Cosmology And The Koran. Geocentric?

[USResident]

@sNOVA

Your statement could be construed in a very negative way. With a very high probabilty in fact. Maybe you as a muslim ‘want’ to find an interpretation that fits well?

On the contrary I wish to understand modern theories and validate them against the simplicity and infallibility of the Quran. I believe you missed what I was aiming at or maybe I failed to elucidate it.

@sNOVA

what do you mean by updating? It sounds more like ‘interpreting to suit our needs’. To me eclipses are pretty normal routine work for the solar system.

It means we fail time and time again to explain modern scientific theories when we try to present Quran as if it were a scientific curriculum. This happens when we try to associate a time honored context with the Quran in cases like these where you assumed a geocentric model of the universe dsecribed in the Quran. I don’t believe explaining either the geocentric or heliocentric was the intent of the Quran. There are things we still cannot fathom yet we try our level best to associate to with our limited knowledge. Many things are crystal clear for us that pertain to matters of faith yet some are not. This verse is one example of it where we find ourselves in coherence yet not. It does not prove that something in the Quran is flawed but rather what we are trying to associate with it does not belong with it. Hence the conflict.

@sNOVA

Lets go with your interpretation that ‘falak’ here merely means the perceived up and down cycle of the sun and the moon. ( although what else could falak mean beside orbit when sun and moon are mentioned,?) anyhow, then how can we explain the solar eclipse? Isnt God’s statement in the Koran definitive? When He says that the sun is not permitted to catch up with the Moon, isnt the verse unconditional? If its not then how? And how could we update the interpretation here?

Lets go back to the 7th century. The prevalent belief is of the geocentric universe. There are even no hadiths which suggest that the sun is stationary and the earth is in constant motion ( correct me if im wrong). For the 7th century people the verse in fact simply corroborated their belief in a geocentric universe. The sun does not catch up with moon…each swims in its orbit. For the observer its seems as if the moon simply follows the sun in its path ( i guess even this is mentioned somewhere in the Koran, but im not sure) and that their paths do not overlap. Going with this interpretion, the occurrence of a solar eclipse is virtually impossible. So which interpretation do you want to go ahead with? Orbit = actual orbit or Orbit = perceived motions?

With the geocentric model, the earth is the center of the universe with all other celestial bodies rotating around it. Quran is definitive however can you offer a definitive explanation of what “catch up” means? Can you explain how the verse gives away a geocentric model in such brevity?