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". Many verses expand on the various elements of this scheme, without going into great detail. Overall, a picture emerges of a flat earth (and perhaps seven of these), above which are seven heavenly firmaments of uncertain shape (commonly assumed to be domed; more recently some historians have argued that the Qur'anic heavens are flat) and held up without visible pillars. Lamps adorn the lowest of these heavens. The sun and moon circulate in them in a partly ambiguous manner. Allāh resides in heaven above the creation, sitting on a throne. Academic work has situated this picture within the context of earlier Mesopotamian and Biblical cosmological concepts, while noting its own distinctive identity.

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 Hellenistic (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.

Any accounting of the cosmology of the Qur'an must begin with the fact that the Islamic universe is extremely 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|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.}}

Tabataba'i and Mirsadri note 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>Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' p. 211</ref> Meanwhile, certain Christian scholars of the 6th century influenced by the ancient Greeks, in dispute with their counterparts in the east, believed in its sphericity, as noted by van Bladel.<ref>Van Bladel, Kevin, ''Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context'' pp. 224-226</ref> 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>

{{Quote|{{Quran|18|60}}|And [mention] when Moses said to his servant, "I will not cease [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period."}}

[[File:QuranicCosmographyTabatabaiMirsadri.jpg|right|thumb|175px|Illustration of Qur'anic cosmography based on the analysis of Tabataba'i and Mirsadri. Their own copyrighted illustration is available in their paper<ref>Tabataba'i and Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' pp. 217</ref> The shape of the heavens in the Qur'an is uncertain.]]

*They argue that the Qur'an's ideological antipathy to the Bedouins would have extended to their use of tents for pagan practices, and for this reason may have rejected any possible existing analogies with the heavens.

Further evidence that they do not mention is found in {{Quran|21|104}} and {{Quran|39|67}}, which state that the heavens will be rolled up/folded up come the day of judgement.

{{Quote|{{Quran|39|67}}|No just estimate have they made of Allah, such as is due to Him: On the Day of Judgment the whole of the earth will be but His handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand: Glory to Him! High is He above the Partners they attribute to Him!}}

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|71|15|16}}|See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, And made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp?}}

Tabataba'i and Mirsadri notice that, as with other ancient cosmologies, the Qur'anic sky/heaven is a solid object.<ref>Ibid. p. 209</ref> Unlike with the heavenly pillars in the Bible, the Qur'anic heavens are raised without visible pillars<ref>Ibid. pp. 216 and 220</ref> ({{Quran|13|2}} and {{Quran|31|10}}; Ibn Kathir in his tafsir notes two views on what is a somewhat ambiguous phrasing, as though the author was hedging his bets: "'there are pillars, but you cannot see them,' according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and several other scholars. Iyas bin Mu`awiyah said, 'The heaven is like a dome over the earth, meaning, without pillars.'"<ref>[http://m.qtafsir.com/Surah-Ar-Rad/Clarifying-Allahs-Perfect-Abi--- (English) Tafsir of Ibn Kathir for verse 13:2]<BR>[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=13&tAyahNo=2&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1&LanguageId=1 (Arabic) Tafsir of Ibn Kathir for verse 13:2]</ref>).

Each of the seven heavens is populated by multiple angels and a few other folks as well. These heavens are entered through doors in the solid domes, each with an angelic guard and each populated by a resident prophet. For example, immediately above the dome of the first heaven is where Muhammad met Adam, and discovered (in the absence of true geographic knowledge) the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (the idea that the rivers of paradise are connected to Earth is also found in {{Bukhari|4|54|429}} and {{Muslim|40|6807}}, also likely potentially to the word 'sarab' in {{Quran|18|61}}).<ref>''Tesei, Tommaso. Some Cosmological Notions from Late Antiquity in Q 18:60–65: The Quran in Light of Its Cultural Context.'' Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 135, no. 1, American Oriental Society, 2015, pp. 19–32, [https://lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/jaos/article/view/1669 https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.135.1.19].  https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7817/jameroriesoci.135.1.19</ref> The second heaven is the home of the Prophet Idris. Aaron is in the fourth heaven, Abraham the sixth, and Moses the seventh.

{{Quote|{{Quran|55|5}}|The sun and the moon [move] by precise calculation,<BR />

And the stars and trees prostrate.<BR />

Thus it seems that here the Quran is referring to a firmament that fairly divided the waters above and below it.

As Nicolai Sinai notes,<ref>''Samāʾ | heaven, sky'' Sinai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (p. 412). Princeton University Press. </ref> this is further supported by the sky (al-samā) having gates, a common cosmological idea in antiquity<ref>Anthony, Sean W., Dr.. ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The Making of the Prophet of Islam.'' University of California Press. Kindle Edition. Location 1134 - 1145.

{{Quote|{{Quran|54|11}}|Then We opened the gates of the sky with pouring waters}}

Read online for free here: ''[https://archive.org/details/encyclopaedia-of-the-quran-6-volumes-jane-dammen-mc-auliffe/page/n481/mode/2up?q=Cosmology Encyclopaedia Of The Qur’an ( 6 Volumes). Page 15/325 / 482 of 3956 of PDF]''</ref>

As Wheeler and Noegel (2010) note,<ref>Scott Noegel and Brannon Wheeler (eds.), ''The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism'', Scarecrow Press, 2010, pp. 66-68 under a section titled "Cosmology and Cosmogony":

</ref> Muslim traditions embrace the concept of a three-tiered universe: the heavens above, earth in the middle, and hell below, often depicted as an underground, fiery, or watery realm. Alongside Islamic traditions which place it here, they note Qur'anic evidence in that it describes hell as being filled with boiling water beneath the Earth (e.g. see: {{Quran|56|42-44}}, {{Quran|55|43-44}}, and  {{Quran|22|19-22}}).

{{Quote|{{Quran|54|12}}|And We caused to burst the earth (with) springs, so met the water(s) for a matter already predestined.}}

Traditional Islamic scholarship<ref>van Bladel, Kevin, "[https://islamspring2012.voices.wooster.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/192/2018/09/van-Bladel_heavenly-cords.pdf ''Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context'']", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 70 (2): 223-246, 2007. '''pp. 229'''

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198</ref> has recognised that the sky/heavens (al-samā) are equipped with what appear to be pathways or conduits, aptly named sky-ways by Tomaso Tesei,<ref>Tesei, Tommaso. 2014. “''The Prophecy of Ḏū-l-Qarnayn (Q 18:83–102) and the Origins of the Qurʾānic Corpus''.” In Miscellanea Arabica 2013–2014, edited by Angelo Arioli, 273–290. Rome: Aracne.

{{Quote|{{Quran|40|36-37}}|And Pharaoh said, "O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways (asbāb) - The ways (asbāb) into the heavens - so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar." And thus was made attractive to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was averted from the [right] way. And the plan of Pharaoh was not except in ruin.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|38|10}}|Or is theirs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and what is between them? Then let them ascend through [any] ways (asbāb) of access}}

Al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas (d. 756), to whom is attributed an early Quran commentary on verse Q38:10: "The asbāb are finer than hair and stronger than iron; it [sic] is in every place although it is invisible.<ref>Ibid. pp. 237</ref>

Van Bladel (2007) and Sinai (2023)<ref>Sinai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (p. 411-412). Princeton University Press.

''Assuming that the word sabab carries the same significance in Surah 18, on the one hand, and in Q 38:10 and 40:36–37, on the other, the heavenly pathways would seem to run not only vertically upwards to the top of the heavenly dome but also to connect distant locations on the periphery of the earth, perhaps resembling cross beams traversing the lower reaches of the heavenly dome. The literal meaning of sabab, of course, is “rope” or “cord,” and the underlying idea may be that the sky is a tent, with vertical and transverse ropes forming part of its “girding or structure” (van Bladel 2007, 234–235). Though there is plainly some tension between picturing the sky as a solid edifice and as a tent, it is quite conceivable that the Qur’an attests to different manners of imagining the heavenly dome that  were current in its cultural milieu.''  

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198</ref> This suggests that these cords (asbāb) also stretch across the sky. This interpretation is supported in some early Islamic scholars such as al-Ṭabarī (d. 923 AD) in his Qur'anic commentary, and Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (d. 871 AD) in his Kitāb Futuḥ Misr, who have Dhul-Qarnayn being brought up them (took him up 'araja bihi) by an angel.<ref>Ibid. pp. 227-228</ref>  

Also mentioned are the (l-maʿāriji ٱلْمَعَارِجِ) meaning '''A ladder, or series of steps or stairs, a thing resembling a ladder or stairway, or places of ascent''<nowiki/>'<ref>Lane's Lexicon Root: [https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/18_E/062_Erj.html عرج]  

Chronological-literary commentary on the Koran, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences by Nicolai Sinai with the collaboration of Nora K. Schmid, using preliminary work by Angelika Neuwirth. Beta version: as of October 17, 2024</ref>

We are told there are seven paths/ways/courses ṭarāiqa<ref>Lane's Lexicon root: [https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/16_T/034_Trq.html#TaraqN طرق]  

Chronological-literary commentary on the Koran, Part 2: the Late Middle Meccan Surahs, edited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences by Dirk Hartwig and Angelika Neuwirth. Beta version: as of November 5, 2024</ref>

The stars are inside the closest heaven, as the Qur'an is quite explicit on this point.

{{Quote|{{Quran|41|12}}|So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge.}}

{{Quote|{{Quran-range|71|15|16}}|See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, And made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp?}}

{{Quote|{{Quran|18|90}}|Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun.}}

The Qur'an demonstrates no understanding whatsoever of eclipses. Perhaps this is understandable. The hadith claim that Muhammad only experienced one solar eclipse during his lifetime, an experience which frightened him into a spectacular act of piety. But the Qur'an only makes a single reference to eclipses, and that is a lunar eclipse that will take place at the end of the world.

The “uniting” of the sun and the moon not only demonstrates a singular instance when they do “catch up” with each other, but suggests that its author assumed the common perception that the sun and moon are of comparable size and distance.  

It is not obvious from the [[Mistranslations of Islamic Scripture (English)|translations]] of the Qur'an that the authors of the Qur'an actually distinguished between stars and planets, as the same word is often translated to mean either. But as ancient peoples generally knew that planets were different from ordinary stars (they moved) it is a safe assumption that the earliest Muslims were equally aware.

See also {{Quran|15|16-18}} and {{Quran-range|72|8|9}}.

The term used in 15:16 is burūjan, which is commonly translated, and has been understood by most to mean 'constellations/zodiac signs' or 'great stars'. However the word can also mean 'towers', and some classical commentators have suggested this meaning (along with mansions or castles),<ref>E.g. ''Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs on [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/15.16 verse 15:16.]'' (Though the tafsir/commentary is attributed to Ibn Abbas, the prophets cousin, it is widely accepted to be at least largely a forgery - however it does give us an educated medieval Muslim's view on this verse).</ref> and some modern Muslim translators have used this interpretation.<ref>''[https://quranx.com/15.16 See Quranx on verse 15:16.]'' Ahmad Khan has used 'towers' and Marmaduke Pickthall uses 'mansions'. </ref>  

{{Quote|{{Quran|15|16-18}}|We have set in heaven <b>constellations/great stars/towers (burūjan),</b> and decked them out fair to the beholders, and We have guarded them from every outcast Satan, except someone who may eavesdrop, whereat there pursues him a manifest flame.}}

''A full in-depth analysis of the relevant verses and evidence stated for this meaning can be found on pp 114 - 131.''</ref> and Julien Decharneux<ref>''[https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110794083/html?lang=en Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur'ān and Its Late Antique Background (Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East Book 47)]'' Decharneux, Julien. 2023. (p. 313). De Gruyter.</ref>support this interpretation of towers on the firmament, with the idea of the skies/heavens (samā) being a protected celestial fortress in both the Quran itself (e.g. {{Quran|41|12}}, {{Quran|21|32}}) and biblically related traditions.  

Tabataba'i and Mirsadri note that Allāh seems to reside in the Qur'anic heaven/sky, while his footstool (kursi) extends over the heavens and earth and his throne (arshi) is carried by angels ({{Quran|39|75}} and {{Quran|40|7}}). This is very much similar to the Judeo-Christian view.<ref>Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' pp. 208-210</ref>

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 1927.</ref> believed by many scholars to date to the early 7th century by a West-Syrian writer, who lived in the Sasanian-controlled part of Northern Mesopotamia hundreds of miles north of the Hijaz, who took many ideas from earlier Judeo-Christian works.<ref>Minov, Sergey (2017). "[https://www.academia.edu/31601350 ''Date and Provenance of the Syriac Cave of Treasures: A Reappraisal'']". Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 20 (1): 129–229. [https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/hug-2018-200105/html doi:10.31826/hug-2018-200105.]</ref>

The Qur'an mentions sitting positions (maqāʿida)<ref>''Patricia Crone pp. 309.'' Azaiez, Mehdi, Reynolds, Gabriel Said, Tesei, Tommaso and Zafer, Hamza M. et al. ''[https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110445909/html The Qur'an Seminar Commentary / Le Qur'an Seminar: A Collaborative Study of 50 Qur'anic Passages] / Commentaire collaboratif de 50 passages coraniques'', Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017.  <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110445909</nowiki>

(A [https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110445909/pdf?licenseType=open-access free PDF download] can be found on the page)</ref>the jinn used to sit in before being struck by stars/meteors. Crone (2017) notes, this is based off many previous religious traditions, including Judeo-Christian literature, where a divine council (called the 'exhalated assembly' in {{Quran|37|8}}) would gather around God's throne ('arsh) for special meetings, an idea itself based off earlier Earthly monarchies where kings would hold councils of their special advisors.<ref>Ibid. pp.306 & pp.314</ref>{{Quote|{{Quran|72|9}}|We would sit (naqʿudu) there on seats (maqāʿida) to hear; but any listening (lilssamʿi) now finds a meteor in wait for him.}}Note in most translations ''maqāʿida'' is translated simply as 'positions'; however it refers to ''sitting places'' specifically,<ref>[1] مَقْعَدٌ / maqāʿida - Lane's Lexicon Classical Arabic [https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_2547.pdf Dictionary Book 1 p. 2547]</ref> (can be translated as seats such as by Arberry above) as one can see viewing how else the [https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=qEd#(72:9:5) root is used in the Qur'an] and classical Arabic dictionaries<ref>[https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/21_q/136_qEd.html qāf ʿayn dāl (ق ع د)] - Quranic Research Lane's Lexicon</ref> rather than generic positions they happen to sit in, and the neutral term for hearing (lilssamʿi) is usually turned to the word 'eavesdropping'. Penchansky (2021)<ref>Penchansky, David. Solomon and the Ant: ''The Qur’an in Conversation with the Bible. Chapter 3 Surat-al-Jinn (The Jinn Sura) Q 72:1–19—War in Heaven (pp. 69-71).'' Cascade Books. Kindle Edition.</ref> notes the translators impose these meanings on the text due to later Islamic exegetes not being comfortable with the jinn accessing the divine presence, reflected in later tafsirs, so the idea that there were specific designated places made for the jinn became taboo, and the neutral term for listening/hearing (lilssamʿi) becomes translated as the negatively charged term 'eavesdropping'.<ref>Penchansky discusses this topic on the academic "The Qur'an and the Bible" history YouTube channel with Professor Gabriel Said Reynolds: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ZlLC9CGjI Origins of the Jinn in the Qur'an W/ Dr. David Penchansky]</ref>

Tabataba'i and Mirsadri observe that for the Qur'an, there is almost no reference to what is beneath the earth, except as no more than a geographic location. There is no explicit concept of an underworld, unlike Mesopotamian mythologies, as well as those of Egypt and Greece.<ref>Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' p. 212</ref> Tabataba'i and Mirsadri (2016) also note that while there is no explicit mention of an underworld, there is one mention to 'underneath the soil/ground, which "''the waters stored there are to supply the wells and fountains and the water needed for the vegetation (Kor 39,21)''," and note that other qur'anic references imply or state this is where the waters of the rain are stored ({{Quran|23|18}} {{Quran|13|17}} {{Quran|39|21}}).<ref>Ibid. pp. 212</ref>