The Flat Earth Koran
09 of 13 – Medieval Islam
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An interpretation of the Cosmology of the Koran & a critique of Islamic Fundamentalism
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Introduction
1. No discussion of Islamic Cosmology would be complete without reference to the Golden Age of Islam (AD750-1250) when Islamic Civilisation was at its height & leading the World in many fields of Science. Sometimes Muslims try and claim that this achievement was based on Islam and the Koran thus showing perfect harmony between their Religion and Science. Sometimes they boast how “they” were so advanced while Western Europe was in the Dark Ages and Christians thought that the Earth was flat while “they” were accurately measuring its circumference. Sometimes we are then told how superior Science and civilisation is due to a superior Religion – Islam. Often we are told that we owe so much to “them”, the superior Civilisation and that we should acknowledge our inferiority. Finally, we are often told that logic dictates our conversion to Islam. However, this is just Muslim hype and propaganda.
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Cosmology of the Koran & Hadith
In the previous eight Presentations in this series it was suggested that the Koran and Hadith assume a Universe such as the one shown in the picture on the left.
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Al-Ma'mun Globe AD800’s
This is a modern reconstruction of a Medieval Islamic Globe which was said to have been commissioned by the Caliph Al-Ma'mun who ruled between AD813 & AD833 During the Golden Age of Islam the Islamic World view from a Flat Earth to a Globe like this.
However, this was nothing to do with the Koran
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Planetarium by Abbas Ibn Firnas
This is a modern reconstruction of a Medieval Islamic Planetarium designed by Abbas Ibn Firnas (AD810 & AD887)
During the Golden Age of Islam the Islamic World view from a Flat Earth to a Globe like this.
But this was nothing to do with the Koran
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Cosmology of Medieval Islam
However, this is an image taken from an 11th Century book on Astronomy by Al-Buruni.It is discussing the orbits of spherical Planets.
Why the huge difference between this image & the Koran?
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Cosmology of Medieval Islam
Islamic Science was not based on the Koran
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Ancient Cosmology in the Middle East
Ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian Cosmology
Ancient peoples in the Middle East believed that the Universe looked like this.This view goes back to at least 3000BC.
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Cosmology of the Bible
(Similar to Ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian beliefs)
This is how the writers of the Bible imagined the Universe.
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Legacy of the Ancient Greeks
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Discovery of the Spherical Earth
The Ancient Greek Philosopher, Pythagoras (570BC - 490 BC) proposed that the Earth was a sphere 2500 years ago
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Aristotle and the Spherical Earth
The Ancient Greek Philosopher, Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) popularised the idea that that the Earth was a sphere
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Eratosthenes and the Spherical Earth
The Philosopher, Eratosthenes (276 BC-194 BC) worked out a method to accurately measure the size of the Earth.
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Crates and the Spherical Earth
Left: Modern interpretation of an Ancient Greek Globe. The Philosopher, Crates of Mallus (Second Century BC) is said to have constructed a Globe to show the whole World.
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Ptolemy and the Spherical Earth
Around AD150, the Greek Philosopher Ptolemy summarised the work of many earlier Greek Scientists.Ptolemy imagined a spherical Earth fixed in the centre of the Universe with the Sun and Planets moving around it.
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Ptolemy's Map of the Earth
Ptolemy also produced a Map of the known World.
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Library of Alexandria (c300bc – 48BC)
Left: A Modern interpretation of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, considered by some as the Worlds first University.
The Library continued for a couple of centuries even after most of it was burned in 48BC Many ancient discoveries made here
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The Christian Spherical Earth
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Cosmology of the Bible
(Similar to Ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian beliefs)
This is how the writers of the Bible imagined the Universe. This was a problem for early Christianity since it conflicted with Greek Science
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Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate, like other educated Romans almost certainly knew that the Earth was a sphere. The problem for the early Christians was that Jesus and other Biblical Characters, including God, did not know this.
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Saint Augustine of Hippo (AD354 - 430)
Christian Scholars such as Augustine attempted to reconcile the Bible with the ideas of Greek Science such as a Spherical Earth. They did this by interpreting the Bible in a Non-literal way Although the Greeks and the Bible disagreed on the shape of the Earth, both agreed that it was in the centre of the Universe.
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Views of the Church Fathers
Spherical Earth
Flat Earth
By AD500 most Christian Scholars had accepted that the Earth was a Sphere.
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Medieval Christian Cosmos
The Medieval Synthesis of the Bible and Greek Science imagined a Universe like this. God looks down upon a static spherical Earth in the centre of the Universe as shown in Martin Luther's Bible of 1534. This picture does not fit a literal Interpretation of the Bible.
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Columbus and the Medieval Flat Earth Myth
Contrary to popular belief Medieval Europeans in the time of Columbus did not believe that the World was flat.
This story s a C19th Myth created by Washington Irving and perpetuated by Andrew Dickson White
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Columbus and the Medieval Flat Earth Myth
Washington Irvine
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Andrew Dickson White
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No Medieval Flat Earth
This famous picture is called the Flammarion woodcut and it was first published in1888. It does not show how Medieval Europeans viewed the Universe. It does show how the Bible and Koran describe the Universe.
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The real Christian Cosmos AD300 AD1700
This is the image of the Universe that Columbus & other Medieval Europeans had.
A Spherical Earth sits fixed in the centre of the Universe. crystalline spheres holding the various Heavenly bodies revolve around it.
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The Islamic Spherical Earth
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Mohammed's successors conquer Middle East
Left: By AD 750 the Muslims had conquered a huge Empire.
This began the 500 years of the Golden Age of Islam in which Science and Learning prospered
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Early Muslims translate Greek Science texts into Arabic.
Beginning around AD750, the Caliphs who succeeded Mohammed as leader of Islam translated and studied Greek Science before going on to build upon it. This is when Muslims found out about the Earth being a sphere. This was not discovered in the Koran
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Mohammed teaching his Disciples
The problem for the early Muslims was that God says that the Earth is Flat in the Koran & Greek Science contradicts the Koran. It appears that in order to reconcile Greek Science with the Koran, they copied the Christians and interpreted the Koran in a non-literal way.
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Mohammed, like Jesus, thought that the Earth was Flat, but his successors discovered that this was not true.
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Al-Ma'mun Globe AD800’s
It was Greek Science, rather than the Koran that enabled the construction of globes like this. Notice how the Americas and Australia are not on the globe, reflecting the limitations of Greek Science.
If this globe were based on information from God, as the Koran is said to be, then the globe would show the whole of the Earths surface and not just what the Greeks knew about.
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Planetarium by Abbas Ibn Firnas
This is a modern reconstruction of a Medieval Islamic Planetarium designed by Abbas Ibn Firnas ( AD810 & AD887)
However, this was nothing to do with the Koran.This wrongly shows the spherical Earth in a Geocentric Cosmos like that of Ptolemy and other Greeks.
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Cosmology of Medieval Islam
This book on Astronomy by Al Buruni is based On Greek Science And not the Koran.
It assumes a Spherical Earth but in a Geocentric Cosmos just like the Greeks did.
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Sack of Baghdad AD1258
A devastating blow was dealt to Islamic Science in AD1258 when Baghdad was totally destroyed by the Mongols.
After this, Islamic Science continued but never again reached such heights as before the city was destroyed.
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Another Islamic Cosmology
Not all Medieval Islamic Cosmologies were so advanced though. This picture from the AD1200’s shows a Flat Earth surrounded by mountains and held up by various giant animals and an Angel.
This is by Zakariya Qazwini (d. 1283 or 1284).
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Conclusion
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Conclusion
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During the Golden Age of Islam (AD750 – AD1258) Muslims discovered that the Earth was a sphere. This had nothing to do with the Koran.In fact, it meant interpreting the Koran in a non-literal manner. Medieval Islamic Science including knowing that the Earth was a sphere was based upon Greek Science going back to 500BC. Contrary to popular opinion, Medieval Europeans knew that the Earth was a Sphere.In fact, they knew this before Medieval Islam did. Not all Muslims accepted the views of Medieval Islamic Science. Medieval Islamic Science does not prove the truth of Islam any more than Greek Science proves the existence of the Ancient Greek Gods. Modern Islamic Fundamentalists might benefit from interpreting the Koran like their Medieval co-religionists.
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Continued on next Presentation ……