From: milind@agni.cc.nd.edu (Milind Saraph)
Subject: Re: The Quran and the Modern Science (2)
Reply-To: milind@agni.cc.nd.edu (Milind Saraph)
Organization: Univ. of Notre Dame 
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 20:03:06 GMT

imustafa@slate.mines.colorado.edu (MUSTAFA IBRAHIM ) writes:

Let us now turn to the subject of Astronomy.

>In the Quran the kawkab definitely seems to mean the planets which are
>celestial formations that reflect and do not produce light like the Sun.
>Today it is known how the celestial organisation is balanced by the
>position of stars in a defined orbit and the interplay of gravitational
>forces related to their mass and speed of movement , each with its own
>motion. But is not this what the Quran describes, in terms which have only
>become comprehensible in our own day, when it mentions the foundation of
>this balance in the sura Al Anbiya (21:33)

>" God is the one who created the night, the day , the sun and the moon.
>Each one is travelling in an orbit with its own motion.

Here is Bucaille's analysis about orbits of the Sun and the Moon.

****

Pages 165-168:

Sura 21, Verse 33

"(God) the One Who created the night, the day, the sun and the
moon.  Each one is travelling in an orbit with its own motion."

Sura 36, Verse 40

"The sun must not catch up the moon, nor does the night outstrip
the day.  Each one is travelling in an orbit with its own motion."

[Poster's note:

Bucaille mentions a negative fact: the Sun moves in an orbit, but
no indication is given as to what this orbit might be in relation
to the earth.  He then says that the concept of geocentrism which
was prevalent at that time is not mentioned any place in the
Quran.]

The Arabic word falak has here been translated by the word 'orbit';
many French translators of the Quran attach to it the meaning of a
sphere.   ......

Today, the concept is widely spread that the moon is a satellite
of the Earth around which it revolves in periods of twenty-nine
days. ......

[Then after some explanatory material Bucaille concludes that
the Quran refers to the Sun's revolution around the galactic
center.]

****

>The description of the sequence of day and night would, in itself, be
>rather commonplace were it not for the fact that ,in the Quran, it is
>expressed in terms that today are highly significant. This is because it
>uses the verb kawwara in the sura Al Zumar (39:5) to describe the way the
>night ' winds ' or ' coils' itself about the day and the day about the
>night, just as, in the original meaning of the verb, a turban is wound
>around the head. This is a totally valid comparison; yet at the time the
>Quran was revealed, the astronomical data necessary to draw it were
>unknown.

What is significant about the term "winds" or "coils"?  What does it
imply?  What astronomical data is required to conclude whatever he
wants to conclude?

>The evolutions of the Heavens and the notion of a settled plae for the Sun
>are also described. they are in agreement with highly detailed modern
>ideas.

What do you mean by the "settled place for the Sun"?  Which highly
"detailed modern ideas" is Bucaille talking about?

>The Quran also seems to have alluded to the expansion of the
>Universe. 

The basis for this claim is Sura Al-Anbiya (21:30):

"Donot the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined
together, the We clove them asunder"

>There is also the conquest of space. This has been undertaken thanks to
>remarkable technological progress and has resulted in the man's journey to
>the moon. But this surely springs to mind when we read the sura Al-Rahman
>(55:33)

>"On assembly of jinns and men, if you can penetrate regions of the 
>heavens and the earth , then penetrate them ! You will not penetrate
>them save with our power.

This Sura may remind Bucaille of space travel.  This is much different
than saying the Quran mentions space travel.

>This power comes from the All-Mighty, and the subject of the whole sura is
>an invitation to recognize God's Beneficence to man.

I have no disagreement here; from what I know, many verses in the Quran
are "invitation to recognize God's Beneficence to man."


-- Milind Saraph

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