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Flat Earth Theory in Islam

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#16 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 10:56
Consensus that the Earth is round

islamqa.info/en/answers/118698/consensus-that-the-earth-i...

Question
Is there consensus that the Earth is round? If there is, then what is the evidence from the Qur’an or Sunnah that the Earth is round or egg shaped?

Answer

Praise be to Allah.
More than one of the scholars have narrated that there is consensus that the Earth is round. For example:

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated that from Abu’l-Husayn ibn al-Munaadi (may Allah have mercy on him), when he said:

Imam Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al-Munaadi narrated from the prominent scholars who are well known for knowledge of reports and major works in religious sciences, from the second level of Ahmad’s companions, that there was no difference of opinion among the scholars that the sky is like a ball.

He said: Similarly they were unanimously agreed that the Earth, with all that is contains of land and sea is like a ball. He said: That is indicated by the fact that the sun, moon and stars do not rise and set over those who are in different parts of the earth at the same time; rather that occurs in the east before it occurs in the west.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (25/195)

He (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about two men who disputed about the nature of heaven and earth: were they both round bodies? One of them said that they were, but the other denied that and said there is no basis for that. What is the correct view?

He replied:

The heavens are round, according to the Muslim scholars. More than one of the scholars and Muslim leaders narrated that the Muslims are unanimously agreed on that, such as Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn al-Munaadi, one of the leading figures among the second level of the companions of Imam Ahmad, who wrote approximately four hundred books. Consensus on this point was also narrated by Imam Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm and Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi. The scholars narrated that with well-known chains of narration (isnaads) from the Sahaabah and Taabi‘een, and they quoted that from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. They discussed that in detail with orally-transmitted evidence. There is also mathematical evidence to that effect, and I do not know of anyone among the well-known Muslim scholars who denied that, apart from a few of those who engaged in arguments who, when they debated with the astrologers denied it for the sake of argument and said: It may be square or hexagonal and so on. They did not deny that it could be round, but they said that the opposite of that was possible. I do not know of anyone who said that it is not round – with any certainty – apart from some ignorant people to whom no one pays any attention.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (6/586)

Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Evidence for the earth being round:

Abu Muhammad said: We are going to discuss some of the arguments against the idea that the earth is round. They said: There is sound evidence that the earth is round, but the common folk say otherwise. Our response – and Allah is the source of strength – is that none of the leading Muslim scholars who deserve to be called imams or leaders in knowledge (may Allah be pleased with them) denied that the earth is round, and there is no narration from them to deny that. Rather the evidence in the Qur’an and Sunnah stated that it is round. … and he quoted evidence to that effect.

End quote from al-Fasl fi’l-Milal wa’l-Ahwa’ wa’l-Nihal (2/78)

The evidence that the earth is round includes the following:

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“He created the heavens and earth for a true purpose; He wraps the night around the day and the day around the night”

[az-Zumar 39:5].

Ibn Hazm and others quoted this verse as evidence.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The earth is round, based on the evidence of the Qur’an, reality, and scientific views.

The evidence of the Qur’an is the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“He created the heavens and earth for a true purpose; He wraps the night around [yukawwir] the day and the day around the night”

[az-Zumar 39:5].

The word yukawwir (translated here as “wraps around” means to make something round, like a turban. It is well-known that night and day follow one another on earth, which implies that the Earth is round, because if you wrap one thing around another thing, and the thing that it is wrapped around is the Earth, then Earth must be round.

With regard to real-life evidence, this has been proven. If a man were to fly from Jeddah, for example, heading west, he would come back to Jeddah from the east, if he flew in a straight line. This is something concerning which no one differs.

With regard to the words of the scholars, they stated that if a man died in the west at sunset, and another died in the west at sunset, and there was some distance between them, the one who died in the west at sunset would inherit from the one who died in the east at sunset, if he was one of his heirs. This indicates that the earth is round, because if the earth were flat, sunset in all regions would occur at the same time. Once this is established, no one can deny it. This is not contradicted by the verses in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do they not look at the camels, how they are created?

And at the heaven, how it is raised?

And at the mountains, how they are rooted and fixed firm?

And at the earth, how it is spread out?”

[al-Ghaashiyah 88:17-20]

Because the Earth is huge and its curvature cannot be seen from a short distance, it appears to be spread out and one cannot see anything that would make one fear living on it, but this does not contradict the fact that it is round, because it is very big. However they say that it is not evenly round; rather it is indented or pushed in at the north and south poles. Hence they say that it is egg-shaped.

End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb

Thus it is known that the Earth is round, and that is not contradicted by the fact that it is like an egg. Rather the false view is that which claims that it is flat, as the Church used to believe and for that reason used to curse and burn those scientists who said that it was round.

See: al-‘Almaaniyyah: Nash’atuha wa Tatawwuruha (1/130)

And Allah knows best.
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#17 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 10:56
islamqa.info/en/answers/211655/reconciling-between-the-vi...

Reconciling between the view that the Earth is round and the verse “And Allah has made for you the earth wide spread (an expanse)” [Nooh 71:19]
Question
Could you please explain these Quranic verse. Actually one Non Muslim asked me to explain these verses.
Quran 71:19 And Allah has made the earth for you as a carpet (spread out).
Quran 78:6 Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, What does it mean ?
Quran 15:19 And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.
Does it mean that Earth is flat? Tafsir Jalalayn says that EARTH is flat. But it is against Established Science.

Answer

Praise be to Allah
Firstly:

The scholars are unanimously agreed that the earth is round, but to human eyes it appears to be flat, because it is very big and its roundness or curvature cannot be seen at close distances. So the one who stands and looks sees it as flat, but when viewed as a whole, in reality it is round.

Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The proofs of the Qur’an and Sunnah indicate that it is round. End quote.

See also the answers to questions no. 201530 and 118698

Secondly:

The verse (interpretation of the meaning) “And Allah has made for you the earth wide spread (an expanse)” [Nooh 71:19] indicates that it is spread out and shaped so that people can feel settled in it and be able to live and prosper in it. Ibn Katheer said:

That is, He spread it out, prepared it, made it stable and made it firm by means of the mountains.

Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/247

Similarly, the verse (interpretation of the meaning) “Have We not made the earth as a bed” [an-Naba’ 78:6] means that it is spread out and prepared for you and for your benefit, so that you can cultivate it, build dwellings in it and travel through it.

Ibn Katheer said:

That is, it is prepared for people in such a way that they can live in it, and it is firm, stable and steady.

Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/307

And the verse (interpretation of the meaning) “And the earth We spread out, and placed therein firm mountains, and caused to grow therein all kinds of things in due proportion” [al-Hijr 15:19] means We spread it out and placed firm mountains therein. This is like the verse in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And it is He Who spread out the earth, and placed therein firm mountains and rivers” [ar-Ra‘d 13:3].

There is no contradiction between saying that it is round and saying that it was spread out, because in fact in its totality it is round, but to the one who stands on it and looks at it, it appears flat, as it appears to everyone.

Ar-Raazi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If it is said: Do the words “And the earth We spread out” indicate that it is flat?

We would respond: Yes, because the earth, even though it is round, is an enormous sphere, and each little part of this enormous sphere, when it is looked at, appears to be flat. As that is the case, this will dispel what they mentioned of confusion. The evidence for that is the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And the mountains as pegs” [an-Naba’ 78:7]. He called them awtaad (pegs) even though these mountains may have large flat surfaces. And the same is true in this case.

End quote from Tafseer ar-Raazi, 19/131

Shaykh ash-Shanqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If the scholars of Islam affirm that the earth is round, then what would they say about the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do they not look at the camels, how they are created?

And at the heaven, how it is raised?

And at the mountains, how they are rooted and fixed firm?

And at the earth, how it is spread out?”

[al-Ghaashiyah 88:17-20].

Their response will be the same as their response concerning the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water” [al-Kahf 18:86] – that is, as it appears to be in the eye of the beholder, because the sun sets on one country, but remains up in the sky for another, until it rises from the east on the following morning. So the earth looks flat in every region or part of it, because of its immense size.

This does not contradict its real shape, because we may see a very high mountain, but if we climb it and reach its summit we may find a flat surface there, and find an entire nation living there, and some of the people there may not know anything about the rest of the world, and so on. End quote.

Adwa’ al-Bayaan, 8/428

Shaykh Rafee‘ ad-Deen ibn Waliyullah ad-Dahlawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book at-Takmeel:

Some may understand words such as “made the earth as a bed” [an-Naba’ 78:6], “He spread the earth” [an-Naazi‘aat 79:30] and “…how it is spread out…” [al-Ghaashiyah 88: 20] as meaning that it is flat, whereas the scholars affirm that it is round on the basis of sound evidence, so it is thought that there is a conflict. That may be refuted by the fact that the visible part of it (for a person standing on it) appears flat, because the larger a circle is, the more spread out it is, so we may say that it is flat on the basis of that part of it that is visible to us, and it is round in its totality, on the basis of rational thinking.

Quoted from him by Siddeeq Hasan Khan in his tafseer, Fath al-Bayaan, 15/208

And Allah knows best.
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#18 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 11:12

This should end any doubt of any alleged ijama. 

Even if there is such an ijma, theny can correct the books now :)

Another PROOF that the Earth IS rotating!

Loading Qur'aan Verse

Posted again to highlight the wining argument!When you look at the mountains, you think that they are standing still.But they are moving like clouds. Such is the artistry of God,who disposes of all things in perfect order.He is indeed fully aware of what you do.Look up into the sky, you see the clouds moving? Yep!How are the mountains moving like the clouds? They are moving with the Earth rotation!!!! Such is the artistry of Allah!!!!

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#19 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 11:17
abu mohammed wrote:
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Assalamu alaikum

Is it your own understanding of this verse?
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#20 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 11:39

bint e aisha wrote:
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It is not my understanding.

Here it is again on it's own

Loading Qur'aan Verse

Note, the emphasis of other meanings have been added by other scholars. If we take the apparent meaning of the verse we have one thing, but if we add emphasis, we have another meaning.

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#21 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 11:42
abu mohammed wrote:
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For example:
سورہ النمل آیت نمبر 88
وَ تَرَی الۡجِبَالَ تَحۡسَبُہَا جَامِدَۃً وَّ ہِیَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ السَّحَابِ ؕ صُنۡعَ اللّٰہِ الَّذِیۡۤ اَتۡقَنَ کُلَّ شَیۡءٍ ؕ اِنَّہٗ خَبِیۡرٌۢ بِمَا تَفۡعَلُوۡنَ ﴿۸۸﴾
ترجمہ:
And you see the mountains (at present) supposing them as fixed (forever), while (on that Day) they will fly like the flight of clouds - an act of Allah who has perfected every thing. Surely, He is All-Aware of what you do.
آسان ترجمۂ قرآن مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی

The emphasis is in line with the context of the verse before and after. But on its own, it has more than one meaning
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#22 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 11:44
abu mohammed wrote:
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"And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds."

You have ommited this "will" whilst explaining the verse. Do you realise in these verses Allah ta'ala is talking about the doomsday?
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#23 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 11:46
abu mohammed wrote:
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But you can't deduce that meaning on your own. One has to be a scholar to do that. Rasulullah (saw) is reported to have said:

"Whoever says (something) about the Qur'an according to his own opinion and he is correct, yet he has committed a mistake."
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#24 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 11:47
bint e aisha wrote:
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SubhanAllah, I know the context, but one word missed and reading it like it was typed causes great error. JazakAllah for pointing it out.

However, it is also translated like that by others. (Although I do not take my translation from these)
"DR. GHALI wrote:
And you see the mountains, that you reckon inert, and (really) they pass by like clouds- the handiwork of Allah, Who has consummated everything; surely He is Ever-Cognizant of whatever you perform.

PICKTHALL wrote:
And thou seest the hills thou deemest solid flying with the flight of clouds: the doing of Allah Who perfecteth all things. Lo! He is Informed of what ye do.

DR. MUSTAFA KHATTAB, THE CLEAR QURAN wrote:
Now you see the mountains, thinking they are firmly fixed, but they are travelling ˹just˺ like clouds. ˹That is˺ the design of Allah, Who has perfected everything. Surely He is All-Aware of what you do.
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#25 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 12:08
abu mohammed wrote:
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That's probably because in Arabic same words are used for both present and future tense. But it is clear from the context that the verses are talking about the doomsday. Is there any scholar who has interpreted the verse like you are doing? Respected brother, in your desperate attempts to prove that the Earth is moving, it seems you have misused the verse of the Qur'an.

Read the answer you have posted above.
Quote:
A: The Qur’aan does not speak about this. Don’t take the trouble of forcing the meaning out of the Qur’aan.

And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

Answered by:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
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#26 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 12:12
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#27 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 12:17
bint e aisha wrote:
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JazakAllah. I'm not desperate to prove anything :) It's not my opinion or translation

I know the context. The verse, if taken on its own as was done by "other" scholars (which I've posted) also shows this meaning.

The Quran has many jewels in them, out of which we have found a few. There are countless more jewels unfound in the Quran.

Anyways, as I did say and not retracted, that that was the best answer proivded :)
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#28 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 12:22
I've followed up and corrected myself and given further evidences given by others. I accept my error but am not of the opinion that the earth is stationary

However, I will go one step further than FACEPLAMING myself :)



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#29 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 12:37
Please only post relevant issues to the current topic, otherwise please start a new topic. Jazakumullah
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#30 [Permalink] Posted on 19th February 2019 12:38
saa10245 wrote:
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I said past interpretations...
Not past Ijma'

This is why I said you're taking things out of context constantly and derailing the thread. For this reason I've blocked you from replying to this thread. As advised you CAN start a different thread in this. You are not being silenced.
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