Cosmology of the Quran: Difference between revisions
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The Qur'anic universe comprises "the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them". In many verses it makes statements concerning various elements of and within this picture, without going into great detail. Overall, a picture emerges of a flat earth (possible seven), above which are seven heavenly firmaments of uncertain shape (probably flat) and held up by invisible pillars. Celestial bodies circulate in the lowest of these heavens. Above this creation Allah sits on his throne. Academic work has situated this picture within the context of earlier cosmological ideas, while noting its own distinctive identity. | |||
==Introduction== | |||
Relatively few modern academics have made dedicated attempts to piece together the cosmography of the Quran, in whole or in part. The most comprehensive such survey has been conducted by Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri of Tehran University in 2016 (which is available to read with a free jstor.com account).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tabatabaʾi |first1=Mohammad A. |last2=Mirsadri |first2=Saida |date=January 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}} also available on [https://www.academia.edu/23427168/The_Quranic_Cosmology_as_an_Identity_in_Itself academia.edu]</ref> They note that the new movement in the field commenced with Kevin van Bladel's work regarding individual elements of the picture in the context of the journeys of Dhu'l Qarnayn<ref>Van Bladel, Kevin, “The Alexander legend in the Qur‘an 18:83-102″, In The Qur’ān in Its Historical Context, Ed. Gabriel Said Reynolds, New York: Routledge, 2007</ref> and the heavenly cords (asbab) by which he traversed the world, and which, for example, Pharaoh attempted to reach by building a tower<ref>Van Bladel, Kevin, “Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 70:223-246, Cambridge University Press, 2007</ref>. | |||
By taking the Quranic descriptions in their own right and in the context of the more ancient cosmologies of Babylon and the Bible, but without appeal to later works of tafsir or hadith, which show the influence of Hellenic (Greek) ideas acquired by the Muslims after the advent of Islam, Tabataba'i and Mirsadri argue that in various ways the Quranic cosmology has its own distinctive characteristics as well as inherited concepts, just as it interacts with the ideologies of its environment, taking some things and rejecting others. Their observations in particular are regularly cited in this article. | |||
==Analysis== | ==Analysis== | ||
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===The Heavens and the Earth=== | ===The Heavens and the Earth=== | ||
Any accounting of the cosmology of the Qur'an must begin with the fact that the Islamic universe is extremely small and simple. It consists entirely of | Any accounting of the cosmology of the Qur'an must begin with the fact that the Islamic universe is extremely small and simple. It consists entirely of three components: "the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them" (see for example {{Quran|50|38}}), the latter of which contains such things as clouds{{Quran|2|164}} and birds{{Quran|24|41}}. More often, just the heavens and earth are shorthand for the entirety of creation. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|31|26}}|To Allah belong all things in heaven and earth: verily Allah is He (that is) free of all wants, worthy of all praise.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|31|26}}|To Allah belong all things in heaven and earth: verily Allah is He (that is) free of all wants, worthy of all praise.}} | ||
There is no recognition of any of the other features of the universe that modern peoples take for granted. There is no concept of solar systems, of galaxies, or of “space.” There is no hint that the earth is a planet like the other planets visible from it, or that stars are other suns, just very far away. Qur'anic cosmology is primarily limited to that which is visible to the naked eye, and where it goes beyond this, [[Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran|invariably strays]] from what has been learned by scientific investigation. | |||
The fundamental status of the “heavens and the earth” as the two main components of [[creation]] is emphasized repeatedly in the Qur'an, and it is the “separation” of the two that stands as the initial creative act of [[Allah]]. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|30}}|Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?}} | |||
Additionally, the Qur'an is clear that when Allah created the heavens and the earth, the earth came first. | Additionally, the Qur'an is clear that when Allah created the heavens and the earth, the earth came first. | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran|2|29}}|He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|2|29}}|He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}} | ||
===The Heavens and their Denizens=== | ===The Heavens and their Denizens=== | ||
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And so, we have the Islamic Universe in completion. | And so, we have the Islamic Universe in completion. | ||
==See Also== | ==See Also== |