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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions
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→Direct references to a flat Earth in the Qur'an: Have added a small sentence on other uses of 'al-ard' as the whole earth linked on Quran Corpus, which I believe shows the context more clearly. And a small paragraph at the end on how easy it would be to state a verse is from the human perspective without the flat-earth cosmological view.
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(→Flat Earth in tafsirs: Added further academic references to back up statements that before the translation movement religious authorities/Muslims believed, based on the Quran, that the earth was flat.) |
(→Direct references to a flat Earth in the Qur'an: Have added a small sentence on other uses of 'al-ard' as the whole earth linked on Quran Corpus, which I believe shows the context more clearly. And a small paragraph at the end on how easy it would be to state a verse is from the human perspective without the flat-earth cosmological view.) |
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==Direct references to a flat Earth in the Qur'an== | ==Direct references to a flat Earth in the Qur'an== | ||
The Qur'an frequently describes, in explicit terms, the creation of "al-ard", which can be translated as either "Earth" or "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]]. | The Qur'an frequently describes, in explicit terms, the creation of "al-ard", which can be translated as either "Earth" or "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]]. | ||
The same term 'al-ard' is even used to describe the creation of the next Earth after judgement day,<ref>E.g. {{Quran|14|48}}</ref> and is commonly used alongside 'the heavens' (i.e. the heavens and the Earth) as a reference to the whole Islamic conception of the universe - it's meaning of the whole Earth can be seen in further verses where it is used on [https://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?t=3&q=the%20earth QuranCorpus]. | |||
===Qur'an 2:22 - ''firashan'' ("thing spread to sit or lie upon")=== | ===Qur'an 2:22 - ''firashan'' ("thing spread to sit or lie upon")=== | ||
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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 was describing the earth only as perceived from a 'human perspective | 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> | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||