> The Earth is Round - proof from Qur'an

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The Earth is Round - proof from Qur'an

http://ahlalhdeeth.cc/vbe/showthread.php?t=127



Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H / 1328 CE), may Allah be merciful with him, in his
famous treatise, ar-Risalah al-'Arshiyah, refutes the position of the
neo-Platonic philosophers who identified Allah's Throne with the ninth celestial
sphere (Majmu'ul-Fatawa, Vol. 6, pp. 546-ff). In the course of his response,

Ibn Taymiyah discusses the question of the earth is it round or flat? He writes:

[That] celestial bodies are round (istidaratul-aflak) - as it is the statement
of astronomers and mathematicians (ahlul-hay'ah wal-hisab) - it is [likewise]
the statement of the scholars of the Muslims; as Abul-Hasan ibn al-Manadi, Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm, Abul-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi and others have quoted: that the Muslim scholars are in agreement [that all celestial bodies are round].

Indeed Allah - ta'ala - has said: And He (i.e., Allah) it is Who created the night and the day, the sun and the moon. They float, each in a falak. [Qur'an Al Anbiya 21:33]

Ibn Abbas says: A falaka like that of a spinning wheel.

Ibn Taymiyah continues: The [word] falak [in the Arabic language] means that which is round. From which is the statement [of the Arabs]: <> (Vol. 6, pp. 566-567)

In an earlier passage (Vol. 6, pp. 565-566), Ibn Taymiyah discusses why those on the other side of the earth are not below us, just like we are not below them.

He writes:

As for the other side of the earth it is surrounded by water.



[Note: Admittedly, Ibn Taymiyah - as all Muslim scholars of his day- were not aware of the Americas and believed that the Old World was encompassed by an ocean.] There are no human beings or anything like that [on that side]. Even if we were to imagine that people were on that side of the earth, such individuals would still be on the face of the earth.

Those on that side of the earth are not below those who are on this side; just like those on this side are not below those on that side. For as all spherical bodies surround a center point (markaz), no one side of a
spherical body is under the other, nor is the north pole under the south [Note:
Unlike Western maps, Muslim cartographers (map-makers) would draw the world with the south-side up.] or vice versa.

In another passage (Vol. 5, p. 150) Ibn Taymiyah clearly states the earth is
spherical.



Significantly Abu Ya'la in his work Tabaqatal-Hanabilah (Biographical Entries of
the Hanabali Scholars) quotes the unanimous consensus (ijma) of all Muslim
scholars that the earth is round.

This consensus was mentioned by the scholars of the second generation (the
students of the Prophet's Companions) and was based upon Ibn Abbas' explanation to 21:33 (previously cited) and other evidences.

The later belief of Muslim scholars, like as-Suyuti (died 911 AH / 1505 CE) that the earth is flat represents a deviation from this earlier opinion.

[Qatada]

Concensus of Muslim scholars that earth is round has been stated by Ibn Hazm, Ibn Taimiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim and others.

http://www.55a.net/firas/arabic/?pag...select_page=10

http://www.eltwhed.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1158

[Qatada]

Question: Sheikh Ibn Bâz on the roundness of the Earth


Question: Al-Salam-`alaykum.

I read a fatwâ purportedly by the Sheikh Ibn Bâz (may Allah forgive him) wherein he said: "The Earth is flat. Whoever claims it is round is an atheist deserving of punishment." Sheikh Ibn Bâz was one of the greatest scholars of today. However, I do not understand this fatwâ. Please explain it to me.



Answered by the Scientific Research Committee - IslamToday.net
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace be upon His Messenger.


Here is Sheikh Ibn Bâz’s fatwâ on the matter:

According to the people of knowledge the Earth is round. Indeed, Ibn Hazm and other scholars have declared that there is consensus on this matter among the people of knowledge This means that all of the surface of the Earth is connected together so that the form of the planet is like a sphere. Nevertheless, Allah has spread out the Earth's surface in relation to us, and He has placed upon it firm mountains, the seas, and life as a mercy for us. For this reason, Allah said: "And (do they not look) at the Earth, how it was spread out flat (sutihat)." [Sûrah al-Ghâshiyah:20] Therefore, the Earth has been made flat for us in regards to our relationship to it to facilitate our lives upon it and our comfort. The fact that it is round does not prevent that its surface has been made flat for us. This is because something that is round and very large, then its surface will become very vast or broad, having a flat appearance to those who are upon it."

This is the fatwâ of Sheikh Ibn Bâz about the shape of the Earth. So do not listen to those who lie against him and try to make it seem as though he was some "old fool" who did not even know that the Earth is round. Such people are liars and slanderers. At best, they are rumor mongers who narrate whatever they hear without verification the accuracy of what they say. As the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "It is sufficient to consider a man a liar when he narrates everything that he hears." [Sahîh Muslim]

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