Reply to c0dezombie

Introduction

This is a detailed reply to some comments made to one of my other documents,

which claims that the Koran contradicts Modern Science.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19471160/Scientific-Miracles-in-the-Quran-Debunked

The comments concern how to correctly interpret Surah 21:33 of the Koran and
whether or not it indicates that the author of the Koran believed in Geocentric
Cosmology which was univerally believed 1400 years ago in the time of the
Prophet Mohammed.

Nowadays, we know that the Earth is one of several Planets orbiting the Sun and
that the Moon orbits the Earth every 28 days.This is Heliocentric (Sun centered)
Cosmology.

Before Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler proved such ideas wrong in the C16th &
C17th, it was believed that the Earth is fixed in the center or the Universe and
that the Sun and Moon are just little lights in the Sky that orbit the Earth every 24
hours. This discredited view is refered to as Geocentric (Earth centered)
Cosmology.

For most of Human History, people believed in Geocentric Cosmology. In Ancient

Mesopotamia, Egypt and other societies, it was believed that the Earth was a flat
circular disk sitting upon pillars in a vast cosmic ocean.The Sky was believed to
be a solid dome and heavenly bodies were just little lights in the Sky.
Beginning with Pythagoras 2500 years ago, the Ancient Greeks discovered that
the Earth was a sphere. However, they still retained tha belief that the Earth was
fixed and unmoving at the center of the Universe.

In the C3rd BC, The Greek Philosopher Aristarchus of Samos proposed a

Heliocentric Cosmology, but his ideas were never accepted by the mainstream of
Astronomy. Around AD150, the Greek Astronomer, Ptolemy combined the views
of many earlier thinkers in his own Geocentric theory. This theory was accepted,
not only by the Greeks and Romans, but also by Medieval Jews, Christians and
Muslims. Such people found nothing in their Scriptures to contradict Geocentric
Cosmology or support Heliocentric Cosmology.
Geocentric Cosmology in Surah 21:33.

This discussion centers on what Surah 21:33 says. Here is what the comments
on my article said.

I read this article with a clear open mind. Anyway I could not help but notice he
said this verse supported that all the planets rotated around the earth:

Surah 21:33 "It is He who Created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the
moon: All the celestial bodies swim around it, each with there rounded course”.

Never once in this verse in the earth mentioned, It seems the it in the verse is
refering to the sun, the first object that was mentioned in the sentence was the
sun.

For example if I said: All cars are red: and it has pipes that release smoke on the
back. You would obviously infer that the it in the sentence was the car, so really
you can only say that the it in the sentence either refers to the moon or the sun
because the earth was itself not mentioned.

This sounds like a fairy reasonable comment. The above verse does seem to
indicate that the author of the Koran knew about Helicentric Cosmology.

However, translations of the Koran should not be taken at face value. There is a
tendency among some Muslims to deliberately alter the words of translations the
Koran in order to decieve non-Muslims or conceal absurdities or errors in the
Koran.

The first thing to do is to check the translation of the Koran by using multiple
sources from both Muslim and non-Muslim sources. Here are 12 translations of
Surah 21:33 from different translators. The first six are translations by Muslims
and the remainder are translations by non-Muslims.

1. Pickthall “And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and
the moon. They float, each in an orbit.”
2. Yusuf Ali “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.”
3. Hilali-Khan “And He it is Who has created the night and the day, and the
sun and the moon, each in an orbit floating.”
4. Shakir "And He it is Who created the night and the day and the sun and
the moon; all (orbs) travel along swiftly in their celestial spheres.”
5. Sher Ali “And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and
the moon, each gliding along smoothly in its orbit”.
6. Khalifa “And He is the One who created the night and the day, and the sun
and the moon; each floating in its own orbit.”
 7. Arberry It is He who created the night and the day, the sun and the moon,
each swimming in a Sky”.
8. Palmer “He it is who created the night and the day, and the sun and the
moon, each floating in a Sky”.
9. Rodwell “And He it is who hath created the night and the day, and the sun
and the moon, each moving swiftly in its sphere.”
10. Sale “It is he who hath created the night, and the day, and the sun, and
the moon; all [the celestial bodies] move swiftly, [each] in [its respective]
orb.”
11. Irving “He is the One Who has created night and daylight, and the sun and
the moon; each floats along in an orbit.”
12. Dawood “It was he who created the night and the day, and the sun and
the moon: Each moves swiftly in an orbit of it own.”

Notice how none of these translations agrees with the one used by c0dezombie.
It looks as if c0dezombie is using an innaccurate translation.

Surah 21:33 is referring to the alternation of day and night and in the same verse
speaking of the Sun and Moon moving in orbits. It seems fron the context that the
Sun and Moons movements are linked or associated somehow with the
alternation of day and night.

At this point, some Muslims will try and claim that the orbit of the Sun refers to
the Solar System orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy every 200 million years and
claim this as an example of yet another Scientific Miracle in the Koran.

However, this is nonsense. The concepts of a Solar System and a Galaxy are
unknown in the Koran. Furthermore, both the textual and historical context of
Surah 21:33 suggest that it is referring to Solar and Lunar orbital periods of 24
hours rather than 200 million years.
Not only is there no mention of 200 million years, Surah 21:33 seems to imply
that both the Sun and Moon orbit the Earth every 24 hours.

This is wrong for two reasons.

1. We now know that the Sun does not orbit the Earth.
2. Although the Moon does orbit the Earth, its orbital period is 28 days and
not 24 hours.

So, here are two fundamental Astronomical mistakes in the Koran, which reflect
the incorrect Geocentric Astronomical views that were popular 1400 years ago in
the time of the Prophet Mohammed.

More Geocentric Cosmology in Surah 36:40.

What about other Surah’s in the Koran? What do they say about Geocentric or
Heliocentric Cosmology? Take a look at Surah 36:40.

Pickthall “It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the
day. They float each in an orbit.”
Yusuf Ali “It is not permitted to the sun to catch up the moon, nor can the Night
outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law). “
Hilali-Khan “It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip
the day. They all float, each in an orbit.”
Shakir “Neither is it allowable to the sun that it should overtake the moon, nor can
the night outstrip the day; and all float on in a sphere”.
Sher Ali “It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor can the night outstrip the
day. All of them float smoothly in an orbit.”
Khalifa “The sun is never to catch up with the moon - the night and the day never
deviate - each of them is floating in its own orbit.”
Arberry “It behoves not the sun to overtake the moon, neither does the night
outstrip the day, each swimming in a Sky.”
Palmer “Neither is it proper for it to catch up the moon, nor for the night to
outstrip the day, but each one floats on in its Sky.”
Rodwell “To the Sun it is not given to overtake the Moon, nor doth the night
outstrip the day; but each in its own sphere doth journey on.”
Sale “It is not expedient that the sun should overtake the moon [in her course];
neither doth the night outstrip the day: But each [of these luminaries] moveth in a
[peculiar] orbit.”
Irving “The sun dare not overtake the moon nor does night outpace the day.
Each floats along in its own orbit.”
Dawood “The Sun is not allowed to overtake the Moon, nor does the night
outpace the day. Each in its own orbit swims.
In this verse, the Koran speaks of the orbits of the Sun and Moon. It raises the
possibility of the Sun and Moon overtaking each other if it were not for God
preventing them from doing so. This suggests that the orbit of the Sun is similar
to that of the Moon. In other words, the Sun is implied to move around the Earth
just like the Moon.

There is also the implication that the Sun and Moons orbit the Earth at a roughly
equal distance, further implying an incorrect belief that the Sun and moon are of
roughly the same size.

I have discussed Geocentric Cosmology in the Koran in more detail in my article

On this website.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13972477/Flat-Earth-Koran-07-of-13-The-Sun-the-
Moon-and-the-Stars

Conclusion

My conclusion is that the Koran assumes Geocentric Cosmology and that t is

therefore in error and contrary to Modern Science. Since God (if he exists) would
not make such mistakes, the obvious conclusion is that the author of the Koran is
not God. The author of the Koran must have been either Mohammed, some of
his followers after his death or a combination of both.