Exoplanets in the Quran

Exoplanets are planets outside our solar system. They do not orbit around the Sun. So the term "exoplanet" already doesn't make sense within the Islamic doctrine, since the Quran says that the Sun orbits around the Earth and sets into a muddy spring.

"Miraculous" verse supposedly about exoplanets

This translation was done by people who promote the concept of miracles in the Quran:

Allah is the one who created seven Heavens and from Earth like them (of corresponding type); [Allah's] command descends among them so that you may know that Allah is capable of anything and that Allah knows everything.

Quran 65:12 translated by promoters of "Quranic miracles"

The Arabic words for "seven Heavens and from Earth like them (of corresponding type)" are:

سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَمِنَ الْأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ

Quran 65:12, Arabic

• سَبْعَ - seven
• سَمَاوَاتٍ - heavens
• وَمِنَ - and (و) of/from (من, min)
• الْأَرْضِ - the earth
• مِثْلَهُنَّ - like (مثل) them (هن)
  • "them" (هن, hunna) is feminine plural and refers to the heavens

"from" Earth like them?

من can mean "from", but it can also mean "of" and it is usually translated as "of" in 65:12:

Dr. Ghali: ..seven heavens, and of the earth their like..

Muhsin Khan: ..seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven)..

Pickthall: ..seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof..

Sahih International: ..seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them..

Yusuf Ali: ..even Firmaments and of the earth a similar number..

Quran 65:12

What would the translation "from the Earth like them" even mean. "from Earth" means that the Earth is the source. So Allah created 7 heavens and from the Earth he created similar heavens? So there are 14 heavens now?

Most translators translated it as "of the Earth", meaning there is seven of Earths, just like there is seven of heavens. The phrase "seven of (من) something" was also used in a different verse:

And We have certainly given you, [O Muhammad], seven of (من) the often repeated [verses] and the great Qur'an.

Quran 15:87

Meaning

According to tafsir al-Jalalayn there are seven heavens and below them are seven (flat) earths and we are on the top (7th) earth:

God it is Who created seven heavens and of earth the like thereof that is to say seven earths. The command the revelation descends between them between the heavens and the earth Gabriel descends with it from the seventh heaven to the seventh earth that you may know

Tafsir al-Jalalayn on 65:12

There is also a hadith which talks about the seven (flat) Earths below us:

Narrated Abu Salama:

That there was a dispute between him and some people (about a piece of land). When he told `Aisha about it, she said, "O Abu Salama! Avoid taking the land unjustly, for the Prophet (ﷺ) said, 'Whoever usurps even one span of the land of somebody, his neck will be encircled with it down the seven earths."

Sahih Bukhari 3:43:633

So the verse 65:12 talks about seven Earths below us and not about exoplanets.

See also

• Spacetime in the Quran

External:

• miracles-of-quran.com: Exoplanets