2,807
edits
The Quran and Mountains: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
| [unchecked revision] | [checked revision] |
(→Casting mountains into the earth: Added Tabatai & Mirsadri (2016) academic reference on mountains, further explaining their purpose and l-rawāsiya meaning) |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
| Line 61: | Line 61: | ||
daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā | daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā | ||
He spread it out and when He saw that it was settled upon the waters, He fixed the mountains upon it}} | |||
Though the idea of mountains preventing the world from shaking is far more ancient, being found even in much earlier Vedic texts,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Veda Veda] | Hinduism | Britannica Entry | Though the idea of mountains preventing the world from shaking is far more ancient, being found even in much earlier Vedic texts,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Veda Veda] | Hinduism | Britannica Entry | ||
''..No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the Vedas, but the period of about 1500–1200 BCE is acceptable to most scholars..''</ref> along with a similar creation story of the [[Scientific Errors in the Quran#Earth%20and%20heavens%20torn%20apart|Earth and sky being split]] in {{Quran|21|30}} and cosmic waters, with all three being folklore of ancient people.<ref>Witzel, E.J. Michael. The Origins of the World's Mythologies (p. 137). Oxford University Press. | ''..No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the Vedas, but the period of about 1500–1200 BCE is acceptable to most scholars..''</ref> along with a similar creation story of the [[Scientific Errors in the Quran#Earth%20and%20heavens%20torn%20apart|Earth and sky being split]] in {{Quran|21|30}} and [[:en:A_Barrier_Between_Two_Seas_and_the_Cosmic_Ocean|cosmic waters]], with all three being folklore of ancient people.<ref>Witzel, E.J. Michael. The Origins of the World's Mythologies (p. 137). Oxford University Press. | ||
''Footnote 289 (p. 470): Ṛgveda 1.19.7 etc.; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā 1.10.13; Kaṭha Saṃhitā 36.7 (see above, § 2, n. 167; § 3, n. 283. Note that both the stemming part and the fixing of the Earth occur much later in mythological time than that of Heaven and Earth. Indra is a descendant of the second generation of deities. If we count the Asuras or Titans as the third generation, they are in fact the cousins of the “fourth” generation, to which Indra belongs. In Japan, the feature of preparing the land for habitation occurs again later on (cf. Aston 1972: 59). Probably in both traditions, myths were restructured restructured and attributed to the most important gods.''</ref> | ''Footnote 289 (p. 470): Ṛgveda 1.19.7 etc.; Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā 1.10.13; Kaṭha Saṃhitā 36.7 (see above, § 2, n. 167; § 3, n. 283. Note that both the stemming part and the fixing of the Earth occur much later in mythological time than that of Heaven and Earth. Indra is a descendant of the second generation of deities. If we count the Asuras or Titans as the third generation, they are in fact the cousins of the “fourth” generation, to which Indra belongs. In Japan, the feature of preparing the land for habitation occurs again later on (cf. Aston 1972: 59). Probably in both traditions, myths were restructured restructured and attributed to the most important gods.''</ref> | ||
| Line 170: | Line 170: | ||
Further evidence that the tamīda verses refer to the earth as a whole moving is found in a hadith collected by al-Tirmidhi. Its authenticity is graded hasan (good) by Dar-us-Salam, though regardless, this hadith provides linguistic evidence on the meaning of tamīda in relation to the earth as a whole. | Further evidence that the tamīda verses refer to the earth as a whole moving is found in a hadith collected by al-Tirmidhi. Its authenticity is graded hasan (good) by Dar-us-Salam, though regardless, this hadith provides linguistic evidence on the meaning of tamīda in relation to the earth as a whole. | ||
{{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi|| | {{Quote|{{Al Tirmidhi||6|44|3369}}|Anas bin Malik narrated that: | ||
The Prophet said: “When Allah created the earth, it started shaking [tamīdu]. So He created the mountains, and said to them: ‘Upon it’ so it began to settle. [...]}} | The Prophet said: “When Allah created the earth, it started shaking [tamīdu]. So He created the mountains, and said to them: ‘Upon it’ so it began to settle. [...]}} | ||
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/ | Likewise, prominent Qur'anic commentator [[W:Ibn_Kathir|Ibn Kathir]] says in his tafsir: | ||
Similarly, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafsir_al-Jalalayn Tafsir Al-Jalalayn,]another prominent Sunni commentary says: | {{Quote|[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/31.10 Tafsir Ibn Kathir 31:10]|(and has set on the earth firm mountains) means, the mountains which stabilize and lend weight to the earth, lest it should shake with its water.}} | ||
Similarly, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafsir_al-Jalalayn Tafsir Al-Jalalayn,] another prominent Sunni commentary says: | |||
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/15.19 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 15:19]|And the earth We have stretched it out, spread it flat, and cast therein firm mountains, lest it should sway beneath its inhabitants, and caused to grow therein every kind of balanced thing, [every kind of thing] known and determined.}} | {{Quote|[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/15.19 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn 15:19]|And the earth We have stretched it out, spread it flat, and cast therein firm mountains, lest it should sway beneath its inhabitants, and caused to grow therein every kind of balanced thing, [every kind of thing] known and determined.}} | ||
| Line 242: | Line 243: | ||
Critics also argue here that it is nearly impossible to correlate this stabilization effect, how minimally real it may be, with any remotely plausible interpretation of the relevant verses. | Critics also argue here that it is nearly impossible to correlate this stabilization effect, how minimally real it may be, with any remotely plausible interpretation of the relevant verses. | ||
===Preventing/lest (أَن) versus 'reducing'=== | |||
As has been discussed in the sections above, the apologists' claim rests on the (incorrect) assumption that mountains reduce the seismic impact of Earthquakes, (or occasionally some other kind of movement) to interpret what is meant by Earth's swaying/shaking. However the Arabic word used in the verses is '[https://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=(16:15:5) أَن / an]', for 'lest'.<ref>[https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/01_A/138_An.html أَن] - Lane's Lexicon </ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|16|15}}|He cast firm mountains in the earth lest (أَن) it should shake with you, and [made] streams and ways, so that you may be guided.}} | |||
Thought the word 'lest' has fallen out of fashion in modern English,<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page68.shtml BBC World Learning Service]. Q&A.</ref> its meaning is: ''in order to prevent any possibility that something will happen'',<ref>Cambridge Dictionary: [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lest Lest]</ref> i.e. to stop it from happening. It is also translated as 'otherwise' in these contexts. You can see its other Quranic usage [https://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?t=1&q=lest here]. For example: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|127}}|And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Yes! We testify," lest (أَن) you should say on the Day of Resurrection: "Verily, we have been unaware of this."}} | |||
No-one would ever claim mountains actually prevent earthquakes altogether, considering that they do not do so and that in fact there is a positive correlation between them and mountain ranges ([[The Quran and Mountains#Mountains prevent the Earth from moving / convulsing / inclining|see above]]). Nor would they claim that any of the other processes in their interpretations are stopped altogether. The apologists have essentially and subtly substituted 'lest' meaning to ''prevent or stop'', with ''lower/reduce/diminish the effect of'', yet the Qur'an does not say 'reduce/lower shaking' etc.,<ref>E.g. see alternative Arabic words for reducing that could have been used if that is what it meant here: [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-arabic/reduce Cambridge English to Arabic dictionary] and here: [https://www.arabicstudentsdictionary.com/word?word_id=b4b95ee3-4477-4df5-b43a-7dba8a4a5c7f&root_id=d734198e-e468-41a4-b6b7-3f7904ced653&action=wordLink Arabic Student's Dictionary]. This does not even include potential metaphors that could have been used to express lowering.</ref> nor does the Qur'an say mountains prevent the Earth shaking/swaying ''a lot/heavily etc'' - so we would expect to see no shaking/swaying from whichever alleged natural process this is referring to rather than simply a minor reduction - making the entire argument invalid. | |||
And once again, critics note that the language used here perfectly matches a pre-modern worldview of mountains being tent pegs holding down a flat Earth that outright stops it from swaying (given the lack of understanding of physics at the time of revelation), either in space or the cosmic ocean. | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||