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From: Ziad Abdelgalil
Science leads to Islam - 2 - Shape of The Earth is Spherical. Science leads to Islam
Shape
Of The Earth is Spherical
In early times, people believed that the earth was flat. For centuries, men were afraid to venture out too far, for fear of falling off the edge! Sir Francis Drake was the first person who proved that the earth is spherical when he sailed around it in 1597. Consider the following Qur�anic verse regarding the
alternation of day and night: �Seest thou not that Allah merges Night
into Day and He merges Day into
Night?�[Al-Qur�an 31:29] Merging here means that the night slowly and gradually
changes to day and vice versa. This phenomenon can only take place if the earth
is spherical. If the earth was flat, there would have been a sudden change from
night to day and from day to night. The following verse also alludes to the spherical shape of
the earth: �He created the
heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day,
and the Day
overlap the Night.� [Al-Qur�an 39:5] The Arabic word used here is Kawwara
meaning �to overlap� or �to coil�� the way a turban is wound around the
head. The overlapping or coiling of the day and night can only take place if the
earth is spherical. The earth is not exactly round like a ball, but
geo-spherical, i.e. it is flattened at the poles. The following verse contains a
description of the earth�s shape: �And the earth, moreover, hath He made
egg shaped.� [Al-Qur�an 79:30] The
Arabic word for egg here is dahaahaa1
which
means an ostrich-egg. The shape of an ostrich-egg resembles the geo-spherical
shape of the earth. Thus the Qur�an correctly describes the shape of the earth, though the prevalent notion when the Qur�an was revealed was that the earth was flat.
Source : Islam and Modern Science - Dr. Zakir Naik. *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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