In one of our papers (here),
we mentioned that the Quran teaches that the sun sets in a muddy spring. In this article,
we would like to expand upon our original point by including the commentaries of various
Muslim scholars and also address certain Muslim responses which seek to deny that this is,
in fact, what the Quran teaches.
Before we begin discussing this issue, we do need to make it clear that statements
about the sun rising or setting do not, in and of themselves, prove that a person or
author held to erroneous scientific views, or made a scientific error. One can
legitimately argue that the person or author in question is using everyday speech,
ordinary language, or what is called phenomenological language. From the vantage
point of the person who is viewing the sun from the earth, the sun does indeed appear to
be rising and setting. In fact, even today with all our advanced scientific knowledge we
still refer to sunrise and sunset.
Hence, an ancient book or writer may have not intended to convey actual scientific
phenomena when describing the sun as rising or setting any more than today’s
meteorologists, or newscasters, are speaking scientifically when referring to the rising
and setting of the sun.
With that said, we do feel that the author of the Quran wasn’t using
phenomenological language when describing the sun. There are hints in the Quran that show
that the author wasn’t simply speaking from the vantage point of one looking up at
the sun from the earth, but did actually believe that the sun rises and sets. These hints
are found in surah 18:86 and 90. It is to these passages which we now turn in order to
demonstrate our case.
To begin with, not all translations say that the sun sets in a muddy spring. Certain
translations of surah 18:86 speak of the sun setting in a black sea. Compare the following
two translations:
Until when he reached THE PLACE WHERE THE SUN SET, he found IT GOING DOWN INTO a
black sea, and found by it a people. We said: O Zulqarnain! either give them a
chastisement or do them a benefit… Until when he reached the land of the rising of
the sun, he found IT RISING on a people to whom We had given no shelter from It; Surah
18:86, 90 Shakir
Until, when he reached THE SETTING OF THE SUN, he found IT SET IN a spring of murky
water: Near it he found a People: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,)
either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness"… Until, when he came to the
rising of thesun, he found IT RISING on a people for whom We had provided no
covering protection against the sun. Yusuf Ali
Furthermore, according to Muslim sources there existed a variant reading where some
recensions of the Quran spoke of the sun setting in a warm spring; more on this below.
Returning to the issue at hand, notice that the text does not say that the sun appeared
to be setting in a black sea or what have you. The text clearly says the Zul-Qarnain
found THE PLACE where the sun actually sets and rises.
Since the earth is a globe, and the sun millions of miles away from the earth (150
million kilometers on average over the year), the setting of the sun always appears to
take place far away, somewhere on or behind the horizon. In phenomenological language it
may still be acceptable to speak of "the place where the sun sets" when it is
done from the view point of someone who is far away from this place. For example, a
traveler could say that he was moving in direction of "where the sun is
setting." However, the Quran goes beyond what is possible in phenomenological
language when it states that Zul-Qarnain reached the place where the sun sets, i.e.
the Quran is speaking of a human being who traveled to the place of the setting of the
sun. Such a statement is wrong in any kind of language, since such a place does not
exist on this earth. This is a serious error that was introduced into the Quran
because the author mistook a legend to be literal and historical truth.
Interestingly, Ibn Ishaq, in his Sirat Rasulullah, recorded a poem composed by
Tubba which said:
Dhu’l-Qarnayn before me was a Muslim
Conquered kings thronged his court,
East and west he ruled, yet he sought
Knowledge true from a learned sage.
HE SAW WHERE THE SUN SINKS FROM VIEW
IN A POOL OF MUD AND FETID SLIME.
Before him Bilqis my father’s sister
Rule them until the hoopoe came to her.)
(Alfred Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad [Oxford University Press,
Karachi, tenth impression 1995], p. 12; capital emphasis ours)
Taken at face value, this poem is part of the evidence that Muhammad took over
a legendary story known to the Arabs before the revelation of the Quran.
[Side remark: Note, however, that in what is classified as a pre-Islamic poem, the word
Muslim is used. This either suggests that the poem was manufactured (made up by
Muslims after Muhammad claimed prophethood), or that the term was already in use prior to
Muhammad's time. If the latter, then this provides further evidence of Muhammad taking
over ideas from the diverse religious groups of his time, erroneously assuming that these
terms were divinely appointed or revealed. He then proceeded to use this term in relation
to the biblical prophets, thinking that this is what they used or how they viewed
themselves as well. See also: Zaid ibn Amr ibn Nufail's
Cosmological Views and Their Influence on the Quran.]
This is not the only time where the Quran mentions the setting and rising of the sun:
And thus did We show Ibrahim the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and that he might
be of those who are sure. So when the night over-shadowed him, he SAW a star; said he: Is
this my Lord? So when it set, he said: I do not love the setting ones. Then when he SAW
the moon rising, he said: Is this my Lord? So when it set, he said: If my Lord had not
guided me I should certainly be of the erring people. Then when he SAW the sun RISING,
he said: Is this my Lord? Is this the greatest? SO WHEN IT SET, he said: O my
people! surely I am clear of what you set up (with Allah). Surely I have turned myself,
being upright, wholly to Him Who originated the heavens and the earth, and I am not of the
polytheists. S. 6:75-79 Shakir
Now one can legitimately argue that this text is referring to what Abraham saw, i.e.
that from Abraham’s vantage point the sun, moon and stars appeared to him as
if they were rising and setting. But this introduces two problems. First, if surah 18:86
is speaking of what Zul-Qarnain saw, that from his vantage point it appeared as if the sun
was setting into a muddy spring, then why didn’t the passage say so? Why didn’t
the passage say that Zul-Qarnain saw the sun setting into a spring and then saw
it rising, much like the Quranic author stated in connection to Abraham? Doesn’t this
prove that in the case of Zul-Qarnain, the author of the Quran intended to convey that the
sun literally sets in a spring or sea of some kind, and then from there rises again?
Second, the Quran in many places states that the sun, moon and stars are traveling on
set courses:
Have you not considered him (Namrud) who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord, because
Allah had given him the kingdom? When Ibrahim said: My Lord is He who gives life and
causes to die, he said: I give life and cause death. Ibrahim said: So surely Allah
causes the sun TO RISE FROM THE EAST, then make it rise from the west; thus he who
disbelieved was confounded; and Allah does not guide aright the unjust people. S. 2:258
Shakir
ALLAH is HE Who raised up the heavens without any pillars that you can see. Then HE
settled HIMSELF on the Throne. And HE pressed the sun and the moon into your service;
each planet pursues its course until an appointed term. HE regulates all affairs and
HE clearly explains the Signs that you may have firm belief in the meeting with your Lord.
S. 13:2 Sher Ali
And He has made subservient to you the sun and the moon pursuing their courses,
and He has made subservient to you the night and the day. S. 14:33 Shakir
And thou couldst see thesun, AS IT ROSE, move away from their Cave
on the right, AND WHEN IT SET, turn away from them on the left; and they were in a
spacious hollow thereof. This is among the Signs of ALLAH. He whom ALLAH guides is alone
rightly guided; but he whom HE leaves to go astray, for him thou wilt find no helper or
guide. S. 18:17
Bear patiently then what they say, and glorify thy Lord with HIS praise before the
rising of the sun and before its setting; and glorify HIM in the hours of the night
and all parts of the day, that thou mayest find true happiness. S. 20:130 Sher Ali
And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They
float, each in an orbit. S. 21:33 Pickthall
And the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of
the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an
old shrivelled palm-leaf. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the
night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit. S. 36:38-40 Pickthall
He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap
the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His
law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in
Power - He Who forgives again and again? S. 39:5 Y. Ali
When we look at all these verses collectively, it becomes quite evident that the author
of the Quran literally believed that the sun and the moon rose and set as they traveled on
their ordained courses. Thus, it seems quite likely that the author of the Quran believed
that Abraham wasn’t simply seeing something that wasn’t actually happening. The
author seemed to believe that Abraham was literally seeing the actual traversing of the
sun, moon and stars.
Therefore, the obvious understanding of surah 18:86 and 90 is that Zul-Qarnain
discovered the actual setting and rising place of the sun, the very place where the sun
literally sets and rises. Those who wish to argue that the text says otherwise do so
because of an a priori assumption that the Quran is compatible with science.
The Commentators
The commentators were divided over the actual meaning of Surah 18:86 due to variations
in the readings of certain Muslim transcribers. Some versions of the Quran state that the
sun goes down into murky waters, while other versions read warm in place of
murky. The variant readings provide further evidence that the Quran was not transmitted
perfectly, without any variants or corruptions, dispelling the Muslim claims to the
contrary.
Apart from the issue of variant readings, it is somewhat amusing to see how Muslims
busied themselves over the question whether the sun set in a muddy spring or a warm one.
This discussion is, in fact, further evidence that the author of the Quran (or at least
Muhammad and his companions) literally believed that the sun actually set in either a warm
or muddy spring. After all, why would they have been concerned whether the text read muddy
or warm if the verse was only conveying the thought that the sun seemed to be
setting to Zul-Qarnain? In other words, it is completely irrelevant whether the spring
which Zul-Qarnain saw the sun descending into was either muddy or warm, since this was
supposed to be merely an appearance and not a reality since the sun doesn’t set
anywhere.
Furthermore, as one reads the commentaries, one will find the commentators going out of
their way to deny that the Quran literally teaches that the sun sets in a spring. We will
have something to say about that in the next section when we address some of the modern
Muslim responses to this issue.
Tafsir Ibn Abbas
(Till, when he reached the setting place of the sun) where the sun sets,
(he found it setting in a muddy spring) a blackened, muddy and stinking spring;
it is also said that this means: a hot spring, (and found a people
thereabout) these people were disbelievers: (We said: O Dhu'l-Qarnayn!)
We inspired him (Either punish) either kill them until they accept to believe
that there is no deity except Allah (or show them kindness) or you pardon
them and let them be. (Tanwr al-Miqbs min Tafsr Ibn 'Abbs,
commentary on Sura 18:86;
online source;
bold emphasis ours)
Ibn Kathir
Allah’s saying, "Until, when he reached the setting of the sun," means
that Zul-Qarnain traveled on a path until he reached the furthest point West that a person
can reach on earth, which is the western part of earth. As
for reaching the place of the setting of the sun from the sky it is doubtful what the
storytellers say that he (Zul-Qarnain) traveled the earth for a time while the sun was
setting behind him. There is no truth in this and most of these myths are the invention of
the People of the Book and their differing heretics who lie.
Allah’s saying, "He found it set in a spring of murky water," means that
Zul-Qarnain saw the sun from his point of view descend into the ocean, which is the case
of anyone who comes to the seashore and sees the sun as though it is descending in it,
when in fact it does not actually leave the fourth orbit that it is fixed to.
The word "Hamiya" is derived from one of two pronunciations coming from the
word "Hama’a" which is clay as Allah says, "I am creating people out
of dirt and compact clay" إِنِّي
خَالِق بَشَرًا
مِنْ صَلْصَال
مِنْ حَمَإٍ
مَسْنُون
which is smooth clay as has previously been shown. Ibn Jarir stated that it was narrated
by Yunus, narrated by Ibn Wahb, narrated by Nafi’ Ibn Abu Na’im who heard Abdel
Rahim Al’Araj say that Ibn Abbas used to speak about the muddy well and would
pronounce the word as "Hama’a."
Nafi’ stated that Kab Al Ahbar was asked about it and he replied saying, "You
are more learned in the Quran than I am, but I find it (the sun) in the Book (Torah)
descending in black mud." It was similarly narrated by Ibn Abbas and Mujahid from
others. Abu Dawud Al Tayalisi stated that it was narrated by Muhammad Ibn Dinar, narrated
by Sa’ad Ibn Aws, Narrated by Misda’, narrated by Ibn Abbas, narrated by Abu Ibn
Kab that the prophet –peace be upon him- made him read it as "Hami’a."
Also, Ali Ibn Abu Talha narrated from Ibn Abbas that the sun DESCENDS in a
"Hamiya" well, meaning warm water well. The same was also narrated by
Al-Hassan Al Basri.
Ibn Jarir stated that the truth is that both pronunciations are correct and no matter
which way a person may read it then, he is correct. I said that there is no contradiction
between the two meanings, for it may be that the water in the well is warm because it
faces the heat of the setting sun with no protection from its rays. The word
"Hami’a" meaning water mixed with black clay is also possible as was
narrated by Kab Al Ahbar and others. It was narrated by Jarir, narrated by Muhammad Ibn Al
Mathny, narrated by Yazid Ibn Harun, narrated by Al-Awam, narrated by a servant of
Abdullah Ibn Umar, narrated by Abdullah who stated that the prophet – peace be upon
him – watched the sun while it was setting and said, "In Allah’s hot fire.
If it wasn’t for Allah’s command, the sun would burn all those who are on
earth." I said this was also narrated by imam Ahmad from Yazid Ibn Harun who elevated
this hadith. It may be that this is the saying of Abdullah Ibn Umar and his companions
whom he found during the battle of Yarmuk, and Allah knows best.
Ibn Abu Hatim stated that it was narrated by Hajjaj Ibn Hamza, narrated by Muhammad
Ya’ny Ibn Bashir, narrated by Umar Ibn Maymun, narrated by Hadir Ibn Abbas who
related that Mu’awiya Ibn Abu Sufyan read the verse in Surah of the Cave (Surah
18:86), "He found it set in a spring of murky water," and was told by Ibn Abbas
that it was read and pronounced as "Hami’a." Mu’awiya then asked
Abdullah Ibn Umar how he read it and was told, "We read it as you read it." Ibn
Abbas told Mu’awiya, "That the Quranic verse was revealed in my house, so send
for Kab Al-Ahbar." Ibn Abbas then asked Kab, "Where do you find the sun
setting in the Torah?" He responded, "Ask the Arabian people for they are
more learned about it. As for me, I find the sun setting in the Torah in water and
mud," he then pointed towards the west.
Ibn Hadir stated to Ibn Abbas, "Had I been present earlier with you I would have
informed you of something to enlighten you regarding the issue of what the warm well
is." Ibn Abbas replied, "And what would that be?" He said, "Regarding
what was mentioned of Zul-Qarnain following a path with knowledge, he traveled the earth
both east and west seeking the reasons, being a command given by a wise guide. He then saw
the sun at dusk DESCENDING IN A WELL that was ‘Khulb’ and
‘Thatin’ and ‘Harmad.’" Ibn Abbas asked, "What is
Khulb?" He replied, "It is mud in their language." Ibn Abbas asked,
"And what is Thatin?" He replied, "It is warmth." He was asked,
"And what about Harmad?" He replied, "It means black." Ibn Abbas then
asked for a male or a youth to be brought to him and said, "Write down what this man
says."
Sa’id Ibn Jubair narrated that Ibn Abbas was reading Surah of the Cave
(Surah 18:86) and read the verse, "He found it set in a spring of murky water
(Hama’a)." Then Kab said, "I swear by Him who holds Kab’s soul in His
hand, I have not heard anyone recite it the way it is revealed in the Torah other than
Ibn Abbas. For we find it in the Torah descending in a black clod of mud."
(Source;
translation by Dimitrius)
Al-Jalalayn
"Until he reached the place of the setting of the sun,"-
meaning WHERE THE SUN GOES DOWN.
"He found it set in a spring of murky water (Hama’a)"- Hama’a means
a black mud and the sun’s setting in the spring is from the eye’s point of view,
for the sun is larger than the earth. Zul-Qarnain found a tribe living around this spring,
who were unbelievers.
(Source;
translation by Dimitrius)
Al-Tabari
The meaning of the Almighty’s saying, "Until he reached the place of the
setting of the sun he found it set in a spring of murky water," is as follows:
When the Almighty says, "Until he reached," He is addressing Zul-Qarnain.
Concerning the verse, "the place of the setting of the sun he found it set in a
spring of murky water," the people differed on how to pronounce that verse. Some of
the people of Madina and Basra read it as "Hami’a spring," meaning that
the sun SETS IN A SPRING that contains mud. While a group of the people of Medina and
the majority of the people of Kufa read it as, "Hamiya spring" meaning that
the sun SETS IN A SPRING of warm water. The people of commentary have differed on the
meaning of this depending on the way they read the verse.
(Source;
translation by Dimitrius)
Some Objections Considered
Certain Muslim propagandists, MENJ of the Bismiikaalahuma website and Hesham Azmy, have
written a paper trying to refute the claim that the Quran teaches that the sun literally
sets in a muddy spring (here).
The claims of Hesham Azmy and MENJ have already been soundly refuted. Christian Authors
M. Rafiqul-Haqq and P. Newton have done a fine job of showing why the typical Muslim
explanations fail to address the problems and issues raised by surah 18:86,90. The authors
do a splendid job of also showing how the details provided in the Quran and the Muslim
commentators about Zul-Qarnain and the sun setting in a muddy spring are taken from
preexisting myths and legends about Alexander the Great. The readers can access their response
here.
Here, we want to use the Muslim authors’ own sources against them. Since they
appeal to exegetes like Ibn Kathir to support their premise that the Quran doesn’t
speak of the sun literally setting in a muddy spring, we would like to show how these same
scholars pose serious challenges to the Muslim authors’ beliefs that the Quran is
compatible with scientific facts.
In order for the readers to follow along with our rebuttal we cite from Azmy’s and
MENJ’s article where they quote certain Muslim scholars who uphold their
interpretation. One scholar they cite, al-Qurtubi, wrote:
It is not meant by reaching
the rising or setting of the sun that he reached its body and touched it because it runs
in the sky around the earth without touching it and it is too great to enter any spring on
earth. It is so much larger than earth. But it is meant that he reached the end of
populated land east and west, so he found it - according to his vision - setting in a
spring of a murky water like we watch it in smooth land as if it enters inside the land.
That is why He said, "he found it rising on a people for whom we had provided
no covering protection against the sun."(Holy Qur'n 18:90) and did not
mean that it touches or adheres to them; but they are the first to rise on. Probably this
spring is a part of the sea and the sun sets behind, with or at it, so the proposition
takes the place of an adjective and God knows best.
The authors also cite ar-Razi and Ibn Kathir (the latter was already cited above).
For the sake of brevity we won’t quote Ibn Kathir’s comments again but ask
that the readers scroll up and look over his comments above, as well as the comments
of al-Jalalyn, and see where these gentlemen denied that the Quran, taken at face value,
literally teaches that the sun sets in a spring.
As far as the denials of Ibn Kathir, al-Qurtubi, and ar-Razi, as well as al-Jalalayn,
are concerned, i.e. they claim that the Quran should not be taken literally here, these
are based not on what the text actually says. They are based, rather, on their awareness
that the sun is much larger than the earth and is therefore incapable of setting within
the earth. Thus, much like Muslims do today, these Muslim commentators, because of their
belief in the Quran’s alleged infallibility, were reading back into the text their
more advanced understanding of science in order to avoid the conclusion that the Quran
is in obvious error.
Furthermore, there is a problem with appealing to the opinions of these men. Ibn Kathir
and al-Qurtubi held to erroneous scientific views which they claim were based on the Quran
and the traditions that allegedly originated from Muhammad and his companions. For
instance, both Ibn Kathir and al-Qurtubi claimed that the earth was placed on the back of
a huge whale, with mountains being used to keep the earth stable upon the whale’s
back! See this article for more details:
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/whale_nun.htm.
In fact, Ibn Kathir, on the authority of Muhammad, also believed that the sun literally
travels through the seven heavens until it reaches the throne of Allah. Once there, the
sun prostrates itself and then returns back on its course. Commenting on surah 36:38, Ibn
Kathir says:
There are two views over the meaning of the phrase ...
<on its fixed course for a term (appointed).> (The first view) is that it
refers to its fixed course of location, which is beneath the Throne, BEYOND the earth
in that direction. Wherever it goes, it is beneath the Throne, it and all of creation,
because the Throne is the ROOF of creation and it is not a sphere as many astronomers
claim. Rather it is A DOME SUPPORTED BY LEGS OR PILLARS, CARRIED BY THE ANGELS, and
it is ABOVE the universe, ABOVE the heads of people. When the sun is at its zenith at
noon, it is in its closest position to the Throne, and when it runs in its fourth
orbit at the opposite point to its zenith, at midnight, it is in its furthest position
from the Throne. At that point it prostrates and asks permission to rise, as
mentioned in the Hadiths.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I was
with the Prophet in the Masjid at sunset, and he said: ...
((O Abu Dharr! Do you know where the sun sets?)) I said, ‘Allah and His
Messenger know best.’ He said: ...
((It goes and prostrates itself beneath the Throne, and that is what Allah says:
<And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term. That is the decree of the Almighty,
the All-Knowing.>))
It was also reported that Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I asked
the Messenger of Allah about the Ayah: ...
<And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term.>
He said: ...
((Its fixed course is beneath the Throne.))"
(The second view) is that this refers to when the sun's appointed time comes to an
end, which will be on the Day of Resurrection, when its fixed course will be
abolished, it will come to a halt and it will be rolled up. This world will come to an
end, and that will be the end of its appointed time. This is the fixed course of its time
... (Tafsir Ibn Kathir Abridged, Volume 8 Surat Al-Ahzab, Verse 51 to the end of Surat
Ad-Dukhan, abridged by a group of scholars under the supervision of Shaykh
Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri [Darussalam Publishers & Distributors, Riyadh, Houston,
New York, London, Lahore; September 2000, first edition], pp. 196-197; bold and capital
emphasis ours)
Thus, if we combine the statements of the Quran along with the narrations of Muhammad
reported by Ibn Kathir regarding the course of the sun, we are left with the conclusion
that the sun travels on a course which includes setting in a muddy spring as well as going
before Allah above the seven heavens. Allah has clearly ordained for the sun to come
before him and to set in a muddy spring. For more details see the traditions of Al-Tabari
below.
The preceding comments from Ibn Kathir should make it evident that when the Muslim
authors realized that a statement of the Quran contradicted certain scientific views that
were held to be true at that time, they were only too quick to explain it away. Yet, when
the Quran spoke of things unknown to them from a scientific perspective, they were only
too quick to affirm that those particular passages were speaking of actual scientific
phenomena.
On the other hand, there are instances when these Muslim commentators will go against
the scientific beliefs of the people of their era, obviously because those beliefs clearly
contradicted the Quran. Yet, as modern science has advanced, further research has finally
proven that the scientists of that time were closer to the truth than the Quran
commentators, and it is now obvious that the Quran is in error.
This means that MENJ and Azmy are left in a very difficult situation. If the
understanding and exegesis of commentators like Ibn Kathir are valid enough to show what
the Quran means in passages such as surah 18:86, then they are also reliable enough to
explain what it means when the Quran says that the sun travels and mountains act like pegs
to keep the earth stable.
To appeal to these commentators selectively, only in some things that they deny, but
not in what they affirm, can hardly be called intellectual integrity. The appendix will
further examine these texts and the conclusions one has to draw from them.
The ‘space travel’ version
There is at least one classical commentator who explicitly introduces a different idea
regarding the location of the spring into which the sun sets. It "solves" the
problem that on this earth there does not exist any location where the sun sets –
whether in a muddy spring or any other kind of place.
Muslim commentators may in fact be correct that the Quran does not teach that the sun
literally sets in the earth. After all, the text of the Quran does not actually say that
the sun sets in a spring or ocean that is located within the earth. Here, again, is the
passage in question:
They will question thee concerning Dhool Karnain. Say: 'I will recite to you a mention
of him. We established him in the land, and We gave him a way to everything; and he
followed a way until, when he REACHED THE SETTING OF THE SUN, he found IT SETTING IN a
muddy spring, and he found NEARBY a people. We said, 'O Dhool Karnain, either
thou shalt chastise them, or thou shalt take towards them a way of kindness.' He said, 'As
for the evildoer, him we shall chastise, then he shall be returned to his Lord and He
shall chastise him with a horrible chastisement. But as for him who believes, and does
righteousness, he shall receive as recompense the reward most fair, and we shall speak to
him, of our command, easiness.' Then he followed a way until, when he reached the
rising of the sun, he found it rising upon a people for whom We had not appointed
ANY VEIL TO SHADE THEM FROM IT. S. 18:83-89 A.J. Arberry
Now please don’t misunderstand us, we are not denying that the text says that the
sun literally sets in a spring or ocean. It clearly does. The real question is whether
this ocean or spring is located within the earth. In order to better appreciate the point
we are raising here, we quote from al-Tabari who cites traditions from Muhammad and his
companions:
The other report, referring to a different concept,
is what I was told by Muhammad b. Abi Mansur- Khalaf b. Wasil- Abu Nu'aym- Muqatil b.
Hayyan- Ikrimah: One day when Ibn `Abbas was sitting (at home or in the mosque), a man
came to him and said: Ibn `Abbas, I heard Ka'b, the Rabbi, tell a marvelous story about
the sun and the moon. He continued. Ibn `Abbas who had been reclining sat up and asked
what it was. The man said: He suggested that on the Day of Resurrection, the sun and the
moon will be brought as if they were two hamstrung oxen, and flung into Hell. `Ikrimah
continued. Ibn `Abbas became contorted with anger and exclaimed three times: Ka'b is
lying! Ka'b is lying! Ka'b is lying! This is something Jewish he wants to inject into
Islam. God is too majestic and noble to mete out punishment where there is obedience to
Him. Have you not heard God's word: "And He subjected to you the sun and the moon,
being constant" — referring to their constant obedience. How would He punish two
servants that are praised for constant obedience? May God curse that rabbi and his
rabbinate! How insolent is he toward God and what a tremendous fabrication has he told
about those two servants that are obedient to God! He continued. Then he said several
times: We return to God. He took a little piece of wood from the ground and started to hit
the ground with it. He did that for some time, then lifting his head he threw away the
little piece of wood and said: You want me to tell you what I heard the Messenger of God
say about the sun and the moon and the beginning of their creation and how things went
with them? We said: We would, indeed, May God show mercy unto you. He said: When the
Messenger of God was asked about that, he replied: When God was done with His
creation and only Adam remained to be created, He created two suns from the light of
His Throne. His foreknowledge told Him that He would leave here one sun, so He created
it as (large as) this world is from east to west. His foreknowledge also told Him that
He would efface it and change it to a moon; so the moon is smaller in size than the sun.
But both are seen as small because of the sun's altitude and remoteness from the earth.
He continued: If God had left the two suns as He created them in the beginning,
night would not have been distinguishable from day. A hired man then would not know until
when he should labor and when he should receive his wages. A person fasting would not know
until when he must fast. A woman would not know how to reckon the period of her impurity.
The Muslims would not know the time of the pilgrimage. Debtors would not know when their
debts become due. People in general would not know when to work for a livelihood and when
to stop for resting their bodies. The Lord was too concerned with His servants and too
merciful to them (to do such a thing). He thus sent Gabriel to drag his wing three times
over the face of the moon, which at the time was a sun. He effaced its luminosity and left
the light in it. This is (meant by) God's word: "And We have made the night and the
day two signs. We have blotted out the sign of the night, and We have made the sign of the
day something to see by." He continued. The blackness you can see as lines on the
moon is a trace of the blotting. God then created for the sun a chariot with 360 handholds
from the luminosity of the light of the Throne and entrusted 360 of the angels inhabiting
the lower heaven with the sun and its chariot, each of them gripping one of those
handholds. He entrusted 360 of the angels inhabiting (the lower?) heaven with the moon and
its chariot, each of them gripping one of those handholds.
Then he said: For the sun and the moon, He created easts and wests (positions to
rise and set) on the two sides of the earth and the two rims of heaven, 180 SPRINGS IN THE
WEST OF BLACK CLAY – THIS IS (MEANT BY) GOD'S WORD: "He found it setting in a
muddy spring," meaning by "muddy (hami'ah)" black clay - and 180
springs IN THE EAST LIKEWISE OF BLACK CLAY, bubbling and boiling like a pot when it boiled
furiously. He continued. Every day and night, the sun has a new place where it
rises and a new place where it sets. The interval between them from beginning to end
is longest for the day in summer and shortest in winter. This is (meant by) God's word:
"The Lord of the two easts and the Lord of the two wests," meaning the last
(position) of the sun here and the last there. He omitted the positions in the east and
the west (for the rising and setting of the sun) in between them. Then He referred to east
and west in the plural, saying; "(By) the Lord of the easts and wests." He
mentioned the number of all those springs (as above).
He continued. God created an ocean three farsakhs (18 kilometers) removed
from heaven. Waves contained, it stands in the air by the command of God. No drop of
it is spilled. All the oceans are motionless, but that ocean flows at the rate of the
speed of an arrow. It is set free to move in the air evenly, as if it were a rope
stretched out in the area between east and west. The sun, the moon, and the retrograde
stars RUN IN ITS DEEP SWELL. THIS IS (MEANT BY) GOD'S WORD: "Each swims in
a sphere.""The sphere" is the circulation of the chariot IN THE
DEEP SWELL OF THAT OCEAN. By Him Who holds the soul of Muhammad in His hand! If the
sun WERE TO EMERGE FROM THAT OCEAN, it would burn everything on earth, including even
rocks and stones, and if the moon were to emerge from it, it would afflict (by its heat)
the inhabitants of the earth to such and extent that they would worship gods other than
God. The exception would be those of God's friends whom He would want to keep free
from sin.
Ibn `Abbas said that `Ali b. Abi Talib said to the Messenger of God: You are
like my father and my mother! You have mentioned the course of the retrograde stars (al-khunnas)
by which God swears in the Qur'an, together with the sun and the moon, and the rest. Now,
what are al-khunnas? The Prophet replied: `Ali, they are five stars: Jupiter (al-birjis),
Saturn (zuhal), Mercury (`utarid), Mars (bahram), and Venus (al-zuhrah).
These five stars rise and run like the sun and the moon and race with them together.
All the other stars are suspended from heaven as lamps are from mosques, and circulate
together with heaven praising and sanctifying God with prayer. The Prophet then said: If
you wish to have this made clear, look to the circulation of the sphere alternately here
and there. It is the circulation of heaven and the circulation of all the stars
together with it except those five. Their circulation today is what you see, and that
is their prayer. Their circulation to the Day of Resurrection is as quick as the
circulation of a mill because of the dangers and tremors of the Day of resurrection. This
is (meant by) God's word: "On a day when the heaven sways to and fro and the
mountains move. Woe on that day unto those who declare false (the Prophet's divine
message)."
He continued. When the sun rises, it rises upon its chariot FROM ONE OF THOSE
SPRINGS accompanied by 360 angels with outspread wings. They draw it along the sphere,
praising and sanctifying God with prayer, according to the extent of the hours of night
and the hours of day, be it night or day. When God wishes to test the sun and the moon,
showing His servants a sign and thereby asking them to stop disobeying Him and to start to
obey, the sun tumbles from the chariot AND FALLS INTO THE DEEP OF THAT OCEAN, which is
the sphere. When God wants to increase the significance of the sign and frighten His
servants severely, all of the sun falls, and nothing of it remains upon the chariot. That
is a total eclipse of the sun, when the day darkens and the stars come out. When God
wants to make a partial sign, half or a third or two-thirds of it fall into the water,
while the rest remains upon the chariot, this being a partial eclipse. It is a
misfortune for the sun or for the moon. It frightens His servants and constitutes a
request from the Lord (for them to repent). However this may be, the angels entrusted
with the chariot of the sun divide into two groups, one that goes to the sun and pulls it
toward the chariot, and another that goes to the chariot and pulls it toward the sun,
while at the same time they keep it steady in the sphere, praising and sanctifying God
with prayer, according to the extent of the hours of day or the hours of night, be it
night or day, summer or winter, autumn or spring between summer and winter, lest the
length of night and day be increased in any way. God has given them knowledge of that by
inspiration and also the power for it. The gradual emergence of the sun or the moon
FROM THE DEEP OF THAT OCEAN covering them which you observe after an eclipse (is
accomplished by) all the angels together who, after having brought out all of it, carry it
(back) and put it upon the chariot. They praise God that He gave them the power to do
that. They grip the handholds of the chariot and draw it in the sphere, praising and
sanctifying God with prayer. Finally, they bring the sun to the west. Having done
so; THEY PUT IT INTO THE SPRING, and the sun falls from the horizon of the sphere INTO
THE SPRING.
Then the Prophet said, expressing wonder at God’s creation:
How wonderful is the divine power with respect to something than which nothing more
wonderful has ever been created!… By Him Who holds the soul of Muhammad in His hand!
Were those people not so many and so noisy, all the inhabitants of this world would
hear the loud crash made by the sun falling when it rises and when it sets…
Whenever the sun sets, it is raised from heaven to heaven by the angels’ fast flight,
until it is brought to the highest, seventh heaven, and eventually is underneath the
Throne. It falls down in prostration, and the angels entrusted with it prostrate
themselves together with it. Then it is brought down to heaven. When it reaches this
heaven, dawn breaks. When it comes down FROM ONE OF THOSE SPRINGS, morning becomes
luminous. And when it reaches this face of heaven, the day becomes luminous. (The
History of Al-Tabari: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood,
translated by Franz Rosenthal [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany, 1989],
volume 1, pp. 232-238; bold and capital emphasis ours)
According to these traditions reported by al-Tabari, the ocean in which the sun sets
is located outside of the earth, seemingly implying that Zul-Qarnain was taken out of
the earth’s atmosphere to an area where the sun sets. And once there, he found
a group of people, presumably some sort of extra-terrestrial beings. Now lest one think
that my interpretation is far-fetched, note the following traditions:
According to Muhammad b. Sahl b. 'Askar-Isma'il b. 'Abd al-Karim-Wahb, mentioning some
of his majesty (as being described as follows): The heavens and the earth and the oceans
are in the haykal, and the haykal is in the Footstool. God's feet are upon
the Footstool. He carries the Footstool. It became like a sandal on His feet. When Wahb
was asked: What is the haykal? He replied: Something on the heavens' extremities
that surrounds the earth and the oceans like ropes that are used to fasten a tent. And
when Wahb was asked how earths are (constituted), he replied: They are seven earths
that are FLAT and islands.Between each two earths, there is an ocean. All that
is surrounded by the (surrounding) ocean, and the haykal is behind the ocean. (Ibid.,
pp. 207-208; bold emphasis ours)
And:
Then God created the seven seas. The first is called Baytush and surrounds the earth
from behind Mount Qaf. Behind it is a sea called Asamm, behind which is a sea called
Qaynas, behind which is a sea called Sakin, behind which is a sea called Mughallib, behind
which is a sea called Muannis, behind which is a sea called Baki, which is the last. These
are the seven seas, and each of them surrounds the sea before it. The rest of the seas in
which are creatures whose number only God knows, are like gulfs to these seven. God
created sustenance for all these creatures on the fourth day, as He hath said: And he
provided therein the food of the creatures designed to be the inhabitants thereof, in four
days; equally, for those who ask (41:10).
There are seven earths. The first is called Ramaka, beneath which is the Barren Wind,
which can be bridled by no fewer than seventy thousand angels. With this wind God
destroyed the people of Ad. The inhabitants of Ramaka are a nation called Muwashshim, upon
whom is everlasting torment and divine retribution. The second earth is called Khalada,
wherein are the implements of torture for the inhabitants of Hell. There dwells a nation
called Tamis, whose food is their own flesh and whose drink is their own blood. The third
earth is called Arqa, wherein dwell mulelike eagles with spearlike tails. On each tail are
three hundred and sixty poisonous quills. Were even one quill placed on the face of the
earth, the entire universe would pass away. The inhabitants thereof are a nation called
Qays, who eat dirt and drink mothers' milk. The fourth earth is called Haraba, wherein
dwell the snakes of Hell, which are as large as mountains. Each snake has fangs like tall
palm trees, and if they were to strike the hugest mountain with their fangs it would be
leveled to the ground. The inhabitants of this earth are a nation called Jilla, and they
have no eyes, hands or feet but have wings like bats and die only of old age. The fifth
earth is called Maltham, wherein stones of sulphur hang around the necks of infidels. When
the fire is kindled the fuel is placed on their breasts, and the flames leap up onto their
faces, as He hath said: The fire whose fuel is men and stones (2:24), and Fire
shall cover their faces (14:50). The inhabitants are a nation called Hajla, who are
numerous and who eat each other. The sixth earth is called Sijjin. Here are the registers
of the people of Hell, and their works are vile, as He hath said: Verily the register
of the actions of the wicked is surely Sijjin (83:7). Herein dwells a nation called
Qatat, who are shaped like birds and worship God truly. The seventh earth is called Ajiba
and is the habitation of Iblis. There dwells a nation called Khasum, who are black and
short, with claws like lions. It is they who will be given dominion over Gog and Magog,
who will be destroyed by them. (Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Kisa’i, Qisas
al-Anbiya (Tales of the Prophets), translated by Wheeler M. Thackston Jr.
[Great Books of the Islamic World, Inc., Distributed by Kazi Publications; Chicago, IL
1997], pp. 8-9)
Thus, from an Islamic point of view, it is possible to assume that Zul-Qarnain was
supernaturally transported to an outer-worldly realm to the very place where the sun sets
in order to subjugate the people living there.
Now this doesn’t mean that these things are true, that Muhammad traveled through
the seven heavens or that Zul-Qarnain was actually transported to an extra-terrestrial
domain. What this simply shows is that the author(s) of the Quran and the hadith
literature reported fables and myths as facts. This simply reflects the legendary and
mythical nature of the Quran, i.e. that the Quran records fables as facts. These stories
also reflect the gross scientific errors and the erroneous cosmological views held by both
the author of the Quran and the first Muslims, as reported by Muslim scholars and hadith
experts such as al-Tabari.
After all, everyone knows today that the sun does not "set in a muddy spring"
either here on earth or anywhere else. It does not disappear during the night and
then reappear in the morning but it is always shining and visible from half of the
surface of the revolving globe that is our earth.
A contradiction?
Taking together the statements of al-Tabari and those of Ibn Kathir above, they seem to
contradict each other. As we have seen, Al-Tabari is speaking of those springs as being
located outside the earth.
However, Ibn Kathir is stating clearly: "... until he reached the furthest
point West that a person can reach ON EARTH, which is the western PART OF EARTH. ... He
said, "Regarding what was mentioned of Zul-Qarnain following a path with knowledge,
he traveled THE EARTH both east and west seeking the reasons, ..." (see above).
Clearly, Ibn Kathir speaks of Zul-Qarnain traveling on this earth only, not about leaving
it on space travels. This contradiction may be resolved by observing this part of
Al-Tabari’s traditions:
… God created an ocean three farsakhs (18 kilometers)
removed from heaven. Waves contained, it stands in the air by the
command of God. No drop of it is spilled. All the oceans are motionless, but that
ocean flows at the rate of the speed of an arrow. It is set free to move in the air
evenly, as if it were a rope stretched out in the area between east and west. The
sun, the moon, and the retrograde stars RUN IN ITS DEEP SWELL. THIS IS (MEANT BY)
GOD'S WORD: "Each swims in a sphere." "The sphere" is
the circulation of the chariot IN THE DEEP SWELL OF THAT OCEAN. … Finally, they
[the angels] bring the sun to the west. Having done so; THEY PUT IT INTO THE SPRING,
and the sun falls from the horizon of the sphere INTO THE SPRING. …
The first heaven, the visible heaven, is the place where the birds fly, and al-Tabari
speaks of it being "in the air", i.e. inside our atmosphere, and even the ocean
that contains the course of the sun is still within the atmosphere (air!) even though it
is a certain distance above that heaven. Al-Tabari gives a specific number here, 18
kilometers, i.e. a rather small distance. Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari could be harmonized
when we understand that the dome of heaven comes down at the edge of the flat earth at a
distance that is merely a couple of kilometers, which is also the location of the muddy
spring into which the sun sinks. If it is only a couple of kilometers from the edge of the
earth, then one could see the spring standing close to the edge of the earth. That way one
could say that Zul-Qarnain "reached the spring" (he saw it), but did not have to
leave the earth itself, even though the spring is not on the earth, merely very close to
it.
The possibility of this harmonization shows that the Muslim traditions are actually in
agreement on this issue, but it also shows that the Quranic cosmology, and with it the
later Islamic world view of the most respected Muslim scholars, is completely wrong in
regard to scientific reality.
Appendix: Implications for the shape of the earth
There are some more observations that can be made from the Muslim commentators that
have been quoted in this paper.
Ibn Kathir stated:
Allah’s saying, "Until, when he reached the setting of the sun," means
that Zul-Qarnain traveled on a path until he reached the furthest point West that
a person can reach on earth, which is the western part of earth.
But is there such a thing as an extreme east and extreme west? In
fact, one can keep on going east or west until one is back at the point where one started.
A flat earth would have an extreme point in all four primary directions (east, south,
west, north). Our spherical earth, however, only has an extreme north and south (the poles),
but not an extreme east or west (neither east pole nor west pole). This shows that not only
Muhammad, but even the Islamic commentators several hundred years later still had a wrong
understanding of this earth. On this earth, east and west are only directions but not
locations.
If the expression (extreme east and west) should not be understood in absolute terms,
but are supposed to be taken relative to a specific geographical location, i.e. they would
designate the point furthest away from a fixed location (e.g. Mecca) when going east or west,
then these two points would actually be the SAME point on the opposite side of the earth,
i.e. the point having the same latitude but adding 180 degrees of longitude to the coordinates
of the starting point.
The Quran, however, speaks of these two locations in east and west as being DIFFERENT
points reached by Zul-Quarnain, which shows again that the author of the Quran could not
have known that the earth is a globe.
Conclusion: The story of Zul-Qarnain’s travel reveals two errors which are
also taught by Ibn Kathir: First, the assumption of the existence of an absolute east and
absolute west (based on the understanding that the earth is flat). Second, even if we give
the benefit of the doubt and allow this to be spoken in relation to a fixed point, then
these two points (extreme east and extreme west) would have to be identical on a spherical
earth, but in the Quran they are clearly not.
The quotation of al-Qurtubi provided by MENJ gives further evidence that the earth is
assumed to be flat:
But it is meant that he reached the end of populated land east and west,
so he found it - according to his vision - setting in a spring of a murky water like
we watch it in smooth land as if it enters inside the land. That is why He said,
"he found it rising on a people for whom we had provided no covering
protection against the sun." (Holy Qur'n 18:90) and did not mean that it touches
or adheres to them; but they are the first to rise on.
This quotation indicates that al-Qurtubi also believed that the earth is flat,
and there are even two reasons for this conclusion. On a spherical earth there is
no place where the sun rises on people FIRST, but it goes around the earth continuously
(actually the earth rotates).
Then, what is the end of populated land in eastern or western direction?
Certainly these Muslim scholars were aware of the existence of ships since the Quran
mentions the use of ships for travel and trade in dozens of verses, e.g. 2:164, 10:22,
14:32, 16:14, 17:66, 22:65, 29:65, 30:46, 31:31, 35:12, 40:80, 45:12. Therefore the end of
the populated land cannot refer to places that can be reached by foot alone. By the time
of these commentators the Muslim armies had military ships and had sailed from Africa to
Spain etc. Moreover, the earliest Muslims had fled from Mecca to Ethiopia, crossing the Red Sea
by ship (source).
Thus, they knew that reaching the sea shore does not mean the populated land is at an end, but
behind the sea, there is more populated land. To say that there is at some point an actual
end to populated land in direction east and west, again presupposes a flat earth.
Again, Ibn Kathir states in the second of the above quoted commentaries:
There are two views over the meaning of the phrase ...
<on its fixed course for a term (appointed).> (The first view) is that it refers to
its fixed course of location, which is beneath the Throne, BEYOND the earth in that
direction. Wherever it goes, it is beneath the Throne, it and all of creation, because the
Throne is the ROOF of creation and it is not a sphere as many astronomers claim. Rather it
is A DOME SUPPORTED BY LEGS OR PILLARS, CARRIED BY THE ANGELS, and it is ABOVE the
universe, ABOVE the heads of people. When the sun is at its zenith at noon, it is in its
closest position to the Throne, and when it runs in its fourth orbit at the opposite point
to its zenith, at midnight, it is in its furthest position from the Throne. At that point
it prostrates and asks permission to rise, as mentioned in the Hadiths.
To say that the throne of Allah is a dome over the earth, and is not a sphere, and
is above the heads of the people, assumes that the earth is flat, and people exist only on
one side of the earth. Ibn Kathir even explicitly contradicts the astronomers who dare to
say that the throne is a sphere enclosing the earth. Why? He feels constrained to do so by
the Quran and hadith. He tries to accommodate the scientists where possible, but to say
that the entity containing the path in which the sun and other celestial bodies run is a
full sphere would go too far. He denies this on the authority of the Islamic
traditions! Every night the sun needs to ask permission to rise again because
currently it does NOT shine; it needs permission to come back to the surface of the earth
because during the night it is not there. This understanding is only possible when viewing
the earth as flat and stationary and the sun actually disappearing (by dropping over the
edge). In Islam it does not even simply go around a flat earth (i.e. a circle going around
a flat earth, traveling "below the earth" while invisible), but it is more
complicated in that it first travels up the seven heavens, prostrates, comes back and only
then rises... (Al-Tabari gives the details on that.)
In any case, the above are several clear statements that make it obvious that the Muslim
scholars and commentators on the Quran have a very wrong understanding of the earth –
perhaps improved slightly over the Quran, more informed through the already somewhat
advanced science, but still very wrong.
A note regarding the history of science
More than 800 years before Islam, the Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos (310-230 BC),
based on simple observation and elementary knowledge about triangles ("trigonometry") —
without any divine revelation —, calculated that (a) that the distance from the earth
to the moon is about 60 times the radius of the earth , i.e. about 380,000 kilometers away (that
the earth is a sphere was already the commonly
accepted theory 900 years before Islam, though it seems not to have reached the Arabs of
Muhammad's time), (b) the Sun was about 20 times larger in diameter than the moon (10 times
larger than the earth), and 20 times further away from the earth than the moon (actually,
the sun is much larger and even further away), and concluded that (c) the earth goes around
the sun and not the sun around the earth. (Source)
Interestingly, the discovery that the sun is larger than the earth was accepted
by (some of) the classical Muslim commentators (see the quotations from al-Jalalayn and
al-Qurtubi above) and used in their interpretation of the Quran, i.e. their rejection that
the sun literally sets in a spring on earth. However, all the above quoted commentators held
on to the view that the earth is flat (see also this article), and
that the sun travels on an orbit around the earth since the Quran and the Islamic traditions
did not allow them to believe otherwise.
Here are the instructions that Martin Luther gave his followers in relation to doing the sign of the Cross:
Morning Prayer.
01 In the morning, when you rise, you shall bless yourself with the holy cross and say:
In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
St. Augustine on the Salvation of all Men
In his work called The Enchiridion, St. Augustine denied that 1 Timothy 2:4 teaches that God desires the salvation of every single human individual. Believing that God’s will is perfect and immutable, and that no one can ever thwart his
