As much confusion with Qibla?
Anti-muslim question:
The Qur'an instructs that a Muslim should pray facing the Qibla wherever he is (Quran 2: 144). But this is only possible in the model of a flat earth, because the earth is round and its face will be towards the sky during prayer. If he is on the opposite side of Makkah, then the Qibla will be straight down through the center of the earth. Doesn't this show that the Qur'an thinks the earth is flat?
Answer:
Atheists ask this question and grab a picture borrowed from wikiislam. Then they claim that it means in the Qur'an or the earth is considered as a plane. Muslims are confused by this question. There is no such article on the net. Today I will discuss the cases of this film point by point inshallah. But before that I think it is important to talk about Qibla.
♣Why should one pray facing the Ka'bah?
If the Muslims are not given a particular direction, then there will be a quarrel among the Muslims as to which side to stand in the congregation. Some will say towards the memorial, some will say towards the Shaheed Minar.
Where to stand in front of the line while standing in the congregation, there is a lot of argument about this, if the qibla was not fixed, then where will the mosque be built face to face, then where will the congregation be in that mosque, faction , Would have been blown away.
One day's quarrel is enough to break the unity that has been created after many years of hard work. That is why Allah has ordained for the Muslims some things which are necessary for maintaining unity among them, so that there is no opportunity to argue about them. [1] And that is why we have to pray facing the Ka'bah. It is just a guide to our worship, nothing more
♣Do Muslims bow before the Ka'bah?
Muslims do not face the Ka'bah, but face the Ka'bah as part of the prayer. The closer you get to the Ka'bah, the better. Surely, when one goes to the Ka'bah, one should not pray facing anything else.
Now the question is, why do Muslims go to the Ka'bah for Hajj? Again, it revolves around the Ka'bah. Isn't it like revolving around a special idol like the Hindus?
Almost every religion has a special place where devout followers from all over the world come together. It is an expression of their unity. Being together in such a special place shows that the followers of that religion do not care about any country, nationalism, skin color, status in society, property. Their religion is above all. They forget all the differences between themselves, come together in the same place, in the same clothes, pray the same way. Hajj is a symbol of this extraordinary unity and equality of the Muslim nation.
Eating around the Kaaba is a scientifically sound method. If thousands of people walked straight to the Ka'bah and then walked straight back, there would be a huge chaos, a stampede. No one would ever see the whole Kaaba again. The best way to manage traffic from this is to keep the traffic moving around something, to turn it around from the outside and to turn it around.
This method is so effective that in England there is a system called Roundabout to prevent traffic jams at road junctions. [2] Cars come from all around and start circling around that circular installation. They turn in and out, then turn out. In this way, you can enter from any road by car, you can go out from any road. No traffic lights are needed at the intersection. The cars do not have to stand idle. This innovative method of removing traffic jams at road junctions without using traffic lights, avoids collisions, has to wait a lot less time at intersections, while drivers follow the rules of the road like a gentleman. This is exactly the same method of walking around the Kaaba that is being used in thousands of street corners in England today.
Hajj has another political significance. In recent years, 20-30 lakh pilgrims are going to perform Hajj. It shows that Muslims are not a small, weak nation. There are millions of rich Muslims in the world who can afford the Hajj. 20-30 lakh people together is a sign of great unity. When pilgrims from all over the world go on Hajj, there is a flurry of security personnel at airports, seaports, airlines, in different countries. Millions of non-Muslim Muslims became aware of this huge festival. This great event is well noticed by non-Muslim politicians.
‘Muslims worship the Ka’bah’ - a major reason for this misconception of non-Muslims about the Ka’bah is the actions of some Muslims visiting the Ka’bah. Hajj broadcasts show some Muslims desperately holding the Ka'bah, rubbing it against the Ka'bah, and fighting to kiss the Ka'bah's stone. Looking at these, one may think that the Ka'bah is a great object of worship and that Muslims actually worship the Ka'bah.
Muslims do not worship the Kaaba in any way. Since the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) kissed the rock, we Muslims kiss it. One of the sayings of Hazrat Umar (ra) can be said in this case- “There is no doubt that you are just a stone, you cannot do anything to benefit or harm anyone. If I had not seen the Prophet of God kiss you, I would not have kissed you either ”(Sahih Bukhari, Book 2, Volume 27: 6). This means that we do not worship the Ka'bah or the Hajr Aswad (stone). Moreover, after the conquest of Makkah, Bilal (ra) ascended to the Ka'bah and called for prayers. But the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not rebuke him for this. If the Ka'bah had become an object of worship for Muslims, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would never have allowed the Azan to rise above the Ka'bah. [3] And during the Hajj, it is normal to have a bit of a fight when you go to kiss the stone of this Kaaba. But this does not mean that
Muslims are worshiping the Ka'bah.
♣Does the Qur'an say the earth is flat?
Nowhere in the Qur'an is the size of the earth called flat. No one can flatten the world of the Qur'an with irrefutable arguments. I am discussing a little about the fact that the Qur'an does not refer to the shape of the earth as a plane, but to a spherical one.
Proof 1: See verse 3 of Surah Inshiqbak - "And when the earth is leveled." (74: 3)
‘When flattened ...’ means not flattened now. If God called the earth flat, then why talk about flattening it again? From this verse it is clear that the earth is not called flat in the Qur'an. If there was a smooth plane, God would not have mentioned it in the next verse: (84: 4) Not a smooth plane here - absolutely a plane of origin. If you were talking about a smooth plane, you would be talking about the surface of the earth. But in the whole surah, Allah does not mention the surface or the surface.
Proof 2: "He covers the day with the night and covers the night with the day." (Surah Az-Zumar 39: 5)
The Arabic word used in the above verse is "يُكَوِّرُ". Which means to twist or wrap something, as in the case of the turban. Continuous twisting method - so that one part is going into another part. We know very well how the turban is spun round. In this verse it is said that night gradually turns into day, similarly day also gradually turns into night. This can only happen if the earth is round. If the earth were flat or flat, there would be a sudden change from night to day and from day to night.
See also two more verses-
“Allah changes the day and the night. It contains thought provoking tools for the 'insightful.' " (Surah Noor 24:44)
"Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, are signs for men of understanding." (Surah Ali Imran 3: 190)
God: Why did he speak of insight? Why not talk about external vision? We see outwardly, the sun rises or sets. Is that really so? ‘There are special patterns in the rotation of night and day’ - are there ‘special’ things that we need to give insight into? The gestures here refer to the spherical shape and rotation of the earth in terms of intuition and turban-like twisting.
Proof 3: "He is the Lord of the two Easts, and the Lord of the two Wests." (Surah Ar-Rahman 55:16)
If the earth was called flat in the Qur'an, then why is it said twice east and twice west? If the earth were flat, the sun would rise and set all over the earth once. But this does not happen because the earth is round. Because when you see the sun rising, the sun is actually setting elsewhere. And when you see the sun setting, the sun is actually rising in another position (in fact, the sun does not set or rise. I said this for the sake of convenience). A total of two east, two west. The matter is actually much deeper and a matter of discussion. I am not going there at the moment due to lack of space.
4th Evidence: There are numerous fatwas of Islamic scholars on the fact that the size of the earth is round. There is a fatwa of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah in this regard. [4] Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Baaz, one of the best Islamic scholars of the last century, also has a fatwa on the subject. [5]
You can also see the fatwa of IslamQA. [6] You can also see the fatwa of IslamWeb. [7]
‘Earth is flat’ - this misconception has never existed among Muslims. But was among European Christians (still present today among biblical fundamentalist Christians). In ancient Europe, in the golden age of Islam, if anyone in Europe said "the world is round", he would be burned at the stake for blasphemy. Muslims were the first to develop spherical trigonometry. [8] In the eleventh century, the Muslim mathematician al-Biruni used spherical trigonometry to determine the direction of the Kaaba from anywhere. [9] Muslim scientists, including Musa al-Khwarizmi, al-Battani, Ibn Yunus, Ibn al-Haysam, and Nasiruddin al-Tusi, also contributed to the direction of the Qibla from any point on the surface. [10] Do you still think Muslims thought the world was flat?
Ending all misconceptions about Qibla:
Which way will the qibla actually be- there are several ways to find out. I will not go that way. Just know the main concept - the direction in which the Ka'bah is closest is your Qibla. Since the earth is round (not perfectly round), you can go to the Ka'bah in different ways from a certain point. But the shortest distance between them will be your desired qibla. Let's look at some complicated examples
As the map of the world around the Kaaba is more rounded, see how the position of North America is relative to the Kaaba. But now the Qibla is no longer to the south-east. The qibla is now to the north or northeast. It seems that the Qibla is to the south-east but in reality it is reversed to the northeast. Geographical aspects have been shown here so it should not be a problem. Draw a straight line from Alaska along the Kaaba that will show you the geographical north which means Alaska Qibla is to the north. Again Canada and America are along the northeast to the north. Even with this map, it is not possible to get a 100% clear idea because it is a matter of three dimensions and it is not possible to show it in two dimensions.
Even then the question remains. If the earth is round, then you can go to the east, you can go to the west. For example, you can go from USA to Europe via Asia to the west and directly to Europe to the east. In other words, in these cases, I will be facing the Qibla no matter where I turn east or west. But you don't have to turn away. When traveling from the USA to Europe, go east because you have to travel a short distance. The same is true of Qibla. As I said a little while ago, if you turn your face, you should turn your face at the shortest distance between the Ka'bah and your current distance.
If I am at the pole, which way should I turn? When you go to the North Pole, you go south in all directions, and when you go to the South Pole, you go north in all directions. Now look at the map again. From there it is not understood which way to turn? It is foolish to look in any direction when you are at the North Pole. You have to see from which direction the Ka'bah is closest, that is your Qibla. You can go all the way to Kaaba but I have also mentioned the minimum distance with the direction. A normal compass at the pole will not work. There you have to use Gyro compass [11] and fix the qibla by calculating the position of the stars. The same rule will apply to the South Pole.
Another thing. Many pray in cars, buses or trains. What will they do? The road is crooked. In this case, the qibla at the beginning of the prayers must be kept correct. There is no need to worry about the fact that the qibla may change during prayers due to the road. And nowadays there are many applications / software with which you can easily find out the direction of Qibla. However, if it is not possible at all, then the prayer will be performed whichever way you turn conveniently. [12]
Now let's talk about the famous misleading picture of wikiislam. The picture below is that confusing -
Case 1: Their claim is that since the earth is round, to face the Qibla from any point except near the Ka'bah is to face the sky! Let me ask a question to the atheist brothers. Which way is America from our country? If you say west, but you are wrong. Because if you point your finger in front, it will be towards the sky, because the earth is round !! Hope you got the answer. Whichever direction we think is along the surface of the earth, not along the sky.
Case 2: Here they claim that the qibla will be in the exact opposite of the Ka'bah from the ground down. Let me add a little more to their claim. Not only on the opposite side, but from many other places the qibla is down to the ground. The people of Bangladesh have to face the ground with their feet towards the sky in order to 'actually' turn towards 'Ka'. It is a strange and impossible thing. God: It is not God's will for anyone to impose anything beyond their means and for people to suffer strangely. Rather, God sees people's hearts and works within their means. For this reason, in order to turn towards Ka'bah, one has to face the nearest linear direction (eg, west of Bangladesh). Sensible people find the grace of Allah here and people with crooked hearts find the fault of Allah or the Prophet (peace be upon him) from here.
Case 3: In this film, they claim that since the earth is round, turning towards the Ka'bah means showing the Ka'bah from one side! The same goes for us. If someone is behind you, it means he turns around and actually shows you the back! What a strange argument! Now I refute their argument. If you have no direct contact with the Ka'bah or there is a curtain or barrier in front of you, you can do anything back to the Ka'bah. See the fatwa of IslamQA. [13]
Case 4: The latest image is of the Kaaba antipode (the exact opposite of something is called the antipode). All sides are equal here, so there is no definite direction to go to Ka'bah. The thing we forget when we get here is that the antipode also has an antipode. The prayer can be performed facing the Ka'bah in any direction. And what's wrong with praying facing that direction in the antipode of that Ka'bah? Wait, it's not over yet. In fact, the Kaaba antipode has no land area. See the image below -
It is located in the Pacific Ocean, inside the Polynesia area. If someone is on a plane or a ship, then it will pass in the blink of an eye. And once this point is left, the general rule of minimum distance will apply again. Even then, if one can accurately position oneself here, there are not many directions for it, because the earth is not perfectly round. And for this reason, if we calculate the minimum distance, it has two directions, north-west and north-east. And the nearest land area from this antipode is Tematagi. [14] And since this nearest land follows the north-west direction, it is best to return to the north-west to pray. And if the qibla cannot be identified in any way (applicable in any case), then there is no problem. Then you have to pray in any direction. IslamQA has a fatwa in this regard. [15]
Inshallah, I will also answer the last question that you can ask. If an astronaut on the ISS (International Space Station) wants to pray, how will he pray? In 2006, the Malaysian National Space Agency held a conference with scientists and religious scholars to decide on the matter. [16] At this conference it was decided that the astronaut would determine the qibla according to his ability. It will be predominant in four steps. 1. Facing the Kaaba 2. 3 facing the caber projection. 4 facing the earth. Conveniently facing either side. But still there is a problem, let's say the prayers started facing the earth. But due to the rotation of the face can be turned to the other side in the prayers, then? Here, like when traveling by car or train, you have to fix the qibla at the beginning, but there is no problem even if it changes later.
I hope your confusion about Qibla has been removed. May Allah grant us the tawfiq to stay on the right path and think deeply.
References :
[1] Ma'riful Quran - Mufti Shafi Usmani
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout
[3] And Rahikul Makhtum
[4] Majmû` al-Fatâwâ (5/150), Majmû` al-Fatâwâ (6 / 546-567)
[5] http://www.binbaz.org.sa/noor/9167
[6] https://islamqa.info/en/118698, https://islamqa.info/en/211655
[7] http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=85339
[8] David A. King, Astronomy in the Service of Islam, (Aldershot (U.K.): Variorum), 1993.
[9] The Determination of the Co-ordinates of Cities. See Lyons, 2009, p85
[10] Moussa, Ali (2011). "Mathematical Methods in Abū al-Wafāʾ's Almagest and the Qibla Determinations". Arabic Sciences and Philosophy (Cambridge University Press)
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrocompass
[12] https://islamqa.info/en https://islamqa.info/en/148900/148900, https://islamqa.info/en/65853
[13] https://islamqa.info/en/69808
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tematagi#Antipode_of_Mecca
[15] https://islamqa.info/en/148900, https://islamqa.info/en/65853
[16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Space_Agency_(Malaysia)
http://www.moonsighting.com/faq_qd.html