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Geocentrism and the Quran: Difference between revisions
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Waallayli (and the night) itha (when) yaghshaha (it covers it) | Waallayli (and the night) itha (when) yaghshaha (it covers it) | ||
At first it seems that 'day' and 'night' here may refer to the process of the Earth's rotation revealing and obstructing the view of the sun (though the verse also fits with a geocentric view where 'day' and 'night' are processes when the sun is above or below the horizon). But the verses apparent alignment with heliocentrism seems less concrete when the verses | At first it seems that 'day' and 'night' here may refer to the process of the Earth's rotation revealing and obstructing the view of the sun (though the verse also fits with a geocentric view where 'day' and 'night' are processes when the sun is above or below the horizon). But the verses apparent alignment with heliocentrism seems less concrete when the verses detailed below are considered. For the Earth is actually a globe, and there are no specific times 'when' (itha) the day reveals the sun or the night conceals it. Rather at all times half the Earth is in daytime and half in nighttime, so the sun is at all times both revealed and concealed. This problem wouldn't arise if the word 'when' (itha) was absent in these verses. | ||
There are other verses that mention the night covering (with the same Arabic verb as 91.4), which show that the verb in this context does not simply mean the body of the earth blocking the line of sight to something. Verses 92:1-2 use identical words as 91:3-4, but without the pronoun suffix at the end. So the night is when things generally are covered, not just the sun on the other side of the Earth, and the day is when things generally are revealed. Clearly the verbs are meant in a poetic sense. | There are other verses that mention the night covering (with the same Arabic verb as 91.4), which show that the verb in this context does not simply mean the body of the earth blocking the line of sight to something. Verses 92:1-2 use identical words as 91:3-4, but without the pronoun suffix at the end. So the night is when things generally are covered, not just the sun on the other side of the Earth, and the day is when things generally are revealed. Clearly the verbs are meant in a poetic sense. | ||
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{{Quote|{{cite quran|10|27|style=ref}}|they will have no one to save them from Allah; as if their faces are covered with pieces of the dark night}} | {{Quote|{{cite quran|10|27|style=ref}}|they will have no one to save them from Allah; as if their faces are covered with pieces of the dark night}} | ||
With the same | With the same Arabic word for cover yet again in verse 7:54, this time it is the day doing the covering, or possibly the other way round (the Arabic is ambiguous and translations differ, while tafsirs take the view that it means both) and it is quite a stretch if not impossible to interpret this as the rotating Earth blocking the night (whatever this might mean) in analogy to their interpretation of 91:4. Rather it seems that the day and night are active entities in the Qur'an. | ||
{{Quote|{{cite quran|7|54|style=ref}}|He covereth the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it}} | {{Quote|{{cite quran|7|54|style=ref}}|He covereth the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it}} | ||
The other verse used as evidence of heliocentrism is 39:5. Here the word translated wraps (kawwara, as with a turban, for example) supposedly indicates the rotation of the Earth. | The other verse used as evidence of heliocentrism is 39:5. Here the word translated wraps (kawwara, as with a turban, for example) supposedly indicates the rotation of the Earth. | ||
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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.}} | {{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.}} | ||
But 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>, it actually indicates that the night and day are active entities rather than any sign that the Earth revolves. You could reasonably describe the Earth as passing through night and day. Perhaps, at a stretch, you could even say that night and day wrap around the earth as you could spin an item in order to wrap it with something. But it would be | But 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>, it actually indicates that the night and day are active entities rather than any sign that the Earth revolves. You could reasonably describe the Earth as passing through night and day. Perhaps, at a stretch, you could even say that night and day wrap around the earth as you could spin an item in order to wrap it with something. But it would be very difficult to describe what really happens by saying that the the day or night wrap each other, for they are always present on opposite sides of the Earth. | ||
To | To try to make it work you would have 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 you have to suppose that 'night' means the half of the Earth that is currently opposite the sun, and that 'day' means the light from the sun. So at the halfway point in the sentence you have to change your definition of the word 'day' and the definition of 'night' to make it fit the real situation! | ||
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 as a lunatic. 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 it | 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 as a lunatic. 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 it would seem reasonable to ask why the Qur'an could not give 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). | 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). | ||
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===Ancient and modern-day Muslim astronomers=== | ===Ancient and modern-day Muslim astronomers=== | ||
Muslims living in Muhammad’s day | Muslims living in Muhammad’s day universally accepted the Qur'an's geocentric cosmology. References in the Hadith of any of the ansari or others in Muhammad's environment arguing about this point with their prophet or among themselves are unknown. Famous Muslim astronomers (people who certainly read, and knew the Qur'an) like the Arab astronomer ''Ibn al-Shatir'' and the Persian ''Nasir al-Din al-Tusi'' used Greek (geocentric) astronomy to create complex models of our ‘universe’ (basically only our solar system, which they believed constituted the entire universe) that were geocentric just like the Qur'an. | ||
In a televised debate aired on Iraqi Al-Fayhaa TV (October 31, 2007), Muslim Researcher on Astronomy ''Fadhel Al-Sa'd'' also declared : | In a televised debate aired on Iraqi Al-Fayhaa TV (October 31, 2007), Muslim Researcher on Astronomy ''Fadhel Al-Sa'd'' also declared : | ||
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{{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|353}}|…So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the ‘Asr prayer, he said to the sun, ‘'''O sun!''' You are under Allah’s Order and I am under Allah’s Order O Allah! '''Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.’''' It was stopped till Allah made him victorious…}} | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|53|353}}|…So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the ‘Asr prayer, he said to the sun, ‘'''O sun!''' You are under Allah’s Order and I am under Allah’s Order O Allah! '''Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.’''' It was stopped till Allah made him victorious…}} | ||
Even though these Hadiths are all deemed '[[sahih]]' (authentic) according to Islamic scholars, some | Even though these Hadiths are all deemed '[[sahih]]' (authentic) according to Islamic scholars, some will deny them based purely on their apparent disagreement with science. Of course the Hadiths, at the very least, indicate what Muslims around the time of Muhammad (or not long after his demise) believed about the sun and thus prove useful in helping interpret the intended meaning of the Qur'an. | ||
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||
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#has setting and rising places. Allah brings it from the east, it goes up high, then goes down, and it has a resting place. | #has setting and rising places. Allah brings it from the east, it goes up high, then goes down, and it has a resting place. | ||
In addition to all these facts; great ancient | In addition to all these facts; great ancient (and even some modern-day) Muslim astronomers agree that the Qur'anic cosmology is geocentric, and the Hadiths also affirm this geocentric cosmology (so Muhammad or at least the people around him appear to agree with it). | ||
{{Core Science}} | {{Core Science}} | ||