Galaxy Filaments Not In The Quran
|
WikiIslam Archive,
Archives of the first iteration of WikiIslam, prior to acquisition and revamp by Ex-Muslims of North America
|
Some Islamic apologists claim that the Quran talks about galaxy filaments.
Contents
Miracle claim
1400 years ago people believed that the universe is what they could see. Nobody believed that there are other galaxies... Today we know that this is false. Billions and billions of galaxies form superstructures.
In physical cosmology, galaxy filaments (subtypes: supercluster complexes, galaxy walls, and galaxy sheets) are the largest known structures in the universe. They are massive, thread-like formations, with a typical length of 50 to 80 megaparsecs h−1 (or of the order of 200 to 500 million light-years) that form the boundaries between large voids in the universe. Filaments consist of gravitationally bound galaxies. Parts wherein many galaxies are very close to one another (in cosmic terms) are called superclusters. Wikipedia, Galaxy Filament, 2019
Billions and billions of galaxies form superstructures. This was known recently, however this was portrayed in the Quran 1400 years before it was discovered.
[Quran 2:22] He who made the earth a habitat for you, and the sky a structure, and sends water down from the sky, and brings out fruits thereby, as a sustenance for you. Therefore, do not assign rivals to Allah while you know.
"Bina-e بِنَاءً" means structure. In this verse the sky is a structure. Today we know that on large scale billions and billions of galaxies form superstructures.
How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known that the sky is a structure?
The verse
Apologetic translation
He who made the earth a habitat for you, and the sky a structure, and sends water down from the sky, and brings out fruits thereby, as a sustenance for you. Therefore, do not assign rivals to Allah while you know.
The verse says nothing about galaxies, so the miracle claim is baseless. The verse only says that Allah made the sky as a structure. The Quran doesn't specify what kind of structure it is. "A structure" could be anything. And "sky as a structure" is fully compatible with the model of flat earth with flat heaven above it, so there is no scientific miracle at all.
- The verse talks about earth and sky separately. If "sky" is the universe, then why is Earth mentioned separately from the universe? Earth is a little part of the universe. The division of the world on "earth and sky" is much more compatible with the model of flat earth below us and flat heaven above us.
- The verse says that Allah sends rain from the sky, that is from the structure. Is rain coming from galaxy filaments?
Actual translation
Translations usually don't translate the word بناء as "structure":
Muhsin Khan: Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky..
Pickthall: Who hath appointed the earth a resting-place for you, and the sky a canopy; and causeth water to pour down from the sky..
Sahih International: [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain ..
Yusuf Ali: Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens..
It's usually translated as "canopy" and the sky is not a canopy, so the verse is rather a scientific error in the Quran.
Also, Allah doesn't send rain from the sky. Rain is a part of the water cycle, which is a natural phenomena.
