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Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions
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===The Earth on the back of the Islamic Whale=== | ===The Earth on the back of the Islamic Whale=== | ||
{{Main|The Islamic Whale}} | {{Main|The Islamic Whale}} | ||
Al-Tabari's tafsir regarding {{Quran|68|1}}, which mysteriously starts with the Arabic letter Nun, records, along with many other classical tafsirs and sahih narrations<ref>[https://tafsir.app/68/1 Tafsirs 68:1]</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM&ab_channel=TheMaskedArab|publisher=The Masked Arab|publication-date=February 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701144708/https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/|publisher=Answering Islam Blog|publication-date=October 19, 2016|chapter=Muhammad’s Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tale!}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Sam Shamoun|publisher=Answering Islam|url=https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030934/https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm|chapter=The Quran and the Shape of the Earth}}</ref>, that one of the interpretations among sahabah such as ibn 'Abbas was that the 'nun' is a whale on whose back the Earth is carried (other interpretations were that "Nun" is an inkwell or a name of Allah). While there may not have been a consensus on the existence of the whale, the plausibility and acceptability of the idea implies a flat Earth | Al-Tabari's tafsir regarding {{Quran|68|1}}, which mysteriously starts with the Arabic letter Nun, records, along with many other classical tafsirs and sahih narrations<ref>[https://tafsir.app/68/1 Tafsirs 68:1]</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhsVjXJzKM&ab_channel=TheMaskedArab|publisher=The Masked Arab|publication-date=February 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701144708/https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/muhammads-magical-mountain-one-whale-of-a-tale/|publisher=Answering Islam Blog|publication-date=October 19, 2016|chapter=Muhammad’s Magical Mountain: One Whale of a Tale!}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Sam Shamoun|publisher=Answering Islam|url=https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030934/https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm|chapter=The Quran and the Shape of the Earth}}</ref>, that one of the interpretations among sahabah such as ibn 'Abbas was that the 'nun' is a whale on whose back the Earth is carried (other interpretations were that "Nun" is an inkwell or a name of Allah). While there may not have been a consensus on the existence of the whale, the plausibility and acceptability of the idea implies a flat Earth cosmography among early Muslims. | ||
=== Mount Qaf === | === Mount Qaf === | ||
Similarly Surah 50 begins with the Arabic letter Qaf, which Scott Noegel and Brannon Wheeler (2010) note many Muslim exegetes | Similarly Surah 50 begins with the Arabic letter Qaf, which Scott Noegel and Brannon Wheeler (2010) note many Muslim exegetes took to refer to [[W:Mount_Qaf|Mount Qaf]] ''as a “world mountain,” which surrounds the earth and holds up the sky, thus connecting the heavens and the earth.''<ref>Noegel, Scott B.; Wheeler, Brannon M.. ''The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism (The A to Z Guide Series Book 176).'' 2010. pp 68 (Kindle Edition pp. 148). See under a section titled "Cosmology and Cosmogony" pp. 67-68: | ||
''Much like the classical Greek conception, the earth or the middle realm of the cosmos is envisioned as a flat disc surrounded by the world ocean on all sides. The Quran describes the earth as flat and spread out (Q 71:19), wide and expansive (Q 29:56). There are points on the earth that serve as conduits or points of contact with the lower realms (pits, caves, water sources) and the upper realms (mountains, trees, high buildings). Muslim exegetes describe '''Mt. Qaf (Q 50:1)''' as a "world mountain," which surrounds the earth and holds up the sky, thus connecting the heavens and the earth.''</ref> | ''Much like the classical Greek conception, the earth or the middle realm of the cosmos is envisioned as a flat disc surrounded by the world ocean on all sides. The Quran describes the earth as flat and spread out (Q 71:19), wide and expansive (Q 29:56). There are points on the earth that serve as conduits or points of contact with the lower realms (pits, caves, water sources) and the upper realms (mountains, trees, high buildings). Muslim exegetes describe '''Mt. Qaf (Q 50:1)''' as a "world mountain," which surrounds the earth and holds up the sky, thus connecting the heavens and the earth.''</ref> | ||