2,743
edits
Cosmology of the Quran: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) (Image has numerous inaccuracies - a good one is in the Tabatab'i article p.217, though permission would need to be sought) |
Lightyears (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
==Introduction== | ==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. | 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.org account).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tabatabaʾi |first1=Mohammad A. |last2=Mirsadri |first2=Saida |date=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. | 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. | ||
| Line 63: | Line 63: | ||
I heard Allah's Apostle say: He who took a span of earth wrongly '''would be made to wear around his neck''' seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.}} | I heard Allah's Apostle say: He who took a span of earth wrongly '''would be made to wear around his neck''' seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.}} | ||
Janos notes that Sumerian incantations dated to the 1st millenium BCE mention both the seven heavens and seven earths (citing Wayne Horowitz, who translated them as "the heavens are seven, the earths are seven").<ref>Janos, ''Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective'' p. 221</ref> Tabataba'i and Mirsadri similarly note from Horowitz that this tradition was popular in the near east in first millenia BCE and CE, though also that only the seven heavens, but not seven earths found their way into the | Janos notes that Sumerian incantations dated to the 1st millenium BCE mention both the seven heavens and seven earths (citing Wayne Horowitz, who translated them as "the heavens are seven, the earths are seven").<ref>Janos, ''Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective'' p. 221</ref> Tabataba'i and Mirsadri similarly note from Horowitz that this tradition was popular in the near east in first millenia BCE and CE, though also that only the seven heavens, but not seven earths found their way into the Hebrew literature.<ref>Tabataba'i and Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' p. 209</ref> | ||
While contrasting the Biblical view of fresh and salty waters with the two seas of certain Qur'anic verses (fresh and salty - see for example {{Quran|25|53}} and the quest of Moses to find their junction in {{Quran|18|60}}, they note another difference to the Biblical and Mesopotamian cosmologies, which is that the Qur'an does not mention an ocean encircling the flat disk of the earth.<ref>Ibid. pp. 213-214</ref> | While contrasting the Biblical view of fresh and salty waters with the two seas of certain Qur'anic verses (fresh and salty - see for example {{Quran|25|53}} and the quest of Moses to find their junction in {{Quran|18|60}}, they note another difference to the Biblical and Mesopotamian cosmologies, which is that the Qur'an does not mention an ocean encircling the flat disk of the earth.<ref>Ibid. pp. 213-214</ref> | ||
| Line 82: | Line 82: | ||
The following is a summary of the arguments Tabataba'i and Mirsadri employ to argue that the Qur'anic heavens are flat:<ref>Tabataba'i and Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' pp. 218-234</ref> | The following is a summary of the arguments Tabataba'i and Mirsadri employ to argue that the Qur'anic heavens are flat:<ref>Tabataba'i and Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' pp. 218-234</ref> | ||
* They interpret {{Quran|51|47}} | * They interpret {{Quran|51|47}} ("We have built the heaven with might, and We it is Who make the vast extent (thereof).") to mean that the heavens and are continually expanded, which favours a flat expanse rather than a dome (One might add in that case that the next verse about spreading the earth, with the same grammatical form, too fits this view). They also consider that verses mentioning invisible pillars (see below) favour a flat, roof like firmament. | ||
* Verses in which the seven heavens are likened to the earth (their interpretation of {{Quran|67|12}} mentioned above), including in terms of their width e.g. {{Quran|57|21}} "a Garden whereof the breadth is as the breadth of the heavens and the earth". | * Verses in which the seven heavens are likened to the earth (their interpretation of {{Quran|67|12}} mentioned above), including in terms of their width e.g. {{Quran|57|21}} "a Garden whereof the breadth is as the breadth of the heavens and the earth". | ||
* These heavens are arranged in layers ({{Quran|67|3}}, {{Quran|71|15}}, which more obviously suggests flatness, and this word tibiqan is similar to the Babylonian tubuqati, suggesting that seven superimposed flat heavens is a belief they have in common. | * These heavens are arranged in layers ({{Quran|67|3}}, {{Quran|71|15}}, which more obviously suggests flatness, and this word tibiqan is similar to the Babylonian tubuqati, suggesting that seven superimposed flat heavens is a belief they have in common. | ||
* While interest in the heavens (as opposed to their contents) is largely absent from pre-Islamic poetry, the poems of Umayya Ibn Abi Salt likened the heavens to seven floors one above another, and liken the carpet shaped earth to the uplifted heaven. | * While interest in the heavens (as opposed to their contents) is largely absent from pre-Islamic poetry, the poems of Umayya Ibn Abi Salt likened the heavens to seven floors one above another, and liken the carpet shaped earth to the uplifted heaven. | ||
* Despite the obvious potential use of tents as an analogy for the heavens, the Qur'an does not do so. Mountains act as pegs to stabilise the earth rather than hold down a heavenly tent canopy. | * Despite the obvious potential use of tents as an analogy for the heavens, the Qur'an does not do so. Mountains act as pegs to stabilise the earth rather than hold down a heavenly tent canopy. | ||
* The notion of a flat sky was common in ancient Mesopotamia and the near east (as also noted by Janos, citing Horowitz<ref>Janos, ''Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective'' pp. 216-217</ref>) though some scholars instead say that the universal belief of the scientifically naive peoples of the world was that it was dome shaped. Those who suppose that the pre- | * The notion of a flat sky was common in ancient Mesopotamia and the near east (as also noted by Janos, citing Horowitz<ref>Janos, ''Qurʾānic cosmography in its historical perspective'' pp. 216-217</ref>) though some scholars instead say that the universal belief of the scientifically naive peoples of the world was that it was dome shaped. Those who suppose that the pre-Islamic Arabs had a dome shaped conception due to their tent dwellings ignore the evidence that Mecca was an urban environment with flat roofs. | ||
* 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. | * 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. | ||
They note that Janos too favours a flat heavens interpretation. For him, it was enough that the Qur'anic firmament is likened to a canopy or roof ( | They note that Janos too favours a flat heavens interpretation. For him, it was enough that the Qur'anic firmament is likened to a canopy or roof ({{Quran|2|22}}, {{Quran|21|32}}, {{Quran|40|64}}); binaa; saqf, which latter originally seems to have referred to flat roofs, including in the Qur'an {{Quran|16|26}}, {{Quran|43|33}}, and arranged in layers as mentioned above - they agree with him on the strength of this latter point), though he is also open to the dome-shaped view based on tafsir sources rather than any internal evidence, while van Bladel relies mainly on pre-Qur'anic sources for his discussion of whether the Qur'anic heavens are a dome, tent or roof. | ||
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. | 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. | ||
| Line 217: | Line 217: | ||
===The throne of Allah=== | ===The throne of Allah=== | ||
Tabataba'i and Mirsadri note that Allah seems to reside in the Qur'anic heaven, 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}}).<ref>Mohammad Ali Tabatabaʾi and Saida Mirsadri, ''The Qurʾānic Cosmology, as an Identity in Itself'' | Tabataba'i and Mirsadri note that Allah seems to reside in the Qur'anic heaven, 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 wery 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> | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|67|16-17}}|Have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not cause the earth to swallow you when lo! it is convulsed? Or have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not let loose on you a hurricane? But ye shall know the manner of My warning.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|67|16-17}}|Have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not cause the earth to swallow you when lo! it is convulsed? Or have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not let loose on you a hurricane? But ye shall know the manner of My warning.}} | ||