Quran On Shape Of Earth | Islam & Science | Ep. 01

Shape of the earth according to the Holy Quran:

What the Holy Quran says about the shape of the Earth? Which Verses from the Quran correctly describe the shape of the earth? What was the earlier belief about it?

Video:

What Is The Shape Of Earth According To Quran?

Before going to what Quran says about the shape of the earth, let me remind you that The Holy Quran is not a book of Science, but a book of signs. (ayats). The Quran was revealed to mankind with a complete code for humanity.

Among those Commandments Of God, the Quran presents many Scientific as well as historical

facts (in the form of signs)  before us, for to be believed in the Quran. To attribute the presence of scientific facts in the Quran to coincidence would be against common sense and a true scientific approach.

Also Read: Dr Gary Miller, The Amazing Quran & His Journey To Islam

Misconception:

Many have misconceptions that the Quran Says the shape of the Earth is Flat, however, this is totally untrue can be refuted by the actual sayings of Quran. The Quran Says,

The Earth is Spherical

History Recap:

Earlier, people believed that the earth is flat. For centuries, men were afraid to venture out too far, lest they should fall off the edge. Sir Francis Drake was the first person who proved that the earth is spherical when he sailed around it in 1597.

What The Qur'an Says?

Consider the following Quranic 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’an79:30]

The Arabic word for egg here is dahaha, which means an ostrich-egg. The shape of an ostrich egg resembles the geospherical shape of the earth. Thus the Quran correctly describes the shape of the earth, though the prevalent notion when the Quran was revealed was that the earth is flat.

Inputs from the book 'Quran and Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible.