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Geocentricism In Quran (21:23 And 36:40)
Posted by Ahmed Habib on November 18, 2021 at 1:33 amCan anyone help me with 36:40 21:33 people accuse it of showing geocentrism as day night are in preceding sentence with orbits of sun and moon in next though it never mentions their orbit around earth! Also commentators differ with word “kullun” used some say all celestial bodies. Some say only sun moon why is this so ?
Umer replied 2 years, 9 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies -
4 Replies
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Geocentricism In Quran (21:23 And 36:40)
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ودود
Member November 18, 2021 at 3:21 amIt’s not a geocentric, it’s a human-centric view of the sky given in those verses – just like we say sun sets in the west – that’s a human-centric way of explaining things. This is how I understand it as a student.
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Ahmed Habib
Member November 18, 2021 at 3:26 amExplain please
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Umer
Moderator November 18, 2021 at 4:04 amThe Quran is not a science book. What ancient scholars did, and what we still do, is to observe how the universe works and try to link that with the verses in the Quran that mention these things. They thought the Earth was stationary and the sun and moon orbited around it. That was the best science of the day. Their agreement actually comes from the fact that the geocentric model was as “established science” to them as we consider the heliocentric model. For any mufassir or scholar to interpret in any other way would have made the Quran go against science in that era. Neither of the verses that you mentioned clearly support the geocentric model actually. In fact, they only support it when you actually believe the geocentric model (which many ancient scholars did).
The first example you gave:
أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاء كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ. وَجَعَلْنَا فِي الْأَرْضِ رَوَاسِيَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِهِمْ وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا فِجَاجًا سُبُلًا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ. وَجَعَلْنَا السَّمَاء سَقْفًا مَّحْفُوظًا وَهُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهَا مُعْرِضُونَ. وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ.
[They ask for signs]. Have these disbelievers not many a time seen that the heavens and the earth both are closed. Then We opened them and We have created every living being with water of the heavens only. Will then they not accept faith? And We have planted mountains in the earth so that it may not tilt away with them and in these mountains made passes as paths so that people may find the way [for them]. And We have made the heavens a secure roof and such are these people that they have turned away from its signs. Indeed, it is He Who made the night and the day and created the sun and the moon. Each of them is moving in [its] path. (Quran 21:30-33)
The second example you gave:
وَآيَةٌ لَّهُمْ اللَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ النَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُمْ مُّظْلِمُوْنَ. وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِیْ لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيْرُ الْعَزِيْزِ الْعَلِيْمِ. وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّى عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيْمِ. لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنبَغِیْ لَهَا أَنْ تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ وَلَا اللَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِیْ فَلَكٍ يَّسْبَحُوْنَ.
And for them, the night too is a great sign. We pull out the day from it; so all of a sudden they are plunged in darkness. [For precisely this purpose,] the sun moves on a prescribed path. This is a measure set by the powerful and all-knowing God. And We have appointed phases for the moon [for this purpose] until [after passing through them] it once again becomes a withered date-twig. Neither can the sun dare catch up with the moon nor can the night overtake the day. All of them are moving in their own path. (Quran 36:37-40)
To a geocentric person, these verses may indirectly point that the sun and moon are orbiting the earth. But for a modern person, the verse is just as well explained by the fact that everything in the sky is moving in orbits like the sun, moon and earth around their own axis and around the milky way.
Please refer to the following response by Ghamidi Sahab:
Please refer to the video below from 6:54 to 10:24 (although the whole episode is insightful)
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Umer
Moderator March 25, 2022 at 3:41 pm
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