Is it true that....

[Syph]

In the koran it says that the earth is flat? I heard that in 1993 shayk baaz of saudi arabia issued a fatwa which said that the earth is flat and if anyone says otherwise they should be persecuted.

Is this true?

[Justcurious]

What the Quran says may not be true, but whether the earth is flat...well, everybody knows.

[.: Anna :.]

uhh thats the 1st i ever heard of it

[Syph]

i believe the literal interpretation in the koran says that the earth is 'plain' and it is interpreted as flat.

[ze leetle elper]

Then the 'interpretation' is understanding it to mean flat.

Not neccesarily meaning that the Qur'an is claiming it to be flat.

[ze leetle elper]

Originally posted by Justcurious
What the Quran says may not be true

Sometimes you really get up my nostrils. :mad:

[Syph]

Originally posted by ze leetle elper
Then the 'interpretation' is understanding it to mean flat.

Not neccesarily meaning that the Qur'an is claiming it to be flat.

I think that's how it is understood. Especially since this shek in saudi arabia said it was so. sheiks have that authority do they not?

[ze leetle elper]

Originally posted by Syph
I think that's how it is understood. Especially since this shek in saudi arabia said it was so. sheiks have that authority do they not?

Some priests welcome homosexuality in Christianity whereas some condemn it.

And first rule of waking up and smelling the coffee beans is not to believe everything you read/ hear.

[U_wott]

Shk bin baaz{rh} said that? hmmm

wheres this fatwa then.

[Sultan]

"And after that he spread the earth."-79:30

This misunderstanding that the Quran states the Earth is flat is the fault of translation. I think it's the Yusuf Ali translation that has this.


The arabic "dahaha" being translated here to "spread" has another meaning in the Arabic language and that is "rounded" or "Egg shaped"

So some translations will use "rounded" rather than "spread".


I found this:

http://www.emuslim.com/QuranandScience/Astronomy.asp

which has the following article:


THE SPHERICAL SHAPE OF THE EARTH


In early times, people believed that the earth is flat. For centuries, men were afraid to venture out too far, lest they should fall off the edge. Sir Francis Drake was the first person who proved that the earth is spherical when he sailed around it in 1597. Consider the following Qur’aanic verse regarding the alternation of day and night:


Al- Quran 31:29


“Seest thou not that Allah merges Night into Day And He merges Day into Night?”


Merging here means that the night slowly and gradually changes to day and vice versa. This phenomenon can only take place if the earth is spherical. If the earth was flat, there would have been a sudden change from night to day and from day to night.

The following verse also alludes to the spherical shape of the earth:


Al- Quran 39:5


“He created the heavens And the earth In true (proportions): He makes the Night Overlap the Day, and the Day Overlap the Night.”





Merging here means that the night slowly and gradually changes to day and vice versa. This phenomenon can only take place if the earth is spherical. If the earth was flat, there would have been a sudden change from night to day and from day to night.

The following verse also alludes to the spherical shape of the earth:

The Arabic word used here is Kawwara meaning ‘to overlap’ or ‘to coil’– the way a turban is wound around the head. The overlapping or coiling of the day and night can only take place if the earth is spherical.

The earth is not exactly round like a ball, but geo-spherical i.e. it is flattened at the poles. The following verse contains a description of the earth’s shape: The Qur’aan and Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible?






Al- Quran 79:30


“And the earth, moreover, Hath He made egg shaped.” *





(* The Arabic word dahaha has been translated by A. Yusuf Ali as “vast expanse”, which also is correct. The word dahaha also means an ostrich-egg. Consider the following verses related to the nature of light from the sun and the moon: “It is He who made the sun To be a shining glory And the moon to be a light (Of beauty).”

The Arabic word for egg here is dahaha, which means an ostrich-egg. The shape of an ostrich-egg resembles the geo-spherical shape of the earth. Thus the Qur’aan correctly describes the shape of the earth, though the prevalent notion when the Qur’aan was revealed was that the earth is flat.

[Believer]

Well, the earth isn't egg shaped.
So the equator is a few 100 miles wider, that's not an egg shape.

[dour]

I do believe that all it comes down to is interpretation. Much like the idea that everything revolves around the Earth as the Christianity once thought... just someone's interpretation. That is basically how every religion is, and one of the major reasons for religious warefare. Not every religious war was fought against a different religion. Much relegious warfare was and is fought over the interpretation of a religion. Every religion has that problem, including Islam and Christianity.

[abdulhakeem]

Does the Quran say that the Earth is flat?

Question :

Quran 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 Quran in Surah Nuh:

“And Allah has made the earth for you as a carpet (spread out).” [Al-Quran 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-Quran 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-Quran 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 Quran 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 Quran says that the earth is flat. The Quran 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 Quran 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 Quran 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 Quran 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-Quran 51:48]

Similarly the Quran 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-Quran 78:6-7]

None of these verses of the Quran 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 Quran says: “O My servants who believe! Truly spacious is My Earth: therefore serve ye Me . (And Me alone)!” [Al-Quran 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 geo-spherical in shape

The Quran mentions the actual shape of the earth in the following verse: “And we have made the earth egg shaped”. [Al-Quran 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 geo-spherical in shape, exactly like the shape of the earth.

Thus the Quran and modern established science are in perfect harmony.

Dr. Zakir Naik
Islamic Voice * Vol 14-09 No:165 *
SEPTEMBER 2000 / JAMADI-UL-THANI 1421H

http://www.islamicvoice.com/september.2000/religion.htm#ear

[Justcurious]

Originally posted by ze leetle elper
Sometimes you really get up my nostrils. :mad:

There are so many things that we can't take for granted. New inventions are being made year after year and we simply must accept them.

The world today is not the same as at the time the Quran was made.

[U_wott]

Originally posted by Believer
Well, the earth isn't egg shaped.
So the equator is a few 100 miles wider, that's not an egg shape.

Actually u kno dues to gravitational forces the world appears egg shaped slighty from space.

just one of my did u kno thingime's

[Sultan]

Originally posted by Believer
Well, the earth isn't egg shaped.
So the equator is a few 100 miles wider, that's not an egg shape.


And the Earth doesn't have four corners as the bible states!

Isaiah 11:12
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH. (KJV)

Revelation 7:1
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. (KJV)

And the Earth is not a plane circle either!

"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. (From the NIV Bible, Isaiah 40:22)"

But since I don't know Hebrew, I don't know if the above translations are faithful of not!

[Sultan]

Originally posted by Believer
Well, the earth isn't egg shaped.
So the equator is a few 100 miles wider, that's not an egg shape.

And how do you know?

Some eggs are spheroidal (eg turtle, human and fish eggs)

Some have shapes that are bizzare.

But if you are thinking of a chicken's egg (which the verse does not mention). that's your problem.

But to call the Earth 'Egg-shaped' illustrates the true fact that the Earth's shape departs from a true Sphere.

Now is there anything in the bible that mentions the Earth as other than a plane? I have only seen verses that describe the Earth as a 'circle'. A circle, by definition is a plane figure where each point on the circumferance is equidistand from the centre.

[AhmedSyed]

Originally posted by Believer
Well, the earth isn't egg shaped.
So the equator is a few 100 miles wider, that's not an egg shape.

Ah...but read it again. It said "egg shaped" not "shaped LIKE an egg"