My rebuttal to Avijit Roy's "Does the Quran support the Earth moves around the Sun theory" response.

Why does the Noble Quran use words that have multiple meanings?

Why should we accept the scientific meaning of the Word in the Noble Quran that fits our discoveries today, and not accept any of its other meanings, especially that the Word was revealed 1,500 years ago?

1- The use of scientific notions in the Noble Quran:

It is important to know that the Noble Quran doesn't give scientific equations. It instead gives many scientific notions that had been proven today to be clear Scientific Miracles because they fit perfectly with modern science. One of the Divine Miracles of the Noble Quran is that Allah Almighty (through His perfect use of the complex and artistic language of Arabic) used scientific notions to make the Noble Quran truly dynamic for all the times that It is presented in. These scientific notions hid in them, for many centuries, the scientific statements and discoveries that we just came to know today, and perhaps are even hiding in them more statements that our future generations will discover. These notions are basically key words and/or terms that describe certain creations of GOD Almighty. For example:

1- Allah Almighty in one Word said that the Universe is expanding and in another term said it will shrink back again. Science confirmed that today through the big bang and the cosmic crunch theories.

2- Allah Almighty in two Words mentioned the layers of waves and darkness inside the vast oceans. Science today, again, confirmed that.

3- Allah Almighty in one Word said that He made the earth as an egg. We all know today that earth is spherical and science did confirm that the earth is indeed egg-shaped.

4- Allah Almighty in few terms in several Noble Verses said that mountains prevent the earth from shaking. Science today did indeed confirm that mountains stabilize the earth and prevent it from constantly shaking while it is rotating around its own axle.

5- Allah Almighty in one term talked about the earth reducing in size. Science today indeed confirmed that earth is shrinking in size due to volcanoes and earth "debris" caused by erosions, earthquakes, sea-waves changing the shape and condition of the land and other natural factors, escaping to space. In fact, it is estimated that earth lost approximately 10-40 miles from its radius or depth size in the past 10 or so billion years! (I heard this from Dr. Zaghloul Al-Naggar on TV. My numbers may not be quite accurate because I am relying on memory, but the fact of the earth shrinking is definitely true, and in the link above I have provided several quotes from Western scientists demonstrating why the earth is reducing/shrinking in size).

6- Allah Almighty mentioned in one term the moon's fault line. Science today confirmed that the moon's fault line, which is splitting it in half, was caused by major moonquakes.

7- Allah Almighty in one term talked about the earth's 7 properties. Science today confirmed that the earth has 7 inner layers and 7 atmospheric layers.

8- Allah Almighty in one term talked about the region inside the human-brain that controls the movements. Science today confirmed that.

Many more examples (and the list is growing) are provided at: The overwhelming Scientific Miracles in the Noble Quran section.

The Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, was already accused of being crazy by the infidels. Have Allah Almighty given sophisticated scientific statements that covered exact details as we scientifically know them today, then no one would've believed the Prophet of Islam, because:

1- He wasn't a scientist and such science wasn't known to man back then, which makes it impossible for him to explain it, even if Allah Almighty Inspired it to him. The information would not have been understood by the nomad bedouins 1,500 years ago.

2- People had already inclined toward declaring the Prophet as an insane man, and many already did. Any extraordinary supernatural statement that requires a lot of scientific explanations such as "we have people standing on the other side of the world (under our feet), and all humans are actually standing on the side of the earth not on its top or back."

Such statement would require knowledge in gravity and astronomy, which man did not know about 1,500 years go.

Like I said, many have accused the Prophet of being a madman. Allah Almighty did not want to complicate Islam, especially to the people who did not know much about science:

"Say (to them O Muhammad SAW): "I exhort you on one (thing) only: that you stand up for Allahs sake in pairs and singly, and reflect (within yourselves the life history of the Prophet SAW): there is no madness in your companion (Muhammad SAW), he is only a warner to you in face of a severe torment." (The Noble Quran, 34:46)"

"And (O people) your companion (Muhammad (Peace be upon him)) is not a madman; (The Noble Quran, 81:22)"

That is why Allah Almighty used scientific notions instead of statements and equations. They are for man to discover as he advances in life. The more man advances, the more he will find that many of his discoveries are mentioned in the Noble Quran. That is why the Noble Quran's Miracles are for all times and all places!

Again, please also visit: The overwhelming Scientific Miracles in the Noble Quran section.

2- The complex language of Arabic:

Arabic is a very complex, artistic and poetical language by nature! A single word can mean a host of meanings. The art and beauty of Arabic comes in how a person constructs and puts together words to form a sentence or paragraph. The art and creativity in the style and poetry are what determine the strength and beauty of the sentence or poem. That is why the Noble Quran is extremely difficult to understand sometimes, even by the fluent and professional Arabic speakers. That is why Muslims always say that the translations of the Noble Quran do it absolutely no justice, because the poetry and complexity of language-art are completely compromised in the translation. What the English reader, for instance, is left with when reading the English Noble Quran, is the subject that the Noble Verses are talking about. But he/she doesn't see the beautiful and complex stylistic and linguistic Divine Miracle that the Arabic text carries in it.

At any rate, Allah Almighty Chose for the Noble Quran to be Difficult to comprehend, and to be quite a challenge to interpret and translate, because:

1- He Chose to have the Miracle of the Noble Quran be an ever lasting one by living in the text of the Holy Book Itself.

2- To demonstrate Its Divinity to the Arabs back then, who were very experienced/mature, fluent and also addicted to poetry, along with the Arabic-speaking people today, and to challenge them and to show them that certainly the Noble Quran is not just an average everyday book. It is indeed a Divine Miracle, proving that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is indeed a Truthful and real Prophet.

3- This is Allah Almighty's way to Lead to the Right Path whom He pleases and to Lead astray whom He pleases.

My rebuttal to Avijit Roy's "Does the Quran support the Earth moves around the Sun theory" response:

Response to answering-christianity.com
Re: Does the Noble Quran support "The Earth moves around the Sun" theory?

By Avijit Roy

I mentioned about a challenge of mine (made couple of years ago) in one of my recently published article (regarding one of those so-called scientific miracles in holy Qur’an). I see this has created some turmoil over the Net recently.

Your challenge had created no turmoil. It was one article that I had, by the Will of Allah Almighty, debunked at: Does the Noble Quran support "The Earth moves around the Sun" theory?. Your article contained good points in them, and for that I decided to refute it. No turmoil was created by you. You seem like you were dying to gain some attention, and you finally got it after couple of yours from writing your article.

My challenge has a little history. Let me tell you this briefly. Over the last decade, a growing numbers of Muslims have declared the Qur'an to be a book filled with alleged scientific miracles. Many educated Bangladeshi Muslims in blithely discovered ‘Big-Bang’, ‘expansion of the universe’, ‘theory of evolution of human species’, science of ‘atoms and molecules’, ‘milky-way, ‘constellation’, ‘white dwarf’, ‘black-holes, ‘embryology’, ‘theory of relativity’, ‘theory of super string’... and what not in their holly scripture (Qur’an). Numerous web sites, books and videos have been produced that proclaim Islam to be truly a religion of divine origin having perfect compatibility with modern science.

I have listed a good number of the Scientific Miracles that exist in the Noble Quran backed by Western Scientists discoveries at: www.answering-christianity.com/sci_quran.htm. For the reader's convenience, here are the links:

"We will soon show them Our signs in the Universe and INSIDE THEIR SELVES, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things? (The Noble Quran, 41:53)"

Very Important Discovery:
ch1-1-c-img1.jpg (12269 bytes)

A new star forming out of a cloud of gas and dust (nebula), which is one of the remnants of the "smoke" that was the origin of the whole universe. (The Space Atlas, Heather and Henbest, page 50)
Allah Almighty said: "Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke...(The Noble Quran, 41:11)"
The Noble Quran on the Origin of the Universe
Only Islam claims that the universe was originated from Dust and Hot Gas, or Smoke.

Allah Almighty Said: "And when the heaven splitteth asunder and becometh ROSY LIKE RED HIDE - (The Noble Quran, 55:37)"
What Allah Almighty is Saying here is that when Galaxies explode, they form a red-rose-shaped explosion. He is also telling us that the Universe will all turn into red exploded galaxies looking like red or reddish roses when the Day of Judgement happens.

"This web site has been developed with the aim of promoting and publicizing the works of Harun Yahya, a prominent Turkish thinker and author. His books have attracted great attention both in Turkey and worldwide. In the 90's especially, the works of Harun Yahya have been a means of intellectual awakening for many Muslims, and non-Muslims alike, in the face of the illusions of the modern age. In other words, the name Harun Yahya is an invitation to the truth.
....................
The books of Harun Yahya and thus this web site seek to recall various crucial facts, which people are led to disregard and even deny under the influence of the turmoil of the modern age. One of these basic facts is that of creation, that the universe, living things and man, are not self-existing entities, but the artifacts of God, the Supreme Creator. We are all created by Him and to Him we will all return. The allegedly "scientific" challenges to this fact — like Darwinism and other materialistic dogmas — are nothing but deceptions, as explained in this site."

Dr. Zahlool Al-Najjar is a great Muslim Geologist and Scientist who wrote many
books, publications (131 publications as shown on his resume in English), and
10s of journals and reports proving many of the Noble Quranic Geological and
Scientific Claims to be accurate through Modern Science and Technologies.

He is well known in the Scientists community of Geology in both the US and
Europe, because much of his work and research, especially during his early
days of scientific research, was done in these countries while he resided and
studied in them.

1- Life originated from water and dust in the Noble Quran, Plants and their origins.
2- The Earth's rotation, formation, Mountains and Oceanology.
3- The Universe, Time, Astronomy, UFOs and Space Shuttles.
4- Embryology, Human Anatomy, Formation, and Creation from the time of sexual intercourse to the time of birth.
5- The number 19 code in the Noble Quran.
6- Medicine, Insects and Animals.
7- Psychology.
8- Great Web Sites and Online Books. More great resources and web site are available online.
9- Rebuttals.
10- Prophecies.

1- Life originated from water and dust in the Noble Quran, Plants and their origins:

**Iron, Space, and the Properties of Earth**
The amazing creation of earth and iron in the Noble Quran. Iron came from space, and the Noble Quran mentioned it. The 7 properties of earth in the Noble Quran and Science. Read the first section of the article. Rebuttal to the "Heaven" and "Stars in the lower Heaven" in Noble Verses 37:6 and 65:12. Read the "Rebuttals" section in the article. This was an attempt to refute the fact that Allah Almighty Claimed that He Created 7 Ozone Layers as well as 7 different Heavens. The dead turning into Fossils and Iron. The Noble Quran Claimed it, and Science today Confirmed it! Outside Supporting articles: http://www.universalunity.net/iron.htm This article shows the Mathematical Codes of Iron in the Noble Quran and Science, and shows how Science confirmed Allah Almighty's Divine Claim in Noble Verses 17:49-50 about the dead converting into rocks and iron. In case the web site is down, you can access the article on my site. http://www.universalunity.net/iron2.htm More elaborations on Noble Verses 17:49-51. In case the web site is down, you can access the article on my site.

The Noble Quran on the Origin of the Universe. This article has pictures and quotes from Western scientific books that accurately confirm the astronomical claims of the Noble Quran. The Noble Quran was the only book that claimed that the universe originated from Hot Gas or Smoke. Science proved that this claim is true.

4- Embryology, Human Anatomy, Formation and Creation from the time of sexual intercourse to the time of birth:

The Miracle of the number 19 in the Noble Quran. Yes, the number 19 is miraculous in the Noble Quran and was proven to be essential in many of the Scientific Theories and Discoveries. But it doesn't at all support Rashad Khalifa's removal of two Noble Verses from the Noble Quran, and his claim to be GOD Almighty's Messenger.

http://www.it-is-truth.net/ This is an awesome web site that has Western scientific information that accurately confirms the Noble Quran's claims about astronomy, biology, geology and other sciences.

This web site is rich with irrefutable scientific facts and details that match many of the Noble Quran's Verses. He has done a wonderful job in explaining things in good details and providing detailed OBJECTIVE analysis that prove the Noble Quran's Scientific Miracles. http://www.rationalreality.com.

A great book that contains several articles backed by good Scientific references that prove several of the Noble Quran's Scientific Miracles. http://www.islam-guide.com/.

The Bible, the Quran and Science. Written by Dr Maurice Bucaille. In his work, Dr. Baucille proves that the Quran correctly stated scientific facts unknown at the time of the Prophet - showing its divine origin!

Please visit The Noble Quran section, and read the "Prophecies" sub section to see the great Prophecies that were fulfilled only in the Noble Quran. The Noble Quran also made mention and promised the discovery of lost ancient cities and people's bodies, and these promises were all fulfilled today.

Even though Muslim world today is thousand miles behind compared to the scientific development done by Jews/Christian, they ridiculously claim through their inspiring discoveries that their holy book is indeed ‘super scientific'!

What does the current political status of the Muslim world have anything to do with the Noble Quran's claims and their confirmation by scientists' discoveries? You know Mr. Roy, you are NOT as smart as I thought you were. You seem to be very stupid and shallow-minded, because you not only relied on using your ridiculous comment above, but also you forgot that the Muslims contributed a great deal to Mathematics and other areas of Science such as Physics and Chemistry in the past.

Take "Algebra" for instance. Did you know that it was named after the Muslim scientists, Al-Jabir? He was the one who discovered or invented (call it as you wish) Algebra.

But our common sense suggests that the ancient religious scriptures of all prevalent religions were composed at a time when the humanity had a very limited understanding of scientific knowledge. One cannot legitimately expect to find the complex theories of ‘Big-Bang’, Super String, Relativity of Einstein etc. in the pages of those outdated Holy Books. In reality, the contents of those primitive books reflected the sheer backwardness prevalent in the contemporary society; their thoughts, belief, hopes and despair; nothing more nothing less. Let me illustrate with an example: when the holy Qur’an was composed, the eminent scientists like Galileo, Bruno, Copernicus et.al were not even born. How could the people of that primeval period even think of an earth, revolving around our sun?

But Allah Almighty did say: "When you look at the mountains, you think that they are standing still. But they are moving, like the clouds. Such is the manufacture of GOD, who perfected everything. He is fully Cognizant of everything you do. (The Noble Quran, 27:88)"

Why did Allah Almighty say in the Noble Quran that the mountains pass like the clouds in the sky do? We all know that to humans, the earth doesn't really move. Everything is standing still, except during the times of earth quakes.

So what is the purpose from Allah Almighty telling us that the mountains are moving? By the way, the "mountains" here is not just limited to mountains, but rather it includes the whole ground we're standing on, since like I said, to us humans, the earth doesn't move, except during the times of earth quakes. And the mountains are obviously connected with the ground.

By the way, clouds never really move away. They only rotate around the earth and travel above the earth; above land to land. So if the mountains (the whole ground of earth since the mountains are part of earth) are "moving, like the clouds", then this means that the earth is also moving in circle around its axle.

So, why didn't Allah Almighty just say so? Allah Almighty 1500 years ago did not want to make irrational and CRAZY statements that would've been refused and considered as absurd and utter nonsense to the people who lacked a great deal of knowledge about astronomy and geology. The Miracle of the Noble Quran is that while Allah Almighty made the statement in Noble Verse 27:88 acceptable to the people back then, He also included the scientific claim in it for us today, and told us that the earth does indeed move around its axle.

"And the earth We have spread out; set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. (The Noble Quran, 15:19)"

"He created the heavens [sky] without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. we send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs. (The Noble Quran, 31:10)"

"And He has set up on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and rivers and roads; that ye may guide yourselves, and marks and signposts and by the stars (men) guide themselves. (The Noble Quran, 16:15-16)"

The mountains, like pegs, have deep roots embedded in the ground. (Anatomy of the Earth, Cailleux, p. 220)
Allah Almighty said: "Have We not made the earth as a bed, and the mountains as pegs? (The Noble Quran, 78:6-7)"
He the Almighty also said: "And He has set firm mountains in the earth so it would not shake with you....(The Noble Quran, 16:15)"

So, why did Allah Almighty say in the Noble Quran 1500 years ago that the earth is moving like the clouds?

"The day is defined to be the time between one dawn (or noon) and the next' i.e., the day is defined with respect to the position of the Sun in the sky. Now, the earth revolves around the sun in the sky and so the time taken for the Sun to come to the same position in the sky is longer than the time taken for the Earth to rotate once around itself. You can convince yourself about this by drawing a picture of the Earth in orbit around the Sun and rotating around itself at the same time.

So, the Earth's rotation period is actually 4 minutes less than what we call as one day. As a result of this, the Sun's position in the sky at noon is roughly fixed, but the stars slowly drift apart. So, the stars which are overhead at midnight today will slowly move in the sky until they will be overhead at noon 6 months apart.

If instead we defined a day to be the time taken by the Earth to rotate round itself exactly once, then as you mention, the Sun will be overhead on some day at midnight."

"It is He Who created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course. (The Noble Quran, 21:33)"

"Seest thou not that God merges Night into Day and he merges Day into Night; that He has subjected the sun, and the moon (to his Law), each running its course for a term appointed; and that God is well-acquainted with all that ye do? (The Noble Quran, 31:29)"

"And the sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (Him), the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing. (The Noble Quran, 36:38)"

"He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power - He Who forgives again and again? (The Noble Quran, 39:5)"

The following article clearly explains the above Noble Verses, especially Noble Verse 21:33. It shows how early Muslim scholars all agreed that the Earth was round. It is only the later Muslim scholars in the 1500s that deviated from this belief.

Ibn Taymiyah (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 (istidaaratul-aflaak) - 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-Manaadi, 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 - taala - 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 (The Noble Quran, 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]: <<The young girl's breasts have ta-fa-la-ka when they become round.>> (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.

Obviously they could never comprehend this, as they were familiar only with the sun rising in the east and then setting in the west; the rising of the moon at the onset of night. These are the phenomena they have observed since their birth. God controls these heavenly objects, they thought. That certain laws of physics govern the progress of these celestial bodies, they could never comprehend. This is what is accurately reflected in many verses of the Qur’an, Hadis, Vedas and the Bible. Consider this verse from Sura Luqman (31:29) from the holy Qur’an :

PICKTHAL: Hast thou not seen how Allah causeth the night to pass into the day and causeth the day to pass into the night, and hath subdued the sun and the moon (to do their work), each running unto an appointed term; and that Allah is Informed of what ye do?

In this verse Allah clearly says that he is the one who converts the day into night and vice versa; subjected the sun and the moon to follow a fixed orbit. We find many similar verses elsewhere in the Qur’an as well. Here are a few samples: Sura Ya-Sin (36:38), Sura Az -Zumar (39:5), Sura Al-Rad (13:2), Sura Al-Anbiya ( 21:33 ), Sura Al-Baqara (2:258), Sura Al-Kahf (18:86), Sura Ta-Ha (20:130), just to name a few. However, even a thorough, painstaking search of the entire Qur’an does not show a single verse anywhere in it that supports the scientific reality of the rotation of earth. According to Allah, the earth is motionless, completely static. Period.

Is not He (best) Who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? Is there any Allah beside Allah? Nay, but most of them know not!

In the same vein, Sura Al-Rum (30:25), Sura Fatir (35:41), Sura Luqman (31:10), Sura Al-Baqara ( 2:22 ), Sura An-Nahl ( 16:15 ) exhorts the Allah’s decree that the earth is completely immovable.

Since the Islamic scholars are absolutely certain that the Qur’an contains all the scientific principles, with due respect, I earnestly requested them to show me a verse, just a single verse in the Qur’an that states that the earth moves round the sun; or that the 'earth rotates' at the least. The Arabic word for earth is ‘Ard’ and the Arabic word for rotation is ‘Falak’. If someone could show me just a single verse in the Qur’an that uses the two words ‘Ard’ and ‘Falak’ side by side’, I would accept my defeat.

Since then no scholar could show me a single verse to that effect. One author (Osama Abdallah) in his website (www.answering-christianity.com) tried to refute me through a lengthy response:

Mr. Roy said: "However, even a thorough, painstaking search of the entire Qur’an does not show a single verse anywhere in it that supports the scientific reality of the rotation of earth. According to Allah, the earth is motionless, completely static. Period."

"When you look at the mountains, you think that they are standing still. But they are moving, like the clouds. Such is the manufacture of GOD, who perfected everything. He is fully Cognizant of everything you do. (The Noble Quran, 27:88)"

As I mentioned above, why did Allah Almighty say in the Noble Quran that the mountains pass like the clouds in the sky do? We all know that to humans, the earth doesn't really move. Everything is standing still, except during the times of earth quakes.

"And the earth We have spread out; set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. (The Noble Quran, 15:19)"

So, why did Allah Almighty say in the Noble Quran 1500 years ago that the earth is moving like the clouds?

If instead we defined a day to be the time taken by the Earth to rotate round itself exactly once, then as you mention, the Sun will be overhead on some day at midnight."

I would like to give a response to only those portions which is relevant to my article and deserves author's merit.

Even though he is not a Jew nor a Christian, he starts his article by a quote from a Bangladeshi apostate woman:....

I must admit that I could not fathom author's logic (if there is any) here. Why I have to be a Jew or a Christian to quote a Bangladeshi apostate woman (Taslima Nasrin, in this case)?

She did convert to Christianity, didn't she? She was influenced by Christian Missionaries wasn't she? Therefore, she didn't really leave Islam due to her *outstanding* discoveries about false scientific claims in the Noble Quran, but rather because she was influenced by a false religion. Anyway, I apologize for not being clear. I probably should not have said that quote. But anyway, let's move on...

The Quranic and Islamic teaching does not insist nor directly claim that the sun moves around the earth, as I will clearly prove it in this article.

Well, there are plenty of verses in Qur’an that depict that the movement of the sun; and again there are few of verses that clearly represent that earth is fixed (unmovable). It is not hard to reach the logical conclusion if one really wishes too. Let's see how "clearly" you "prove" your baseless assumption.

There are Noble Verses where Allah Almighty talks about the things that appear to us as is. No one is disputing that. There are Noble Verses, however, that show Divine Knowledge of Astronomy. I have already presented Noble Verse 27:88 above with elaborations that clearly prove my point.

To see the accurate scientific claims in the Noble Qur’an and Islam from the "Big Bang Theory and the Cosmic Crunch", to "Iron was sent down to earth through asteroids and wasn't formed by earth materials as other metals were", to "The Universe is expanding", to "The Human formation", to "Life originated from water", etc..., please visit:....

Also Mr. Roy, you have utterly failed to address the "iron was sent from space", "the expanding universe", and "life originated from water"!

Also, to the topics that you addressed, you have purposely presented partial number of Noble Verses while purposely ignoring the important ones to deceive the reader. I invite everyone to read your article and my response to it to see how untruthful you truly were.

Well, without being biased nor try to answer away any error in Islam, but the Bible and the Pagan Gita, the Mohabharat and the Vedas clearly and DIRECTLY claim that the earth doesn't move and that the sun rotates around it:

From the Bible: "He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. (From the NIV Bible, Psalm 104:5)"

However, no where in the Noble Qur’an or any Saying (Hadith) from Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him do you see a straight forward and DIRECT claim about the sun rotating around the earth and that the earth doesn't move.

Muslim apologists are fond of claiming that ONLY the Qur’an miraculously predicted the findings of modern science, and that all of its factual scientific claims are flawless whereas other scriptures are all nonsense. I reject the Qur’an like any other religious scriptures, only because it is fallible, primitive work of a bygone age, and inappropriate for our times. Please take a look on the two verses from Bible and Qur’an:

"He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. (From the NIV Bible, Psalm 104:5)"

Is not He (best) Who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? Is there any Allah beside Allah? Nay, but most of them know not! An-Naml (27:61)

I did not find much difference between these two. Both emphasizes that the earth is fixed and motionless. To be frank a humanly-written text would be expected to reflect the state of such knowledge as it stood during its time. But while Bible focuses the "earth can never be moved" it appears to OA that the earth is indeed motionless and thus completely unscientific, but in the breath, while Qur’an says in the exactly similar way, "Who made the earth a fixed abode..", it does not appear to them as the same motionless earth. This kind of thinking of course satisfies only a Muslim apologist but no rational person will give any importance to it.

Again, Allah Almighty in the Noble Quran did talk about the things that appear to us. To you, these Noble Verses appear to be contradicting to science. But however, Allah Almighty did also say:

"And the earth We have spread out; set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance. (The Noble Quran, 15:19)"

So, why did Allah Almighty say in the Noble Quran 1500 years ago that the earth is moving like the clouds?

If instead we defined a day to be the time taken by the Earth to rotate round itself exactly once, then as you mention, the Sun will be overhead on some day at midnight."

The Qur’an is unashamedly of its time. According to Qur’an our Earth is flat and both the sun and the moon run across it. They are “lamps” hanging from the ceiling of the sky that is being supported by invisible columns. The Quranic solar system also contains invisible genies. They climb over each other’s shoulders and reach the heaven to eavesdrop the conversation of the “Exalted Assembly”. The stars are used as missiles (shooting stars) to hit them (genies). The moon is supposed to be above the stars. Then sun also must rise from muddy waters and enter in the murky waters just as Zul Qaranain witnessed (sura: 18:86, 18:90). There is also a position for the throne of Allah. But the throne is over the waters and the Sun has to prostrate in front of the throne and ask permission of Allah to rise. If you want to sell these non-sense as "scientific", I have nothing much to say.

I have already addressed all of these points and gave detailed Arabic analysis to each and every Noble Verse you gave at: Does the Noble Quran support "The Earth moves around the Sun" theory? My article is lengthy because it is a rebuttal to your lengthy article. Unfortunately, it is not possible for me to answer all of the points you just mentioned in a paragraph or two.

Your rebuttal is supposed to be a detailed response to my rebuttal to you. You obviously had failed to do that, and just sufficed in giving general remarks without substance of proofs.

I want to comment on the translation "The earth like a carpet Spread out", which is "Al-ard MAHDA". "Al-ard" means "the earth" and "mahda" means "to straighten" or "to make straight", or "to comfort (as in mahdi, the comfortor)" or "alleviate". For instance, When workers build streets, they comfort (mahd) or alleviate the land for us to be able to drive our cars on it. Again, the Noble Verse doesn't suggest that the earth is flat. It says that Allah Almighty alleviated the land for us "to go about therein by roads".

1- Allah Almighty said that the earth is "egg-shaped".

2- The earth had gone through different stages and shapes since it was first

created.

3- The roundness of the earth in the Noble Qur’an.

- The Arabic word "dahaha". ...

If we have any doubt about what Allah really thought of the shape of the Earth, we can read the following verse carefully:

The “expanse” gives an idea of something flat. The Arabic word used in the Qur’an is Mehad, (bed). All the beds that I have seen so far were flat. None of them were spherical. I have never seen any spherical carpet also :-)

But you do walk on a flat earth, while at the same time it is round like an egg! So what is exactly your point here?

The author also quoted the verse 79:30 which, according to him it is stated that the Earth is egg shape. The author suggested Eggs are spherical so as earth.

But the author is completely wrong in two ways. First, our earth is not egg-shape. Our earth’s shape can be described as an oblate spheroid, more like orange – slightly flattened at the poles and slightly bulging at the equator shape. Even school going children know these facts. And secondly the term "egg-shape" is also a unique invention of Muslim apologists, I must say. The verse (79:30) actually does not deal with egg.

079.030

YUSUFALI: And the earth, moreover, hath He extended (to a wide expanse);

PICKTHAL: And after that He spread the earth,

SHAKIR: And the earth, He expanded it after that.

Dahaha is not egg. Egg in Arabic is “al baiza”. That is why the above three translators did not put any egg inside. I have confirmed it with many Arabic-speaking people. I also once e-mailed to Dr. Ali Sina, the founder of FFI. He also confirmed that the translation of the above verse by three most reliable interpreters is correct.

First of all, the earth is not quite round like an orange. It's roundness is shaped more like an egg. Oranges tend to be closer to perfect circles. The earth is not a perfect circle or ball. You yourself said "more like orange – slightly flattened at the poles and slightly bulging at the equator shape." That seems to be closer to an egg. You must be thinking only chicken eggs. But what about ostrich's egg. That egg seems to perfectly fit your description.

As to the meaning of the word "egg" in Arabic, it is not "al baiza". The modern word is "Al-Baida" or "Al-Bayda", which is derived from the word "Abyad", which means "white". "Al-Bayda" or "Al-Baida" is not the original root word for "egg".

As to the "egg-shaped" invention, there is no invention. According to Tafseer ul-Jalalayn or Al-Jalalein, the earth is egg-shaped or round like a ball or any other similar object:

"At the earth how it is spread out(*) (Arabic: sutihat): meaning it was stretched, so they can see in it a sign for the power of Allah ... and his saying sutihat makes it obvious that the earth is flat, and this is certified by Ulama' ash-shar'a (the shari'a theologians), not a globe as it is said by ahlul-hay'a (the laymen)." (Tafseer Al-Jalalein. printed in Damascus 1964. Al-Mallah Printshop and Bookstore)"

As to why many Muslims never understood the word "dahaha" as "made egg-shaped" is because the original Noble Quran Arabic is very complex. Modern Arabic speaking people do not fully understand it. Only specialized people in Arabic literature, laws and grammar can fully understand certain words.

The Tafseer (interpretation) Al-Jalalein above is one of the most used tafseers in the Muslim world. It is well recognized and considered very authentic and original.

- Muslim scientists in the 14th century concluded that the earth is round
from the Noble Quran.
- The "two Easts and two Wests" in the Noble Quran and the roundness
of the earth.

This article was taken from multiple Islamic web sites. I added some coloring to help the reader see the most important points.

The earth literally has two sun rising points and two sun setting points! Noble Quran and Science agree on this:

Before we look at the Noble Verses, it is important to know when the sun rises on one half of the earth, it is at the same time setting on the other half, and when it sets on one half of the earth, it is at the same time rising on the other half. This clearly means that the earth literally has two sun rising points (mashriqayn) and two sun setting points (maghribayn)!

The Arabic words "mashriqayn" and "maghribayn" were translated as "two Easts" and "two Wests" respectively. It is important to know that Noble Verses 55:10-25 are speaking about the earth and the some of the Creations that exist on it.

The two root Arabic words "Sharq" and "Gharb", which mashriqayn and maghribayn are derived from respectively, can also literally mean the rising point of the sun, and the setting point of the sun.

Important Note: "two Easts" would've be an accurate translation if the word was "Sharqayn" and NOT "mashriqayn". As I said above, "Sharq" means "East", and "Sharqayn" is two easts. But "Mashriqayn" is a plural of "Mashriq", which is used for referring to sun rising as in "Mashriq Al-Shams" (the rising of the sun).

*** The same for "two Wests" and "Gharbayn". This is the literal and accurate meaning for "two Wests". "Maghribayn" is plural of "Maghrib", which is used for referring to sung setting as in "Maghrib Al-Shams" (the setting of the sun).

The fact that Allah Almighty chose to use "Mashriqayn" and "Maghribayn" as opposed to "Sharqayn" and "Gharbayn" is a clear proof that Noble Verse 55:17 is referring to the two sun's rising and setting, and not to east and west.

Here is another interpretation to the "two Easts" and "two Wests" of planet earth in the Noble Quran:

Lord of the two Easts, and Lord of the two Wests.
Which then of the bounties of thy Lord will you deny?

In the verse, Lord of the two Easts, and Lord of the two Wests, there is sure evidence that the earth is round because two Easts and two Wests can come about only when the earth is round; for when the sun rises over one region it sets in another, and when it sets in one sphere it rises in another. Thus the actuality of two Easts and two Wests can clearly be seen.

Now let us look at the inner or spiritual world of man. It is an established fact in the physical world that the reason for the rising and setting of the sun is that, in the course of the earth’s revolution, whichever half of the earth faces the sun gets the sunrise and becomes bright. Similarly, the other half of the earth which is turned away from the sun, or which, in a manner of speaking, has its back to the sun, experiences the setting of the sun and its consequent darkness.

The same thing happens in the spiritual world. Any nation that turns its face towards guidance finds that the sun of guidance and progress begins to shed its rays on it, and this is so whether the enlightenment is physical or spiritual. In other words, to whatever kind of education a man directs his attention, the sun of that kind of guidance shines on him.

On the other hand, if a nation turns its face away from guidance it will be enveloped in the darkness of decadence and perdition. Thus, there is one East that pertains to the physical growth and perfection and another East that relates to spiritual advancement and perfection, and these are the two Easts mentioned in the verse above. Similarly, there are two Wests — one pertaining to physical decline and decay and the other to spiritual degradation and deviation from the true path. These conditions overtake nations in turns and this is so because of people’s own deeds.

From another vantage point, we find that today, too, the world is divided into two Easts — a near East and a far East — and two Wests — a near West, referring to Europe, and a far West, meaning America.

In short, these verses tell us that Allah is the complete Lord of both Easts and both Wests. As proof of His physical Providence, His physical sun shines on people in the East as well as those in the West. Similarly, why should His spiritual Providence not allow the Holy Quran, His spiritual sun, to illuminate the nations of the East and the West as well? And why should the East and the West not live under the same spiritual law? This comprises the second East and the second West.

In fact, these verses contain a prophecy that although at this time the sun of the Holy Quran shines on the Eastern nations, yet a time will come when that light will also irradiate the people of the West. But this has a resemblance to the physical system, that is, just as when the physical sun sets on the East it rises in the West, so, too, this spiritual sun of the Holy Quran will rise in the West just when the people of the East turn their backs on the Holy Quran, and because of this abandonment of the Book all kinds of misery and darkness will overtake them. When this happens, this spiritual sun will rise over the Western nations who will then bow their heads before the verities of the Holy Quran and will be illuminated by its splendour. This is the meaning of the prophecy recorded in the Hadith that before the Day of Resurrection the sun shall rise in the West. Thus, there is a remarkable prophecy hidden in this verse that the sun of the Holy Quran which now shines through the grace of the Holy Prophet (sas) in the East will one day illumine the Western world. And why should this not be so when Allah is not only the Lord of both East and West but the Lord of both kinds of Easts and Wests, that is, the physical and the spiritual East and West, and His Providence encompasses the physical as well as the spiritual kingdoms? If the physical sun gives light to both the East and the West, why should the spiritual sun of the Holy Quran not illumine both East and West? Thus, how unjust it is to deny these marvellous bounties of the Almighty!

That article tried to use Ibn Taymeyya as a reliable reference who thought "Chemistry is Evil Magic". I like to leave it to the readers to judge how much reliable Taymeyya's resource is in our scientific debate. Some people indeed dig their own grave!

Anyway, let's come to the point directly. The verse 21:33 in that article does not even mention about earth, let alone about its roundness or flatness. Here is the exact translation:

PICKTHAL: And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.

The verse under discussion talks only about the movement of sun and moon. There is no mention of earth; neither directly nor indirectly. I would like to request the author to refrain himself from twisting the fact. The author (OA) has mentioned the same verse in some other places in his article to "prove" earth's rotation. I will explain the inaccuracy, falsehood and deception of the explanation more elaborately on that occasion.

A good slap on the face? Before I translate the above quote and respond to the comment, let us first learn briefly about Ibn Taymiyya:

"Taqiyy ad-Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya[ibn tImE�yu] Pronunciation Key, 1263–1328, Muslim theologian and jurist. He lived in Damascus after the collapse of the central caliphate to the Mongol invasion from the East, and during the continuous threat of Christendom from the North and West. Influenced by Ibn Hanbal, he was unyielding in his political and religious positions, and was frequently persecuted and imprisoned. A prolific writer, Ibn Taymiyya advocated a doctrine of conservative reformism, stressing the need for communal solidarity. He remains one of the lasting influences on contemporary political Islam, notably on Wahhabiya and Salafiyyah."

Now in regards to the comment above, let me first translate the above Arabic quotes, word for word, so we can all see the real Truth:

"Ibn Taymiyya says in the verdicts about his opinion on Chemistry: What the people of Adam make from gold and silver and other metals and jewelry, and other things from what Allah created; similar to what they make from pearls, precious stones, grape, rose water and other things, these things are not like what Allah created, but it is an imitation to it in looks only, and it is not equal in quality and reality. All of that is prohibited in Islam without dispute between the Muslim Jurists (or Scholars) who know the Truth of such mater. And whoever declares that the fake gold as real gold then his words are false in perception and the religion of Islam. And he (Ibn Taymiyya) continues: And the Truth of Chemistry is that it is creates imitations of the creation, and that is wrong in perception, and Allah Almighty has no imitation to Him: Not in His self nor in His Characteristics or Actions. And everything that Chemistry had created is a violation to Allah's creation, and therefore, it is prohibited. (The Verdicts, the book of Fiqh, Selling, the Door of Choice, Matter: The work of Chemistry, is it lawful to the common sense and Religion?. 1st Edition: Book 29, page. 368)".

"And Ibn Taymiyya says about the Chemist, Jabir bin Hayyan: And in regards to Jabir bin Hayyan, the inventor of popular chemistry work and invention, he is ignored, not known, and has no admission among the Scientists and Scholars. (The same section, page 369)".

"We cannot but invite attention to a fact that Jabir bin Hayyan (103/721-200/815), known as Geber, the father of modern chemistry, worked with the materials gathered by Jafar Sadik in Medina, who referred to his Lord in his writings as "My Master" and "A mine of wisdom." The intellectuals in Renaissance in Europe greatly took benefits from the treatises of Jabir bin Hayyan, and these were translated into Latin, German, French and English. He is world-famed as the father of Arabic Alchemy. The word al-kimiya is usually said to be derived from the Egyptian kam-it or kem-it (the black), or some have thought, from the Greek chyma (molten metal).

According to "The Cultural Atlas of Islam" (New York, 1986, p. 328) by Ismail al-Faruqi and Lois al-Faruqi that, "In response to Jafar al-Sadik's wishes, he invented a kind of paper that resisted fire, and an ink that could be read at night. He invented an additive which, when applied to an iron surface, inhabited rust and when applied to a textile, would make it water repellent." Jabir bin Hayyan defined chemical combination as union of the elements together in small particles too small for the naked eyes to see without loss of their character, as John Dalton (1766-1844), the English chemist and physicist was to discover ten centuries later. He was however first to describe the processes of calcination and reduction, improved the methods of evaporation, sublimation, melting and crystallisation; prepared acetic acid, sulphric acid, nitric acid and the mixture of the last two, in which gold and silver could be dissolved; discovered several chemical compounds, and separated antimony and arsenic from the sulphides......." (http://ismaili.net/histoire/history03/history384.html)

"With the farman and guidance from Imam Jaaferus Sadiq, Jabir bin Hayyan who is known in Islamic History as the father of chemistry, discovered fire-proof writing paper and luminous ink. Jabir is also an author of some 80 volumes of books on chemistry." (http://www.bohra.net/archive/noble.html)

The opinion of Ibn Taymiyya about Chemistry had Truth and errors in it. He was right about the imitation of Allah Almighty's creation and fooling people and claim that has an equal quality and value. A fake gold can never be equal to real gold even if they look similar. Ibn Tymiyya was absolutely right about that.

What unfortunately he went wrong on was his generalization against Chemistry and his unqualified criticism and degradation to the great Chemist, Jabir bin Hayyan. If Ibn Taymiyya disapproved of some of Jabir's work, then he should've specified that and made it more clear, rather than just give a general comment to all of Jabir's outstanding work.

But the point here still remains: Mr. Avijit Roy did not give a slap on the face to any Muslim who quotes Ibn Taymiyya's Noble Quran's interpretation about the earth's roundness. Ibn Taymiyya's interpretation of all celestial bodies (including earth) being round, and Allah Almighty's mentioning of the "two easts and two wests" that exist on earth clearly and irrefutably prove that the Noble Quran did claim that the earth is round just like all other planets.

Tell us Mr. Roy, what other object beside a spherical one would have two easts and two wests, and why do you think Allah Almighty said "two easts and two wests" in the Noble Quran?

In fact, as I proved above, Allah Almighty Said that the earth has two sun rising points and two sun setting points, which perfectly agrees with Science today.

Actually what Mr. Avijit Roy doesn't see in these Noble Verses and in Geology is that it's been scientifically proven that the mountains and the hills do actually help the earth to stay balanced during it's rotation around itself. If we didn't have those mountains and hills, the earth would be in a constant shake because of the high speed in rotation.

I think this “mountain story for stabilizing earth from shaking” is perhaps one of the lies of Dr. Maurice Bucaille revealed in his (in)famous book -"The Bible, the Qur'an and Science", which is comprehensively refuted by Dr. William Campbell in his "The Qur'an and the Bible in the Light of History & Science". Commenting on author's statement, "If we didn't have those mountains and hills, the earth would be in a constant shake because of the high speed in rotation.", I would quote Professor of Geology, Dr. David A. Young - "While it is true that many mountain ranges are composed of folded rocks (and the folds may be of large scale) it is not true that the folds render the crust stable. The very existence of the folds is evidence of instability in the crust." In other words, Mountains don't keep the earth from shaking. Their formation caused and still causes the surface of the earth to shake. But the ancient Arab people did not have that much knowledge to know the correct reason.

Secondly, consider the earthquake zones of earth. Earthquakes happen 'all the time' and they are concentrated along specific zones, in which mountainous areas are also concentrated. Therefore, claims that mountains are firm and immovable, and that mountains prevent the earth from shaking are in-correct & un-scientific.

First of all, no ever said that mountains prevent earth quakes! I never made such claim, and I doubt if any Muslim scholar ever made such claim either. Here are some facts from SOME non-Muslim Western Geology books about mountains preventing the entire earth from shaking while it is rotating around its axle:

The amazing creation of earth and its relationship with mountains - Mountains prevent the earth from shaking and the Noble Quran made the same exact claim!

1- The amazing creation of earth and its relationship with mountains.
2- Scientific facts and evidence with pictures about mountains preventing the earth from shaking.

While I was watching the "Al-Jazeera" Arabic news channel through my satellite dish, I saw a documentary program explaining how the mountains were formed/created on earth, and what's their effect on the earth's geology.

Let us look at Noble Verse 31:10 "He created the heavens [sky] without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. we send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs."