Muslim flat-earth theories
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The Earth has been known to be round and not flat at least since the time of Eratosthenes (3rd century BC) — by natural philosophers (scientists) at least. However, educated belief long co-existed with popular beliefs that regarded the earth as a flat disc.
From the at least the 9th century, with scholars like Al-Battani, the Muslim World was leading in astronomical knowledge, and the sphericity of the Earth was consequently a well known fact (even in the comparatively primitive astronomy of Europe at the time, belief in a flat Earth was confined to a small minority of theologists). Muslim astronomers calculated the earth's circumference to be 40,253.4 km (correct to within 200 km).[1]
Ibn Taymiya (died 1328 CE), said: "Celestial bodies are round - as it is the statement of astronomers and mathematicians - 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 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. Ibn Abbas says: A Falaka like that of a spinning wheel. The (word) Falak (in the Arabic language) means that which is round." (Majmu'ul-Fatawa, Vol. 6, pp. 566).
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[edit] Medieval Muslim World
Many Muslim scholars declared a mutual agreement (Ijma) that celestial bodies are round. Some of them are: Ibn Hazm (d. 1069), Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1200), and Ibn Taymiya (d. 1328). The later belief of Muslim scholars, like as-Suyuti (d. 1505) that the earth is flat represents a deviation from this earlier opinion [2].
The scholars who held to the round earth theory used it in an impeccably Islamic manner, to calculate the shortest distance between any given point on the earth and Mecca. This determined the qibla, or Muslim direction of prayer. Muslim mathematicians developed spherical trigonometry in order to make these calculations .
[edit] Modern Muslim World
There were few Muslim scholars that agreed with Suyuti (d. 1505) that the earth is flat. At the present, the only Muslim group that continues to support the Flat Earth Theory is the Ahbash. As a result of that, they pray in North America toward the east rather than the northeast as other Muslims do (Muslims should pray toward the direction of Makkah).
[edit] Ibn Baz controversy
Between 1993 and 1995, various newspapers and magazines published accounts of a modern Islamic cleric, Ibn Baz, the late Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, who is alleged to have claimed that "the earth is flat" [citation needed]. Ibn Baaz strongly denied that claim, describing the allegations to be "a pure lie", and only denies the rotation of the earth.[4] [5].
Supporters say that the alleged book and Fatwas do not exist, and that the entire controversy is based on one interview with Egyptian journalists. Ibn Baz, as he clarified later, was referring to the surface of earth that we walk on being flat although he believes the earth to be round. In Arabic, the same word is commonly used for both the earth as well as the ground. The journalist, having not paid attention to this distinction, misquoted Ibn Baz and created a story; the story was picked up by a Kuwaiti magazine (Assiyasah) and from there spread to the whole world. Ibn Baz is a strong admirer and a scholar of Ibn Taymiyya's works, and Ibn Taymiyya was against the flat earth theory.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ↑ Victor J. Katz, A History of Mathematics, Addison-Wesley, 1998, pp. 274-281
- ↑ Youssef M. Ibrahim, Muslim Edicts take on New Force, The New York Times, February 12, 1995, A-14
[edit] External links
- A Response to Flat Earth Theory
- The Relationship between Quran and Science - Did some Muslims say earth is flat
