Thalabi'' (also known as ''Al-Kashf wa-l-bayān''; 11th century CE) reports the following view for verse 18:86: | |||
{{Quote|| | {{Quote||Abu al-Aliya said: I was informed that the sun is in a spring; the spring casts it to the East [al mashriq]<ref>[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=75&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=86&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1&LanguageId=1 Sura 18 Verse 86] - Tafsir al-Thalabi</ref>}} | ||
The views reported in these commentaries understand these verses to mean literal setting and rising places (most early commentators include no opinion). It is clear from the hadith contained in hadith collections and commentaries that there was interest in what happens to the sun when it is beyond view, so if Muhammad had given another interpretation there would surely be hadith to indicate as such, yet there are none. | |||
====A close similarity with the Syriac legend about Alexander the Great==== | ====A close similarity with the Syriac legend about Alexander the Great==== | ||
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The tables below show how some of the Arabic words discussed above are used in the Qur’an (not including the controversial instances in 18:86 and 18:90) and in the 6 major Sunni hadith collections. This might make it easier for the reader to verify the statements made in this article and reach his or her own conclusions. Of course, many of the most important arguments in the preceding discussion cannot be derived merely from these tables. | The tables below show how some of the Arabic words discussed above are used in the Qur’an (not including the controversial instances in 18:86 and 18:90) and in the 6 major Sunni hadith collections. This might make it easier for the reader to verify the statements made in this article and reach his or her own conclusions. Of course, many of the most important arguments in the preceding discussion cannot be derived merely from these tables. | ||
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" width = "100%" | {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" width="100%" | ||
! Word | !Word | ||
! Place (ism makan) | !Place (ism makan) | ||
! Time (ism zaman) | !Time (ism zaman) | ||
! East/West | !East/West | ||
|- | |- | ||
|Maghrib | |Maghrib | ||
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{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" width = "100%" | {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" width="100%" | ||
! Verb | !Verb | ||
! Referring to the sun in relation to a location | !Referring to the sun in relation to a location | ||
! Referring to the sun in relation to time | !Referring to the sun in relation to time | ||
|- | |- | ||
|Gharaba | |Gharaba | ||
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The arguments against this interpretation have been demonstrated to be weak or groundless. The alternative interpretations have been shown to have fatal contextual, grammatical and logical flaws and use word meanings invented purely in an attempt to support those interpretations. | The arguments against this interpretation have been demonstrated to be weak or groundless. The alternative interpretations have been shown to have fatal contextual, grammatical and logical flaws and use word meanings invented purely in an attempt to support those interpretations. | ||
==See Also== | |||
== See Also == | |||
*[[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring (Part Two)]] | *[[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring (Part Two)]] | ||
*[[Did Muhammad and the early Muslims know that the Earth is round|Did Muhammad and the Earliest Muslims Know the Earth is Round?]] | *[[Did Muhammad and the early Muslims know that the Earth is round|Did Muhammad and the Earliest Muslims Know the Earth is Round?]] | ||
{{Hub4|Dhul-Qarnayn|Dhul-Qarnayn}} | {{Hub4|Dhul-Qarnayn|Dhul-Qarnayn}} | ||
{{Hub4|Cosmology|Cosmology}} | {{Hub4|Cosmology|Cosmology}} | ||
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[[Category:Islam and Science]] | [[Category:Islam and Science]] | ||
[[Category:Qur'an]] | [[Category:Qur'an]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Dhul-Qarnayn]] | ||
{{page_title|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring (Part One)}} | {{page_title|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring (Part One)}} | ||
[[Category:Cosmology]] | |||
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]] | |||
[[Category:Sacred history]] | |||
[[Category:Christian tradition]] |