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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions
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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth (view source)
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الْمَهِدُونَ = mahidoon from مهد = make plain, even, smooth, spread a bed<ref>مهد mahada - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000267.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2739</ref> | الْمَهِدُونَ = mahidoon from مهد = make plain, even, smooth, spread a bed<ref>مهد mahada - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000267.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 2739</ref> | ||
There is also a hadith in which the plural noun ''furushaat'' is used, meaning "beds": | |||
{{Quote|Sunan Ibn Majah 5:37:4190| | |||
It was narrated from Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: | |||
“I see what you do not see, and I hear what you do not hear. The heaven is creaking and it should creak, for there is no space in it the width of four fingers but there is an angel there, prostrating to Allah. By Allah, if you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much, and you would never enjoy women in your '''beds''' (الْفُرُشَاتِ, ''al-furushaat''), and you would go out in the streets, beseeching Allah.’” | |||
}} | |||
=== Qur'an 71:19 - bisaatan (carpet)=== | === Qur'an 71:19 - bisaatan (carpet)=== | ||
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بِسَاطًا = bisaatan = A thing that is spread or spread out or forth, and particularly a carpet (from the same root we also have بَسَاطٌ = bisaatun = Land, expanded and even; and wide or spacious) | بِسَاطًا = bisaatan = A thing that is spread or spread out or forth, and particularly a carpet (from the same root we also have بَسَاطٌ = bisaatun = Land, expanded and even; and wide or spacious) | ||
<ref>بِسَاطًا bisaatan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000241.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 204</ref> | <ref>بِسَاطًا bisaatan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000241.pdf Lane's Lexicon] page 204</ref> | ||
This word is also used in a hadith in At-Tirmidhi: | |||
{{Quote|Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2369| | |||
... | |||
Then he came to hug the Prophet (s.a.w) and uttered that his father and mother should be ransomed for him. Then he went to grove of his '''and he spread out a mat for them''' (فَبَسَطَ لَهُمْ بِسَاطًا, ''fa-basata la-hum bisaatan'', literally "and-(he)spread for-them a-mat"). Then he went to a date-palm and returned with a cluster of dates which he put down. | |||
... | |||
}} | |||
So the derived verb ''basata'' refers to spreading out (thus flattening) a carpet. | |||
=== Qur'an 78:6-7 - mihadan (bed)=== | === Qur'an 78:6-7 - mihadan (bed)=== | ||
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===="Ostrich egg" mentioned in a hadith==== | ===="Ostrich egg" mentioned in a hadith==== | ||
There is no hadith saying that the Earth is shaped like an ostrich egg. But "ostrich egg" is mentioned in one hadith so we can check whether the word دَحَىٰهَآ (''dahaha'') is used in the original Arabic. | |||
{{Quote|{{Ibn Majah||4|25|3086}}<ref>https://sunnah.com/urn/1281160</ref>| | {{Quote|{{Ibn Majah||4|25|3086}}<ref>https://sunnah.com/urn/1281160</ref>| | ||
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُوسَى الْقَطَّانُ الْوَاسِطِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ مَوْهَبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ الْفَزَارِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ، حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنٌ الْمُعَلِّمُ، عَنْ أَبِي الْمُهَزِّمِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ فِي بَيْضِ النَّعَامِ يُصِيبُهُ الْمُحْرِمُ " ثَمَنُهُ " | حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُوسَى الْقَطَّانُ الْوَاسِطِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ مَوْهَبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ الْفَزَارِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ، حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنٌ الْمُعَلِّمُ، عَنْ أَبِي الْمُهَزِّمِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ فِي بَيْضِ النَّعَامِ يُصِيبُهُ الْمُحْرِمُ " ثَمَنُهُ " | ||
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Words from the same root mean the flat top surface or roof of a house or chamber, a flat plane in geometry, a level place upon which dates can be spread, a rolling pin (which expands the dough), plane or flat.<ref>سطَح sataha - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000081.pdf Lanes Lexicon] page 1357</ref> | Words from the same root mean the flat top surface or roof of a house or chamber, a flat plane in geometry, a level place upon which dates can be spread, a rolling pin (which expands the dough), plane or flat.<ref>سطَح sataha - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000081.pdf Lanes Lexicon] page 1357</ref> | ||
In the tafsir Al-Jalalayn (from 15. century) we can read that the word ''sutihat'' means the Earth is flat which is the opinion of the Islamic scholars: | |||
{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Jalalayn on 88:20| | |||
And the earth how it was laid out flat? and thus infer from this the power of God exalted be He and His Oneness? The commencing with the mention of camels is because they are closer in contact with it the earth than any other animal. '''As for His words sutihat ‘laid out flat’ this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat which is the opinion of''' most '''of the scholars * of the revealed Law and not a sphere as astronomers ahl al-hay’a have it''' even if this latter does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law. | |||
}} | |||
* (*) The Arabic original says "وعليه علماء الشرع", literally "and-on-it (are) scholars (of) law"<ref>http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=8&tSoraNo=88&tAyahNo=20&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1</ref>. The word "most" was added by English translators, probably to make it less embarrassing. | |||
* The phrase "flat earth" today is commonly translated as الأرض مسطحة (''al-ard musattaha'')<ref>http://context.reverso.net/translation/english-arabic/flat+earth</ref>, the word ''musattaha'' is from the same root as the word ''sutihat''. | |||
=== Qur'an 91:6 - taha (spread out)=== | === Qur'an 91:6 - taha (spread out)=== | ||
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{{quote || These Ayat indicate that Allah started creation by creating earth, then He made heaven into seven heavens. This is how building usually starts, with the lower floors first and then the top floors, <ref>[http://tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=2&tid=1494 Tafsir 'ibn Kathir]</ref> }} | {{quote || These Ayat indicate that Allah started creation by creating earth, then He made heaven into seven heavens. This is how building usually starts, with the lower floors first and then the top floors, <ref>[http://tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=2&tid=1494 Tafsir 'ibn Kathir]</ref> }} | ||
===Flat Earth Beliefs of Muhammad and His Followers=== | |||
If the Quran claimed that the Earth is spherical, Muhammad and his followers, who spoke the Arabic language of that time, including respected interpreters such as Ibn 'Abbas, would have shown some inkling of this knowledge. Instead, hadith narrations record only flat Earth beliefs (see the article [[Did Muhammad and the early Muslims know that the Earth is round|Did Muhammad and the Earliest Muslims Know the Earth is Round?]]). Some even held a belief that the Earth is placed on the back of [[The Islamic Whale|"the whale"]]. | |||
== General Apologetics == | == General Apologetics == | ||