101 Reasons Why We Left Islam – Chapter 3: Islam and Science – Reason 20
At the start of chapter 3, I explained the shockwave that was caused by the landing on the moon across the Islamic world. One of the many reasons for this shock is seeing photos beamed down of a floating round shape Earth. Until that point, Muslims did not believe the Earth is round- I know this as first hand information from older relatives. My grandmother died in the early 1990’s having lived to nearly 93 years old. She insisted, along with two of my uncles, that until that landing date, most of Islamic world strongly believed the Earth is flat. And even after that, many refused to accept it. In fact, my grandmother died believing the moon landing was a lie and hoax invited by the infidel Americans to ‘damage the reputation of Islam’. You do not have to go back in time, we still have now Islamic Dawah on Youtube who claim the Moon landing is a hoax.
But where does this come from? Was this a widely accepted belief? Let us see.
We have at least ten verses that describe the earth as flat like a carpet, bed, and spread. The verses are: Quran [2:22], [15:19], [20:53], [43:10], [50:7], [51:48], [71:19], [78:6-7], [79:30], [88:20], and[91:6]. There are further ones (which we will discuss later reasons) that also imply the Earth is flat.
Here is a sample for you:
Quran 2:22: https://legacy.quran.com/2/22
[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].
Quran 20:53: https://legacy.quran.com/20/53
[It is He] who has made for you the earth as a bed [spread out] and inserted therein for you roadways and sent down from the sky, rain and produced thereby categories of various plants.
Quran 79:30: https://legacy.quran.com/79/30
And after that He spread the earth.
Quran 88:20: https://quran.com/al-ghashiyah/20
and the earth—how it was levelled out?
Yet, we do not have one single verse that suggests the Earth is spherical or round in the Quran despite having many words that describe round or oval in the Arabic language. Allah, who knows everything, seemed to be short on that word whenever He describes the creation of the Earth.
And if you suggest that we are taking these out of context, open the tafsir of the original Islamic scholars, and you will see them emphatically insist the verses indicate that the Earth is flat. While reading the Tafsir, look out for more scientific in accuracies.
Quran 79:30 – Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs – https://quranx.com/Tafsirs/79.30
“(And after that He spread the earth) even then He spread it on the water; it is also said: 2,000 years after that He spread it on the water,“
Quran 51:48- Tafsir Al Qurtubi – https://quran.com/51:48/tafsirs/ar-tafseer-al-qurtubi
“And We have spread the Earth, that is, We have spread it out like a bed on the surface of the water and We have spread it out….”
Quran 71:19 – Tafsir Al Tabari – https://quran.com/71:19/tafsirs/ar-tafsir-al-tabari
“And God has made the Earth a carpet for you.”
But by far the most damning evidence has to be Tafsir Al-Jalalayn where in nearly every verse we have listed above, he keep reminding the readers that the Earth is flat until you get to Tafsir verse 88:20 that puts to rest any suggestion that we are making this up:
Quran 88:20 – Tafsir Jalal – Al-Jalalayn – https://quranx.com/Tafsirs/88.20
And the earth, how it was laid out flat?, and thus infer from this the power of God, exalted be He, and His Oneness? The commencing with the [mention of] camels is because they are closer in contact with it [the earth] than any other [animal]. As for His words sutihat, ‘laid out flat’, this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat, which is the opinion of most of the scholars of the [revealed] Law, and not a sphere as astronomers (ahl al-hay’a) have it, even if this [latter] does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law.
Backed by more Quranic verses and Hadith that confirms the Prophet descriptions are all aligned with a flat Earth that we will further present in Reasons #21, #22, and #23. All original narration, tafsirs, and translations were suppressed. As we indicated in the introduction, Islamic scholar had to adapt to the changing world. So, they started suggesting that these verses do not really talk about the Earth being flat but rather that it ‘looks flat’ to the normal everyday person. Islamic scholars started to suggest that the all-knowing God was merely stating that He made the Earth flat-“ish” so humans can roam easily. Even this argument does not apply to people living in mountainous regions such as Himalayas or Andes. And Allah needed at least 10 verses that the Earth looks flat while describing the creation of Earth!? Like a desert dweller could not figure that looking out from their tent in the desert?
Islamic Dawah were pressed on this major problem, and it is fair to say it has caused many to leave Islam. So, naturally they had to invent something. First, it was suggested that Dahaha, in verse 79:30 means, ostrich egg. This was most likely invented by the infamous Dr Zakri Naik. Anyone with basic Arabic knowledge can tell Dahaha, in the context of that verse, is a verb, not a noun.
Because they claim ‘Dahaha’ is the word replacing ‘spread’, The verse went from “And after that He spread the earth” to “And after that He ostrich egg the earth!” – The same issue applied in Arabic. So lousy are those Dawah, the replacement word leaves the verse without a verb. It turns out Allah does not know how to construct a sentence.
And informed Arabs will tell you Dahaha means spreading, like when we spread bread dough flat. This was the explanation given by every single Tafsir you see for all the original Islamic Scholars. And if you do not believe me, check the verse for yourself on Quran.com or through the link below:
https://quranx.com/Tafsirs/79.30 & https://quran.com/79:30/tafsirs/ar-tafsir-al-tabari
This lie lasted about 20 years until the Internet arrived and it was completely debunked. Naturally, the Dawah movement had to come up with something new.
Looking for another obscured verse, they found a verse using the word كور (Kawar) meaning wrap. While the word is derived from the word كرة (Kurah – ball) it is not difficult to see it is a very different word. The Quran refers to the day and night (Kawar – wrap) over each other. But they have several problems. The verse does not talk about Earth but about how the day and wraps over the night and the night comes to wrap over the day:
Quran 39:5: https://quran.com/en/az-zumar/5
“He created the heavens and the earth for a purpose. He wraps the night around the day, and wraps the day around the night…”
That is because the Prophet said in multiple places that the light and dark are a form of a “cover”. Wrap does not necessarily mean a ball. You can wrap a cover on flat square table, right? That is what the verse is actually implying and that is what every Tafsir for the verse says:
https://quranx.com/Tafsirs/39.5
The Saudis had tried to remove all references to Flat Earth linked to Sheikh Ibn Baz but some old newspaper extracts remain online, for example this article from 1995:
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/world/muslim-edicts-take-on-new-force.html
Sheikh Ibn Baz was an old man with very strong religious convictions that made him critical of Western science. If something did not confirm to what the Quran says, he was not the person to back down, like others did. He also defended the Islamic view that the Earth is fixed because is also linked to the Quran and the idea the Earth is flat, we shall see this in Reason#24.
It is important to understand the historical context of these verses. The Prophet was taking a stand to align with what he thought is an anti-pagan Greek Philosophers’ views that suggested the Earth is round. This repeated emphasis was not a mistake but intended to challenge the belief that the Earth is round – otherwise we would be sliding down at one part of the Earth. Remember, they did not know or understand the concept of gravity that we take for granted now.
Issue 20.1: How could anyone continue to claim the Quran is from an All-Knowledgeable God when it clearly reflects the knowledge of a 7th century desert dweller view? This is not a view the few people held but the majority of Islamic scholars.
Apologists Response:
Issue 20.1: The Quran never once says the Earth is flat nor do you have a single Hadith were the Prophet (PBUH) says that the Earth is flat. The verses were in fact indicating that Earth was made habitable for humans to roam. You look at what we know about other planets that are gas planets, melting rock planets. and icy planets – The Quran expresses how the Earth was made easier for humans to live in and roam. The opinion of Islamic Scholars is not necessarily evidence that Islam is wrong. It is just their opinion and their interpretation. The same may apply to those Islamic scholars who tried to figure out other explanations for the Quran suggesting the Earth is round. There are some Islamic scholars, early in Islam, that suggested the Earth is round. We would simply say the Quran neither said the Earth is round or flat.
>> Our Response: Even if now you make excuses for all these verses, one thing no one cannot deny is that for nearly 1400 years the majority of the Islamic world believed the Earth is flat. The few one or two Islamic scholars who later suggested otherwise were actually going against the Islamic teaching at the time – as Al Jalalayn Tafsir clearly states. Anyone who argued that the Earth is round, would have done so from studying physics and science – and not from reading the Quran. Sheikh Ibn Baz, the supreme religious authority in Saudi Arabia in the 1990’s, further shows that deep understanding of the Quran and Hadith did not lead us to know better about our world but to actually reject the science.
Final Thoughts
This reason for leaving Islam was hugely significant in the 1970’s. This is further linked to several other reasons we shall see next. The scientific issues that the Quran presented were so overwhelming, the Islamic authorities had to come up with a different strategy. They determined to focus on so called ‘scientific miracles’ to counter the scientific errors in order to create brainwashing effect whereby hearing of one or two issues may not be sufficient to counter the supposedly overwhelming evidence of the miracles of the Quran. And this continues to be the case we see online. Of course, none of their claims are true. And the arrival of the Internet created a bigger challenge as it is helping to undo some of that brainwashing effect.