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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions
Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth (view source)
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In addition, these verses, as well as others, erroneously refer to night and day as two active entities. They are in fact simply the times when, for an observer on the surface of the Earth, they are on the sunlit or shadowed side of the planet as it rotates upon its axis. The night does not "overlap" or "wrap" around the day because there is only light, and darkness is nothing but the absence of light. The Qur'an could hardly be more wrong here. A less bad description would be to say that the Earth passes through night and day. Moreover, attempts to interpret 39:5 as the rotation of the Earth require contradictory shifts in the meaning of the words halfway through the sentence, as explained in a more detailed discussion of 39:5 on the page [[Geocentrism and the Quran#Counter-arguments|Geocentrism and the Qur'an]]. | In addition, these verses, as well as others, erroneously refer to night and day as two active entities. They are in fact simply the times when, for an observer on the surface of the Earth, they are on the sunlit or shadowed side of the planet as it rotates upon its axis. The night does not "overlap" or "wrap" around the day because there is only light, and darkness is nothing but the absence of light. The Qur'an could hardly be more wrong here. A less bad description would be to say that the Earth passes through night and day. Moreover, attempts to interpret 39:5 as the rotation of the Earth require contradictory shifts in the meaning of the words halfway through the sentence, as explained in a more detailed discussion of 39:5 on the page [[Geocentrism and the Quran#Counter-arguments|Geocentrism and the Qur'an]]. | ||
=== Earth is flat only from our perspective === | |||
{{Quote||According to the people of knowledge the Earth is round. Indeed, Ibn Hazm and other scholars have declared that there is consensus on this matter among the people of knowledge This means that all of the surface of the Earth is connected together so that the form of the planet is like a sphere. | |||
Nevertheless, Allah has spread out the Earth's surface in relation to us, and He has placed upon it firm mountains, the seas, and life as a mercy for us. For this reason, Allah said: "And (do they not look) at the Earth, how it was spread out flat (sutihat)." [Sûrah al-Ghâshiyah:20] | |||
Therefore, the '''Earth has been made flat for us in regards to our relationship to it''' to facilitate our lives upon it and our comfort. The fact that it is round does not prevent that its surface has been made flat for us. This is because something that is round and very large, then its surface will become very vast or broad, having a flat appearance to those who are upon it."}} | |||
Some Islamic websites attribute the above quote to Sheikh Ibn Bâz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia who believed in a flat earth. They are ignoring that fact that "flat" and "round" have fundamentally different meanings in geometry. Any object, no matter how big or small it is, cannot be round and flat at the same time. To stress further on the apologist's words "its surface has been made flat for us", neither is the surface flat<ref>Humans are unable to see the curvature of the earth from ground level.</ref> nor is it made for us. | |||
Allah is not really talking about the (flat) appearance of the earth to us in these verses. Even if he did so, it would be a statement unrelated to science and slightly inaccurate too. The round shape of the earth has been known since pre-Islamic times. Any person who gets this knowledge can easily imagine the roundness of the earth in their mind; it won't continue to appear flat for them anymore. | |||
== Conclusion == | == Conclusion == | ||