One of the most common misconceptions that were raised about the Holy Qur’an’s credibility is: “the sun sets in a muddy spring”.
We find in Surat Al-Kahf: 83-86
And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say, “I will recite to you about him a report.”Indeed We established him upon the earth, and We gave him to everything a way. (84) So he followed a way (85) Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it [as if] setting in a spring of dark mud, and he found near it a people…”
Athiests ask: if the sun is one million and thirty thousand times larger than the earth, how does it set in a well according to the above verse?
They claim that this Qur’anic verse contradicts modern science.
This misconception is promoted by atheists and others.
In fact, athiests’ inability of thinking, along with the blurring of insight, have reached the point of ignoring the language of Arabs in which the Holy Qur’an was revealed. It also reached the point of ignoring the idea of linking the phenomenon that was mentioned in the above verse and other beautiful sunset phenomena on planet Earth.
Let’s see what I mean by this introduction.
The Omiga Sun:
I read one day:
“If you live in a coastal area in Japan, between late autumn and early spring, you may have a chance to find the sun in the shape of the Greek letter omega (Ω) twice a day, at sunrise or sunset.
This phenomenon occurs when sea water is warmer than air, as the water heats the lower air layer in contact with the water, which produces a temperature difference between the water and the air. Thus, a mirage-like layer is formed, giving the sun an omega shape.
Residents of several Japanese cities wait for the sun to appear in this shape to enjoy the scene which is repeated annually.
The phenomenon attracts the attention of thousands of residents, especially those who live in the Japanese coast.”
Daroma Sunset:
This strange omega-shaped sunset is also called Daruma sunset, because of the silhouette the sun creates while sinking below the horizon in the shape of a head over a rounded object.
This looks just like a bright red daruma doll (an amulet spread in Japan’s temples) floating on the ocean!
Setting in Muddy Spring:
As we mentioned, God said in Sura kahf: 83-86
And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say, “I will recite to you about him a report.”Indeed We established him upon the earth, and We gave him to everything a way. (84) So he followed a way (85) Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it [as if] setting in a spring of dark mud, and he found near it a people…”
The muddy spring is a black water (a mixture between mud and water).
The setting of the sun in a muddy spring is a metaphor for the light which enters (sets) in a very black water without being able to exit from it.
This means that the sunlight (the colors) is confined, i.e. trapped in the blackness (the black color).
The Holy Qur’an did not say that the sun sets in a muddy spring, but rather conveyed Dhul-Qarnayn’s description of a scene he saw.
The word (found it) here is the secret of the Qur’anic miracle, for the noble verse does not determine this kind of sunset as a scientifical fact, to claim that the Quran contradits science.
Rather, the verse describes a situation.
For example, if I say I looked to the sky and found every star is like a spark, this is true in what my eyes saw, but not in reality.
In fact, if the Qur’an was a man made production at that time, man would have declared it as a fact for sure. He would have said that the sun was setting in a muddy spring.
The Sun sets behind the mountains :
The noble verse does not give an absolute meaning, but it is restricted to the person of Dhul-Qarnayn.
What Dhul-Qarnayn said has nothing against reason, because if you are heading west, while facing a mountain, you will find the sun setting behind the mountain.
Of course, no one will understand that the sun really hides behind the mountain.
There is a phenomenon called depth perception.
This phenomenon occurs in many cases, especially when seeing distant objects.
For example, when we watch a ship moving away from us towards the horizon, we see that it is sinking in the sea even though it is only moving away from us.
If it was a lake and not a sea, you will find the sun setting in the lake.
The reason behind this phenomenon is that the brain cannot perceive the third dimension or depth from great distances, so the brain captures the view as two-dimensions.
For example, when we look at the stars in the sky, we cannot distinguish between the farthest and the closest. Although the distances that separate us from them are estimated as billions of kilometers, we see them all on one level.
We conclude that Dhul-Qarnayn’s vision of the sun is a phenomenon similar to the phenomenon of the Omega Sun, which appears to the observers as the Greek letter Omega, or in the form of a famous amulet spread in the temples of Japan.
Moreover, the term sunset in fact, does not mean the entry of the sun into the earth.
Arabs used to say that the sun sets, the ship sets. This gives one meaning, which is that it headed west.
We would say as well that the bird sets in the lake, the plane sets in the ocean, the ship sets in the sea, or the sun sets in the lake. This means that it has headed west for the person who is looking at it. It does not mean that it has entered the lake or the sea.
This is what Christian scholars themselves say.
The priest Mansi Yohanna said, commenting on stopping the sun for Joshua (as mentioned in Joshua 10/12-13):
“The speech is according to the apparent meaning. The modern astronomers say: The sun rises and sets; because this is what the eye can observe. Otherwise we would have to say, expressing the sunset: the earth rotated, so we got far away from the sun”.
Last words:
We conclude that the misconception ubove can be easily refuted, and that the Holy Qur’an is miraculous in its language and in its cosmic facts, which preceded modern science by more than 1400 years.
The message of the Noble Qur’an, the seal of the heavenly books, which was brought by the seal of the prophets and messengers, is the message of all the heavenly books that preceded it, which is:
Believing in God (the Creator), that He has no partner or son. He does not incarnate in any of His creations or any idol. Also, humans need to have a direct connection with Him, not through any priest or saint.
NASA literally said that it spotted the sun descending into a crater on the surface of Mars.
Sunset at Mars’ Gusev Crater (Spirit)
Notes:
The Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Middle East use the word “Allah” to refer to God, which refers to The Only True God ( the Creator). The word Allah was mentioned in the earlier version of the Old Testament 89 times. (Refer to Genesis 2:4, Book of Daniel 6:20 Hebrew and Arabic Bible)
The reference of God to Himself as WE or US in many verses of the Qur’an denotes Grandeur and Power in Arabic. In the English language this is known as the royal WE, where a plural pronoun is used to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch. For the avoidance of doubt, the Qur’an has consistently reminded us of the SINGULAR pronoun in reference to God, when called upon by His servants.