Geocentrism and the Quran: Difference between revisions

Geocentrism and the Quran (view source)

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 {{Quote|{{cite quran|39|5|style=ref}}|He created the heavens and earth in truth. He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term.}}
-As with 7:54 mentioned above and the verses where the day and night (as well as the sun and moon) have a falak<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak"></ref>, the night and day are referred to as active entities, and there is no suggestion that the Earth revolves. It would be quite reasonable to describe the Earth as passing through night and day, or perhaps even to say that night and day wrap around the earth as you could spin an item in order to wrap it with something. But the Qur'an just says that the day or night wrap each other. The night and day are always present on opposite sides of the Earth.
+As with {{Quran|7|54}} and the verses where the day and night (as well as the sun and moon) are said to have a ''falak''<ref name="LanesLexiconFalak"></ref>, the night and day are referred to as active entities, and there is indication suggesting that the Earth revolves. Here, critics argue that it would make sense to describe the Earth as passing through night and day or to say that night and day wrap around the earth, as one might spin an item in order to wrap it with something. But, the critics note, the Qur'an instead says that the day or night wrap about one another rather than the earth, suggesting that the night and day possess some manner of corporeal form.
-One solution may be to suppose that 'day' means the half of the Earth that is currently sunward, and 'night' means the shadow of the Earth cast by the sun, but then to make the next phrase work the 'night' would instead have to mean the half of the Earth that is currently opposite the sun, and the 'day' would have to mean the light from the sun.
+To this, some modern Islamic scholars have responded that 'day' here refers to that half of the Earth that is currently sunward and that 'night' refers to the shadow of the Earth cast by the sun. Critics are, however, unsatisfied with this rebuttal. They note that if this argument is accepted, then in order to make the next phrase work, the 'night' would instead have to refer to that half of the Earth that is currently opposite the sun, and, moreover, the 'day' would have to refer to the light from the sun.
-A common claim by some of those who believe that 39:5 is a reference to the Earth's rotation is that this phrase is the most perfect that Allah could use without causing 7th century Arabs to dismiss Muhammad's message. Yet the Qur'an itself records that Muhammad was much mocked anyway by those who disbelieved what he said, and the Qur'an contains many claims that sounded absurd even to many of his contemporaries, so critics tend to criticise the Qur'an for not giving even some vague indication that the earth itself is revolving or that it has an orbit.
+A common claim by some of those who believe that 39:5 is a reference to the Earth's rotation is that this phrase is the most perfect that Allah could use without causing 7th century Arabs to dismiss Muhammad's message. Yet the Qur'an itself records that Muhammad was much mocked anyway by those who disbelieved what he said, and the Qur'an contains many claims that sounded absurd even to many of his contemporaries, so critics tend to criticize the Qur'an for not giving even some vague indication that the earth itself is revolving or that it has an orbit.
 There are also two nearly identical verses to 39.5. These are 31:29 and 35:13 (also with the similar phrase are 3:27 22:61 and 57:6) where instead of 'he wraps', the verb 'he causes to enter' (yooliju) is used. Together, along with 7:54 where the day covers and chases the night (or vice versa), they present a picture of the day and night successively wrapping across each other and in so doing covering the other and entering into it, though the night never outruns (sabiqu) the day (36:40).