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THE
STYLES OF THE QUR’AN AND THE
MOVEMENT OF THE SUN
The
Qur’an has four essential aims:
explaining and proving Divine existence
and Unity, the Resurrection, Prophethood
and Divine worship and justice. All its
explanations and injunctions, and its
accounts of the histories of previous
peoples, are to establish those four
principles in peoples’ minds, hearts
and practical lives. To this end, since
nature is the realm where God’s Names
are manifested and is therefore a
collection of signs of Divine existence
and Unity, it frequently refers to the
realities of creation and ‘natural’
events and things, and to man, as, in
one respect, a part of nature, and, in
another respect, the fruit and a sample
of the tree of creation as a whole.
How
does the Qur’an deal with ‘natural’
phenomena?
The
Qur’an is not a book of sciences. But
since sciences deal with nature and man
and since sciences and technology
constitute a very important aspect of
man’s life and are themselves the
product of man’s mind, the Qur’an,
which contains ‘whatever is wet and
dry’ either explicitly or implicitly
or by allusion, certainly refers to
sciences and scientific advancements.
But, while sciences deal with nature and
things for their own sake and
concentrate on the question of ‘how?’,
the Qur’an refers to them for the sake
of God and for their most fundamental
purpose as signs of Divine existence and
Unity, as the manifestations of Divine
Names, and therefore as the means of
obtaining knowledge of God. Second, the
Qur’an seeks to guide people and
inculcate in them belief and high
standards of morality. The great
majority of people do not have
specialized knowledge about scientific
facts or theories. It would be
inappropriate for a book of guidance
directed to all people in all ages to
refer to things and natural events in
the manner of sciences. If the Qur’an
referred to, say, the sun as a heavenly
body of such and such size, made up of
gases composed of two thousand billion
times billion tonnes of matter, with the
remains of other elements and in which
for every million atoms of hydrogen
there are about 85,000 helium atoms,
most people would be simply bewildered
or indifferent. As the comprehensive and
conclusive Revelation, the Qur’an
addresses all levels of understanding
and intends to be understood, with
belief and action to follow
understanding.
Since
most people judge according to their
sense-impressions, the Qur’an uses the
appropriate language and style. For
example, while narrating the story of
Dhu’l-Qarnayn, the Qur’an says that he
reached the setting-place of the sun and
found the sun setting in a fiery muddy
spring (18.86). It is obvious that
the sun does not set in a spring. But
this verse, besides giving many clues to
certain facts to be discovered later,
considers ordinary sense-impressions.
First of all, we understand from the
verse that Dhu’l-Qarnayn went as far
as the western end of a land adjoining
water around which there was not another
visible land. That is why most
commentators of the Qur’an have
concluded that it was the Atlantic
Ocean. Second, the verse implicitly
states that Dhu’l-Qarnayn did not
reach the coasts of the land he
conquered in the west but advanced only
so far as the point from which he could
see the ocean like a spring. Thirdly,
when he reached that point, it was a
fiery summer day and, most probably
because of the vapours rising from the
ocean and the marshy land adjoining the
sea, it appeared from afar like a muddy
spring. Fourthly, the verse contains a
subtle and important point. The word-‘ayn-translated
here as spring also means eye and the
sun. As the Qur’an, because of its
elevated perspective, looks at the world
from ‘on high’ and also there are
innumerable eyes watching the world from
on high, the ocean from that
perspective, however large it may appear
to the people in this world, appears no
bigger than a spring. Further, there is
a subtle allusion here to a time when
those who believe in God will gain
enough power and equipment to rule, at
least, a considerable part of the world
and, ascending the heavens, observe the
world from on high.
“The
sun moves (in its course) to a
resting-place for it”
The
statement just discussed comprises only
five words. All the statements of the
Qur’an contain lots of information
either explicitly or implicitly and
allusively to satisfy all levels of
understanding in all times until the
Judgement Day. Another example is a
statement of, in its original, only four
words: The sun moves (in its course)
to a resting-place for it (36.38).
Before
elucidating other meanings and
connotations of this statement, we
should remember that in the past people,
judging again by their
sense-impressions, believed that the
earth was motionless while the sun moved
around it. Later developments in science
and observation showed that the earth
spins upon its own axis and orbits the
sun which is, relatively, motionless.
First of all, since people see the sun
moving, the Qur’an mentions it as
moving. Second, the Qur’an mentions
the sun here as an illustration of the
magnificent order prevailing throughout
the universe as a sign of God’s Might
and Knowledge. The context where this
statement is, is as follows:
A
sign for them is the night. We
strip it of the day, and behold!
they are in darkness. And the sun
moves (in its course) to a
resting-place for it. That is the
measuring and ordaining of the
All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. And
for the moon We have appointed
mansions till it return like an
old shriveled palm-leaf. It is not
for the sun to overtake the moon,
nor does the night outstrip the
day. They float, each in an orbit .
(36.37-40)
We
understand from the statement in its
context that the sun has a vital
function in the universal order. The
word the Qur’an uses in the statement,
mustaqarr, means stability, of
the course and the place in which
stability is secured. So, the statement
can mean that the sun has a central
position in the order of the universe.
Second, the preposition used together
with the word mustaqarr, li,
has three meanings: for, to, and in.
Therefore, the exact meaning of the
statement comprising four words is: The
sun moves following a route or course to
a fixed place determined for it for the
purpose of its (system’s) stability.
The
recent discovery about the movement of
the sun
In
recent decades, solar astronomers have
been able to observe that (Bartusiac, M.
(1994) ‘Sounds of the Sun’, American
Scientist, January-February,
pp.61-68) the sun is not in fact
motionless. It quivers and shakes and
continually rings like a well-hit gong.
These vibrations of the sun reveal vital
information about the sun’s deep
interior, its hidden layers, information
which affects calculations of the age of
the universe. Also, knowing exactly how
the sun spins internally is important in
testing Einstein’s theory of general
relativity. Like so many other
significant findings in astronomy, this
discovery about the sun was totally
unexpected. Having discovered the
quivering and ringing sun, some
astronomers have commented that it is as
if the sun were a symphony orchestra,
with all the instruments being played
simultaneously. All the vibrations
combine at times to produce a net
oscillation on the solar surface that is
thousands of times stronger than any
individual vibration.
What
did Bediuzzaman write concerning the
movement of the sun almost a century
ago?
Commenting
on the Qur’anic verse, The sun
moves to a resting-place for it,
several decades before this totally
unexpected discovery in astronomy, Said
Nursi had written (Muhakemat (‘Reasonings’),
Istanbul pp. 68-69):
As
the word ‘moves’ points to a
style, the phrase ‘in its course’
demonstrates a reality. The sun,
like a vessel built of gold,
travels and floats in the ocean of
the heavens comprising ether and
defined as a stretched and
tightened wave. Although it
quivers and shakes in its course
or orbit, since people see it
running, the Qur’an uses the
word travel or float. However,
since the origin of the force of
gravity is movement, the sun moves
and quivers in its orbit. Through
this vibration, which is the wheel
of its figurative movement, its
satellites are attracted to it and
preserved from falling and
scattering. When a tree quivers,
its fruits fall. But when the sun
quivers and shakes, its fruits-its
satellites-are preserved from
falling.
Again,
wisdom requires that the sun
should move and travel on its
mobile throne-its course or
orbit-accompanied by its
soldiers-its satellites. For the
Divine Power has made everything
moving and condemned nothing to
absolute rest or motionlessness.
Divine Mercy allows nothing to be
condemned to inertia which is the
cousin of death. So, the sun is
free, it can travel provided it
obeys the laws of God and does not
disturb others’ freedom. So, it
may actually be traveling, as its
traveling may also be figurative.
However, what is important
according to the Qur’an is the
universal order the wheel of which
is the sun and its movement.
Through the sun, the stability and
orderliness of the system are
ensured.
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