In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
Quran doesn't say both. Firstly you should know that, the word أرض doesn't only means planet 'earth' but also means 'land'. Look at this Quran verse,
غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ
فِي أَدْنَى الْأَرْضِ وَهُم مِّن بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ
Does it mean Romans have been defeated, in the nearest planet? No!! never!!, There are around hundred of verses in the Quran talks about land with the same Arabic word.
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| We call this type of vehicles as Earth movers, Does that means it helps to move planet earth? definitely not. |
You may think why Quran didn't mention it clearly?
Because Quran is the word of God, Quran was revealed 1400 years ago, So it need to maintain something. Allah is all knowing and all-intelligent, he knows the most efficient thing to do is to have the Quran accept 7th century belief without contradicting reality. The Quran must support modern belief as well as 7th century belief. And neither side should contradict each other. This tells you that the author of the Quran is very knowledgeable about 7th century belief and modern belief and very intelligent. The Quran avoids certain words so it doesn't negatively affect 7th century belief and modern belief. It was written for all times and places. That is why the Quran seems to hint at things and never explicitly describe them.
And there is also another reason, that science discovered in very recent years - that the earth's shape is not consistent it is changing over time. So if the Quran says that earth's shape is spherical or something else then it will contradict with the modern science (the science is also not consistent, it changes over time 😋. That is why we always call present science as modern science). Check in below links to know that earth's shaping is not consistent.
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| https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/earth-round.html |
“He created the heavens and earth in truth. He 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.” (Quran 39:5)
The above verse states that night wraps
over the day and the day wraps over the night. The word wraps has been used as
a translation for the arabic word يُكَوِّر (Yukawer) which is not the actual
meaning of it. instead it is just to make the verse sensible as a sentence. Arabic words have more meanings, that is why Allah revealed Quran in Arabic to deal with people from it starting to till the end of the world.
So what’s the actual meaning of the word يُكَوِّر?
The word يُكَوِّر (Yukawer) is the verb of the word kura كرة ( kura ) which in arabic means ball. So, يُكَوِّر (Yukawer) means making a ball. For your confirmation of this word you can refer to the figures below which shows the translation of the word ball in english and arabic using Google Translator.
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“O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass
beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass
except by authority [from Allah].” (Quran 55:33)
This aayah states that if humans and jinns can pass beyond
the regions ( diameter ) of the earth and the heavens then they cannot pass
except by authority of Allah.
The highlighted word أَقطارِ (aqtar) has been translated to regions in English which is not the sufficient meaning of it. Also, different scholars have used different word for أَقطارِ (aqtar). The word أَقطارِ (aqtar) is the plural of the word (Kutr) قطر which is the arabic word for Diameter. For confirmation refer the below figures
So it is clear that this aayah (55:33) talks about the earth’s diameter and we know that Radii and Diameters are properties of circles or spheres only. This confirms that the earth's region has a diameter and hence it’s a sphere. This also confirms with the previous verse (39:5), to make into a ball[Yukawer يُكَوِّر].
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
“Where does the sun set, and where does it rise from? The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) answered, “It is going in a (nonstop) regular motion; it does not cease or disappear. It sets in one place and rises in another, and sets in another place and rises elsewhere and so on. So, some people would say the sun has set and others would say it has just risen (at the same moment).” (Reported by Imam Abi Is-haq al Hamadhani in “Musnad Imam Abi Is-haq al-Hamadhani”)
“And it is He who created the night and the day and the Sun and the moon; each floating in its orbit” (Quran 21:33)
For many years critics mocked at these verses, claiming that it explained the doctrine of Geocentricity i.e the Sun revolves around the Earth. Scientists at that time thought the Sun was stationary. However, it has been discovered in recent years that the Sun is, in fact, moving through space as I mentioned above and it is traveling through the heavens and has a فَلَكٍ “Orbit” just as the Quran says. Its orbit is so large that it would take approximately 225 million years to complete one orbit.
Here are some Quran verses about how Allah spread the land and made it as a blessing for us:
Some people claims that Quran says that Earth is flat by quoting theses verses. Actually that is not true. They are just saying that because of their ignorance or hidden agenda towards Islam. In the above section it is clear that Quran and Hadith indicate Earth is not flat and also indicate that the phenomena related to the earth are happening like Spherical.
So Allah use these verses when he talks about landscape and his blessing towards mankind and others. And he used the word 'spread' not 'flat'. Even if Allah used the word 'flat', we can't say it is contradicting, because actually it feels flat or wide expanse for the person who stand in the surface of earth.
The word 'spread' and 'flat' are really different. Spread doesn't actually means flat. I can't explain it clearly but I can show you an example.
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| Corona is spreading |
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| This floor is flat |
Then look at the Quran verses:
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| tectonic plate movement (Spreading) |
“And the earth - We have spread it and cast therein firmly set mountains and caused to grow therein [something] of every well-balanced thing”, “And We have made for you therein means of living and [for] those for whom you are not providers.” (Quran 15:20)
And at the earth - how it is spread out? (Quran 88:20)
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| formation of mountains after tectonic plate movement |
“And it is He who spread the earth (land) and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.” (Quran 13:3)
So the above verses are telling us about the spreading of land or tectonic plate movement and formation of mountains. Quran always says everything in simple way rather than scientific way. So everybody between 7th century to modern era can grasp it clearly and simply.
And below are other two verses talks about the blessings that Allah gave us.
“[He] who made for you the earth a bed” (Quran 2:22)
“(He is) the One who made the earth a cradle for you, and
made in it pathways for you to move, and sent down water from the heavens; and
We brought forth with it pairs of different vegetations “ (Quran 20:53)
Is Quran saying that shape of earth is like bed or cradle? No, Here Allah added "for you". So Allah is telling us about his blessings towards us by metaphorical way. Earth is like a bed or cradle for us, because we can sleeps without any disturbance while the planet earth is rotating in the speed of 1000/mph. We are not actually feeling it, that is soo miraculous creation of the one and only god.
Allah knows best.
I believe, this article may help those who are open minded. Sceptics may not grasp this because their mindset is like a person who wants DNA test to identify his own parents.
alquran-science.tumblr.com
M. M. Akbar (Islamic preacher & physics teacher)
thelastdialogue.org/article
