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Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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The Arabic word translated as "are joined" is ''jumi'a'', a verb which means to collect together, gather together, bring together.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000091.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 455 جُمِعَ]</ref> Critics note that this would require the moon to travel tens of millions of miles away from Earth and into the sun, which is over 400 times wider. To describe them as brought together (jumi'a) in such a scenario would hardly be apt, critics argue, and a very odd apocalyptic event. Rather, the description sits comfortably in the ancient understanding of the cosmos, whereby the sun and moon were assumed to be two roughly equivalent celestial bodies in the sky above the Earth. | The Arabic word translated as "are joined" is ''jumi'a'', a verb which means to collect together, gather together, bring together.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000091.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 455 جُمِعَ]</ref> Critics note that this would require the moon to travel tens of millions of miles away from Earth and into the sun, which is over 400 times wider. To describe them as brought together (jumi'a) in such a scenario would hardly be apt, critics argue, and a very odd apocalyptic event. Rather, the description sits comfortably in the ancient understanding of the cosmos, whereby the sun and moon were assumed to be two roughly equivalent celestial bodies in the sky above the Earth. | ||
The Earth and moon's average distance to the Sun is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). The narrowest estimate for the habitable zone of our solar system implies that if the sun was on average as little as 1.5 million km closer to Earth, it would become uninhabitable.<ref>[https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-much-closer-to-the-sun-could-earths-orbit-get-and-still-be-habitable How much closer to the Sun could Earth’s orbit get and still be habitable?] - BBC Science Focus website</ref> If the sun even started to come | The Earth and moon's average distance to the Sun is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). The narrowest estimate for the habitable zone of our solar system implies that if the sun was on average as little as 1.5 million km closer to Earth, it would become uninhabitable.<ref>[https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-much-closer-to-the-sun-could-earths-orbit-get-and-still-be-habitable How much closer to the Sun could Earth’s orbit get and still be habitable?] - BBC Science Focus website</ref> If the sun even started to come close to a central point between the two (c.41 million miles) to be joined with the moon, the immediate, worldwide heat would instantly cause the end of all life on Earth and scorch it beyond recognition. Which would render the other apocalyptic events as removing mountains ({{Quran|77|10}}), splitting the heaven ({{Quran|84|1}}), and stars falling ({{Quran|81|2}}), some of which are discussed in the sections below, essentially pointless. | ||
It is worth noting that the "darkening" of the moon in verse 8 is an Arabic word which in hadiths refers to a lunar or solar eclipse (in this case lunar). However, for a lunar eclipse to occur (when the earth's shadow is cast upon the moon) the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth and thus are not in any sense "joined". Nor does "joined" in verse 9 work as a reference to a solar eclipse (when the sun occasionally casts a shadow of the moon on the earth). The moon is invisible during the portion of a month when it can eclipse the sun since it must be on the daylit side of the earth, and hence the moon does not "darken" or itself become eclipsed (verse 8) as it passes between observers and the sun but rather its silhouette becomes visible. | It is worth noting that the "darkening" of the moon in verse 8 is an Arabic word which in hadiths refers to a lunar or solar eclipse (in this case lunar). However, for a lunar eclipse to occur (when the earth's shadow is cast upon the moon) the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth and thus are not in any sense "joined". Nor does "joined" in verse 9 work as a reference to a solar eclipse (when the sun occasionally casts a shadow of the moon on the earth). The moon is invisible during the portion of a month when it can eclipse the sun since it must be on the daylit side of the earth, and hence the moon does not "darken" or itself become eclipsed (verse 8) as it passes between observers and the sun but rather its silhouette becomes visible. | ||