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Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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→Implied similar size and distance of the sun and moon: I have changed a previous 'moon would need to travel 98 million miles' mention to 'tens of millions' as the figure they provided does not have a source, and the figure seemed to contradict NASA (and other sources) that the sun and both Earth and moon are 93 million miles away (so would lie c.41m miles apart). And added sections explaining what would happen should the sun move toward the Earth (on judgement day).
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m (→Geocentricism: Added some more context on geocentricism and the sun's final resting place stating this happens after it's joined to the moon with a link to the quran verse) |
(→Implied similar size and distance of the sun and moon: I have changed a previous 'moon would need to travel 98 million miles' mention to 'tens of millions' as the figure they provided does not have a source, and the figure seemed to contradict NASA (and other sources) that the sun and both Earth and moon are 93 million miles away (so would lie c.41m miles apart). And added sections explaining what would happen should the sun move toward the Earth (on judgement day).) |
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|75|8|9}}|And the moon darkens And the sun and the moon are joined,}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|75|8|9}}|And the moon darkens And the sun and the moon are joined,}} | ||
The Arabic word translated as "are joined" is ''jumi'a'', a verb which means to collect together, gather together, bring together.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000091.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 455 جُمِعَ]</ref> Critics note that this would require the moon to travel | The Arabic word translated as "are joined" is ''jumi'a'', a verb which means to collect together, gather together, bring together.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000091.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 455 جُمِعَ]</ref> Critics note that this would require the moon to travel tens of millions of miles away from Earth and into the sun, which is over 400 times wider. To describe them as brought together (jumi'a) in such a scenario would hardly be apt, critics argue, and a very odd apocalyptic event. Rather, the description sits comfortably in the ancient understanding of the cosmos, whereby the sun and moon were assumed to be two roughly equivalent celestial bodies in the sky above the Earth. | ||
The Earth's<ref>[https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1164/how-big-is-the-solar-system/#:~:text=As%20noted%20earlier%2C%20Earth's%20average,million%20kilometers)%20from%20the%20Sun. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1164/how-big-is-the-solar-system/#:~:text=As%20noted%20earlier%2C%20Earth's%20average,million%20kilometers)%20from%20the%20Sun.]</ref> and moon's<ref>[https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/how-far-away-moon#:~:text=Since%20the%20Moon%20orbits%20the,million%20miles)%20from%20the%20Sun! https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/how-far-away-moon#:~:text=Since%20the%20Moon%20orbits%20the,million%20miles)%20from%20the%20Sun!]</ref> average distance to the Sun is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). Should the sun move just 1.5 million km closer to Earth, it would become uninhabitable.<ref>https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-much-closer-to-the-sun-could-earths-orbit-get-and-still-be-habitable</ref> Moving an approximately midway distance would scorch and destroy the Earth (and the moon) along with all humans in such a way that all other apocalyptic 'doom' events (such as removing mountains<ref>https://quranx.com/77.10</ref>, splitting the sky<ref>https://quranx.com/84.1</ref> and stars falling<ref>https://quranx.com/81.2</ref>) would be rendered pointless. | |||
It is worth noting that the "darkening" of the moon in verse 8 is an Arabic word which in hadiths refers to a lunar or solar eclipse (in this case lunar). However, for a lunar eclipse to occur (when the earth's shadow is cast upon the moon) the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth and thus are not in any sense "joined". Nor does "joined" in verse 9 work as a reference to a solar eclipse (when the sun occasionally casts a shadow of the moon on the earth). The moon is invisible during the portion of a month when it can eclipse the sun since it must be on the daylit side of the earth, and hence the moon does not "darken" or itself become eclipsed (verse 8) as it passes between observers and the sun but rather its silhouette becomes visible. | It is worth noting that the "darkening" of the moon in verse 8 is an Arabic word which in hadiths refers to a lunar or solar eclipse (in this case lunar). However, for a lunar eclipse to occur (when the earth's shadow is cast upon the moon) the sun and moon are on opposite sides of the earth and thus are not in any sense "joined". Nor does "joined" in verse 9 work as a reference to a solar eclipse (when the sun occasionally casts a shadow of the moon on the earth). The moon is invisible during the portion of a month when it can eclipse the sun since it must be on the daylit side of the earth, and hence the moon does not "darken" or itself become eclipsed (verse 8) as it passes between observers and the sun but rather its silhouette becomes visible. | ||