The year was 2014, I was in Chennai, completing my masters in engineering. In the local mosque there in Padur, the area where I was staying, I came across a book titled ‘Not The Earth But The Sun Moves’ by a Bangladeshi author Muhammad Nurul Islam, first published in Bangladesh in 1968, then reprinted many times, in India also, up until 2004.
The book argued that the Sun moves around the (static) Earth, and not vice versa, an idea called Geocentrism or the geocentric model of the solar system. The author asserts that there is not a single verse in any religious scripture which says that the Earth moves around the Sun, not even the phrase ‘the Earth moves’! Thus he posted a challenge of rupees 50,000 (Bangladeshi rupees I guess), promising to pay the sum to anyone who could find the phrase ‘the Earth moves’ in any religious scripture, not just the Quran!
And this claim is surprisingly true! The Quran mentions that the Sun and the Moon move in their respective orbits, but surprisingly, it doesn’t mention anything about the Earth’s motion! There is not a single verse in the Quran which states that the Earth moves! While we know it as a matter of fact that the Earth rotates on its axis and revolves in its orbit around the Sun. On the contrary, there are verses which give an impression that the Earth is static, and the Sun moves around it. Amongst the evidences presented in the book, were the following verses of the Quran:
And the Sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). That is the Decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. And the Moon,………………………………It is not for the Sun to overtake the Moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They all float, each in an orbit. (36:38-40)
And He it is who has created the night and the day, and the Sun and the Moon, each in an orbit floating. (21:33)
These verses say that the Sun and the Moon move in their respective orbits (‘falak’). And this is observable even to the naked eye! We see the apparent rising and setting of the Sun and the Moon, following a circular trajectory with respect to the Earth, giving the impression that they move in orbits. Hence the 7th century Arabs also knew this. So this statement is absolutely normal in terms of day to day observation. But what’s surprising is, not a single verse of the Quran states that the Earth also moves. On the contrary, the following verse suggests (apparently) that it is static!
And among His Signs is that the heaven and the Earth stand by His Command, then afterwards when He will call you by single call, behold, you will come out from the earth (i.e., from your graves for reckoning and recompense). (30:25)
This verse could be interpreted (literally) to mean that the Earth is static/ standing, especially because of the absence of any verse which categorically states that the Earth also moves (although I think that would be a stupid thing to do since the phrase ‘the heaven and the Earth stand by His Command’ quite clearly is a figurative way of saying that they exist by God’s command!) This, coupled with the common observation that the Sun apparently rises and sets on a daily basis, following a circular path with respect to the Earth, as also stated in the Quran, impresses the idea that the Sun moves around the Earth. The following verse tends to reinforce this interpretation:
Have you not seen how your Lord spread the shadow. If He willed, He could have made it still, then We have made the Sun its guide [i.e., after the sunrise, it (the shadow) squeezes and vanishes at mid noon and then again appears in the afternoon with the decline of the sun, and had there been no sunlight, there would have been no shadow]. Then We withdraw it to Us a gradual concealed withdrawal. (25:45,46; English translation by Muhsin Khan)
The shadow of objects on Earth, projected on land, is due to sunlight. If the Earth and Sun were constant, even then the shadows would have formed, but their length would have remained constant. The Quran says that the length of shadows would have remained static/unchanging, if the Sun were not its guide/pilot/driver; in other words, it is due to the motion of the Sun that the length of the shadows change; if the Sun was not moving with respect to the Earth, the shadows would have remained static in length!
But scientific axiom is that the rotation of the Earth, i.e., the motion of the Earth on its axis, not its revolution on its orbit (and definitely not the motion of the Sun) is responsible for change in the length of shadows; because it is the rotation of the Earth on its axis that causes the apparent rising and setting of the Sun and causes the length of the shadows to change. The Quran’s statement that the Sun is responsible for the length change of shadows gives the impression that the Sun moves around the Earth and causes the length change, as observed by the naked eyes and believed by the Arabs of the 7th century C.E. The Quran thus seems to reinforce geocentrism!
Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, one of the leading physicists of Pakistan, had an interesting debate in 2012 at Lahore, with Hamzah Andreas Tzortzis, the popular Islamic researcher, writer and public speaker at the UK based Sapience Institute. Therein, Pervez said that he was invited by the grand mufti/chief cleric of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh ibn Baaz (died in 1999 C.E.), to debate with him on whether the Sun moves around the Earth or vice versa! Ibn Baaz too had written a book, quoting verses from the Quran, trying to prove that it’s the Sun which moves around the Earth, an interpretation possible because of the verses and reasoning discussed above.
One could argue that Ibn Baaz was just a cleric having no knowledge of modern science, hence he extracted an erroneous view from the Quran. But the problem is, a book which claims to be from God, while referring to natural phenomena, must not lend itself to false interpretations even to the lay men. An interpretation which is at loggerheads with empirically established facts, must not, under any circumstances, arise out of such a book, as a book from God must provide nothing but only the truth!
When mankind didn’t know that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, and that the Sun was the point around which the other planets move, the allegorical verses of the Quran could be interpreted to mean that the Earth is static and at the centre; but now that the contrary is proven by empirical observations, modern Islamic scholars who have knowledge of modern science, explain away these allegorical verses as only a figurative description of natural phenomena that does not state anything of core scientific value per se.
This proves that the Quran is so prone to multiplicity of interpretations that even falsehood can be extracted from it if one wishes to do so! This leads to a painful question:
Isn’t it ironic and absurd that a book which claims to be from God, the creator of everything, yields to viewpoints which are false and at odds with empirical facts! Isn’t it common sense that if a book were from God, it would be a source of only the truth, not falsehood against the axioms of science?
Also, if the Qur’an is from God then the God who explicitly mentions about the motions of the Sun and the Moon, why would he skip mentioning anything about the Earth’s motion! Why did God not state in clear, unequivocal terms that the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, all move, and that the Earth moves around the Sun?
These questions were among the many that had paved my exit from Islam.
But then, quite lately, my knowledge of physics came to my rescue!
In physics, motion is relative, dependent on the frame of reference of the observer.
Thus for an observer on the Earth, the Moon and the Sun appear to be in motion around it. For an observer on the Moon, the Earth and the Sun would appear to be in motion around the Moon. And for an observer on the Sun, the Earth and the Moon would appear to be in motion around the Sun.
For an observer outside the solar system, the entire solar system would appear to be in motion, as the Sun too revolves around the centre of the galaxy, dragging with it all the planets and the moons (while at the same time they rotate on their own axes and also revolve around the Sun!). So an observer outside the solar system would observe a very complex motion of the Sun and the planets.
Lo and behold, for someone outside the galaxy, the entire galaxy would be seen moving!
So, whose point of view should God have considered and mentioned in the Quran? All are equally valid based on the frame of reference being considered. Talking with respect to the earthly frame of reference thus, the Qur’an is not in error when it neither affirms nor negates the Earth’s motions (as it all depends on the frame of reference of the observer).
Take another example. The Earth undergoes centripetal acceleration as it revolves around the Sun. But in Newtonian physics (mechanics), for calculations in day to day problems involving ordinary objects in the earthly frame of reference, the Earth (or the ground) is considered to be practically (approximately) non-accelerating.
Thus the interpretations of both Sheikh ibn Baaz and the Bangladeshi writer Muhammad Nurul Islam are not totally incorrect if we talk in terms of the earthly frame of reference.
Just that the Quran should have mentioned this nuanced concept of frame of reference? Why did the Quran not mention this? If it were explicitly mentioned then the interpreters themselves would have known the scientific justification behind their interpretation and not been at the mercy of someone like me rationalizing their stance!
The reason behind this omission is not hard to uncover.
The Quran is not a book of the natural sciences. Its objective is not to tell us about hitherto unknown facts of nature but to remind us that we have been created by God and after death we will be accountable to Him and hence we must live our lives according to God’s commands. With this objective in the background, when addressing us on different issues, the Quran casually mentions different aspects of human life and asks us to reflect upon these and then exclaims how come we do not see that it is God who is the creator and sustainer and accountant of all!
For example, in the 23rd surah (chapter), verses 12-16, when addressing the deniers of the day of judgment, God asks them whether they really think it is hard for God to resurrect us on the day of judgment! The Quran reminds them that it is the same God who created humans in the first place, from lifeless materials like clay, and then from base materials like semen, and then through various stages to ultimately a fully intelligent human being. If God could do this in the first place then it is easy for Him to do it again in the day of resurrection! The Quran thus fleetingly mentions a few points related to the origin and birth of man while asking the disbelievers to reflect upon these and thus reconsider their stance on life after death.
It’s evident that the objective in these verses is not to go deep into the details (which could actually fill up volumes!) of the natural phenomenon of man’s origin and birth, but to give us some food for thought so that we could ponder over it and reach the desired metaphysical conclusion(s) regarding resurrection and accountability to God.
Likewise, while mentioning about the motions of the heavenly bodies, the objective is not to teach the details of the phenomenon as the details could actually fill up several volumes, and is thus beyond the scope of the Quran. The objective is to draw our attention to the gigantic nature of the phenomenon and evoke a sense of awe that could lead us to realize that the God who created all of this with such precision must not have done it for mere play, it must have some purpose! Thus it’s quite reasonable that the concept of frame of reference and other associated details are not mentioned in the Quran.
Also, these eloquent descriptions of nature should be relatable to all generations of man, to its immediate addressees (the seventh century Arabs) and also to the posterity of entire humanity. Hence the description must be such that it is not wrong for any generation of humans. A seventh century Bedouin nomad and a 21st century physicist, both must be able to relate to it and not find anything wrong in it, and at the same time the power of the language should be such that it impacts the minds of its listeners (or readers) and drives home the intended metaphysical message behind the verses. These objectives are well achieved by the Quran since there is nothing wrong in the Quranic descriptions of motions of the heavenly bodies from the perspectives of a seventh century Bedouin, of a 20th century cleric like Sheikh ibn Baaz (both of whom had no idea of frames of reference), and also of a 21st century engineer-turned-physics teacher like me who knows very well about the concept of reference frames!
To conclude and summarize:
Some verses of the Quran talk about the motion of the Sun and the Moon in their respective orbits but not a single verse mentions anything about the Earth’s motions. This silence, coupled with some interpretable verses, gives the impression that the Quran upholds the now disproved geocentric model of the solar system! Consequently, over the ages, even scholars of Islam have subscribed to geocentrism! This apparently shatters the credibility of the Quran since nothing but only truthful interpretations should emanate from a book that claims to be from God!
But then, in science, motion is relative, and thus, talking from a human centric perspective with the Earth as the frame of reference, there is nothing wrong, even scientifically, in considering the Earth to be stationary, as is nothing wrong for an observer in the Moon to consider the Moon to be static while considering the Earth and the Sun to be in motion with respect to the Moon. Although this viewpoint is an approximation of the bigger modern cosmological picture (that has all of the three moving in their respective orbits, and not just these three, but the entire solar system is also in motion around the center of the galaxy). Such approximations are routinely used even in physics; for example, considering the Earth to be a non-accelerating frame of reference in Newtonian mechanics of the day to day ordinary objects, although in the bigger picture of the universe, the Earth is actually an accelerating body.
God didn’t have to mention all this scientific caveats in such detail in the Quran as the objective of the verses that talk about the heavenly bodies is not to teach the details of their motions as the details could actually fill up several volumes of books, and is thus beyond the scope of the Quran. The objective is to draw our attention to the gigantic nature of the phenomenon and evoke a sense of awe that could lead to the awareness and worship of God. Hence the eloquent Quranic descriptions of nature are rendered in such a way that they are relatable to all generations of man, to its immediate addressees (the seventh century Arabs) as well as to all of humanity post the Muhammadan era. Hence the description is such that it is not wrong for any generation of humans. A seventh century Bedouin nomad and a 21st century physicist, both are able to relate to it and not find anything wrong in it, and at the same time the power of the language is such that it impacts the minds of its listeners and penetrates their hearts and instills in them the recognition of God!
Amazing analysis!
The Qur’an indeed implies that the Earth is moving in space, like the moon and the sun. This is expressed implicitly in the verse:
“And it is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all are swimming in an orbit.”
And the verse:
“It is not allowable for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night overtake the day, but all, in an orbit, are swimming.”
In this verse, night and day serve as metaphors for the Earth [It is a common theme in the Qur’an to refer to places through the temporal phenomena that occur in them]. That’s why the word all is used, even though only the sun and the moon are explicitly mentioned. The inclusion of night and day points to Earth, since it has long been understood that night and day are Earth-bound phenomena. So, if you are told that night and day are “swimming in an orbit” alongside the sun and the moon, the implicit message is that the Earth itself is also moving through space, and that night and day move with its motion.
What strengthens this interpretation are three verses in the Qur’an that say:
“Do you not see that Allah causes the night to merge into the day and the day into the night, and has subjected the sun and the moon, all running [their course] for a specified term? And that Allah is All-Aware of what you do?”
“He causes the night to enter the day, and He causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon—all running [their course] for a specified term. That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs sovereignty.”
“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, all running [their course] for a specified term. Unquestionably, He is the Exalted in Might, the Perpetual Forgiver.”
The first and second verses describe the motion of night and day as slow, gradual movement using the verbs: merges this into that, enters this into that. Therefore, night and day themselves are unlikely to be described after-that as “running.” Yet the verses use the word all, which linguistically refers to everything mentioned earlier in them.
So, in the first and second verses, night and day are metaphors for the Earth, and the sun and moon are all described as running in space. The third verse is the most explicit, as it mentions the heavens (all celestial bodies), Earth, night, day, sun, and moon—all running. This verse can indicate that the entire universe is in motion; nothing is static at all.
This verse also indicates that all celestial bodies that are up relative to us without pillars holding them with the sun/moon are running in space.
“He is Allāh who erected the heavens without pillars that you [can] see; then He established Himself above the Throne and made subject the sun and the moon, all running [their course] for a specified term”.
And you are right that the Qur’an never explicitly states which celestial body orbits the other, because—as you mentioned—motion is indeed relative. The Qur’an contains a verse that can be understood to support the concept of relative motion, even though many ancient commentators interpreted it as referring to the mountains on Doomsday due to their cultural context and biases. The verse says:
‘And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid, while they 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.’
From Earth, we do not perceive the motion of the mountains because we are rotating at the same speed as the Earth. However, from a space-based perspective, the mountains would appear to be moving as part of the Earth’s rotation—swiftly and silently, unnoticed, like passing clouds.