Flight map onboard has always attracted my attention in my childhood. I loved watching it, because of my great love for travel.
What I liked more is the projections of the sphere on modern aircrafts.
I was keen to buy a spherical map of the world when I grew up to plan for my next trips.
What surprised me one day is what I heard from some people. They clamied that the planet Earth is not round according to the Holy Qur’an.
I was not convinced by this statement, because I was certain that the Qur’an preceded the disclosure of scientific facts, which were declared by the scientists of the twentieth century.
A questioner once asked me if the Earth is round or flat in the Holy Qur’an.
I told him: I believe that the Qur’an preceded modern science by covering many scientific facts, including the fact of sphericality of the Earth.
He said: Why should the Earth be round not flat?
I said: When you arrive in Japan from the Middle East, which of the continents are you the closest to from the other side?
He said: America.
I said: How the Earth can be flat then?
This dialogue was the starting point for my research in the verses of the Noble Qur’an on this subject.
Facts:
Modern science discovered the sphericality of the planet Earth after intensive studies which lasted hundreds of years. On the other hand, more than 1,400 years ago, the Noble Qur’an referred to it.
Planet Earth is not extended to end at one edge, as people believed in the past.
The Earth is oval in shape. That is what the law of nature requires in its regular cycle.
If the Earth was not oval in shape, the laws of creation would have been disrupted on planet Earth. Hence, life on it would have become impossible.
This does not contradict the saying of God:
…how the earth was outstretched [Al-Ghashiya: 20]
The word “outstretched ” means paved and unfolded in front of humans. A person have found the Earth flat wherever he walked. This can only be achieved by having a spherical shape.
God said:
… [and] neither may the sun overtake the moon, nor can the night usurp the time of day, since all of them float through space [in accordance with Our laws] [Ya-Sin: 40]
This is a response of the Noble Qur’an to the claim stating that the day begins with the daylight, then the night follows it.
The Qur’anic verse says that the day does not precede the night, and the night does not precede the day, but both exist at the same time.
The parts of the Earth differ in the moment of the beginning of the day. When parts of the Earth are illuminated by the light of the sun, other parts are darkened.
This does not happen in succession, but rather in the same moment, which indicates the sphericality of the Earth based on the noble verse.
The evidence for the roundness of the Earth is also in this verse:
He created the heavens and earth in truth. He (kuar) wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. Unquestionably, He is the Exalted in Might, the Perpetual Forgiver [Zumar: 5]
The Arabs used to use the word kuar “wraps ” to give a discreption of someone who wraps his turban, meaning he turned it on his head.
God Almighty says:
When the sun is shrouded… [Saura Takwir:1]
It means that it was folded.
He makes the night enter into the day, and makes the day enter into the night, and He is All-Knowing about whatever lies in the hearts [Al-Hadid: 6]
Thus, “makes the night enter into the day” means flatten over it.
God said:
Did you not see that Allah makes the night enter into the day, and makes the day enter into the night, and He has subjugated the sun and the moon, each running towards an appointed time, and that Allah is fully aware of what you do? [Luqman: 29]
God Almighty makes the bright areas, that make up half of the Earth, enter the dark areas. This interpretation of the above verse is based on the illogical entry of time into time.
This is an accurate and eloquent Qur’anic reference to the sphericality of the Earth, and its rotation around its axis in front of the sun.
God says:
And a sign for them is the night. We (Naslakh) remove from it [the light of] day, so they are [left] in darkness [Ya-Sin: 37]
We understand from the noble verse here that God Almighty removes the light from the Earth’s parts which the night enters in gradually, similarly to how animal skin is removed from the body when slaughtering it gradually. This is can only be achieved by the Earth rotating around itself infront of the sun.
This was also a confirmation that darkness existed first.
This is a fact that man did not realize until his arrival in space in the second half of the twentieth century.
Daylight is an accidental event that only appears in the lower layers of the Earth’s gaseous atmosphere opposite to the sun. It moves constantly with the Earth’s rotation around its axis in front of the sun.
Almighty God says:
And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds. [It is] the work of Allah , who perfected all things. Indeed, He is Acquainted with that which you do [Saura AlNamil:27]
The movement of mountains and clouds is a metaphor for the Earth’s rotation around its axis, and its flow in its orbits.
This is because mountains are part of the Earth, and the gaseous atmosphere of the Earth which the clouds move in is connected to the Earth through gravity. This movement is controlled with the movement of the Earth and the clouds.
Your Lord is God, who created the heavens and earth in six Days, then established Himself on the throne; He makes the night cover the day in swift pursuit; He created the sun, moon, and stars to be subservient to His command; all creation and command belong to Him. Exalted be God, Lord of all the worlds! [Saura A’Araf: 54]
God said as well:
He is the One who spread out the earth and made mountains and rivers on it, and created in it the pairs of two from all the fruits. He makes the night cover the day. Surely, in that there are signs for a people who think [Sura Raad: 3]
One of the meanings of “the night covers the day” is that God Almighty gradually covers the daylight on Earth with the night’s darkness, and gradually covers the night’s darkness on the Earth with daylight.
This is a beautiful reference to the sphericality of the Earth and its rotation around itself in front of the sun. It is a full cycle per day. The duration of each day in our current time is 24 hours.
If the Earth was not spherical, it would not be able to rotate around its axis in front of the sun. Thus, the day and night would not alternate.
Gesture:
The nature of the earth’s sphericality and its rotation around itself which creates the alternation of night and day, along with the Muslims joining their circumambulation around the Kaaba counter clockwise, and their five daily prayers throughout the day from different parts of the Earth and towards Mecca, form part of the universe system in constant and continuous communication in glorifying the Lord of the Worlds.
Challenge:
God said in the Holy Qur’an:
This is Allah’s creation. So show Me what those besides Him have created. Nay, the wrong-doers are in manifest Misguidance [Luqman: 11]
The Qur’an is the last divine revelation which was revealed to the last Prophet Muhammad – peace be upon him – containing the unique message of all God’s Prophet’s which is:
To believe in One God (the Creator), and to have a direct connection with Him.
To believe as well that nothing is like Him. He does not come to earth in any animal form or human form, He has no image known to humans. Our minds can only imagine objects, people and situations based on past experiences and memories. God is beyond our perception and cannot be comprehended.
Whenever we sin, we repent to Him directly. When we have a problem, we ask Him to solve the problem directly. When we feel blessed, we have to thank Him directly, without saints, priests, idols, etc.