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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 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.
+Some Islamic websites attribute the above quote to Sheikh Ibn Bâz, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. While some of the verses quoted in this article make reference to humans, most do not. They are describing what Allah supposedly did when creating the entire Earth, not that the Earth seems flat to a human from a small local perspective on its spherical surface (an illusion that would be dispelled for the Arabs in the 8th century as they gained astronomical knowledge). The argument further ignores the very unambiguous choice of word in verse 88:20 quoted above, which also means a flat surface in geometry.
-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 to them anymore.
+Most importantly, the argument ignores the indirect and further evidence in the [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Flat_Earth_and_the_Quran#Further_Proof Further Proof] section above, which provides even stronger evidence for a flat Earth cosmoslogy than the verses that directly mention the creation of the Earth.
 == Conclusion ==