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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

DOES THE QUR’AN SAY THAT THE EARTH IS FLAT?

Question
Qur’an says that Allah has made the earth for you as a carpet. This gives an indication that the earth is flat. Does this not contradict established
modern science?

Answer
1.   Earth made as a carpet
The question refers to a verse from the Qur’an in Surah Nuh:
"And Allah has made the earth for you as a carpet (spread out)."
[Al-Qur’an 71:19]
But the sentence in the above verse is not complete. It continues in the next verse, explaining the previous verse. It says:
"That ye may go about therein, in spacious roads." [Al-Qur’an 71:20]
A similar message is repeated in Surah TaHa:
"He Who has made for you the earth like a carpet spread out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels)...." [Al-Qur’an 20:53]
The surface of the earth i.e. earth’s crust is less than 30 miles in thickness and is very thin as compared to the radius of the earth which is about 3750 miles. The deeper layers of the earth are very hot, fluid and hostile to any form of life. The earth’s crust is a solidified shell on which we can live. The Qur’an rightly refers to it like a carpet spread out, so that we can travel along its roads and paths.
2.   Carpet can also be spread on other than an absolute flat surface
Not a single verse of the Qur’an says that the earth is flat. The Qur’an only compares the earth’s crust with a carpet. Some people seem to think that carpet can only be put on an absolute flat surface. It is possible to spread a carpet on a large sphere such as the earth. It can easily be demonstrated by taking a huge model of the earth’s globe covering it with a carpet.
Carpet is generally put on a surface, which is not very comfortable to walk on. The Qur’an describes the earth crust as a carpet, without which human beings would not be able to survive because of the hot, fluid and hostile environment beneath it. The Qur’an is thus not only logical, it is mentioning a scientific fact that was discovered by geologists centuries later.
3.   Earth has been spread out
Similarly, the Qur’an says in several verses that the earth has been spread out.
"And We have spread out the (spacious) earth: how excellently We do spread out!"
               [Al-Qur’an 51:48]
Similarly the Qur’an also mentions in several other verses that the earth is an expanse:
"Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse" "And the mountains as pegs?" [Al-Qur’an 78:6-7]
None of these verses of the Qur’an contain even the slightest implication that the earth is flat. It only indicates that the earth is spacious and the reason for this spaciousness of the earth is mentioned. The Glorious Qur’an says:
"O My servants who believe! truly. spacious is My Earth: therefore serve ye Me –(And Me alone)!"  [Al-Qur’an 29:56]
Therefore none can give the excuse, that he could not do good and was forced to do evil because of the surroundings and circumstances.
4.   Earth is geospherical in shape
The Qur’an mentions the actual shape of the earth in the following verse:
"And we have made the earth egg shaped".
                [Al-Qur’an 79:30]
The Arabic word Dahaha means egg shaped. It also means an expanse. Dahaha is derived from Duhiya which specifically refers to the egg of an ostrich which is geospherical in shape, exactly like the shape of the earth.
Thus the Qur’an and modern established science are in perfect harmony.

5 comments:

  1. And He has made the Sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses, to be of service to you; and He has made the night and the day, to be of service to you.
    ( سورة إبراهيم , Ibrahim, Chapter #14, Verse #33)

    The Sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each (for reckoning).
    ( سورة الرحمن , Ar-Rahman, Chapter #55, Verse #5)

    "The sun and the moon run." It is known that the moon orbits the Earth, but does the Qur'an say that the Sun also orbits the Earth?


    "And He has made the Sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses, to be of service to you;" It is not the Sun that orbits the Earth, but the Earth that orbits the Sun.

    It is the Earth that revolves around the axis that results in order to give the appearance that the Sun orbits the Earth. The Sun is stationary, it is the Earth that does the motion in order to result in the appearance that the Sun orbits the Earth.

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  2. Qur'an 79:30, Mohsin Khan, there is nothing about egg shaped Earth according to Mohsin Khan "30
    وَالْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَ‌ٰلِكَ دَحَاهَا
    And after that He spread the earth,"

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  3. Dear Tomasz

    At this time, science knows that the sun also revolves in a specific orbit.. the earth revolves around the sun, n in turn the sun revolves in its own orbit too, n the earth follows it.. and our whole galaxy again then revolves in some orbit.
    this is EXACTLY what Quran says that the sun and moon both constantly pursuing THEIR courses...
    i hope it is clear to you now.If not,then you can help urself by reading about astronomy.

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  4. dear tomasz
    chech this
    http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_the_Sun_moving

    ReplyDelete