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Geocentrism and the Quran: Difference between revisions
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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
=== In Islamic cosmology === | ===In Islamic cosmology=== | ||
The Qur'an says that both the sun and the moon swim or float in a circuitous path, celestial sphere or, more likely, a hemisphere (a ''falak'' in the Arabic<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" />). It seems that Allah brings the sun from the east, which then goes high above the Earth, and after sunset goes to a resting place. All this takes place around an Earth that is spread out (or flattened) and which possesses a firmament of seven heavens built atop it without visible pillars. | The Qur'an says that both the sun and the moon swim or float in a circuitous path, celestial sphere or, more likely, a hemisphere (a ''falak'' in the Arabic<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" />). It seems that Allah brings the sun from the east, which then goes high above the Earth, and after sunset goes to a resting place. All this takes place around an Earth that is spread out (or flattened) and which possesses a firmament of seven heavens built atop it without visible pillars. | ||
=== Historical background === | ===Historical background=== | ||
Geocentrism is the notion that the Earth is the (immovable) center of our universe, thus all celestial bodies move around it. The ancient Greeks and the Europeans of the middle ages thought that the celestial bodies (the sun, the moon and the 5 known planets) all moved in celestial spheres around a spherical Earth. This was the theory of Ptolemy (d. 170 CE), who was followed by [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Greek_and_Indian_astronomical_knowledge|Muslim astronomers from the 9th century CE]], though Islamic texts expressing doubts about his ideas started to appear regularly from the 10th century.<ref>{{citation|last=Hoskin|first=Michael|title=The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-57600-0|date=25 April 2021|page=60}}</ref> Aside from notable exceptions such as Aristarchus of Samos, heliocentrism was only advocated by occasional figures with small followings and widely rejected before the work of Copernicus. | Geocentrism is the notion that the Earth is the (immovable) center of our universe, thus all celestial bodies move around it. The ancient Greeks and the Europeans of the middle ages thought that the celestial bodies (the sun, the moon and the 5 known planets) all moved in celestial spheres around a spherical Earth. This was the theory of Ptolemy (d. 170 CE), who was followed by [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Greek_and_Indian_astronomical_knowledge|Muslim astronomers from the 9th century CE]], though Islamic texts expressing doubts about his ideas started to appear regularly from the 10th century.<ref>{{citation|last=Hoskin|first=Michael|title=The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-57600-0|date=25 April 2021|page=60}}</ref> Aside from notable exceptions such as Aristarchus of Samos, heliocentrism was only advocated by occasional figures with small followings and widely rejected before the work of Copernicus. | ||
Geocentrism is different from the idea that the [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth|Earth is flat]]. However, while those who believe in geocentrism do not always hold the Earth to be flat, those who hold the Earth to be flat almost invariably believe in geocentrism. | Geocentrism is different from the idea that the [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth|Earth is flat]]. However, while those who believe in geocentrism do not always hold the Earth to be flat, those who hold the Earth to be flat almost invariably believe in geocentrism. | ||
==== Historical influences on Islamic cosmology ==== | ====Historical influences on Islamic cosmology==== | ||
The geocentrism and cosmography in general of the Qur'an shows little or no influence from Ptolemaic concepts of heavenly spheres, each containing a celestial body, according to which paradigm the Qur'an and the word ''falak'' came to be interpreted<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" /><ref name="vanBladelCords">{{citation|last1=van Bladel |first1=Kevin |date=2007 |title=Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=223-246 |doi= |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> In a paper on Qur'anic cosmography, Damien Janos notes that the "Qurʾānic cosmology stems from a different religious background and it does not contain any conspicuous signs of synthesis or assimilation with the cosmological trends indebted to 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 p. 224</ref> and observes that in various respects the two paradigms are incompatible, particularly as the celestial bodies move in the lowest part of the seven heavens in the Qur'anic model.<ref>Ibid. p. 221</ref> Rather, the Qur'an is more reflective of its Biblical and Mesopotamian predecessors (see also [[Cosmology of the Quran]]). In the same paper Janos does, however, theorise that the Qur'anic ''falak'' may contain Greek influence given how often it was interpreted in terms of circularity or sphericity by Muslim scholars. He also considers as a possible hypothesis that both the ''falak'' and seven heavens "can be construed as having not a fully spherical shape, but rather a hemispherical or domed-shape", and the sun would transit back to its origin in the east "via an underground passage", which "finds some support in traditional Arabic reports [...] and seems to have Mesopotamian antecendents".<ref>Ibid. p. 228</ref> | The geocentrism and cosmography in general of the Qur'an shows little or no influence from Ptolemaic concepts of heavenly spheres, each containing a celestial body, according to which paradigm the Qur'an and the word ''falak'' came to be interpreted<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak" /><ref name="vanBladelCords">{{citation|last1=van Bladel |first1=Kevin |date=2007 |title=Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=223-246 |doi= |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> In a paper on Qur'anic cosmography, Damien Janos notes that the "Qurʾānic cosmology stems from a different religious background and it does not contain any conspicuous signs of synthesis or assimilation with the cosmological trends indebted to 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 p. 224</ref> and observes that in various respects the two paradigms are incompatible, particularly as the celestial bodies move in the lowest part of the seven heavens in the Qur'anic model.<ref>Ibid. p. 221</ref> Rather, the Qur'an is more reflective of its Biblical and Mesopotamian predecessors (see also [[Cosmology of the Quran]]). In the same paper Janos does, however, theorise that the Qur'anic ''falak'' may contain Greek influence given how often it was interpreted in terms of circularity or sphericity by Muslim scholars. He also considers as a possible hypothesis that both the ''falak'' and seven heavens "can be construed as having not a fully spherical shape, but rather a hemispherical or domed-shape", and the sun would transit back to its origin in the east "via an underground passage", which "finds some support in traditional Arabic reports [...] and seems to have Mesopotamian antecendents".<ref>Ibid. p. 228</ref> | ||
==Geocentrism in the Qur'an== | ==Geocentrism in the Qur'an== | ||
The | The Qur'an in several places and contexts advances or alludes to descriptions of the heavenly bodies which explicitly or implicitly entail a geocentric model of the solar system. Seven such distinct assertions form the crux of the discussion on geocentrism in the Quran. | ||
First is the strongly implied idea that both the courses or orbits (''falak'') taken by the sun and moon should be visible to the people addressed in the Qur'an. Second is the Quran's assertion that the moon follows the sun. The orbital "floating" or "swimming" (the verb جري) of the sun is always mentioned with that of the moon, and in these verses they are nearly always mentioned in the context of night and day.<ref>21:33, 39:40, 31:29, 35:13, and 39:5; the exception being 13:2. See also 14:33, though note that the word translated "constant in their courses" is daibayni, which is simply a verb meaning to strive, toil, labour, hold on or continue. Ref: dal-alif-ba [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume3/00000005.pdf Lane's Lexicon Volume 1 page 106]</ref> | |||
Third, in {{Quran-range|36|37|40}}, which is a passage about night and day, right after describing the change from day to night the passages states that the sun runs on to a designated resting place (see footnotes regarding the Arabic word here, which differs from similar verses).<ref>"''And a Sign for them is the Night: We withdraw therefrom the Day, and behold they are plunged in darkness; And the sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (Him), the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing. And the Moon,- We have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law).''" - {{cite Quran|36|37|end=40|style=ref}}</ref><ref name="mustaqarrin">A few translations use instead, "appointed term", though in nearly all other verses where we find mustaqarrin (qaf-ra-ra قرر [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000029.pdf Lane's Lexicon Volume 1 page 2501]) as a participle they translate it as a place of settlement or an abode or resting place. There are other verses (35:13, 31:29, 39:5, 13:2) that mention the sun and moon floating/swimming (with the same verb as is translated "run" in 36:38) for a term appointed, but these use the words لِأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى which do indeed mean a term appointed, but note that mustaqarrin مُسْتَقَرٍّ in 36:38 is a different word.</ref> There are also sahih hadith that use the same Arabic word as in {{Quran|36|38}} to identify "a resting place" as part of the sun's daily cycle.<ref>{{Muslim|1|297}}. For the Arabic of this hadith, see [http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306 here]</ref> An alternative view is that this refers to the sun's final resting on the last day rather than some temporal location. Another similar sahih hadith apparently supports this view.<ref>With a different ending indicating that the مُسْتَقَرٍّ (resting place) in 36:38 refers to the end of the world when the sun is asked to rise from its setting place (مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا). Ref: {{Bukhari|9|93|520}}. For the Arabic see [http://sunnah.com/bukhari/97/52 here]</ref> Whichever meaning was originally intended, the sun's movement is nevertheless mentioned right after describing day and night, just as the next verse mentions the different mansions appointed for the moon each night. The whole passage is about day and night and the sun and moon's movement in that context. | |||
Fourth is the idea that the sun and moon each float in an orbit ({{Quran|21|33}} and {{Quran|36|40}}), or more precisely, each in a ''falak'', a word with various meanings related to the celestial sphere or dome-shaped things, as described in Lane's lexicon of classical arabic<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak"></ref>. His main definition is the place of the revolving of the stars, the celestial sphere, generally imagined to be a hemisphere by the Arabs, or the pole of the heavens. The more common English translations, 'orbit', or 'rounded course', seem to be based on the meanings related to roundness or circling. Ibn 'Abbas is recorded in the tafasir (commentaries) of al-Tabari and of ibn Kathir explaining that the sun and moon swimming in a falak means 'in a whirl (whorl), like the whirl of a spindle' (a hemisphere-shaped object).<ref>The Arabic reads:فِي فَلْكَة كَفَلْكَةِ الْمِغْزَل fee falka, ka-falkati almighzal - at-Tabari and ibn Kathir on 36:40 [http://quran.al-islam.com/Loader.aspx?pageid=215 quran.al-islam.com] (select the tafsir, surah and ayah). Similarly for 21:33 in ibn Kathir, "Ibn Abbas said, 'Spinning like as spins the spindle in a whirl'". Lane translates the exact same words attributed to ibn 'Abbas as "the whirl of a spindle...thus called because of its roundness...it is a piece of wood, generally of hemispherical form, or nearly so, through the middle of which the upper part of the spindle-pin is inserted" (see link to his lexicon page 2444 in an earlier footnote for falak above).</ref> It may also be based on another ibn 'Abbas comment, as noted by ibn Kathir, that the sun runs in its falak in the sky / heaven during the day, and when it sets, it runs at night in its falak underneath the Earth until it rises in the east.<ref>"Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, 'The sun is like flowing water, running in its course [falakha] in the sky [alssama] during the day. When it sets, it travels [at night - bi al-layli (omitted in the translation)] in its course [falakha] beneath the earth until it rises in the east.' He said, 'The same is true in the case of the moon.' Its chain of narration is Sahih."<BR>[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1784 Tafsir ibn Kathir for Qur'an 31:29]<BR>For the Arabic, see [http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1 quran.al-islam.com]</ref> Al-Tabari further mentions other opinions, such as that it means the pole of the heavens, and similarly, the shape of an iron [axis of a?] millstone. | |||
Fifth is the statement that "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon", though on the last day they will be joined together, which is thus suggestive of the two bodies orbiting the same central body and while being positioned at a relatively similar distance. Sixth is the idea that stars have certain fixed "settings" (or ''mawaqi''); and while the day, night, the sun and moon are mentioned as all floating in an orbit (''falak''), while there is no indication of the Earth possessing its own orbit or ''falak''.<ref>{{cite quran|56|75}}</ref> And seventh is the verse which approvingly quotes Abraham saying that Allah brings the sun from the east along and the verses in the Dhu'l Qarnayn story which describe the setting and rising places of the sun as concrete locations which humans can visit and have visited (and even resided nearby) historically. | |||
===The visibility of the sun's movement=== | ===The visibility of the sun's movement=== | ||