101 Reasons Why We Left Islam – Chapter 3: Islam and Science – Reason 22
This Hadith comes directly to explain two verses in the Quran:
Quran 22:18 – https://legacy.quran.com/22/18
Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth and the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the moving creatures and many of the people? …
Quran 36:38 – https://legacy.quran.com/36/38
And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.
Then comes the narration by the Prophet, where he adds flesh to the bones in explaining these verses:
- Narrated Abu Dharr: Once I was with the Prophet (ﷺ) in the mosque at the time of sunset. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “O Abu Dharr! Do you know where the sun sets?” I replied, “Allah and His Apostle know best.” He said, “It goes and prostrates underneath (Allah’s) Throne; and that is Allah’s Statement:– ‘And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (decreed). And that is the decree of All-Mighty, the All-Knowing….’ (36.38)
This Hadith is so famous that it appears at least nine times in a variety of forms.
https://sunnah.com/search?q=Sun+prostrate+throne
Why the suggestion that the Sun goes to a stopping point to prostrate to Allah at night does not make any sense? For anyone struggling to visualise it, here is how it works:
The Sun does not go anywhere at sun set. For us, the Sun is fixed. The Earth’s rotation makes the Sun look like it is ‘going somewhere’ at sun sets. And when you have nighttime, and you think the Sun has gone to prostrate to Allah because now it is nighttime, remember that your nighttime is someone’s daytime on a spherical Earth. This Hadith, combined with the Quran verses, further demonstrate the worldview of the 7th century Prophet, which was that of a flat Earth, and the Sun goes to the West at night to prostrate to Allah, asking permission to come out again from the East.
Issue 22.1: This is one of the few Hadiths that Islamic scholars failed to remove in time for printing in the post-1960s clean-up. Probably because it is not too obvious as a scientific mistake in the understanding of how our universe works, the same way you struggled to visualise it until we presented you with the diagrams, many others failed to see the connection. What is more damning is that the Hadith directly links this narration to the Quran. So, this is not just the Prophet’s personal observation but the actual interpretation of Quranic verses.
Apologist Excuses:
Issue 22.1: The Quran is not a book of science but a book of signs for those who seek guidance. First of all, the Quran 22:18 itself does not say the Sun prostrates at night but rather that it is constantly prostrating – like every other thing. This is a symbolic term and does not mean that the Sun physically prostrates but rather a form of praying and seeking blessings from Allah. Verse 36:38 only says that at some point the Sun runs towards a stopping point – this could be metaphysical explanation of once every 27 days where the Sun self-rotates. What this means may become clearer in the future.
>> Our Response: The Hadith connects those two verses and explains what the Quran meant by the Sun going to a fixed point and what it means when the Sun prostrates to Allah. The term Metaphysical suggestion that we cannot explain using our knowledge is a deflection as we already know how the Sun and Earth operate. It is, in essence, as good as ‘Only Allah Knows’ when all avenues are lost! And if you were too brainwashed, you would have missed the paganism aspect associated with an inanimate object, such as the Sun, acting humanly by prostrating, praying, and asking permission! In Islam, we accuse pagans of being crazy to suggest inanimate objects have minds or have human traits, but in Islam, we do that all the time.
Final Thoughts:
We know the challenges Islamic Dawah has had with this topic. We should never forget the context here. The context of the Quranic flat Earth verses, The Prophet’s Hadiths, which we presented here, and Islamic Scholars’ beliefs for nearly 1400 years that the Earth is flat built up the narrative perfectly. Just in case you thought, surely this is enough evidence there are some serious issues with how the Quran and the Prophet viewed the world, hold on to your seats as we see in the next verse where ACTUALLY the Quran says the Sun sets every day!