Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions

In these verses, the author presents a version of a popular Syriac legend of the 6th or early 7th century, also found in early Muslim poetry, of a man called Dhu'l-Qarnayn who visits the places where the sun sets and rises.

Centuries after Muhammad lived, commentators with better astronomical knowledge introduced interpretations of these verses such that Dhu'l-Qarnayn only traveled until he reached "the west" and "the east", or to spots "at the time" when the sun set and rose and not the places where it actually did so. However, these alternative interpretations are severely undermined by the [[Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#First_interpretation:_He_reached_the_west_and_east|context and Arabic words used in these verses]], which instead point to physical locations where the sun did its setting and rising. An abundance of evidence shows that the early Muslims understood the verse in this straightforward way.