The Quran and Mountains: Difference between revisions

In response to the regular co-occurrence of earthquakes and mountains due to their related presence at tectonic fault-lines, advocates of the miracle sometimes argue that the word (''tameeda'') used in the Quran to describe the phenomenon which mountains, as pegs, prevent describes something altogether different from earthquakes. What this phenomenon is, they suggest, is not known, as it has not been observed, which may be due to the fact that it does not take place on a human timescale but rather, perhaps, a geological timescale (that is, over hundreds of thousands or millions of years). The argument is based upon the alternative meanings that the word ''tameeda'' can have, including 'stagger', 'roll', 'sway', and 'tilt', along with the idea that any geological phenomenon described by these alternative meanings of the word ''tameeda'' would be distinct from the short, sharp shock of an earthquake. This, the advocates hold, is important because the Quran deliberately opts not to use the word ''zalzala'' in these contexts, which is used elsewhere in the Quran to describe earthquakes.  

The phrase ''tameeda bi-'' (from ''mada'', ''yamidu'') is only used in {{Quran|31|10}}, {{Quran|21|31}}, and {{Quran|16|15}}. 

{{Quote|{{quran|31|10}}|He has created the heavens without supports that you can see, and has cast [''alqa''] onto the earth firm mountains [''rawasiya''] lest it should shake with you [''tameeda bikum'']...}}

{{Quote|{{quran|21|31}}|And We have set on the earth firm mountains [''rawasiya''], lest it should shake with them [''tameeda bihim''].}}

{{Quote|{{quran|16|15}}|And He has cast onto the earth firm mountains [''rawasiya''] lest it should shake with you [''tameeda bikum'']...}}  

Lane's lexicon defines this usage as 'Lest it (the earth) should be convulsed with you, and go round with you, and move you about violently. (El-Basáïr, TA.)'.<ref>[http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/24_m/207_myd.html أَنْ تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ Lane's Lexicon]</ref> The other usages given by Lane which involves the ''bi-'' prefix are for ''mada bihil bahr'' (مَادَ بِهِ البَحْرُ), which means 'The sea affected him with a heaving of the stomach, &c. (L.)' and ''madat bihil ard'' (مَادَتْ بِهِ الأَرْضُ), which means 'The ground went round with him. (A.)'.<ref>[http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/24_m/207_myd.html مَادَ بِهِ البَحْرُ & مَادَتْ بِهِ الأَرْضُ Lane's Lexicon]</ref>

Critics point out that all usages of the word ''tameeda'' that subsequently involve the ''bi-'' prefix (which means 'with') denote an effect upon humans. While other, not-human-related usages of words deriving from the root ''mada'' exist, the word ''tameeda'' followed by the prefix ''bi-'' always involves human beings. This, alongside the fact that two of the three verses using the phrase affix the ''bi-'' prefix with the ''-kum'' pronoun (which means '''you'' all'), makes it clear that whatever the Quran is describing here is somehow immediately relevant to humans and that humans are subject to it. Critics thus conclude that it makes no sense to assume that the Quran is here alluding to some phenomenon unknown to humans, as this interpretation is permitted neither by rational discussion, which requires the possibility of falsification, nor the constraints of the Arabic language. A useful analogy for the comparison between the words ''tameeda'' and ''zalzala'', critics suggest, is the difference between the English phrases 'seismic activity' and 'earth tremors'.  

Some Muslim commentators do not consider tameeda to mean shaking in geological timescale.