Cosmology of the Quran: Difference between revisions

The Qur'anic universe comprises "the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them". Many verses expand on the various elements of and within this scheme, without going into great detail. Overall, a picture emerges of a flat earth (probably seven), above which are seven heavenly firmaments of uncertain shape (commonly assumed to be domed; more recently some academics have argued that the Qur'anic heavens are flat) and held up by invisible pillars. Lamps adorn the lowest of these heavens. The sun and moon circulate in them in a partly ambiguous manner. Allah resides in heaven above the creation, sitting on a throne. Academic work has situated this picture within the context of earlier Mesopotamian and Biblical cosmological concepts, while noting its own distinctive identity.

Relatively few modern academics have made dedicated attempts to piece together the cosmography of the Quran, in whole or in part. The most comprehensive such survey has been conducted by Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri of Tehran University in 2016 (which can be read for free using a jstor.org monthly free article allowance).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tabatabaʾi |first1=Mohammad A. |last2=Mirsadri |first2=Saida |date=2016 |title=The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24811784 |journal=Arabica |volume=63 |issue=3/4 |pages=201-234}} also available on [https://www.academia.edu/23427168/The_Quranic_Cosmology_as_an_Identity_in_Itself academia.edu]</ref> They note that the new movement in the field commenced with Kevin van Bladel's work regarding individual elements of the picture in the context of the journeys of Dhu'l Qarnayn<ref name="vanBladelLegend">Van Bladel, Kevin, “The Alexander legend in the Qur‘an 18:83-102″, In The Qur’ān in Its Historical Context, Ed. Gabriel Said Reynolds, New York: Routledge, 2007</ref> and the heavenly cords (asbab) by which he traversed the world, and which, for example, Pharaoh attempted to reach by building a tower<ref name="vanBladelCords">{{cite journal |last1=wan Bladel |first1=Kevin |date=2007 |title=Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=223-246 |doi= |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref>.

{{Quote|{{cite quran|41|9|end=12|style=ref}}|Say (O Muhammad, unto the idolaters): Disbelieve ye verily in Him Who created the earth in two Days, and ascribe ye unto Him rivals? He (and none else) is the Lord of the Worlds. He placed therein firm hills rising above it, and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four Days, alike for (all) who ask; Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedient. Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower.}}

Tabataba'i and Mirsadri note that the Qur'an "takes for granted" the flatness of the earth, a common motif among the scientifically naive people at that time, while it has "not even one hint of a spherical earth"<ref>Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' p. 211</ref> Meanwhile, certain Christian scholars of the 6th century influenced by the ancient Greeks, in dispute with their counterparts in the east, believed in its sphericity, as noted by van Bladel<ref>Van Bladel, Kevin, ''Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context'' pp. 224-226</ref>). Damien Janos in another paper on Qur'anic cosmography has similarly noted that while the exact shape of its boundaries are not described, "what is clear is that the Qurʾān and the early Muslim tradition do not uphold the conception of a spherical earth and a spherical universe. This was a view that later prevailed in the learned circles of Muslim society as a result of the infiltration of Ptolemaic astronomy".<ref>Damien Janos, "Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some note on the formation of a religious wordview", Religion 42(2), 2012, pp. 217-218</ref>

As Tabataba'i and Mirsadri note<ref>Tabataba'i and Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' p. 211</ref>, the mountains are heavy masses described as pegs to [[The Quran and Mountains|prevent the earth from shaking]].

Tabataba'i and Mirsadri observe that the plural for the earth (al ard) is never used in the Quran, though most Muslim commentators interpreted this verse to mean seven earths. Instead, they consider the verse to be likening the earth to the heavens in shape and extent (i.e. a flat expanse) as part of a broader argument in their paper that the Qur'an describes a set of seven flat, stacked heavens (see below).<ref>Ibid. pp. 211 and 221</ref>

While contrasting the Biblical view of fresh and salty waters with the two seas of certain Qur'anic verses (fresh and salty - see for example {{Quran|25|53}} and the quest of Moses to find their junction in {{Quran|18|60}}), they note another difference to the Biblical and Mesopotamian cosmologies, which is that the Qur'an does not mention an ocean encircling the flat disk of the earth.<ref>Ibid. pp. 213-214</ref>

While many classical Muslim scholars, and modern academics (due to their interpretation of other ancient cosmologies) tend to assume that the Qur'anic heavens are domed, Tabataba'i and Mirsadri observe that there is no indication in the Qur'an that they touch the earth's boundaries. The sun and moon are placed in the heavens ({{Quran|71|16}} and {{Quran|78|13}}), the lowest of which are adorned with lamps {{Quran|41|12}}. Janos discusses verses {{Quran|21|30}} and {{Quran|36|40}} in which the sun and moon (as well as night and day) move in a "falak" (an ambiguous term that may have meant a circuitous course/sphere/hemisphere - see [[Geocentrism and the Quran]]), but notes that this was not considered semantically identical with the samawat, or heavens, and they were not necessarily conceived as having the same shape.<ref>Janos, ''Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective'' pp. 223-229</ref>

* They interpret {{Quran|51|47}} ("We have built the heaven with might, and We it is Who make the vast extent (thereof).") to mean that the heavens are continually expanded, which favours a flat expanse rather than a dome (it could be added in that case that the next verse about spreading the earth, with the same grammatical form, too fits this view). They also consider that verses mentioning invisible pillars (see below) favour a flat, roof like firmament.

They note that Janos too favours a flat heavens interpretation. For him, it was enough that the Qur'anic firmament is likened to a roof ({{Quran|2|22}}, {{Quran|21|32}}, {{Quran|40|64}}); binaa; saqf, which latter originally seems to have referred to flat roofs, including in the Qur'an {{Quran|16|26}}, {{Quran|43|33}}; and arranged in layers as mentioned above - they agree with him on the strength of this latter point), though he is also open to the dome-shaped view based on tafsir sources rather than any internal evidence, while van Bladel relies mainly on pre-Qur'anic sources for his discussion of whether the Qur'anic heavens are a dome, tent or roof.

On the other hand, the moon, and probably the sun, are within the seven heavens according to {{Quran-range|71|15|16}}, which may lend support to the assumption shared by many classical scholars that the heavens are domed, given that these celestial bodies, as well as the night and day, are said to float in a falak (see above). This verse is mentioned by Tabataba'i and Mirsadri without comment on the potential difficulty.<ref>Tabataba'i and Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' pp. 215</ref> In van Bladel's analysis of the Qur'anic cosmography, the sky has gates<ref name="vanBladelCords" />, which perhaps offers a solution (in the Syriac Alexander legend, the sun passes through gates, but in a dome rather than flat sky<ref name="vanBladelLegend" />).

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|71|15|16}}|See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, And made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp?}}

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|71|15|16}}|See ye not how Allah hath created seven heavens in harmony, And hath made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp?}}

But then, when discussing the end of time the Qur'an assumes that a lunar eclipse (which can only occur when the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth) can occur at the same time that the sun and moon finally do “catch up” to each other.

The “uniting” of the sun and the moon not only demonstrate a singular instance when they do “catch up” with each other, but suggests that its author assumed the common perception that the sun and moon are of comparable size and distance.  

===The Throne of Allah===

Tabataba'i and Mirsadri note that Allah seems to reside in the Qur'anic heaven, while his footstool (kursi) extends over the heavens and earth and his throne (arshi) is carried by angels ({{Quran|39|75}} and {{Quran|40|7}}). This is very much similar to the Judeo-Christian view.<ref>Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' pp. 208-210</ref>