EARTH
Regarding the shape of the earth,
RK: translates
an-Nazi`at 79:30
to be "egg-shapped' (dahhyah),
while other translators translate it to
"spreaded" (P:, SA:, YA:), "extended" (YA:), "expanded" (S:) out
(see comparison
of translations).
Thus, there are some Muslims who claimed that the Qur'an accurately
describes the shape of the earth:
The Arabic "dahhaahaa" is derived from
"Dahhyah" which means "egg."
(footnote to 79:30, also
1,
2)
which implies that one end is rounder while the other end is sharper.
This is actually greatly disagreed by many Muslims. Technically also,
the earth is not really egg-shaped. It is a sphere that
has a little depression at the poles. The earth has an equatorial
radius that is slightly larger than the polar radius. On the other
hand, the egg has an "equatorial" radius that is significantly
smaller than the polar radius. To be technically correct, the earth
is an oblate spheriod, nothing close to being egg-shape. It's shape
is closer to a ball (i.e. sphere) than an egg.
Also, others have pointed out that the verses
al-Ghashiyah 88:20; an-Nazi`at 79:30; adh-Dhariyat 51:48; ash-Shams 91:6
seem to imply that the earth was actually flat and expanding, see the article
The Earth: Flat or Round? – What does the Qur'an Say?
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