Let’s start the series off with a classic: the claim is that according to the Quran the earth is round like an ostrich egg as per chapter 79 verse 30. This claim has been thrown around by a plethora of preachers and websites such as: Zakir Naik, Shabir ally, as well as 4 Quran translations. Then of course, the claim spread all across the Internet

So how true is this alleged miracle? Well as I stated in my previous article, there are 3 main criteria that must be met for the claim to actually be a miracle.

1. No prior knowledge of the miracle

2. The claim is factually accurate

3. No other possible interpretation

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Part 1: prior knowledge of the round earth

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In a lecture immediately after mentioning the miracle, Zakir Naik appears to claim that the Quran is the earliest source that mentions the earth being geo-spherical

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“It is geo-Spherical. Imagine, the Quran mentioning that the earth is geo-spherical 1400 years ago. Who could have mentioned that? So he (an atheist that a Muslim is debating) will tell you “ahh your prophet (p.b.u.h) was intelligent man”. Don’t argue! Continue.”

See 3:48-4:02

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Reply 1: Aristotle (384-322 B.C) said the earth was round:

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The general consensus of the start of Islam is around 610 A.D, meaning that Aristotle discovered the correct shape of the earth 1000 years before Islam. This can be found in his book “On heavens” where he writes:

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“Again, our observations of the stars make it evident, not only that the Earth is circular, but also that it is a circle of no great size. For quite a small change of position to south or north causes a manifest alteration of the horizon.”

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In other words, you see different sets of stars in the night sky depending on where you are. The sky over the northern hemisphere is not the same as the sky over the southern hemisphere. If the Earth was flat, then at any given time we would all see the same stars, and we don’t.

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Reply 2: Ptolemy believed in the round earth:

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Ptolemy was born in 100 A.D and died in 170 A.D, meaning that he knew that the earth is round over 500 years before Islam. Andrew Boyd of the University of Houston writes:

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Ptolemy believed the earth was round, which, perhaps surprisingly, wasn’t a new idea even in the second century. Aristotle had argued that the earth was round some five centuries earlier. Eratosthenes devised a clever geometric experiment to actually measure the earth’s diameter, and did so four centuries before the Almagest was written. And a round earth played a central role in Ptolemy’s other important work, the Geographia. In the Almagest, Ptolemy laid out a map of the heavens. In the Geographia, he laid out a map of the earth. Key to Ptolemy’s earth map was the notion of latitude and longitude — a handy coordinate system for locating points on a round surface. Ptolemy didn’t come up with the idea — he freely borrowed it from a contemporary, Marinos of Tyre.

Reply 3: Pythagoras believed the earth is round:

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Pythagoras was born in 570 and died in 495 B.C, meaning that he knew the earth is round over 1000 years before Islam. As Phil Newman of NASA wrote:

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It has actually been known that the Earth was round since the time of the ancient Greeks. I believe that it was Pythagoras who first proposed that the Earth was round sometime around 500 B.C. As I recall, he based his idea on the fact that he showed the Moon must be round by observing the shape of the terminator (the line between the part of the Moon in light and the part of the Moon in the dark) as it moved through its orbital cycle. Pythagoras reasoned that if the Moon was round, then the Earth must be round as well. After that, sometime between 500 B.C. and 430 B.C., a fellow called Anaxagoras determined the true cause of solar and lunar eclipses – and then the shape of the Earth’s shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse was also used as evidence that the Earth was round

NASA

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Furthermore, the institute of physics reports that pythagoras and/or his students knew that the earth is round:

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Pythagoras’ pupils, if not the great man himself, knew that the Earth is round. Traveller’s tales of ships disappearing over the horizon and noticing bright stars, such as Polaris, shifting to a higher position in the sky as one journeyed north suggested a curved Earth.

Institute of Physics

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Reply 4: Eratosthenes believed in the round earth:

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Eratosthenes, was born in 276 B.C and died in 194 B.C, meaning that he discovered that the earth is round 800+ years before Islam. This man is possibly the most prominent on this list as not only did he know that the earth is round, made the first measurement of the size of earth and got it right.

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Reply 5: In ancient Greece and Rome, round earth was dominant belief:

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Naming all these individuals and the accomplishments would be too boring eventually, so I will now quote the words of historian Jeffrey Russell, who wrote:

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“It must first be reiterated that with extraordinary few exceptions no educated person in the history of Western Civilization from the third century B.C. onward believed that the earth was flat. A round earth appears at least as early as the sixth century BC with Pythagoras, who was followed by Aristotle, Euclid, and Aristarchus, among others in observing that the earth was a sphere. Although there were a few dissenters–Leukippos and Demokritos for example--by the time of Eratosthenes (3 c. BC), followed by Crates (2 c. BC), Strabo (3 c. BC), and Ptolemy (first c. AD), the sphericity of the earth was accepted by all educated Greeks and Romans. Nor did this situation change with the advent of Christianity. A few, at least two and at most five–early Christian fathers denied the spherically of earth by mistakenly taking passages such as Ps. 104:2-3 as geographical rather than metaphorical statements. On the other side tens of thousands of Christian theologians, poets, artists, and scientists took the spherical view throughout the early, medieval, and modern church. The point is that no educated person believed otherwise.”

The Myth of the Flat earth

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I believe all this evidence should suffice and throughly refutes the notion of Dr. Zakir Naik.

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Part 2: is the claim actually true?

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The claim itself from an Arabic standpoint is that the word daha used in the Quran in chapter 79 verse 30 means “egg shaped” and that daha derives from the root word duhya meaning an Ostrich Egg. So let us see what Daha means by consulting Lanes lexicon:

Lane tells us a huge amount here. First, it tells us that the term daha is meant to signify the ostrich spreading out the ground in order to make a nest for the eggs, not that Daha is the eggs themselves.

Lane goes even further however. It then gives the definition of udhiya,which is a cognate of daha. In this entry it states:

Thus a clear picture is painted. Udhiya is thus understood as the surface upon which the ostrich spreads or flattens the ground to make the nest for the eggs. Lane nowhere mentions daha as meaning “shaped like an egg” or “egg shaped”.

But for those still in doubt, here are even more dictionaries saying the same thing:

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Lisan Al-Arab:

الأُدْحِيُّ و الإدْحِيُّ و الأُدْحِيَّة و الإدْحِيَّة و الأُدْحُوّة مَبِيض النعام في الرمل , وزنه أُفْعُول من ذلك , لأَن النعامة تَدْحُوه برِجْلها ثم تَبِيض فيه وليس للنعام عُشٌّ . و مَدْحَى النعام : موضع بيضها , و أُدْحِيُّها موضعها الذي تُفَرِّخ فيه Al-udhy, Al-idhy, Al-udhiyya, Al-idhiyya, Al-udhuwwa: The place in sand where an ostrich lays its egg. That’s because the ostrich spreads out (تَدْحُوه,tadhooh) the earth with its feet then lays its eggs there, an ostrich doesn’t have a nest. الدَّحْوُ البَسْطُ . دَحَا الأَرضَ يَدْحُوها دَحْواً بَسَطَها . وقال الفراء في قوله والأَرض بعد ذلك دَحاها قال : بَسَطَها ; قال شمر : وأَنشدتني أَعرابية : الحمدُ لله الذي أَطاقَا بَنَى السماءَ فَوْقَنا طِباقَا ثم دَحا الأَرضَ فما أَضاقا قال شمر : وفسرته فقالت دَحَا الأَرضَ أَوْسَعَها ; وأَنشد ابن بري لزيد بن عمرو بن نُفَيْل : دَحَاها , فلما رآها اسْتَوَتْ على الماء , أَرْسَى عليها الجِبالا و دَحَيْتُ الشيءَ أَدْحاهُ دَحْياً بَسَطْته , لغة في دَحَوْتُه ; حكاها اللحياني . وفي حديث عليّ وصلاتهِ , اللهم دَاحِيَ المَدْحُوَّاتِ يعني باسِطَ الأَرَضِينَ ومُوَسِّعَها , ويروى ; دَاحِيَ المَدْحِيَّاتِ . و الدَّحْوُ البَسْطُ . يقال : دَحَا يَدْحُو و يَدْحَى أَي بَسَطَ ووسع To daha the earth: means to spread it out.

Then it mentions a couple of Arabic poems that confirm this meaning. Anyone who can read Arabic will find this to be the definitive proof that Daha means to spread out.

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Al Qamoos Al Muheet:

الله الأرضَ (يَدْحُوهَا وَيَدْحَاهَا دَحْواً) بَسَطَها دَحَا Allah daha the Earth: He spread it out.

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Al Waseet:

دَحَا الشيءَ: بسطه ووسعه. يقال: دحا اللهُ الأَرض To daha something: means to spread it out. For example: Allah daha the Earth.

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Hans Wehr:

daha u (dahw) to spread out, flatten, level, unroll… udhiya ostrich nest in the ground.

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Steingass:

… daha, U, A, INF. dahw, extend, spread (a.); push; throw down; lie with; be big and flabby;-V. INF. taddahhi, be spread…

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Brill:

… daha u [v. trans.] to roll out, to spread out, to expand, to widen up (79:30)…

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Nadwi:

stretched out… [79:30]

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Omar:

stretched out; Hurled away; Cast (79:30). (L; T; R; LL)

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Hava:

To extend (the earth, God)

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Farid:

God has spread, spread out, expanded or extended the earth; made wide or ample…

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Dictionary of the Holy Quran:

To hurl, spread forth, expand, stretch out, cast away, extend, drive along.

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Taj al-Lughah wa Sihah Al-Arabiya:

ومَدْحى النعامةِ : موضع بيضها. وأُدْحِيُّها موضعها الذي تفرّخ فيه؛ وهو أُفْعولٌ من دَحَوْتُ، لأنها تَدْحوهُ برجلها ثم تبيضُ فيه. وليس للنعام عُشٌّ. And the madaha of the ostrich is the place for it’s eggs. and adheyha (word from daha) is the place where it lays it’s eggs. because it spreads it with it’s legs then lays it’s eggs in it and the ostrich doesn’t have a nest.

Source

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Lastly, it should be noted that the words “ostrich egg” are actually found in the hadith. And sure enough, no trace of Daha can be found:

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حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُوسَى الْقَطَّانُ الْوَاسِطِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ مَوْهَبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ الْفَزَارِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ، حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنٌ الْمُعَلِّمُ، عَنْ أَبِي الْمُهَزِّمِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ فِي بَيْضِ النَّعَامِ يُصِيبُهُ الْمُحْرِمُ ‏ “‏ ثَمَنُهُ ‏”‏ ‏ It was narrated from Abu Hurayah that the Messenger of Allah said, concerning an ostrich egg (بَيْضِ النَّعَامِ) taken by a Muhrim: “Its cost (must be paid as a penalty).”

Ibn Majah 3086

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Part 2a: is the earth like an ostrich egg?

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Even if we incorrectly believe that Daha is what the apologists say it is, it would still be incorrect as the earth is not actually shaped like an ostrich egg. As user lightyears on Wikiislam states:

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But even if they were right about (dahaha and Duhiya), it would prove the Qur’an to be incorrect because while the Earth and an ostrich egg are both spheroids, they are of fundamentally different types of spheroid. The Earth is very nearly, but not absolutely a perfect sphere. It is in fact an oblate spheroid, which means that the radius from its centre to either of its two poles is shorter than the radius to the equator. In other words, there is a very slight bulge around the equator. The radius from the centre of the Earth to the north or south poles is 6,357km, and the radius from the centre to the equator is 6,378km, a difference of less than 1 percent. This is caused by the rotation of the Earth around its polar axis, which produces a centripetal force that is greatest at the equator. An ostrich egg, much like all eggs, can be described as a prolate spheroid. This is because the radius from its centre to either of its two poles is longer than the radius to the equator, as though it were a sphere that had been pulled from two ends. It certainly is not an oblate spheroid. You can see in the image an oblate spheroid (top left), and a prolate spheroid (bottom left). Even holding an egg on its side (top), you cannot make it look like an oblate spheroid in 3D. They are fundamentally different shapes. The shape of the ostrich egg is in fact like a prolate spheroid (bottom). No matter how you hold the egg, it is a prolate spheroid and not an oblate spheroid. Oblate and prolate spheroids are fundamentally different shapes. In a flat 2d image without texture or shading they might look the same, but in three dimensions you cannot make one look like the other no matter how you turn it.

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Part 3: are there any other possible meanings?

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Well, I’ll keep this extremely brief as judging by part 2a you can probably already guess the answer. I can find absolutely no evidence of a single Tafsir book that says the verse is talking about the spherical earth. Here are a few:

Qurtubi: spread

Kathir: Spread

Tanwir Al-Miqbas: spread

Baidawi: spread

No Tafsir says ostrich egg. In Tafsir Tabari he cites 18 hadith that give an explanation of the verse. None say it means ostrich egg.

However, on the complete opposite side of the aisle, there were scholars who actually interpreted the verse as meaning that the earth is flat.

Isam ul-Deen al-Qunawi is Hashiat al-Qunawi Ala Tafsir al-Bayadi, a commentary on al-Bayadi’s Tafsir stated:

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وإن صح إرادتها بل كونها مسطحة راجحة لأنها مختار ابن عباس عن ابن عمر رضي الله تعالى عنهم وظاهر قوله تعالى: وَالأَرْضَ مَدَدْنَاهَا وقوله تعالى: لَاتَرَى فِيهَا عِوَجًا وَلَا أَمْتًا وَالْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ دَحَاهَا يدل على كونها مسطحة، وابن عباس وجمع كثير من أهل العلم أعلم باللسان وأدرى بالبيان، فلا جرم أن الميل إليه مقبول لدى أولي العرفان، والكروية قول الفلاسفة، والظاهر أنها مختار المصنف تبعا للإمام الرازي فإنه قول الوجوه العقلية التي أقيمت على الكروية في تفسيره، والمصنف تبعه مع تقرير حدوثها فحينئذ لا محذور في كلا الاحتمالين لكن متابعة السلف أسلم. “Although the author’s claim (that the Earth is round) is well meant, the claim that it is flat is more likely to be correct because it was the opinion of Ibn Abbas and Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) and the apparent interpretation of the verses ‘And the earth – We have spread it (15:19)’ and ‘You will not see therein a depression or an elevation (20:107)’ and ‘And after that He spread the earth (79:30)’ indicate that it is flat.And Ibn Abbas and a multitude of scholars are more knowledgeable of the Arabic tongue and its subtleties, so it is no crime to lean towards the opinion of those who have understanding. And the claim of sphericity is that of the philosophers, and apparently the author (Al-Bayadi) it is following opinion of Imam al-Razi and is based on the rationalist arguments for sphericity in his tafsir. The author believes that claim and while there is nothing wrong with that it is safer to follow the opinion of the salaf.”

Tafsir Qunuwi

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Siddiq Hasan Khan in his Tafsir book named Fath al-Bayan fi Maqasid al-Quran in which he repeats and endorses the statement of Ash-Shawkani:

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(مددناها) اي بسطناها وفرشناها على وجه الماء كما في قوله والأرض بعد ذلك دحاها وفي قوله والأرض فرشناها فنعم الماهدون وفيه رد على من زعم انها كالكرة. “Meaning that Allah spread (the Earth) and laid it flat on the face of the water like He said in ‘And after that He spread the earth (79:30)’ and ‘And the earth We have spread out, and excellent is the preparer (51:48)’ and that is a counter argument to those who claim that it is like a ball.”

Tafsir Hasan Khan

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Ash-Shawkani in his prominent Tafsir Fath Al-Qadir, stated the following:

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(مددناها) اي بسطناها وفرشناها كما في قوله (والأرض بعد ذلك دحاها) وفي قوله (والأرض فرشناها فنعم الماهدون) وفيه رد على من زعم انها كالكرة. Regarding 15:19: “Meaning that Allah spread (the Earth) and laid it flat on the face of the water like He said in ‘And after that He spread the earth (79:30)’ and ‘And the earth We have spread out, and excellent is the preparer (51:48)’ and that is a counter argument to those who claim that it is like a ball.”

Tafsir Shawkani 15:19

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Even Al-Razi, a highly notable Muslim round earther in his extremely prominent Tafsir admits that this verse was used to prove that the earth is flat:

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اعلم أن هذا القول إنما يتم إذا قلنا الأرض مسطحة لا كرة .. وأصحاب هذا القول احتجوا عليه بقوله : { والأرض بعد ذلك دحاها } .. و هذا القول مشكل من وجهين : الأول .. أنه ثبت بالدلائل أن الأرض كرة فكيف يمكن المكابرة ؟ فإن قالوا : وقوله { مد الأرض } ينافي كونها كرة فكيف يمكن مدها ؟ قلنا : لا نسلم أن الأرض جسم عظيم .. والكرة إذا كانت غاية في الكبر كان كل قطعة منها تشاهد كالسطح .. “I recognize that this interpretation can only be followed if we say that the Earth is flat and not a sphere. People who hold this opinion use Allah saying ‘And after that He spread the earth.(79:30)’ as evidence.This opinion is problematic for two reasons. First, evidence shows that Earth is a sphere, so how can you remain obstinate? And if the say: Allah saying He ‘spread the Earth (13:3)’ denies that it is a sphere for how can that be spread? Then we say: we cannot deny the Earth is a large body. And each piece of ball, if very large, can be seen as a flat surface.”

Tafsir Razi 13:3

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In conclusion, this claim proposed by some modern apologists absolutely fails all the criteria for a miracle. Many people knew of the spherical earth before Islam, the claim itself is false based on the Arabic and the shape of the egg, and all Tafsirs disagree that it is referring to an ostrich egg or a round earth in general.

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See also:

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Wikiislam: Daha (spread out or ostrich egg?)

Dawahganda: ostrich egg shaped earth

Islamweb: Meaning of 79:30

All dictionaries and lexicons I cited

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Credit to Dawahganda for the Jeffrey Russell quote and the Lane’s Lexicon pictures and Wikiislam for the translations of Lisan Al-Arab, Qamoos Muheet and waseet as well as the section Comparing the shapes of the earth and egg.