The Anvil of Truth: 12/12/20

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Sam Shamoun "A Puppy Trumps Allah, Jibril, and Muhammad!"

Neither Allah, the angels, the prophet nor his followers hated dogs in an absolute sense, nor any other animals, as seen from the many traditions, the Quran itself and the understanding of the scholars towards the fair physical and emotional treatment of all animals. Cynophobia is rather abounding in the HB, as will be shown later.

The prophet did not mind his grandsons having a puppy in his own house, until the incident with Jibril mentioned below.

There was once an interval of several days where revelation stopped and which distressed the prophet. He began thinking that he had done something wrong, or that, as his opponents taunted him, that Allah had abandoned him. Once revelation descended in the form of sura duha/93 he was told that neither was the case, and that this interruption obeys to a higher reality independent of anyone's whims. This bellies the notion that the reason of the interruption had anything to do with the prophet, whether in deeds (such as having a dog at home) or thoughts. This is further borne out by the fact that the prophet did receive revelation in different locations and conditions, and that a time finally arrived where revelation was about to descend on him. Jibril came to him and told him to prepare to receive revelation at his home. But when it did not occur as announced, it was this time due to a worldly reason specific to his home

"Jibril came to me and said; "Indeed I had come to you last night, and nothing prevented me from entering upon you at the house you were in, except that there were images of men at the door of the house, and there was a curtain screen with imagines on it, and there was a dog in the house. So go and sever the head of the image that is at the door so that it will become like a tree stump, and go and cut the screen and make two throw-cushions to be sat upon, and go and expel the dog." So the Messenger of Allah did so, and the dog was a puppy belonging to Al-Husain or Al-Hasan which was under his belongings, so he ordered him to expel it".

The details of the hadith vary depending on the chain, but the primary point remains that angels do not enter houses where specific things are found.

Angels are not superhumans. They are a different creature. They have likes and dislikes, capacities and limits different than humans. For example the traditions relate how the angel Gabriel himself was limited and could not ascend to where the prophet Muhammad was permitted to enter during the mi'raj. The hadith here does not specify the reason for singling out dogs, so we can only conjecture. A legitimate question one might ask is, since the interruption had nothing to do with an issue with the prophet, that revelation did and could descend anywhere outside his home, with Jibril even coming to him just a night before and at a different location to announce his imminent visit, then why didnt Jibril just choose another place than the "problematic" home in order to reveal sura duha?

What is first important noting is that these are not any type of angels, but the angels of revelation. Regular persons arent visited by such angels anyway so the issue of keeping dogs inside doesn't necessarily apply to anyone and any circumstance. But seeing how the noblest of them would refrain entering upon a prophet for that reason, makes one appreciate that, besides the representation of unidentified male figures (it was not only about a "puppy"), there must be an intrinsic reason in the dog in question. And this is understood through a contextual analysis of the report. This reveals an important point, one ever stressed by hadith commentators. When one tries to understand a hadith, which is a snippet of a larger statement, it cannot be done in a vacuum but in light of its time and circumstances, the potential question/remark the prophet was reacting/answering to, as well as the vast corpus of extra Quran material so as to establish a pattern of thought and behavior.

A glaring example is the report

"Evil omen is in the women, the house and the horse".

The narrator did not report the context of the prophet's statement, which was in fact a condemnation of what some pre-islamic Arabs believed and what contemporary Jews said. There are even reports where the prophet equates belief in bad omen with shirk.

As to dog, they were extensively used by the Arabs in the prophet's time, for specific purposes and not as pets. The angelic instruction not to keep dogs inside homes could be due to the particular breed of the prophet's environment, one that can potentially be harmful, hence its use to ward off danger. It could have been that this breed of dogs was not meant to be, neither for its own good or the good of the owner, kept in a closed space. The prophet, by allowing a seemingly harmless puppy in his home as a pet so as to please his grandsons, could have given or started a potentially harmful (not sinful) trend in the community. As in many cases, some special circumstances, sometimes having to do with the prophet and sometimes with other members of the community, were used by Allah as a means by which to illustrate what is more appropriate and beneficial for society.

After this incident, the prophet became more aware of the issue of human interaction with the dogs of his environment, which he might have taken too lightly. He allowed domesticated dogs for useful purposes in farming, herding, guarding or hunting but discouraged keeping them as pets, inside the homes, except if it is for self-defense. It would be oppressive and cruel to keep these types of dogs and any other such animal as pets. They are unsuited to remain in a confined environment. This could have been another reason for the angelic instruction.

“The reward of a person who keeps a dog for reasons other than herding, hunting, or agriculture is decreased every day by a qiraat".

As a side note, how did this visitor know of the presence of a puppy, hidden somewhere in the house?

Historically there was a problem of disease transmitting dogs in Medina, who carried rabies. These were stray dogs that in addition, were ferocious and attacked people. Although the problem existed, the prophet as a leader in Medina had not turned his attention to it prior to the incident involving Jibril.

The term used in some ahadith is kalb al aakur/biting, wild or rabid dog. The expression covered not only dogs but different types of wild beasts roaming the desert

"Malik said, about the "kalb akur" which people were told to kill in the Haram, that any animals that wounded, attacked, or terrorised men, such as lions, leopards, Iynxes and wolves, were counted as "kalb akur"".

As to the dog specie, the harmful ones were recognized by their pitch black color, as the prophet stated in his khutbah on the matter

"If it were not that dogs were a nation among nations, then I would order that they be killed. So kill every one among them that is all black".

During that same khutbah, some people asked what should be done with other dogs, namely the domesticated ones, to which the prophet stated they should be spared. This was a clarification of his statement that dogs, as a nation like any other isnt intrinsically evil/harmful, and should therefore not be indiscriminately killed, but there are evil/harmful elements among them who should be.

Due to the problems they caused, the prophet referred to these black dogs as devils, as is often used in Arabic in reference to something harmful. We're not talking of chihuahuas here but specially aggressive dogs. The fear they instilled, and consequent distraction, caused prayers to be disrupted if they approached while one is performing the rituals. Even what we consider today as pet dogs are put to death by the authorities when deemed too dangerous. There is thus nothing insensitive or extraordinary in the prophet's decision, in light of the reality of his time. Following the prophet's khutbah, some people were over-zealous in the application of the command, killing dogs indiscriminately

"Allah's Messenger ordered us to kill dogs, and we carried out this order so much so that we also kill the dog coming with a woman from the desert. Then Allah's Apostle forbade their killing. He (the Prophet further) said: It is your duty the jet-black (dog) having two spots (on the eyes), for it is a devil."

Dogs are not impure in and of themselves otherwise the Quran would not have made it permissible to consume the game hunted by trained dogs/mukalibeen 5:4. It also specifically mentions the dog that slept for years next to a group of righteous people 18:18. These people and their dog had divine miracles performed on them.

The simple fact is the Quran had many occasions to declare these animals impure or evil but did not. Even in the case of wild/street dogs, impurity does not equal to mistreatment. In a report the prophet said

"A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that".

In a similar narration where a man went down a well to save a dog from thirst, the people reacted, asking

"O Allah's Messenger, Is there a reward for us in serving (the) animals?" He replied, "Yes, there is a reward for serving any animate".

There is thus a general principle, well established in the Quran and traditions as regards animal and environmental welfare

"When Allah's Messenger was asked about donkeys, he replied, "Nothing particular was revealed to me regarding them except the general unique verse which is applicable to everything: "Whoever does goodness equal to the weight of an atom (or small ant) shall see it (its reward) on the Day of Resurrection".

This is because, according to the prophet

"In every living being there is a reward for charity"

further

"There is no Muslim who plants a tree or sows seeds and then a bird, or a person, or an animal eats from it except that it is regarded as a charity for him"

and

"If someone kills so much as a sparrow or anything larger without a just cause, then Allah the Exalted will ask him about it on the Day of Resurrection".

There would have been ground for general assumptions as regards the Islamic stance on dogs, had there been similar depictions as the ones found in the Bible, in which one finds nothing but Contempt and negative metaphors of dogs. Whether in the mouth of Jesus in Matt7 who parallels human wickedness to the most hated animals to a Jew, dogs and pigs, or in the writings of the prophets of the HB. Down to the book of Revelation22, dogs are associated with the most wicked dwellers of hell. Even the price for which a dog, any dog, is sold is forbidden to be brought into the Temple for a vow

Deut23"you shall not bring a prostitute's fee or the price of a dog, to the House of the Lord, your God, for any vow, because both of them are an abomination to the Lord, your God".

This is a reoccurring theme; dogs, like swine and other morally degenerate people like prostitutes and sorcerers are intrinsically evil and hateful. YHWH's cynophobia, not that of His angels or the humans, is such that He cannot stand their presence or anything related to them in His most sacred site.

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "A Puppy Trumps Allah, Jibril, and Muhammad!"

Apostate prophet finds pattern of prophecy; piecemeal revelations?

Apostate prophet belongs to a known community; the opponents of the sequential revelation?

Apostate prophet studies prophecy; wisdom in partial revelations?

Apostate prophet does not see it; opponents's impatience to the divine system?

Sam Shamoun "A Docile Beast Falsifies the Quran: How A Sheep Trumped Allah and His “Messenger”!"

This article answers Sam Shamoun "A Docile Beast Falsifies the Quran: How A Sheep Trumped Allah and His “Messenger”!"

Sam Shamoun "The Hadith of the Goat and Adult Suckling"

Sam Shamoun "The Quran’s Geographical Errors Pt. 1"(4)

The pre-Islamic Arabs used a combined Lunar/Solar calendar, and would periodically add a month in order to compensate for the shorter lunar year as opposed to the solar year. This resulted in fixing their rituals, like the yearly pilgrimage, to more convenient times from certain aspects. However, Islam banned the addition of such months 9:36-7. This meant that the month of Ramadan is now rotating through the year in a 33 year cycle.

This avoids the convenient fixation of certain religious practices according to human whims, for purely wordly motives, violating God's established sacred months and allowing an ordinary month to be observed as sacred and vice versa.

For example the pre-Islamic Arabs used this practice to avoid the disadvantages for their trade. Banning the intercalary month opens up the way for spiritual improvement, training one to perform his duties at all times of the year and under all circumstances. Also, from the viewpoint of the universality of religion, it is obvious that the periods of fasting and performing Haj cannot satisfy all if they be fixed, always falling in the same season and month in different places-summer or winter or very hot or very cold or rainy or dry or harvesting or sowing-year after year.

The Islamic time-keeping system is in fact the most scientifically relevant, because it does not require intercallation and thus making its precise reference point known to the day. Add to this the fact that the Islamic calendar is the only one that is divested from all elements of overt and parenthetical shirk, such as how the days of the week and the months of the year are named.

Much like the pre-Islamic pagan practice, the Hebrew month is based on the moon-cycle and therefore consists of 29/30 days. The year however is accounted for following the solarcycle, but because this creates a difference of +-11 days (Lunar year/354days vs solar year/365days), then adjustments needed to be made in order to allow the fixation of the different festivals (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot) to certain seasons (spring, summer and autumn respectively). The solution to having a lunisolar calendar is to periodically insert an extra 30-day month into a year, creating a 13-month year. The Torah however never reckons the time of the sacred rituals and festivals using the sun cycle, but always on a monthly basis according to moon sighting

Numb28:14"This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year"
Ezek46:3"And the people of the land shall [also] prostrate themselves at the entrance of that gate on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons, before the Lord"

Sam Shamoun "The Quran’s Geographical Errors Pt. 1"(3)

In 12:43-57 Yusuf predicted a period of hardship and hunger that would eventually come to an end and which the nation would overcome should it prepare itself following his advise. The end of that difficult period is described as

12:49"a year in which the people YUGHATH and in which they shall press".

YUGHATH has 2 potential roots gh-y-th and gh-w-th. It primarily implies a sense of help or deliverance, that could be defined and ascertained from the context. For example in 18:29 it says, speaking of the desperation of the hell dwellers

"if YASTAGHITHU/they ask for relief, YUGHATHU/they will be relieved bimain/with water, like melted brass".

YUGHATH is here used twice and shows that the effect of someone being "yughath" or relieved may include through water but not necessarily. In 8:9 the effect of when the believers tastaghithuna/asked for relief was that God answered by sending thousands of angels. Similar usage is found in 28:15,46:17.

So how did the people yughath in that year of relief? It could have been through water from direct rain, in ancient Egypt rainfall was not very rare and in fact the rulers took measures to protect their archaeological structures from damage due to the occasional heavy downpours. It could have also been through the water of the Nile. Egypt's agriculture up to this day and more so in ancient times, is and was heavily dependent on the Nile's swelling, flooding and fertilizing of farming areas. Obviously without rain upstream and in the high plateaux there would be no swelling of rivers downstream and ultimately of the Nile to allow the inundation of farming areas, their fertilization and irrigation. So the relief could also be referring to water from indirect rainfall.

The period of relief and abundance will be such that, according to Yusuf's interpretation of the king's dream, they will eventually be able to press. This suggests that the conditions would be favorable to allow enough time for planting, growing and harvesting crops, then finally press them. This particular detail and its mention to the king is very much in line with the historical importance of pressing wine and oil particularly to the royalty and for religious purposes in ancient Egypt.

That remarkable detail offered in the Quran is absent from the Biblical account, showing how as usual the subtle differences between the 2 scriptures are loaded with meaning and are certainly not insignificant. As a side note, one presses grapes to get wine. When 12:36 says "pressing wine" there is no misunderstanding that it is speaking of the end result of a process, just as one would speak of "building a house" while raising one of the walls.

Sam Shamoun "The Quran’s Geographical Errors Pt. 1"(2)

Taken from Apostate prophet finds a crack; the solid sky of the Quran?

The Quran implies the non-solid nature of the various created samawaat/heavens. It firstly says that the primordial sama' was gaseous 41:11. It calls sama' the area where we are, above the ground composed of jaww/air where birds fly, clouds move 16:79,30:48 which is nothing else than the troposphere. There are living creatures WITHIN (not under or upon) the heavens/assamawaat 27:87,29:22,42:29, including ourselves.

"Pieces from the sky" coming down on earth, as the disbelievers repeatedly challenged the prophet 17:92,26:187 does not mean chunks coming off the gaseous atmospheric entity above, but rather simply signifies originating from the region of the sky. This includes any meteorological phenomena such as hail, or stones as occurred with the destroyed town of Lot, or as similarly happened with the invading army of the elephant in Mecca, meteors, asteroids or any other space debris. It even includes clouds, coming down from the sky. In fact the Quran states that when this phenomenon occurs on the resurrection, these disbelievers will think they are invaded by clouds 52:44, yet it will neither be solid pieces nor clouds but a smoke coming from assama'/the sky that will overtake them in such a way they will not find any escape route from it 44:10-11. Had the Quran assumed a solid sky, this would have been the most appropriate place for it to speak of chunks of canopy detaching and falling.

A quiet dreadful image is pictured in 39:16,77:30-4 with the disbelievers on the day of resurrection, told to proceed and advance to what they denied, only to find themselves trapped from their front, left and right, from above and below, with a kind of "shade" that will neither be cooling nor protecting, but rather blazing and sparking.

That shade, which actually is the darkness cast by a thick and burning smoke, will pursue them until hell 56:43-44 -hence the often alluded to blackened and dusty face of the doomed 80:40-2- where they will be trapped from all sides and engulfed by the fire 7:41,29:55.

If the opponent wants to argue that the broad and general word sama' refers in 17:92,26:187,52:44 to the atmosphere, then it still means the Quran is correctly implying it is composed of gases. No solid entities will fall from it. As a side note, the Quran says the sama' is expanding 51:47 and that the sun and moon, which are all in one same sama' with other cosmic bodies like the stars 25:61, all literally swim/yasbahun in it 21:33,36:40,79:3. There is no swimming in a solid entity.

All the samawaat/plural of sama', have been raised high 20:4 (see Bible in Isa55:9). Particular attention is directed at one of these layers and how it was raised 88:18,55:7 with its highest point, which we could interpret as the top of the atmosphere, appearing like a vault above the earth, called the roof/saqf 52:5. The sama' was originally one entity, then perfected into a "good" state, made thick/samk 79:28, into several distinct but harmonious entities as denoted with tabaq/levels/layers 2:29,67:3,71:15. Each layer has its function 78:12 and is firmly secured. Some of these layers offer protection to the earth like a roof does (stratosphere, mesosphere, upwards) 2:22,40:64 which is why many translators rendered binaa'/structure as roof or canopy in these verses. As shown earlier these verses clearly parallel the hospitability of our world to a tent, with its comfortable floor (earth), elsewhere likened to a cradle 20:53,78:6 and its stretched roof providing protection.

The spreading of heavens is a notion found all throughout the Hebrew Bible Ps104:2,Isa42:5,44:24,45:12,Jer10:12, with the added qualification that it is a "hard" entity that could not have been spread other than by the power of God Job37:18. Due to that hardness, the descent of an entity down to earth necessitates the bending and parting of the solid heavens 2Sam22:10,Ps18:10. These heavens also appear like a circular canopy above the earth, on which God "sits" Isa40:22.
Nothing even remotely similar appears in the Quran although the metaphors of creation employed in both the HB and the Quran are very close.

The samawaat/heavens are in a state of harmony, they are guarded and remain layered as they are for the maintenance of life on Earth. The massive heavenly components above do not collide nor come down on Earth as to cause complete destruction 21:32,22:65. It is Allah Who upholds all the heavens/samawaat so as to avoid that outcome, without any pillars as we can see 13:2. This verse, meant at striking the reader with the constant necessity for Allah's might and mercy by holding up the complex order of things above at all times without relying on any supports like pillars, would make absolutely no sense if it meant Allah actually relied on invisible pillars to do the job. He does so through His laws of nature which He maintains at each instant 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, and which uphold them BOTH

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 pillars, 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 thinest 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".

In the Hebrew Bible, God causes earthquakes by "touching" the land Amos9:5, which in turn shakes the pillars underneath and above it

Job9:6"He Who causes the earth to quake from its place, and its pillars shudder"

Isa24:18"the foundations of the earth have trembled"

Job26:11"The pillars of the heavens trembled and are astonished from His rebuke".

As stated again in 2Sam22:8, when the earth shakes, the tremor is felt in the heavens too because of the pillars holding them up. God's anger causes this quacking and the mountains are what the writers had in mind when speaking of "pillars" Ps18:7,104:32,114:4,Isa5:25.

To the primitive and imaginative mind, mountains, these huge objects set on the earth with the strength of God Ps65:7, existing since the beginning of the earth's creation Ps104:5-6, appear to be preventing earth and heavens from collapsing into one another. Elsewhere however there is mention of other pillars, holding the world itself up and that are visible at the bottom of the seas 1Sam2:8,2Sam22:16. These are the pillars that keep the land afloat above the waters on which it was established Ps24:2,136:6.

These citations arent meant at disparaging the Bible, rather at showing how different would have the Quran looked, had it represented the views of the ancients people who are supposed to have authored it. The Quran had plenty of occasions to make such statements, as the imageries used are many cases similar with the HB. And yet in not one instance does it even slip so as to betray the hand of its 7th century Arabian scribes.

Back to the Quran, it is God only that preserves the order of the things above us without having recourse to massive structures like pillars, as well as below us. He maintains that order despite man's ungratefulness, and if He would stop upholding them both, nothing -no pillars- would maintain them in order

"and if they should come to naught, there is none who can uphold them after Him; surely He is the Forbearing, the Forgiving".

Linguistically, the negation of a possibility does not necessarily entail its opposite. The statement "without pillars you can see" does not entail "with pillars you cannot see".

The universe, above and below, is thus maintained without disruptions, although cataclysms from heaven may exceptionally descend

22:65"except with His permission".

Until such a time arrives, the sky remains a source of protection to man like a structure just as the earth is a comfortable "couch" or a "cradle" allowing the development of life 2:22,20:53,40:64.

The verse 50:6 directs our eyes to a specific region of the sky; that of the stars where it precisely says that the cosmic bodies literally swim/yasbahun, ie a non-solid area. The verse 67:3 directs us for inspection not only to that same area but to all the heavens. These verses ask the audience and readers to look at all that is above and notice the coherence. There is no break in that coherence because of the regularity and uniformity of the laws working in the universe

"Who created the seven heavens one above another; you see no incongruity/futur in the creation of the Beneficent Allah; then look again, can you see any disorder?".

"Futur" literally means splitting lengthwise, though it also connotes breaking the fast, inconsistency, and corruption. Corruption is the intended sense herein. The blessed Verse is saying that no matter how attentively man studies the world of Creation, he may not find the least defect or disharmony in it. Many natural occurrences whether in the earth when floods, or earthquakes occur, or in the heavens when stars explode and celestial bodies collide, appear as blemishes at the first glance within the order of things. Further observations however reveal that there are significant causes behind them.

These verses come in the context of providing proof for divine justice because just as One Being subjected this world to coherent laws without any sudden break in uniformity, He will subject the hereafter to the same principle of coherence especially in regards to the just reward of good and evil.

Sam Shamoun "The Quran’s Geographical Errors Pt. 1" (1)

Sam Shamoun "The Quran’s Geographical Errors Pt. 1"(1)

Allah is in a constant state of praise by the angels and all that is in the heavens and earth, animate or inanimate, conscious of their state of worship or not, even though we do not perceive it 2:58,13:13-15,16:48-50,17:44,22:18,24:41,45:37,55:6,29,62:1,64:1.

That universal glorification of God spoken of in the Quran had reached particular beauty in the times of the prophet David whom most of creation joined in his praise of God 21:79,34:10,38:17-9, who was known according to Jewish scriptures and oral tradition for his talent for music and divinely inspired poetry very early on 1Sam16:16-23. David is often quoted refering to that universal and unfathomable glorification of God in the Hebrew Bible in

Psalms19,148,69:35"Heaven and earth will praise Him, the seas and everything that moves therein".

Other passages allude to this glorification too, including Job38:7.

In the Quran, whenever attention is directed to a natural phenomenon, it is to propound a higher spiritual implication. Lightning has always and will always inspire people with both fear and hope. Fear because it sometimes causes death and destruction, hope because it also heralds relieving rain. The heavy clouds that most often come with lightning are similarly perceived both ways; they might bring the much needed rain or cause disasters, floods and death

13:12-13"He it is who shows you the lightning causing fear and hope, and brings up the heavy cloud. And the thunder declares His glory with His praise, and the angels too for awe of Him. And He sends the thunderbolts, striking with them whom He pleases".

Now of course, anyone hearing or reading these passages already knows these physical realities but what the Quran is doing, as it always does, is drawing a parallel between observable reality and the spiritual realm. Dark clouds and thunder are a metaphor for the hardships one might have to pass through in this life as a result of pursuing the right course. As he tries overcoming these hardships with God-consciousness, the believer is instilled with hope for Allah's pleasure, and fear of His just retribution. The believer never feels complacent and self-righteous in the face of divine perfection. But the one shallow in faith has little hope during these difficulties, he will be debilitated by the fear of having to go through them

2:19-20"like abundant rain from the cloud in which is utter darkness and thunder and lightning; they put their fingers in their ears because of the thunder peal, for fear of death...the lightning almost takes away their sight. Whenever it shines on them they walk in it, and when it darkens they stand still".

The believer sees a metaphor of the higher realities in all aspects of nature, is constantly reminded and increased in God-consciousness the more he looks around and ponders

2:115"so whichever way you turn, there is the Face of Allah".

The hadith, as a side note, in which ibn Abbas quotes the prophet as saying that thunder

"is one of Allah's angels in charge of the clouds"

has been criticized by the scholars on several counts, including that its chain does not reach the prophet. Assuming it is authentic, it still does not conflict with science. Believers in God accept that every aspect of existence is maintained by Allah, whether its is the rain that falls, cloud that moves or wind that blows.

Sam Shamoun "The Quran’s Geographical Errors Pt. 2"

From the earth, the observable cosmic occurences all float in their own orbit 21:33.

In reference to the night, the day, the sun and the moon, it says that Kullun/all (for more than two) yasbahun/swim in their own separate paths. The word falak means here a circular motion. Its indefinite form indicates a plurality, not a specific, or unique, circular path. The Quran in this instance, omits the relation of each phenomenon and celestial object to oneanother. IT does not say what orbits what. This is again meant so as to not confirm nor negate the scientific notions of peoples of all times. Its object being to concentrate the reader on the spiritual portent of the statement and leaving open to interpretation the side issues.

Read with our current knowledge, nothing negates that the path of the night and the day is due to the movement of the earth, that the sun's path is its orbit around the galaxy and that the path of the moon is around both the earth and the sun

21:33"And He it is Who created the night and the day and the Sun and the Moon. All swim/float in their orbit".

The earth is figuratively called a cradle in 20:53, again a very appropriate image and comparison; just as the movement of the cradle is meant at creating comfort to the infant, so is the motion of the earth causing it to be a comfortable receptacle for life. That subtle and eloquent use of words creates an understanding adapted to people of all times in a manner that keeps the focus on the spiritual message. Ancient people had no means by which to observe the earth's movements so it would have been counter productive from an argumentative standpoint for the Quran to refer bluntly to a physical reality impossible for the audience to verify. That is why the matter of the whether the earth is in motion or stationary isnt explicit, although there are hints as mentioned earlier. Elsewhere the Quran states about Allah, that He is the One in Whose entire power is the accessibility and manageability (dhalul) of the Earth's resources, who made it provide for us and be hospitable for human life. Everything we see around us cannot be an accident 67:15-16. The word dhalul was used by the Arabs to describe an animal that is submitted to the rider, it does not violently shake and throw him away. Similarly the earth, although apparently motionless is moving, allowing humanity to ride upon it smoothly. The imagery at play is beautiful and full of spiritual implications, including gratefulness to the Creator Who has submitted part of creation so as to allow life to flourish.

When the Quran speaks of the perceived movements of the sun and moon in the sky 14:33 it again stops short from saying which body is orbiting which one. This tacit silence allows that in the sun's case, the perceived movement is due to the Earth's rotation around itself and that in the moon's case, the perceived movement is due to the moon's orbit around the Earth.

When the Quran refers to the cosmic bodies moving on to their appointed term/ajalin musamma 13:2,31:29,35:13,39:5 it is referring -as is clear from the contexts- to the Day of Resurrection where all the universe will be destroyed and created anew

"and He made the sun and the moon subservient (to you); each one pursues its course to an appointed time/ajalin musamma; He regulates the affair, making clear the signs that you may be certain of meeting your Lord".

Ajalin musamma refers to the appointed end of a thing 6:2,40:67. In 36:38 it speaks of the sun "running", which is a perfect description of the sun's movement across the galaxy in case one looks at the verse "scientifically". To the ancients hearing the verse, they would equally understand that the word depicting the motion of the sun denotes rapid movement, contrary to what is perceived from observation. So it cannot be speaking of sunrise and sunset, which certainly arent rapid motions. The sun is "running" to its place of rest, its end point. And the end of its rapid course will be, as with allthings, the day of resurrection. The variant reading attributed to both ibn Abbas and ibn Masud in which they recited 36:38 LAmustaqarrin/no resting place, instead of LImustaqarrin/to its resting place is inauthentic.

Further 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".

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 separate 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.

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "The Quran’s Geographical Errors Pt. 2"

Islam Critiqued trusts his Bible; True location of Paran?