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WHAT SHAPE IS THE
EARTH?
Today we can look at a globe and know that the earth is
somewhat like a ball, a sphere. The Qur'an makes certain
statements that led Muslim scientists to understand long before
their European counterparts that the earth is spherical. When
Europe was in the dark ages thinking that the earth was flat,
Muslim students were using globes for studying the earth in
Islamic universities.
Since it was not the purpose of the Qur'an to teach science,
the Qur'an did not need to state explicitly that the earth is
spherical in shape (or more precisely, a geoid). But some of
what the Qur'an says stimulates you to think of the world as a
globe. Take, for example, the following verse: "Have you not
seen how God merges the night into the day and merges the day
into the night?" (Qur'an 31:29).
Another verse tells us that God coils the day and night around:
"He coils the night upon the day and He coils the day upon the
night" (Qur'an 39:5).
The word 'coils' in the verse above is a translation of the
Arabic verb kawwara which is used in describing the action of
coiling a turban around the head. To understand this statement
fully, readers of the Qur'an had to think of the earth as a
sphere.
To fully appreciate the above two statements in the Qur'an, try
this experiment at home: You need a flashlight and a globe.
Take these items into a dark room. Using the flashlight to
simulate the light of the sun, shine the light upon the globe.
Notice that only one half of the globe is lighted up. The other
half is in darkness. Half the world is having day, the other
half is having night. Now, recall that the earth is
continuously rotating on its axis and will go around completely
in twenty four hours. Slowly turn the globe around to simulate
this rotation. Notice that as the globe turns, the day is going
around the globe to light up the other half of the world. The
night is also going around the globe to give rest to the other
half of the world.
The day and night are perpetually coiling around the earth with
some degree of interpenetration. This is exactly how it appears
to astronauts during their space flights.
Dr. Bucaille makes the following remark: "This process of
perpetual coiling, including the interpenetration of one sector
by another, is expressed in the Qur'an just as if the concept
of the earth's roundness had already been conceived at the
time—which was obviously not the case." (The Bible, the Qur'an
and Science, p. 165).
How do we explain the presence of this knowledge in the Qur'an?
This obviously did not reflect the level of learning of the
time, but was helpful in stimulating Muslim scientists to
conceive of the earth in its real shape.
This is no less than a reminder to (all) the worlds. And you
shall certainly know the truth of it (all) after a
while.(38:87-88).
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