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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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While the words used in 39:5 and 21:33 do not violate a spherical model of the Earth, they are also equally comfortable with a flat model of the Earth. Since all positive evidence in the Islamic scriptures demonstrates that the earliest Muslims though the Earth to be flat, and since these two verses do not contradict that worldview, the simplest explanation of these verses is that they describe the motions of the sun and moon around what was thought to be a flat Earth, even if the verses don't clash in any obvious ways with modern cosmology. That is, these two verses are largely irrelevant to the question of the Earth's shape, as it is possible for one to "wrap around" and "orbit" an object of any shape, whether it be flat, spherical, cylindrical, or cubical. | While the words used in 39:5 and 21:33 do not violate a spherical model of the Earth, they are also equally comfortable with a flat model of the Earth. Since all positive evidence in the Islamic scriptures demonstrates that the earliest Muslims though the Earth to be flat, and since these two verses do not contradict that worldview, the simplest explanation of these verses is that they describe the motions of the sun and moon around what was thought to be a flat Earth, even if the verses don't clash in any obvious ways with modern cosmology. That is, these two verses are largely irrelevant to the question of the Earth's shape, as it is possible for one to "wrap around" and "orbit" an object of any shape, whether it be flat, spherical, cylindrical, or cubical. | ||
===Qur'an 79:30 - daha (spread out or ostrich egg | ===Qur'an 79:30 - ''daha'' (spread out or "ostrich egg")=== | ||
Verse 79:30 uses the word دَحَىٰهَآ (dahaha), commonly translated as ‘He spread it’ or ‘He stretched it’, to describe to describe a step in the creation of the Earth. Today, it is sometimes argued that | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|79|30}}| '''Arabic:''' والارض بعد ذلك دحاها | {{Quote|{{Quran|79|30}}| '''Arabic:''' والارض بعد ذلك دحاها | ||
'''Transliteration:''' ''Waal-arda baAAda thalika dahaha'' | '''Transliteration:''' ''Waal-arda baAAda thalika dahaha'' | ||
'''Literal:''' And the earth/Planet Earth after that He stretched/spread it. <ref name="ia-79-30">[http://islamawakened.org/Quran/3/default.htm#003_054 Islam Awakened - Quran 79:30]</ref> | '''Literal:''' And the earth/Planet Earth after that He stretched/spread it.<ref name="ia-79-30">[http://islamawakened.org/Quran/3/default.htm#003_054 Islam Awakened - Quran 79:30]</ref> | ||
}} | }} | ||
Word by word: | Word by word: | ||