Singularity in the Quran

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Some Islamic apologists claim that the phrase "I swear by the location of stars" in the Quran means "Stars can become a singularity", because god is one (=singular). It is supposed to make the Quran look more scientific, but it's rather embarrassing, because it doesn't make any sense.

The claim

Mass distorts spacetime. As more matter falls into a star its mass increases and as its mass increases its density increases. The more dense a star becomes the more distortion it makes.

The longer a star lives the denser it becomes and the denser it becomes the more distortion it makes. However this distortion is pointing towards the singularity. So the longer a star lives the more it distorts spacetime towards singularity.

Singularity is a location in the future of stars. An observer far away from a black hole sees the events near a back hole in slow motion. If he shines a beam of light into this black hole he will have to wait forever but still this beam of light will never reach the singularity. The singularity is a location in the future of stars where gravity goes so mad that space and time become indistinguishable. From general relativity we know that this is a location where the structure of spacetime becomes singular (hence the name singularity). However singular (Ahad in Arabic أَحَدٌ ) is one of God's 99 names. In the Quran God swears by the locations of stars which turned out to carry His own name:

[Quran 56.75-77] I swear by the locations of stars, it is a great swear if you knew, it is a noble Quran...

Here God swears not by the stars themselves but rather by their locations (mawakeh in Arabic). Today we know that stars distort spacetime in the direction of the singularity, which turned out to carry God's own name: "Ahad أَحَدٌ ".

How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known about the singularity?


Analysis

In the verse 56:75, the word مواقع could be translated as "locations", but it's more commonly translated as "setting", which makes it much less scientific:

Muhsin Khan: So I swear by Mawaqi (setting or the mansions, etc.) (مواقغ) of the stars (they traverse).

Yusuf Ali: Furthermore I call to witness the setting of the Stars,-

Sahih International: Then I swear by the setting of the stars,

Pickthall: Nay, I swear by the places of the stars -


One of the 99 names of Allah is Ahad (أحد), which could be translated as "Singular", but it's commonly translated as "One":

Muhsin Khan: Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)): "He is Allah, (the) One (أحد).

Pickthall: Say: He is Allah, the One!

Yusuf Ali: Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;

Sahih International: Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,


But most importantly, the name Ahad is attributed to Allah and it is not attributed to the stars in any way, therefore the miracle claim is completely baseless.

See also

Other "miracles":