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

Islamic [[scriptures]] imply, adhere to, and describe a flat-Earth cosmography ([[Geocentrism and the Quran|arranged in a geocentric system]]) according to numerous academic studies. While knowledge of the spherical shape of the Earth has existed to a greater or lesser degree since at least the classical Greeks (4th Century BCE), such knowledge prominently entered the Islamic milieu in the 9th century CE when many Greek texts were translated into Arabic for the first time under the sponsorship of the Abbasid [[Khilafah (Caliphate)|caliphate]].

{{Quote|{{citation| last=Hoskin| first=Michael| last2=Gingerich| first2=Owen| chapter=Islamic Astronomy| title=The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy| ISBN=9780521576000| url=https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/physics/history-philosophy-and-foundations-physics/cambridge-concise-history-astronomy?format=PB&isbn=9780521576000| pages=50-52| year=1999| publisher=Cambridge University press| location: Cambridge| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226174539/https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/physics/history-philosophy-and-foundations-physics/cambridge-concise-history-astronomy?format=PB&isbn=9780521576000}}|In 762 [Muhammad’s] successors in the Middle East founded a new capital, Baghdad, by the river Tigris at the point of nearest approach of the Euphrates, and within reach of the Christian physicians of Jundishapur. Members of the Baghdad court called on them for advice, and these encounters opened the eyes of prominent Muslims to the existence of a legacy of intellectual treasures from Antiquity - most of which were preserved in manuscripts lying in distant libraries and written in a foreign tongue. Harun al-Rashid (caliph from 786) and his successors sent agents to the Byzantine empire to buy Greek manuscripts, and early in the ninth century a translation centre, the House of Wisdom, was established in Baghdad by the Caliph al-Ma’mun. […] Long before translations began, a rich tradition of folk astronomy already existed in the Arabian peninsula. This merged with the view of the heavens in Islamic commentaries and treatises, to create a simple cosmology based on the actual appearances of the sky and unsupported by any underlying theory.}}Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri of Tehran University note in their paper surveying Qur'anic cosmography 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>{{citation |last1=Tabatabaʾi |first1=Mohammad A. |last2=Mirsadri |first2=Saida |date=2016 |title=The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24811784 |journal=Arabica |volume=63 |issue=3/4 |pages=201-234}} p. 211; also available on [https://www.academia.edu/23427168/The_Quranic_Cosmology_as_an_Identity_in_Itself academia.edu]</ref> They also note that the pre-Islamic poet Umayya ibn Abī al‐Ṣalt (d. 5 / 626) described the earth as a carpet (bisāṭan, like {{Quran|71|19}}) and likened it to the uplifted heavens.

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> Likewise, Omar Anchassi in his study of early Islamic cosmography notes, "A plain-sense reading of the Quranic text renders the earth as flat".<ref name="Anchassi" />

The Qur'an frequently describes, in explicit terms, the creation of "al-ard", which can be translated as either "Earth" or "the land", as a flat structure. The use of metaphors and words intimately associated with flat objects (such as beds and carpets) is especially common in cases where the context of the verse makes it clear that the word "al-ard" is being used to describe the creation of the Earth at the beginning of time alongside the creation of the "heavens" (rather than in the more limited sense of a certain portion of "land"). The best example of this is perhaps [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth#Qur.27an_88:20_-_sutihat_.28.22spread_out_flat.22.29|verse 88:20]].

 

بِسَاطًا = bisaatan = A thing that is spread or spread out or forth, and particularly a carpet (from the same root we also have بَسَاطٌ = basaatun = 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>

 

This appears to be paraphrasing a similar pre-Islamic poem mentioning the creation and spreading of the Earth attributed to ʿAdī ibn Zayd (wa-basaṭa l-arḍa basṭan), whose motif can be traced back to at least the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 42:5 and 44:24, Psalms 136:6).<ref>''arḍ | earth; land'' Sinai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (pp. 40-41). Princeton University Press.</ref>

{{Main|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two}}{{Quote|{{Quran|18|86}}| حتى اذا بلغ مغرب الشمس وجدها تغرب في عين حمئة ووجد عندها قوما قلنا ياذا القرنين اما ان تعذب واما ان تتخذ فيهم حسنا  

A flat conception of the Earth is the only sort that permits the setting and rising places of the sun to be visited. Contemporary 7th-century Arabic poems and [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance|a mid-6th century Syriac Legend]] telling the same story suggest that early Muslims understood the story literally, as do early tafsirs and narrations therein (see main article).

{{Main|The Ramadan Pole Paradox}}{{Quote|{{Quran|2|187}}|It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are raiment [clothing] for you and ye are raiment for them. Allah is Aware that ye were deceiving yourselves in this respect and He hath turned in mercy toward you and relieved you. So hold intercourse with them and seek that which Allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn. Then strictly observe the fast till nightfall and touch them not, but be at your devotions in the mosques. These are the limits imposed by Allah, so approach them not. Thus Allah expoundeth His revelation to mankind that they may ward off (evil)}}

 

Similar scriptural instructions for worship based on the position of the Sun are given in another verse.

 

Even below the Arctic Circle, for instance in Aberdeen, Scotland, the time between the night prayer (Isha) and the dawn prayer (Fajr) is around 4 and a half hours in June, such that a practicing Muslim would be required to regularly awaken around 3:20am for prayer. These matters are further complicated by the increasingly relevant and real cases of space travel, and even simply travel through the air aboard a plane, as it is not entirely clear whether someone flying in or opposite the direction of the sun would be required to repeat or skip certain prayers due to the rapidly changing time of day. By these appearances, the rituals and instructions set out in the Qur'an were intended for the more limited audience and understanding of a 7th-century desert city.

Sometimes, [[The_Ramadan_Pole_Paradox#Hadith_allowing_an_estimate_for_prayer_times|dubiously appealing to a hadith]] about estimating prayer times in an apocalyptic scenario, Islamic scholars were and are content to permit exceptions to the literal meaning of the verses for those who live in extreme climes (though there is no consensus on alternative methods). Yet the original authors and audiences of Islamic scriptures do not seem to have appreciated this problem. Based on this evidence, the earliest believers were either mistaken about the details of the dynamic system existing between the rotating Earth and the star it orbits or, more likely, simply unaware of the system altogether.

Be ye foremost (in seeking) Forgiveness from your Lord, and '''a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth''', prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers: that is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom he pleases: and Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding}}The words ''ʿarḍuhā kaʿarḍi'' ("its width is like the width") refer to the breadth, width, or side of something.<ref>عَرْضٌ 'ard - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000291.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2006</ref>

The Qur'an says paradise is the width of the heaven and Earth. Some academic scholars cite this verse in support of their argument that the Qur'anic heavens are flat layers above a flat earth (see [[Cosmology of the Quran]]). A very similar verse shown below states that its width is as the width of the heavens (plural) and the Earth.{{Quote|{{Quran|3|133}}|And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and <b>a Garden - its width (is like that of) the heavens and the earth</b> prepared for the pious.}}The interchangeable width of the heaven singular (57:21) with heavens plural (3:133) lends further support to that view. The verses most naturally indicate that the author imagined the heaven(s), the nearest of which contains the stars ({{Quran|41|12}}, {{Quran|37|6}}), to be of similar width to the earth, whether they were imagined to be dome shaped or flat [[Science and the Seven Earths#The%20solid%20universe|solid layers]], and that the earth's flatness makes for an ideal width yardstick.

This said, there exist a variety of hadiths in canonical and authentic collections of hadith that explicitly and implicitly attest and adhere to a flat Earth. Countless weak hadiths can be counted which, in addition to these authentic hadiths, reflect the beliefs before the translations of Greek astronomy and philosophy had taken hold, and confirm that the earliest Muslims believed in a flat earth.<ref>Hannam, James. The Globe: How the Earth Became Round REAKTION BOOKS. 2023. ''See Chapter 15: Islam: ‘The Earth laid out like a carpet’.'' Quote on (p. 197):

 

 

 

Various narrations describe seven stacked flat earths (not spherical layers, طوّقه means put on a neck-ring<ref>طوق tawwaqa [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000179.pdf Lane's Lexicon] p. 1894</ref>):{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||2454|darussalam}}|Narrated Salim's father (i.e. `Abdullah):

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||2452|darussalam}}|Narrated Sa`id bin Zaid:

{{Quote|{{Muslim||1610d|reference}}|Sa'id b. Zaid reported:

{{Quote|{{Muslim||159a|reference}}|It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) one day said:

{{Quote|{{Muslim||2889a|reference}}|Thauban reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:

{{Quote|{{Muslim||758b|reference}}|Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||1145|darussalam}}|Narrated Abu Huraira:

{{Main|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two}}

 

 

Al-Tabari (d. 923) in his ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' and al-Baydawi (d. 1286) in his tafsir mention the opinion that the sun has 360 springs into which it can set. Another, very early tafsir records Abu al-Aliya (d. 93 H) stating that he was informed that "the sun is in a spring; the spring casts it to the East". The story with the sun literally setting in a spring is also found in early (probably post-Islamic) Arab poems. See the main article (Part One) for all of these things.

Al-Tabari's tafsir regarding {{Quran|68|1}}, which mysteriously starts with the Arabic letter Nun, records, along with many other classical tafsirs and sahih narrations<ref>[https://tafsir.app/68/1 Tafsirs 68:1]</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM&ab_channel=TheMaskedArab|publisher=The Masked Arab|publication-date=February 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701144708/https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/|publisher=Answering Islam Blog|publication-date=October 19, 2016|chapter=Muhammad’s Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tale!}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Sam Shamoun|publisher=Answering Islam|url=https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030934/https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm|chapter=The Quran and the Shape of the Earth}}</ref>, that one of the interpretations among sahabah such as ibn 'Abbas was that the 'nun' is a whale on whose back the Earth is carried (other interpretations were that "Nun" is an inkwell or a name of Allah). While there may not have been a consensus on the existence of the whale, the plausibility and acceptability of the idea implies a flat Earth cosmography among early Muslims.

 

Similarly Surah 50 begins with the Arabic letter Qaf, which Scott Noegel and Brannon Wheeler (2010) note many Muslim exegetes took to refer to [[W:Mount_Qaf|Mount Qaf]] ''as a “world mountain,” which surrounds the earth and holds up the sky, thus connecting the heavens and the earth.''<ref>Noegel, Scott B.; Wheeler, Brannon M.. ''The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism (The A to Z Guide Series Book 176).'' 2010. pp 68 (Kindle Edition pp. 148). See under a section titled "Cosmology and Cosmogony" pp. 67-68:

 

''Much like the classical Greek conception, the earth or the middle realm of the cosmos is envisioned as a flat disc surrounded by the world ocean on all sides. The Quran describes the earth as flat and spread out (Q 71:19), wide and expansive (Q 29:56). There are points on the earth that serve as conduits or points of contact with the lower realms (pits, caves, water sources) and the upper realms (mountains, trees, high buildings). Muslim exegetes describe '''Mt. Qaf (Q 50:1)''' as a "world mountain," which surrounds the earth and holds up the sky, thus connecting the heavens and the earth.''</ref>

 

 

In one oft-cited work<ref name="IslamQAarticle"></ref>, [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) references Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al Munadi as saying that the scholars from the second level of the companions of Imam Ahmad (d. 241 AH / 855 CE) – i.e. the early Hanbalis – maintained that there was consensus among the scholars that both heaven and Earth are balls, giving astronomical reasoning for both. However, it has in fact been established that this refers to a consensus among scholars of astronomy and geography, as almost identical wording appears in Muslim astronomical works by Ahmad ibn Rustah (d. 913) and Ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī (d. 861) to describe the agreement and reasoning among astronomical scholars, not the agreement of Muslim scholars in general. [https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicQuran/comments/1l4qi4b/reexamining_the_origins_of_ibn_almunadis_quote_on/ See here] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250606223527/https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicQuran/comments/1l4qi4b/reexamining_the_origins_of_ibn_almunadis_quote_on/ archive]).

 

Moreover, this evidence does not help determine earlier beliefs, since from the 8th century CE onwards, Muslims were using Greek astronomical scholarship, which had already come to learn of the Earth's spherical form (see above).

The Qur'an verses cited by Ibn Taymiyyah in support of the round shape of the heavens are {{Quran|21|33}}, {{Quran|36|40}}, {{Quran|39|5}}, and {{Quran|67|5}}). These evidences are, however, indirect, and rely on what Ibn Taymiyyah and those he references argue is implied by their extrapolations on the linguistic nuances of the verses discussed. The solitary piece of direct evidence that Ibn Taymiyyah brings from the companions about the round shape of the heavens is a narration where Ibn 'Abbas and others comment on {{Quran|36|40}}, which describes the heavenly bodies [[Geocentrism and the Quran|swimming in a falak]] (celestial dome or sphere):  

A whirl or whorl was a small wheel or hemisphere that was constructed around a spindle for the purpose of clothes-making<ref>الفَلَكُ falak - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Volume 1 page 2444. See also the [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf previous page]. Lane says that the falak was generally imagined as a celestial hemisphere by the Arabs, but also that the Arab astronomers applied the term to seven spheres for the sun, moon, and the five visible planets, rotating about the celestial pole. This must reflect the post-Qur'anic influence of Ptolemy, whose astronomical work was translated for the Arabs from the 8th century onwards.</ref>. As the sun and moon appear to arc across the sky, even those who imagined the Earth was flat and the heavens a dome (or a sphere) would also imagine some path for the two celestial bodies to continue beneath the Earth upon setting so they could return for the following day and night cycle. In his commentary on another, related verse ({{Quran|31|29}}), Ibn Kathir quotes Ibn Abbas again, saying exactly this. The sun runs in its falak (فَلَكهَا) in the sky / heaven (السَّمَاء) during the day, and when it sets it runs during the night (بِاللَّيْلِ - omitted from the translation) in the very same "falak" beneath the Earth until it rises from its rising place (من مشرقها - translated below as "in the east").<ref>[https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/31/29 Tafsir Ibn Kathir 31:29]</ref>

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|||7423|darussalam}}|The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever believes in Allah and His Apostle offers prayers perfectly and fasts (the month of) Ramadan then it is incumbent upon Allah to admit him into Paradise, whether he emigrates for Allah's cause or stays in the land where he was born." They (the companions of the Prophet) said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Should we not inform the people of that?" He said, "There are one-hundred degrees in Paradise which Allah has prepared for those who carry on Jihad in His Cause. The distance between every two degrees is like the distance between the sky and the Earth, so if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for <b>it is the last part of Paradise ["فَإِنَّهُ أَوْسَطُ الْجَنَّةِ", "أَوْسَطُ" is better translated as "midmost" or "medial"<ref>[https://ejtaal.net/aa/#ll=3039,hw4=1262,ls=74,la=h4830,sg=h1231,ha=h880,br=h1049,pr=h168,aan=h720,mgf=h856,vi=h385,kz=h2934,mr=h796,mn=h1557,uqw=h1850,umr=h1171,ums=h987,umj=h941,ulq=h1799,uqa=h450,uqq=h429,bdw=h954,amr=h694,asb=h1077,auh=h1747,dhq=h609,mht=h973,msb=h259,tla=h98,amj=h920,ens=h1,mis=h1 Lane's Lexicon]</ref>]</b> and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise."}}

Ibn Kathir says the heavens are a dome or roof or like the floors of a building over the Earth which is its foundation in his tafsir for verses [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Al-Baqara/The-Beginning-of-the-Creation 2:29], [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Ar-Rad/Clarifying-Allahs-Perfect-Abi--- 13:2], [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Al-Anbiya/In-everything-there-is-a-Sign---- 21:32], [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Ya-Seen/Among-the-Signs-of-the-Might-a--- 36:38], and [http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Fussilat/Some-Details-of-the-Creation-o--- 41:9-12]. It is also clear that like those before him, he is directly aware of astronomers' theories.

 

Many further examples of scholars expressing a flat earth interpretation of the Quran are collated in [https://theislamissue.wordpress.com/2019/03/22/scholarly-consensus-of-a-round-earth/ another article.] One can see that all early mufassirūn (Quranic scholars who wrote commentaries/tafsirs, which can be viewed directly on [https://www.altafsir.com/ tafsir.com]) who commented on the relevant verses took the view the Qur'an was describing a flat earth.  

 

These interpretations contrast with claims of an Islamic scholarly consensus for a round earth. As Dr Omar Anchassi says '<nowiki/>''It is clear that the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic vision of the cosmos remained contested by theologians of all stripes to the end of the fifth/eleventh century''<nowiki/>'<ref name="Anchassi">Omar Anchassi. ''[https://www.academia.edu/93485940/ Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām]'', Journal of the American Oriental Society, '''142'''(4), 2022, pp. 851–881. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.7817/jaos.142.4.2022.ar033</nowiki></ref> in his article '''[https://doi.org/10.7817/jaos.142.4.2022.ar033 Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām]''<nowiki/>' (2022).

However, every person who has ever seen the sun setting and rising, including those who believed in a flat Earth, understood that the transition from day to night and vice versa was a gradual and not sudden one. Therefore, such an argument fails to demonstrate anything about the author's belief about the shape of the Earth.  

Verse 79:30 uses the word دَحَىٰهَآ (dahaha), commonly translated as ‘He spread it’ or ‘He stretched it’, to describe a step in the creation of the Earth. Today, it is sometimes argued that word means something to the effect of "he made it to be like an ostrich egg", the implication being that because an ostrich egg is both spherical and slightly oval-shaped, it is comparable to the shape of the Earth. Such a translation and interpretation is, however, not backed by any dictionary of classical Arabic and features in no respected translation or tafsir of the Qur'an.   

'''Word by word:''' ''Waal-arda'' وَٱلْأَرْضَ (''wa'' - وَ - and; ''al'' - ٱلْ - the; ''ard'' - أَرْضَ - Earth, feminine in Arabic) ''baAAda'' بَعْدَ (after) ''thalika'' ذَٰلِكَ (that) ''dahaha'' دَحَىٰهَآ (''dahaa'' - دَحَىٰ - [he] spread, verb; ''ha'' - هَآ - her or "it" in the English translation, referring to the Earth)}}

'''Sahih International:''' And after that He spread the earth.}}

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' or 'local' perspective, critics note that he could easily have stated so explicitly, or with further context: for example, 'see how the Earth ''appears'' spread out like a carpet/bed for you to live on safely', or 'the ground ''in front of you'' is spread out'. And/or ignore flat references, focusing on other aspects of nature's beauty and benefits to make the same point, without denoting a cosmological view that has been directly and repeatedly used by devout Islamic scholars throughout history to argue against a round earth.<ref>Read on the debate within Islamic authorities between those following the traditional cosmological view of the Quran verses, against those incorporating Greek science and philosophy in the first five centuries of Islam (in which the debate was not settled in) in: ''[https://www.academia.edu/93485940/Against_Ptolemy_Cosmography_in_Early_Kal%C4%81m_2022_ Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām (2022)].'' Omar Anchassi. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', ''142''(4), 851–881</ref>

* [https://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/seven_earths.html Qur'an & Science Problem: The Seven Earths - Their Existence and their Location - answering-Islam.org]