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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions
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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth (view source)
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This modern reinterpretation of Qur'anic cosmology significantly aligns with modern science and historiography insofar as it understands the intent of the Qur'an to be based on the worldview of the 7th-century Arabian city where it is said to have been produced - that is, as far as Muhammad and his companions were concerned and could tell, the world was indeed flat, and this is the same perspective assumed by the Qur'an. The Qur'an and its first audience did not know the Earth was spherical and did not say as much. This reading of the Qur'an also benefits from not relying on faulty linguistic, historic, and geometric ideas in order to force fit a round earth reading into the verses. This view is the most common amongst educated Muslims today and is likely to predominate going forward. | This modern reinterpretation of Qur'anic cosmology significantly aligns with modern science and historiography insofar as it understands the intent of the Qur'an to be based on the worldview of the 7th-century Arabian city where it is said to have been produced - that is, as far as Muhammad and his companions were concerned and could tell, the world was indeed flat, and this is the same perspective assumed by the Qur'an. The Qur'an and its first audience did not know the Earth was spherical and did not say as much. This reading of the Qur'an also benefits from not relying on faulty linguistic, historic, and geometric ideas in order to force fit a round earth reading into the verses. This view is the most common amongst educated Muslims today and is likely to predominate going forward. | ||
On the other hand, critics, in line with academic scholars such as those quoted earlier in this article, argue that the context of most of the relevant verses is expressly the creation of the heavens and the earth and that these are therefore statements about the earth as a whole, even if the main purpose of the verses are to remind the audience how Allah has thereby made the earth traversible and hospitable to humans. If the Quranic author | On the other hand, critics, in line with academic scholars such as those quoted earlier in this article, argue that the context of most of the relevant verses is expressly the creation of the heavens and the earth and that these are therefore statements about the earth as a whole, even if the main purpose of the verses are to remind the audience how Allah has thereby made the earth traversible and hospitable to humans. If the Quranic author was describing the earth only as perceived from a 'human perspective', critics note that he could easily have stated so explicitly or with further context. | ||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
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* [[Geocentrism and the Quran]] | * [[Geocentrism and the Quran]] | ||
{{Translation-links-english|[[Le Coran et la Terre plate|French]], [[Placatá Země a Korán|Czech]]}} | {{Translation-links-english|[[Le Coran et la Terre plate|French]], [[Placatá Země a Korán|Czech]]}} | ||