Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions

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Scientific Errors in the Quran (view source)

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Other relevant verses are {{Quran-range|55|33|35}} (flame of fire and smoke, though a slightly different context) and {{Quran-range|72|8|9}}.
Other relevant verses are {{Quran-range|55|33|35}} (flame of fire and smoke, though a slightly different context) and {{Quran-range|72|8|9}}.
===The entire heaven has a night and day===
The Qur'anic conception of the cosmos accords with its author's visual perception of the sky, even to the extent that in {{Quran-range|79|28|29}} night and day is mistaken as a feature of the entire heaven (the lowest heaven is elsewhere said to be adorned with stars, as discussed above). In these verses the night and morning brightness are said to be an attribute of the heaven (l-samāu) which Allah built (banāhā) and raised (rafaʿa) as a ceiling (samkahā) and ordered it (fasawwāhā) when he created the heaven and earth.
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|79|27|30}}|Are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that He built? He raised the height thereof and ordered it; And He made dark the night '''thereof''', and He brought forth the morn '''thereof'''. And after that He spread the earth,}}
The possessive hā suffix in laylahā (its night) and ḍuḥāhā (its morning light) relates night and day to the heaven in its entirety. In reality, the night and day we experience is a feature of the earth's rotation on its axis. There is no sense in which the earth's night and day (which happen at the same time) apply across the wider cosmos.
In order to confirm the interpretation of these verses it is important to look at how the significant words are used elsewhere in the Quran. "The night" is a very common word in the Quran, and the morning light is used in the same context in {{Quran-range|93|1-2}} and {{Quran-range|91|1}} (see also {{Quran|79|46}}).
Indeed, {{Quran-range|91|1|6}} has many of the same Arabic words as {{Quran-range|79|27|30}}: "its morning light" (this time of the sun), "the night", and "the heaven" (singular) "built" by Allah. Putting the two passages together, it seems that the author of the Quran intuitively believed that the night and the sun's morning light were features pertaining to the entire visible heaven.
Other verses are helpful to confirm what is meant by the heaven (singular) in this context. {{Quran|2|29}} states that Allah turned (is'tawā) to the heaven and fashioned them (fasawwāhunna) seven heavens. These are two forms of the same Arabic verb as is translated "ordered" in {{Quran|79|28}} in the above quote.
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|29}}|He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}}
The word "raised" in {{Quran|79|28}} is similarly used for the creation of the heaven (singular) and earth in {{Quran|88|18}} and the heavens (plural) raised without visible pillars in {{Quran|13|2}}.
The word "he built it" in v. 27 (banāhā) also occurs in {{Quran|50|6}}, which says regarding the heaven (singular) that Allah "built it" and "adorned it" (wazayyannāhā), a word which in other verses refers to the stars adorning the lowest heaven ({{Quran|37|6}}, {{Quran|41|12}} and {{Quran|67|5}}, as discussed in the [[Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran#Earth created before stars|Earth created before stars]] section above).


===The sky/heaven as a ceiling===
===The sky/heaven as a ceiling===
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{{Quote|{{Quran|22|65}}|Hast thou not seen how Allah hath made all that is in the earth subservient unto you? And the ship runneth upon the sea by His command, and He holdeth back the heaven from falling on the earth unless by His leave. Lo! Allah is, for mankind, Full of Pity, Merciful.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|65}}|Hast thou not seen how Allah hath made all that is in the earth subservient unto you? And the ship runneth upon the sea by His command, and He holdeth back the heaven from falling on the earth unless by His leave. Lo! Allah is, for mankind, Full of Pity, Merciful.}}
===The entire heaven has a night and day===
The Qur'anic conception of the cosmos accords with its author's visual perception of the sky, even to the extent that in {{Quran-range|79|28|29}} night and day is mistaken as a feature of the entire heaven (the lowest heaven is elsewhere said to be adorned with stars, as discussed above). In these verses the night and morning brightness are said to be an attribute of the heaven (l-samāu) which Allah built (banāhā) and raised (rafaʿa) as a ceiling (samkahā) and ordered it (fasawwāhā) when he created the heaven and earth.
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|79|27|30}}|Are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that He built? He raised the height thereof and ordered it; And He made dark the night '''thereof''', and He brought forth the morn '''thereof'''. And after that He spread the earth,}}
The possessive hā suffix in laylahā (its night) and ḍuḥāhā (its morning light) relates night and day to the heaven in its entirety. In reality, the night and day we experience is a feature of the earth's rotation on its axis. There is no sense in which the earth's night and day (which happen at the same time) apply across the wider cosmos.
In order to confirm the interpretation of these verses it is important to look at how the significant words are used elsewhere in the Quran. "The night" is a very common word in the Quran, and the morning light is used in the same context in {{Quran-range|93|1-2}} and {{Quran-range|91|1}} (see also {{Quran|79|46}}).
Indeed, {{Quran-range|91|1|6}} has many of the same Arabic words as {{Quran-range|79|27|30}}: "its morning light" (this time of the sun), "the night", and "the heaven" (singular) "built" by Allah. Putting the two passages together, it seems that the author of the Quran intuitively believed that the night and the sun's morning light were features pertaining to the entire visible heaven.
Other verses are helpful to confirm what is meant by the heaven (singular) in this context. {{Quran|2|29}} states that Allah turned (is'tawā) to the heaven and fashioned them (fasawwāhunna) seven heavens. These are two forms of the same Arabic verb as is translated "ordered" in {{Quran|79|28}} in the above quote.
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|29}}|He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}}
The word "raised" in {{Quran|79|28}} is similarly used for the creation of the heaven (singular) and earth in {{Quran|88|18}} and the heavens (plural) raised without visible pillars in {{Quran|13|2}}.
The word "he built it" (banāhā) also occurs in {{Quran|50|6}}, which says regarding the heaven (singular) that Allah "built it" and "adorned it" (wazayyannāhā), a word which in other verses refers to the stars adorning the lowest heaven ({{Quran|37|6}}, {{Quran|41|12}} and {{Quran|67|5}}, as discussed in the [[Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran#Earth created before stars|Earth created before stars]] section above).


===Heavens to be rolled up===
===Heavens to be rolled up===
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===Samaritans in ancient Egypt===
===Samarians in ancient Egypt===
The Qu'ran states that Moses dealt with a Samaritan during his time, however the Samaritans did not exist until well over half a millennium after Moses is supposed to have existed. The term s''amari'' itself comes from the city of Samaria, an archaeologically evidenced city built by King Omri around 870BC, nearly 700 years after Moses is supposed to have existed.  
The Qu'ran states that Moses dealt with a Samarian during his time. However the Samarians did not exist until well over half a millennium after Moses is supposed to have existed.
 
Oxford Bibliographies (an academic website) says the following:
 
{{Quote|[https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0176.xml Oxford Bibliographies - Samaria/Samaritans]|Samaria (Hebrew: Shomron) is mentioned in the Bible in 1 Kings 16:24 as the name of the mountain on which Omri, ruler of the northern Israelite kingdom in the 9th century BCE, built his capital, naming it also Samaria. After the conquest of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians in 722/721 BCE, the district surrounding the city was likewise called Samaria (Assyrian: Samerina). The Bible presents an etiology or folk etymology when it claims that the city was named after Shemer, the original owner from whom Omri bought the hill. It is more likely that the name is derived from the root šmr, to “watch, to guard”; that is, the hill was a point from which particularly the north–south route could be watched and guarded.}}


The likely source of this confusion is the story in the Bible in Hosea 8:5-6 where there is mentioned another golden calf worshipped by Samaritans after the time of Solomon. One modern perspective holds that the Qur'an might be referring to Zimri, son of Salu (Numbers 25:14). However, the Quranic character is referred to three times in {{Quran-range|20|85|88}} as l-sāmiriyu with the definite article, "the Samiri", so this is a descriptive title rather than a proper name.
The likely root of the Quranic confusion is the story in the Bible, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea%208&version=NIV Hosea 8:5-8] or [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2012&version=NIV 1 Kings 12:25-29] where there is mentioned a golden calf (or two of them) created in Samaria after the time of Solomon. One modern perspective holds that the Qur'an might be referring to Zimri, son of Salu (Numbers 25:14). However, the Quranic character is referred to three times in {{Quran-range|20|85|88}} as l-sāmiriyu with the definite article, "the Samiri", so this is a descriptive title rather than a proper name.


{{Quote|{{Quran|20|85}}|“( Allah) said; ‘We have tested thy people in thy absence: the Samiri has led them astray’.” }}{{Quote|{{Quran|20|95}}|“( Moses) said, ‘What then is thy case, O Samiri?’”}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|20|85}}|“( Allah) said; ‘We have tested thy people in thy absence: the Samiri has led them astray’.” }}{{Quote|{{Quran|20|95}}|“( Moses) said, ‘What then is thy case, O Samiri?’”}}
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