The Islamic Whale: Difference between revisions

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http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2</ref> The details behind the mentioning of this creature are unclear. The name Nun is derived from one of the mysterious letters which appear before the start of certain surahs in the Quran. However, it does feature in [[Hadith]] and [[Tafseer|Tafsir]] explanations of verses. The concept appears to be of Jewish origin.<ref>See the section "The possible origins of the Whale" towards the end of the article [https://theislamissue.wordpress.com/2023/01/18/the-nun-whale-and-its-origins-in-early-islam/ The Nun whale and it’s origins in early Islam]</ref>
http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=68&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2</ref> The details behind the mentioning of this creature are unclear. The name Nun is derived from one of the mysterious letters which appear before the start of certain surahs in the Quran. However, it does feature in [[Hadith]] and [[Tafseer|Tafsir]] explanations of verses. The concept appears to be of Jewish origin.<ref>See the section "The possible origins of the Whale" towards the end of the article [https://theislamissue.wordpress.com/2023/01/18/the-nun-whale-and-its-origins-in-early-islam/ The Nun whale and it’s origins in early Islam]</ref>


From all of the earliest Sunni and Shi'a sources today available to us, it does appear that the earliest Muslims believed the letter "nun" in the Qur'an surah 68:1 refers to a giant whale upon whose back the entire earth rests. This belief is attributed by all of the trusted sources of Islamic jurisprudence to "tarjumaan al-qur'an" Ibn Abbas and was mentioned thereafter by many trusted Islamic scholars all the way up until the 19th century - though they mention it alongside other different interpretations. According to this cosmogony, the earth is (actually the 7 earths are) attached to the back of the whale by means of the mountains, which are pegs to balance the earth upon the Nun's back. This cosmogony fits in with a widespread ancient belief that the world was balanced upon the back of giant animals, and the even more primordial belief that the world is surrounded by a giant, unending body of water.
From all of the earliest Sunni and Shi'a sources today available to us, it does appear that the earliest Muslims believed the letter "nun" in the Qur'an surah 68:1 refers to a giant whale upon whose back the entire earth rests. This belief is attributed by numerous Islamic scholars of high repute to "tarjumaan al-qur'an", Ibn Abbas, and was mentioned thereafter by many trusted Islamic scholars all the way up until the 19th century - though they mention it alongside other different interpretations. According to this cosmography, the earth is (actually the 7 earths are) attached to the back of the whale by means of the mountains, which are pegs to balance the earth upon the Nun's back. This cosmography fits in with a widespread ancient belief that the world was balanced upon the back of giant animals, and the even more primordial belief that the world is surrounded by a giant, unending body of water.


==Nun in the Qur'an==
==Nun in the Qur'an==
The letter nun appears in the verse 68:1<ref>نٓ وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe {{Quran|68|1}}</ref> as one of the mysterious letters (muqattaʿat) which appear before the start of 29 surahs in the Quran (for example alif lam mim before Surah al-Baqarah). The most plausible theory to explain these letters was proposed by Theodor Nöldeke that they were simply an indication of the scribes or owners of the sheets for those surahs when the Quran was first compiled.
The letter nun appears in the verse 68:1<ref>نٓ وَٱلْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe {{Quran|68|1}}</ref> as one of the mysterious letters (muqattaʿat) which appear before the start of 29 surahs in the Quran (for example alif lam mim before Surah al-Baqarah). The most plausible theory to explain these letters was proposed by Theodor Nöldeke that they were simply an indication of the scribes or owners of the sheets for those surahs when the Quran was first compiled.


Most respected scholars of Islam (Ibn Kathir, At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi and others including Al-Jalalayn) believed that Nun refers to a whale that carries the Earth on its back:<ref>Al-Jalalayn on 21:87
Most respected scholars of Islam (Ibn Kathir, At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi and others including Al-Jalalayn) reported the belief that Nun refers to a whale that carries the Earth on its back:<ref>Al-Jalalayn on 21:87


*ذَا ٱلنُّونِ } صاحب الحوت}
*ذَا ٱلنُّونِ } صاحب الحوت}
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*يَسْطُرُونَ - ''yasturoona'' - they write
*يَسْطُرُونَ - ''yasturoona'' - they write


There is not much information in the Qur'an ipso facto, but it is necessary to have an understanding of this idea in order to understand much of the traditional interpretation of the Qur'an and Islamic cosmogony. For example, in verse 21:87 Jonah is called "man of the Nun", which has been interpreted as meaning that he was eaten by a whale<ref>And [mention] the man of <nowiki>'''</nowiki>the fish<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (ٱلنُّونِ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>al-noon<nowiki>''</nowiki>), when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."
There is not much information in the Qur'an ipso facto, but it is necessary to have an understanding of this idea in order to understand much of the traditional interpretation of the Qur'an and early Islamic cosmography. For example, in verse 21:87 Jonah is called "man of the Nun", which has been interpreted as meaning that he was eaten by a whale<ref>And [mention] the man of <nowiki>'''</nowiki>the fish<nowiki>'''</nowiki> (ٱلنُّونِ, <nowiki>''</nowiki>al-noon<nowiki>''</nowiki>), when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."


{{Quran|21|87}}</ref><ref>http://biblehub.com/library/marshall/the_wonder_book_of_bible_stories/the_story_of_jonah_and.htm</ref>:
{{Quran|21|87}}</ref><ref>http://biblehub.com/library/marshall/the_wonder_book_of_bible_stories/the_story_of_jonah_and.htm</ref>:
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==="ن is a letter of the alphabet"===
==="ن is a letter of the alphabet"===
ن ("n") is a letter of the Arabic alphabet called نون (Nun). Many suwar in the Qur'an  actually start with mysterious letters that don't have any immediate meaning. This does beg the question of what these letters mean in the first place, and from the perspective of a believing Muslim why Allah would start his revelations out with random letters, but considering it does fall into an accepted Qur'anic pattern it does at least offer an explanation for its presense. Another point is the word following the Nun, "walqalami" "by the pen." The Arabic formation for oaths and swears is to add و "wa" a particle meaning generally "and" to a noun in the majruur (genetive) case, producing the swearing oath: "والله" "wallahi" "by God!" "والشمس" "washamsi" "by the sun!" etc. Since the word "qalam" or "pen" is in the genitive case, it should be understood to be a swear, and this seems likely. It should however be remembered that the original "rasm" or consonantal text for the Qur'an lacked the vowel markings which in this case marks the word as being in the genitive. The original text thus might not have had this word in the genitive case, in which case the meaning would simply be "and the pen." It is thus possible that in the original the "wa" functioned simply as an "and" and the original meaning was thus simply "(the letter) nun, and the pen, and what they write."  
ن ("n") is a letter of the Arabic alphabet called نون (Nun). Many surahsin the Qur'an  actually start with mysterious letters that don't have any immediate meaning. This does beg the question of what these letters mean in the first place, and from the perspective of a believing Muslim why Allah would start his revelations out with random letters, but considering it does fall into an accepted Qur'anic pattern it does at least offer an explanation for its presense. Another point is the word following the Nun, "walqalami" "by the pen." The Arabic formation for oaths and swears is to add و "wa" a particle meaning generally "and" to a noun in the majruur (genetive) case, producing the swearing oath: "والله" "wallahi" "by God!" "والشمس" "washamsi" "by the sun!" etc. Since the word "qalam" or "pen" is in the genitive case, it should be understood to be a swear, and this seems likely. It should however be remembered that the original "rasm" or consonantal text for the Qur'an lacked the vowel markings which in this case marks the word as being in the genitive. The original text thus might not have had this word in the genitive case, in which case the meaning would simply be "and the pen." It is thus possible that in the original the "wa" functioned simply as an "and" and the original meaning was thus simply "(the letter) nun, and the pen, and what they write."  


==="N" in "Ar-Rahmaa'''n'''"===
==="N" in "Ar-Rahmaa'''n'''"===
The word الرحمن, Ar-Rahman, "the gracious" is one of the titles of Allah. The 13th sura starts with three letters الر, and a few suras start with the letters حم (see the comment on random letters at the beginning of suwar above). Putting these together produces الر + حم + ن= الرحمن "Ar-rahmaan."  
The word الرحمن, Ar-Rahman, "the gracious" is one of the titles of Allah. The 13th sura starts with three letters الر, and a few suras start with the letters حم (see the comment on random letters at the beginning of surahs above). Putting these together produces الر + حم + ن= الرحمن "Ar-rahmaan."  


*The word Ar-Rahman is nowadays actually written as الرحمان, but in the old Uthmani script it was written without the ا (alif) before the ن. It was added later, to indicate the "aa" vowel.
*The word Ar-Rahman is nowadays actually written as الرحمان, but in the old Uthmani script it was written without the ا (alif) before the ن. It was added later, to indicate the "aa" vowel.
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==="Allah knows best"===
==="Allah knows best"===
"[[Allah knows best]]", in other words "the author knows what he meant", is an explanation offered by some Muslim commentators, indicating that even with the traditional narrative understanding this verse is difficult.  
"[[Allah knows best]]", in other words "the author knows what he meant", is an explanation offered by some Muslim commentators, indicating that even with the traditional narrative understanding the mysterious letters at the start of this surah and others is difficult topic.  


==Modern Muslim Scholarly and Apologetic Views==
==Modern Muslim Scholarly and Apologetic Views==
Some Muslims, who consider the whale hypothesis to be false <ref>https://islamqa.info/en/114861</ref> realizing how at odds this cosmology of giant animals and oceans is with modern science, have attempted alternative explanations to these traditions in order to bring them into line with modern science.
Today, Muslim scholars<ref>https://islamqa.info/en/114861</ref>, realizing how at odds this cosmography of giant animals and oceans is with modern science, have attempted to refute the reliability of the traditional whale interpretation.


===It's not in the Qur'an===
===It's not in the Qur'an===
This is questionable. Nun is mentioned in the Qur'an 68:1 and it was used in another verse 21:87 to mean "whale". It is not clearly stated in the Qur'an that Nun is the whale which carries the Earth on its back, but the Qur'an speaks about mountains being like pegs, which supports the "whale cosmology". If there is no whale under the Earth, then there is no reason for mountains to function as pegs.
The letter Nun appears at the start of surah 68 al-Qalam and it was used in spelled out form in another verse 21:87 to mean "whale". However, it is not clearly stated in the Qur'an that Nun is the whale which carries the Earth on its back. The Qur'an speaks about mountains being like pegs, which may support the "whale cosmology" and the two are linked in one version of the hadith. If there is nothing under the Earth, then there is no reason for mountains to function as pegs.


Also when something is not in the Qur'an, then it doesn't mean it's not a part of Islam. The "5 pillars of Islam" are also not described in the Qur'an and they are considered to be a part of Islam. Islam (or at least the mainstream Islam) is derived from the Qur'an, hadith and sira.
When something is not in the Qur'an, then it doesn't mean it was never a part of Islam. The "5 pillars of Islam" are also not described in the Qur'an and they are considered to be a part of Islam. Islam (or at least the mainstream Islam) is derived from the Qur'an, hadith and sira. At one time, the whale was part of Islamic cosmography until knowledge improved and this became unsustainable.


===The strength of the hadith ''mawqoof''===
===The strength of the hadith ''mawqoof''===
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===Only the early scholars believed it===
===Only the early scholars believed it===
It's sometimes claimed that only early scholars believed this, a strange claim considering that antiquity usually validates rather than invalidates views and doctrines in Islamic theology and jurisprudence. This view is, however, not even true so far as it goes, as the idea of the earth-bearing whale was mentioned even by Shawkani writing in the year 1835 CE when he wrote about it in his commentary on this verse.  
It's sometimes claimed that only early scholars believed this, a strange claim considering that antiquity usually validates rather than invalidates views and doctrines in Islamic theology and jurisprudence. This view is, incidentally, not entirely accurate so far as it goes, as the idea of the earth-bearing whale was mentioned even by Shawkani writing in the year 1835 CE when he wrote about it in his commentary on this verse.  


===Jewish Origins===
===Jewish Origins===
There are some modern claims that this story/doctrine comes from Judaism. Neither the Bible, Talmud, targums, Mishnah or any other Jewish text mentions the idea of the earth-bearing whale. There is, tho, a myth of a big sea monster called "Leviathan" in the Bible:
There are some modern claims that this story/doctrine comes from Judaism. Neither the Bible, Talmud, targums, Mishnah mentions the idea of the earth-bearing whale, although as mentioned above, the ''Apocalypse of Abraham'' may be an antecendant to the concept as well as the giant bull. There is also a myth of a big sea monster called "Leviathan" in the Bible:
{{Quote|Isiah 27:1|
{{Quote|Isiah 27:1|
In that day,
In that day,
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