The following is taken from ‘Abdallah ‘Abd al-Fadi’s monumental work, Is the Qur’an Infallible?, Part One: Geographical Questions, pp. 15-32, published by Light of Life, P.O. Box 13, A-9503, Villach, Austria.
1. The Sun Sets in a Spring
Question 1: We read in Sura al-Kahf 18:83-86: “They will question thee concerning Dhu al-Qarnain. Say: ‘I will recite to you a mention of him.’ We established him in the land, and We gave him away to every thing; and he followed away until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and he found nearby a people.’
Al-Baidawi in his commentary Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta’wil says the following with regard to these verses:
The Jews asked Muhammad about Dhu al-Qamain (Alexander the Great), and he said to them that God established him in the land so that he could reach the place where the sun sets. He found that it set in a muddy spring, and all around the spring were idolatrous people! He also walked to the place where the sun rises and discovered that people lived there who went about naked, with no homes to shelter them from the sun. After that he walked to a site that lies to the north, between the place where the sun rises and sets, which he found to be between two mountains. He poured on these two mountains a mixture of iron and molten brass, thereby setting up an impassable barrier which only God can reach on the Day of Resurrection.
Al-Baidawi added that “Ibn ‘Abbas heard Mu’awiya read ‘aynin hamiya [‘hot spring’l, so he told him it was hami’a [‘muddy’]. Therefore, Mu’awiya sent to Ka’b al-Ahbar, asking, ‘Where do you think the sun sets?’ He said to him, ‘In water and mud.'”
We ask: As the sun is many times larger than the earth, how then could Dhu al-Qamain see it set in a spring filled with water and mud, surrounded by people?
2. The Earth Is Stationary
Question 2: We read the following in the Qur’an:
“He created the heavens without pillars you can see, and He cast on the earth firm mountains, lest it shake with you” (Sura Luqman 31:10).
“It is He who.stretched out the earth and set therein firm mountains” (Sura al-Ra’d 13:3).
“And the earth – We stretched it forth, and cast on it firm mountains, and We caused to grow therein every thing justly weighed” (Sura al-Hijr 15:19).
“And He cast on the earth firm mountains lest it shake with you, and rivers and ways; so haply you will be guided” (Sura al-Nahl 16:15).
“And We set in the earth firm mountains lest it should shake with them” (Sura al-Anbiya’ 21:31).
Al-Baidawi explains the verse in Sura al-Ra’d as follows: “‘Stretched out the earth’ means it was flattened in width and length so that feet may be steady on and animals may roll on it.” He explained these verses in his commentary on Sura al-Nahl 16:15 as follows:
“And He cast on the earth firm mountains lest it should shake with you,” or lest it should tum aside and be thrown out of balance. For before the mountains were created on it, the earth had been a light-weight sphere of simple substance. It floated about freely in orbit like the planets, and would advance with the slightest movement. Its sides varied in dimension when the mountains were created on its surface, and they centred it, thus serving as wedges to keep it from moving. It was also said that, when God created the earth it started to sway and swing, so that the angels said, “None can have a resting place on its surface.” So it was made stationary by the mountains.
We ask: How could the earth be stretched out, flattened and motionless? How can anyone say that the mountains keep the earth from moving when it is evident that it rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, causing the cycle of day and night? It also revolves around the sun once a year, effecting the changing of the seasons.
3. Stars Are for Stoning the Satans
Question 3: We read in Sura al-Mulk 67:5:
“And We adorned the lower heaven with lamps, and made them things to stone Satans; and We have prepared for them the chastisement of the Blaze.”
Al-Baidawi explained this verse, saying:
“And We adorned the lower heaven” means the nearer heavens. “With lamps” refers to the luminous stars that light the night as lamps. This does not contradict the fact that some stars are stationed in higher heavens, for the adorning of the lower heaven means they are made manifest in it. “And made them things to stone Satans” means they were made for another reason, which is the stoning of enemies. Rujum [“things to stone”] is the plural of rajam, which is anything used for stoning that has flames issuing from it. Another opinion says, “We made them mediums of clairvoyance and augury [which is another definition of the root verb rajama] for the Satans among men, who are the soothsayers.”
We read in Sura al-Saffat 37:6-10: “We have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars and to preserve against every rebel Satan; they listen not to the High Council. For they are pelted from every side, rejected, and theirs is an everlasting chastisement, except such as snatches a fragment, and he is pursued by a piercing flame.”
We read in Sura al-Hijr 15:16-18: “We have set in heaven constellations and decked them out fair to the beholders, and guarded them from every accursed Satan excepting such as listens by stealth – and he is pursued by a manifest flame.”
Al-Baidawi explains this verse as follows: ” ‘And guarded them from every accursed Satan’ means that one cannot go up to heaven, tempt its inhabitants, be aware of its location, or subdue it. ‘Excepting such as listen by stealth’ refers to every demon. ‘Listening by stealth’ means overhearing or eavesdropping. It is compared to snatching a fragment from the dwellers of heaven owing to the similarity of their substance, or by deduction from the positions and movements of the stars.”
Ibn ‘Abbas reported that:
They [the fallen angels] had not been kept away from the heavens. But when Jesus was born they were kept away for three years, and when Muhammad was born they were all kept away from them by means of the flames [meteors]. This is not to be rejected owing to the fact that the meteors had been formed before the angels’ birth, for it is possible that they were created for other purposes. Another opinion is that the exception is withheld, meaning that anyone who listens by stealth will be pursued by a flame visible to those able to see. Shihab [“flame”] is a blazing brand of fire. It can also refer to a star [meteor] or a flaming dart, owing to the brilliance of either.
We ask: How are we to imagine an angel the size of a man holding the stars like pieces of rock with which to pelt Satan, keeping him from listening to the voices of the inhabitants of heaven? Have these heavenly bodies been created to serve as ammunition or war material for the stoning of Satan? It is a matter of fact that every star is like an enormous galaxy, and therefore the universe contains millions of enormous galaxies floating at huge distances in limitless space. Also, how can the angels throw the stars without plunging the universe into utter chaos, since by their actions they would upset its equilibrium?
4. Seven Heavens and Seven Earths
Question 4: We read the following verses in the Qur’an:
“It is God who created seven heavens, and of earth their like” (Sura al-Talaq 65:12).
“It is He who created for you all that is in the earth, then he lifted himself to heaven and levelled them seven heavens; and he has knowledge of everything” (Sura al-Baqara 2:29).
“So he determined them seven heavens in two days, and revealed its commandment in every heaven. And We adorned the lower heaven with lamps, and to preserve; that is the ordaining of the All-mighty, the All-knowing” (Sura Fussilat 41:12).
“We set up the heaven as a roof well-protected; yet still from Our signs they are turning away” (Sura al-Anbiya) 21:32).
“Hast thou not seen how that God… holds back heaven lest it fall upon the earth, save by His leave? Surely God is AII-gentle to men, All-compassionate” (Sura al-Hajj 22:65).
“What, have they not beheld heaven above them, how we have built it, and decked it out fair, and it has no cracks?” (Sura Qaf 50:6).
A1-Baidawi said the “roof well-preserved” in Sura al-Anbiya’ 21 is kept from falling by the command of God. He also explained the “cracks” in Sura Qaf 50 as ruptures, and said that God created the heavens smooth and closely fitting, one on top of the other. It clearly follows from al-Baidawi’s exegesis that God created heaven as a vast, smooth roof above us, with six other heavens as roofs, one on top of the other. He also created our earth together with six other earths like it. The sum total of heavens and earths is thus fourteen.
We ask: How could it be that the IimiUess space above us is a smooth roof capable of caving in, or that there are seven roofs of this kind? How could it be that the millions of stars floating in IimiUess space are lamps fixed in an imaginary roof? How can the claim be justified that there are seven earths like our earth, which is unique among millions of planets, moons and suns?
5. The Postponed Month Is Unbelief
Question 5: We read in Sura al-Tawba 9:36,37: “The number of the months, with God, is twelve in the Book of God, the day that He created the heavens and the earth; four of them are sacred. That is the right religion. So wrong not one another during them. And fight the unbelievers totally even as they fight you totally; and know that God is with the god-fearing. The month postponed is an increase of unbelief whereby the unbelievers go astray; one year they make it profane, and hallow it another, to agree with the number that God has hallowed, and so profane what God has hallowed. Decked out fair to them are their evil deeds; and God guides not the people of the unbelievers.”
The question is: Is this really unbelief? Scientists determine dates by the solar calendar, which is different from the lunar calendar by roughly one month, so how can a natural astronomical calculation be considered unbelief?
6. Egypt Is Irrigated by Rain
Question 6: We read in Sura Yusuf 12:49: “Then thereafter there shall come a year wherein the people will be succoured [yughathu] and press in season.”
Here a reference is made to the drought that Egypt suffered for seven continual years during the time of Joseph, and to the surplus that would replace this barrenness. It says that in the year of plenty they will have rain [the word succoured in Arabic means ‘to be relieved by rain1; as if Egypt’s fertility is based on rain. This contradicts reality, for rain is very scarce in Egypt, and it plays no role in that country’s irrigation, which is obtained solely from the annual flooding of the Nile. How then can the fertility of Egypt be attributed to rain?
7. Thunder Is an Angel
Question 7: We read in Sura al-Ra’d 13:13: “The thunder proclaims His praise, and the angels, in awe of Him. He looses the thunderbolts, and smites with them whosoever He will; yet they dispute about God, who is mighty in power.”
Al-Baidawi said, “Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Prophet was asked about the thunder. He answered, ‘It is an angel entrusted with the clouds. He has entwined shreds of fire with which he drives the clouds and the angels, in awe of God.’ Another opinion says that the pronoun him refers to the thunder itself.”
Al-Tirmidhi brought out, quoting Ibn ‘Abbas, that “the Jews came to Muhammad and said, ‘Tell us about the thunder. What is it?’ He said, ‘One of the angels who is entrusted with the clouds. He has entwined shreds of fire with which he drives the clouds wherever God wills.’ They asked, ‘What is this sound, then, which is heard?’ He said, ‘It is his rebuke to the clouds, that they should stop where they have been commanded.’ They said, ‘You have spoken the truth!'”
We ask: Why does the Qur’an say that thunder is an angel, when primitive peoples regarded it as a god? In reality it is the electricity generated by the collision of positively and negatively charged ions in the clouds.
There’s more from al-Fadi in the next installment (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/13/the-qurans-geographical-errors-pt-2/).
Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/13/the-qurans-geographical-errors-pt-1/
IHS
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