In answer to the video "The Egg Shaped Earth - Scientific Miracles of the Quran Ep.16"
When one spreads out a carpet for a guest, it is meant to honor them. The imagery also plays off another aspect, and that is how carpets are colorful and have beautiful patterns, just like the landscape of the earth. When the verse about "spreading out the earth" is made, it is followed by man being served with all sorts of sustenance and the inescapable accountability resulting from such favors. The concept of "spreading the earth" is related to the honoring of man by God.
Such concept is also repeated eslewhere for example when speaking of the animals fit for slaughter in 6:142 the Quran uses the term "farsh" from Farasha meaning to spread on the floor, ie these animals are thrown down on the ground for slaughter. Also beds and mats are made from their skins and wool.
Spreading the earth has nothing to do with flattening it, sheets can be spread over non-flat objects, including a ball. The Hebrew Bible speaks of the arrangement of the earth with similar terms Isa42:5,44:24; although it adds the information that the earth has "corners", "boundaries" or "ends" Job38:13,Ps74:17 just like the heaven above it has four corners Zech2:10, and is established upon water Ps24:2, held afloat by pillars.
In the Quran, Dahaha 79:30 means "he spread/expanded it". It is used for example to describe the expansion of the ostrich nest, which is a pit that the animal widens with its legs. There is no flattening linked to the meaning of the word. Sutihat 88:20 carries the same meaning, it stems from s-t-h meaning to spread or expand.
Another synonym of spreading, expanding, used for the earth's arrangement is MADD 15:19 or mihadan/evened out 78:6-7. See also 51:48,71:19,20:53,13:3,2:22 for similar expressions. The word "ard" in Arabic, as any speaker of the language knows, isnt strictly used for the planet as a whole and is many times used for the immidiate visible plain land, or the earth's crust, and this is in fact very clear if one looks at these aforementioned verses about the arangement of the earth, meaning the land.
The implication of the statement is that it has been made suitable for many aspects of human life and more particularly travel. For example in the places where the earth/ard is in the sense of land, it is in contrast to other elements of the landscape, like mountains. If the earth as a whole was implied, the contrast with the mountains would be inappropriate. From a purely scientific perspective, the "spreading" of the earth's crust is an ongoing phenomenon, crucial for the maintenance of life at the surface. Up to 95% of it is composed of solidified magmatic material, continously spread and solidified directly at the surface or within the crust. Even after solidification, sometimes when continents collide, the crust can rise to 100km but subsides and spreads soon after. The thickness of the crust varies from around 50km above seas to less than 1km at seafloor. Some have even suggested that in our earth's earliest phases, that "spreading" mechanism was happening on a more widespread, violent scale as the earth's outter layer was entirely covered in liquid magma before solidifying.
In 2:22, God states that He has made the earth a couch for man. Elsewhere it is referred to as a cradle 20:53,78:6. This is not making a physical description of the land upon which people walk. The Quran's addressees knew what couches, beds and cradles looked like. The obvious import is that it has been made hospitable for life and a resting place/qarar 27:61,40:64. IT is the receptacle allowing the cyclic recurrence of birth, growth, decay and death in all organic creation 77:25.
Similarily, the analogy of the sky with a roof stresses one of the roof's aspects; its protective nature. The imagery of the comfortable nature of the earth, by the Honorable Host, is again stressed when God tells His creatures to go about this smoothed earth, enjoy its sustenance for a given time and walk upon its 67:15"manakibaha", meaning "shoulders". Again, those who heard this knew what shouders look like and it never crossed their minds that the Quran was making a physical description of their landscape or of the planet. Rather, this verse shows the earth as not only made comfortable like a bed or cradle of life, but also supporting and carrying man on its "shoulders". It is again a metaphor for God providing mankind with comfort, support, security and sustenance.
The Quran is not trying to demonstrate scientific realities, but that life would be futile without the idea of a Day of Judgement. It gives these metaphors to show the ingratitude of those who reject God when he has been the best host. The message of the imagery was to play on the idea of the honor of the Arabs, who held in utmost respect those that were generous hosts. The Quran is full of such imagery. For example, Allah states that he *carried* the Israelites across the water, and the picture painted is not Moses leading them, but God himself. How could the Israelites forget that, and take to worshipping the calf almost immediately? Allah likens the hypocrites to an unfaithful bride, who thinks that she is deceiving her husband, but ultimately plays games that lead to her own downfall. She is ultimately exposed and further, humiliated. When a person is surrounded by waves of water like mountains in the sea 10:22-23, and he calls out God to help, God paints a picture of ingratitude when that person has been saved. It is as if that person doesn't acknowledge God's favor, and simply walks away as if he never called out for help in the first place 16:53-55.
The fact the Quran plays on the theme of honor and ingratitude to make the people heed for a day of accountability is reinforced when it is used in sura Naba. Sura Mursalat just before it substantiates the Day of Judgement through evidence in the world around man, through historical events and through the signs of power and wisdom of the Almighty in the creation of man, then sura Naba validates this claim, in particular, through various manifestations of Allah’s providence in the world around man.
Here is some eloquent imagery though, that does hint to the roundness of the earth.
In 37:5,70:40 the Quran speaks of the mashaariq/places of sunrise (plural), and maghaarib/places of sunset (plural). It also speaks of the maghribayn/mashriqayn, the two places of sunset/two places of sunrise 43:38,55:17 obviously refering to the fact that when the sun sets on one hemisphere, it rises on the other, hence hinting to the roundness of the Earth. Another interesting fact is that the Quran speaks of the darkening of the stars, sun and the moon, on a single day, the Day of Resurrection 81:1-2,75:8,77:8. Besides happening on the same day, the Quran says it will come unexpectedly 7:187.
The stars, the sun and the moon cannot all be seen at the same time which means that certain people will witness the Day of Resurrection in daytime while others are living it simultaneously in nighttime. This negates the flat earth position, implying that there are people simultaneously living on the dark side, as well as the bright side of the earth.
The Quran speaks of day and night as a phenomena independant from the sun's movement. 79:29 says the sky itself is what brightens (indicating presence of atmosphere) and 91:3-4 says daylight exposes the sun. This is because the reflection of sunlight on the atmosphere dims the lights of all other celestial objects, until they are relatively insignificant to the sun, thus "revealing" it. On the moon, due to the absence of atmosphere, the Sun is not "revealed" as one would say when viewed from the earth. Other celestial objects are seen shining next to it, including the earth that may appear even more evidently than the Sun.
What causes nighttime is the obstruction of the sun. That is where the notion of "veiling" is important 7:54. The word is very well suited to the situation because it is the sun's veiling by the earth itself that causes darkness to fall on the opposite side of the earth. Without a "veil" nighttime would not occur on earth. One could try saying that this doesnt negate geocentricism, with the sun travelling beneath the earth so as to cause nighttime on the opposite side. However 7:54 disconnects the subservience of the sun to that phenomenon. What is further remarkable is that it doesnt say the day veils the night, but the opposite. This reinforces what has been said about the appropriateness of comparing veiling/obstructing. Nighttime is the absence of direct sunlight, which would be impossible without veiling/obstructing since the sun does not orbit the earth. Somewhere else it uses the image of daylight being skinned off, revealing the darkness of night. Skinning is done with force. The sun is mentioned in the same passage without any hint at it being the cause. Rather it is an imperceptible force caused by Allah and which we now know is the movement of the earth
36:37"We withdraw/peel off from it the day".
Another interesting statement is that Allah upholds al samawat/the entities above, including the sky without any visible supports 13:2,31:10. In the flat earth model, the dome shaped sky rests on the earth's edges, which are visible supports. But according to the verses, the entities above the earth must encompass and circle it, enclosing the earth within a larger sphere.
From a spiritual perspective, this statement highlights the necessity of Allah's might and mercy, maintaining the complex order of things above at all times without relying on any supports. Scientifically, as in all verses putting God at the forefront in natural processes, one may understand it as God doing so through His decreed laws of nature. None of these processes function by themselves and need constant sustaining by the One who decreed them 32:5,65:12 making both heavens and earth to subsist by His command 30:25, these laws through which He prevents both heaven and earth from ceasing to function
22:65,35:41"upholds the heavens and the earth lest they come to naught".
Allah therefore upholds/yumsik both heavens and earth, not only the heavens or what is above the earth. This gives an additional dimension to the word "upholding", giving it the sense of "sustaining" as well.
This passage also demonstrates the delicate balance the Quran makes in its use of general but appropriate words, so as to not confirm nor deny the views of nature of its reader, focusing instead on the spiritual message. By upholding both heavens and earth, the Quran does not depict the earth as "the bottom" of the universe for just as the heavens are upheld, the earth too is upheld by Allah. If one wishes to find "indications" on whether the earth is stationary or not, then one can as well reflect the Quranic depiction of the general motion of all celestial bodies floating in their independent trajectories, as applying to the earth too which is floating in space. A modern reader could then also assume, since this upholding is done without any visible supports, then it must be done through God establishing an equilibrium between the repelling and attractive forces at play in the universe. These forces by the way are known to be on the thinnest of razor edges, where the slightest variation will throw the entire system into disarray
54:49"Surely We have created everything according to a measure"
Finally 35:13,39:5,3:27 explain that the phenomena of night and day are perpetually merging, as if flowing into one another. This imagery only makes sense in a round earth model, where daytime still exists when nighttime arrives and viceversa, as related in the hadith on 3:133 further below. In a flat-earth model the entire earth is either plunged into darkness or lit up in daytime. We understand today that the roundness of the earth, together with its revolution around its axis and orbit around the sun, are what allow this continuous flowing phenomenon of night into day and day into night.
In a narration, the prophet was asked to comment on
3:133"a Garden, the extensiveness of which is (as) the heavens and the earth, it is prepared for those who guard (against evil)".
A man asked him
"So where is the Fire?" the prophet replied "Have you seen when night comes, it overtakes everything. So where is the day?" the man said "where Allah wants it to be" and the prophet said "likewise with the Fire".
So although daylight overtakes everything and yet nighttime is a phenomenon that keeps existing, even if it is beyond perception, so does hellfire exist beyond perception although the vastness of paradise overtakes everything. The Quran makes it clear that both heaven and hell exists currently in the unseen and encompass us. Grammatically, the WAW used in 3:133 is that of inclusion, making the earth included within the more encompassing entity of the heavens. Had the Quran applied a strict modern perspective of astronomy and said that the vastness of paradise is as wide as the heavens, without mentionning the earth, the statement would have remained incomplete to its addressees who understood heaven and earth as seperate entities. It would have seemed that paradise is limited, which is against the verse's intent. On the other hand, had it specified that heaven encompasses the earth, then followed by describing the vastness of paradise, it would have deviated its audience's attention into trivial matters from a spiritual viewpoint. The Quran thus uses a grammatical construction that neither affirms nor denies its addressees' understanding of nature, as it does in many places, so as to keep the focus on its intended message.
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