Cosmology of the Quran: Difference between revisions

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>{{citation |last1=Janos |first1=Damien |date=2012 |title=Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective: some notes on the formation of a religious wordview |journal=Religion |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=215-231}} See pp. 217-218</ref>