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

===Qur'an 15:19 - ''madad'' ("extend", "stretch out")===

Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatnafeeha min kulli shay-in mawzoonin

مَدَدْ = madad = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref>مد madda (مدد) - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000223.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2695</ref>

Allathee jaAAala lakumu al-arda mahdan wasalaka lakum feeha subulan waanzala mina alssama-imaan faakhrajna bihi azwajan min nabatinshatta  

مَهْدًا = mahdan = cradle or bed; a plain, even, or smooth expanse<ref>مَهْدً mahdan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000267.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2739</ref>

===Qur'an 43:10 - ''mahdan'' ("bed")===

Allathee jaAAala lakumu al-arda mahdan wajaAAala lakum feeha subulan laAAallakum tahtadoona  

مَهْدًا = mahdan = cradle or bed; a plain, even, or smooth expanse<ref>مَهْدً mahdan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000267.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2739</ref>

===Qur'an 50:7 - ''madad'' ("expand", "stretch out")===  

Waal-arda madadnaha waalqayna feeha rawasiya waanbatnafeeha min kulli zawjin baheejin  

مَدَدْ = madad = extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand<ref>مد madda (مدد) - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000223.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2695</ref>

Waal-arda farashnaha faniAAma almahidoona  

فَرَشَْ = farasha ([[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth#Qur.27an_2:22_-_firashan_.28.22thing_spread_to_sit_or_lie_upon.22.29|verse 2:22]] uses this word in the noun form) = spread or expand, spread a bed or carpet<ref>فرش farasha - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000153.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2369</ref>

===Qur'an 71:19 - ''bisaatan'' ("carpet")===

WaAllahu jaAAala lakumu al-arda bisatan

بِسَاطًا = bisaatan = A thing that is spread or spread out or forth, and particularly a carpet (from the same root we also have بَسَاطٌ = bisaatun = Land, expanded and even; and wide or spacious)

<ref>بِسَاطًا bisaatan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000241.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 204</ref>

===Qur'an 88:20 - ''sutihat'' ("spread out flat")===

Wa-ila al-ardi kayfa sutihat  

سَطَّحَ = spread out or forth, expand

===Qur'an 91:6 - ''taha'' ("spread out")===

Waal-ardi wama tahaha  

==Indirect references to a flat Earth in the Qur'an==

In addition to the disagreement of definitions available in dictionaries, translations, and tafsirs with the definitions required to justify this modern reinterpretation, neither of the connections attempted ("ostrich egg" and ''madaahi'') accurately denote or imply the shape of the Earth.

===The Earth is flat, but only from a human perspective===

At least one senior member of the ulema reproved Bin Baz for his embarrassing assertion, which radicals had seized on to satirize the Wahhabi establishment as “members of the Flat Earth Society.” But the sheikh was unrepentant. If Muslims chose to believe the world was round, that was their business, he said, and he would not quarrel with them religiously. But he was inclined to trust what he felt beneath his feet rather than the statements of scientists he did not know: he would go on believing the earth to be flat until he was presented with convincing evidence to the contrary.}}</ref> and, in a fatwa still hosted on his website, asserts that there is no convincing evidence that the sun is larger than the Earth<ref>{{Citation|publisher=Bin Baz official website|author=Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz|title=مدى صحة قول من قال: بأن الشمس أكبر من الأرض|trans_title=How true is the saying: the sun is larger than the Earth?|url=https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/1770/%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%89-%D8%B5%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D9%82%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B6|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214031427/https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/1770/%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%89-%D8%B5%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D9%82%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B6}}{{Quote||وأما دعوى بعض الفلكيين أن الشمس أكبر من السماوات وأكبر من الأرض إلى غير هذا فهي دعوى مجردة لا نعلم صحتها ولا نعلم دليلاً عليها فهي آية عظيمة، أما القول بأنها أكبر من السماوات والأرض فهذا شيء يحتاج إلى دليل، هذه مجرد دعوى كما يقول العلماء، هذه مجرد دعاوى ليس عليها دليل واضح فيما نعلم.<br>'''Translation:''' As for the claim of some astronomers that the sun is greater than the heavens and greater than the earth to other than this, it is an abstract claim that we do not know its validity and we do not know of evidence for, it is a great sign. Just claims that do not have clear evidence for as far as we know.}}</ref>. Despite the anti-modern nature of views he once held and even, in some cases, apparently held until his passing in 1999, Ibn Baz eventually revised his literal reading of the verses describing the creation and nature of the Earth. Such changes in readings of scripture are characteristic of a large subset of Islamic scholars.

==See Also==