Introduction

The debate about the shape of the Earth is ancient. Initially, most societies imagined the Earth as a flat disk. Thanks to new experiments, the scholars of ancient Greece were the first to demonstrate the spherical shape of the Earth. However, this new model was not always accepted, especially in regions of the Near East attached to the old Semitic model. Even today, despite satellite images, the "flat-earthers" are not lacking. In the United States, they even have their own association, the "Flat Earth Society." In France, a poll by Ifop revealed that one in ten people believes that the Earth is flat, a proportion that rises to 36% among young people of Muslim faith¹ . With social media, flat-earth theories are gaining more and more popularity, especially in the Arab world, where they often take on a religious dimension. Searching for the keywords "Flat Earth" on Google in Arabic yields 138,000 results and 51,000 videos, and 61,700 references for the keywords "Flat Earth in the Quran." If the topic seems to generate as much controversy, it is because there is a real theological issue: the compatibility of the Quran, revered as the uncreated divine word by Muslims, with modern science. In this article, we will focus on the shape of the Earth described by the Quran, and the discussions that followed among Muslim scholars and theologians.

An ancient debate

In most civilizations, it was once believed that the Earth was flat. This idea stemmed from an intuitive and naive observation of the world: on a human scale, the Earth's surface appears flat. Lacking sophisticated observation tools or advanced astronomical knowledge, this conception naturally prevailed in the minds of the Ancients. Thus, for the Mesopotamians, the Earth was perceived as "a flat expanse encircled by mountains and surrounded by the waters of a cosmic ocean"² . In the Iliad, Homer also describes the Earth as a flat disk³ , an opinion that remained prevalent in his time. In Greece, some scholars proposed other theories. For Xenophanes (6th century BC), the Earth "is infinite downward," and "is rooted" into this infinity. Some authors even speak of the shape of a drum or a bowl⁴ .

It was still in Greece that the idea of a spherical Earth was born, about 2,500 years ago⁵ . The two great thinkers of antiquity, Plato (d. 348 BC) and Aristotle (d. 322 BC), already considered the Earth as a sphere. In the Timaeus, Plato describes the World as follows: Therefore, it is the shape of a sphere, whose center is equidistant from all the points on the circumference, a circular figure that [the demiurge] gave it as if working on a lathe, a figure that among all is the most perfect (Timaeus, 33a). Aristotle fully adopts Plato’s conception, to which he adds empirical arguments in favor of the Earth's sphericity. He writes in his On the Heavens: Regarding its shape, it is necessary that it be spherical. Indeed, every piece of earth has a gravity until it reaches the center, and the smallest being pushed by the greater is not susceptible to form a wavy surface but rather presses against it and unites with it, until they reach the center (On the Heavens, 297a, 9-13)

The renowned philosopher also notes that when a lunar eclipse occurs, the Earth casts a circular shadow on the moon, which indicates its spherical shape. The conception developed by Aristotle was adopted by other scholars after him, who provided new evidence based on large-scale experiments. The mathematician Eratosthenes (d. 194 BC) managed to calculate the Earth's circumference with impressive accuracy: through new astronomical observations, he estimated its circumference at about 39,375 km, closer to the true value (40,075 km).

Following him, the geographer Ptolemy (d. 168) compiled all Greek knowledge and added his own conclusions. This completion gave rise to the Ptolemaic model, which would dominate in Europe and parts of the Arab world until the Renaissance. Contrary to a widespread misconception, the spherical shape of the Earth was well accepted among European scholars at the end of antiquity and the Middle Ages. The idea of medieval belief in a flat Earth has been discussed and thoroughly criticized in a well-documented study titled La Terre plate : Généalogie d’une idée fausse (2021). The authors demonstrate that this belief, often called a "myth," was built step by step from the Renaissance and modern times, especially with Voltaire. The hidden goal was then to denigrate and ridicule medieval authors⁶ .

However, the documentation available today is more than enough to refute this idea. In reality, the belief in a flat Earth was "completely marginal even within the Christian Church" ⁷ . Origen, one of the earliest Christian apologists, “thus admits the sphericity without the slightest restriction”⁸ . Augustine of Hippo wrote in the City of God that divine virtue is "the cause of the roundness of the earth and the Sun" (XII, 25). Isidore of Seville (d. 636), founder of medieval encyclopedism, and also a contemporary of Muhammad, fully subscribed to the sphericity of the Earth, as demonstrated by his works and notably the world map he drew, where the Earth is represented as circular (see Fig. 1). Among the Latin Church, the author Lactantius (d. 320) is notable for rejecting a round Earth, but it is true that he was probably reacting to the writings of Lucretius (d. 55 BC), who deduced from the sphericity of the Earth that "animals walk upside down beneath us"!

While most Greek and Latin authors embraced the Ptolemaic model, the Eastern Churches, however, showed hostility to it⁹ . In the Near East, indeed, older Mesopotamian conceptions remained widespread among Jews and Christians. These latter split into two camps: those who supported an allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures, adhering to the Ptolemaic model of a spherical Earth, and those who supported a literal reading¹⁰ . On the eve of Islam, there were therefore two models opposed: on one side, the Ptolemaic model, which postulated a round Earth; on the other, the ancient Semitic model, which viewed the Earth as a flat disk. In the following section, we will see that the Quran firmly adheres to this second "flat" model.

The shape of the Earth in the Quran

There are a total of 461 occurrences of the word "earth" (in Arabic: ard) in the Quran. Many verses thus allow us to understand how the Quran represents the Earth. However, a thorough examination of the Quranic text leads to the conclusion that the Earth is seen as a flat disk. It can be emphasized that all studies that have examined the subject agree that the Quranic cosmological model derives from ancient Semitic representations and assumes that the Earth is flat¹¹ . This is clearly evident from the fact that the lexical field used to describe it constantly evokes the idea of flatness. In their study on Quranic cosmology, Mohammad Ali Tabatabai & Saida Mirsadri note that: Regarding the shape of the Earth, it can be confidently asserted that it is perceived as flat and solid (terra firma). The solidity and flatness of the Earth being common notions among naive peoples, the Quran also adopts this schema without questioning it (Quran 17, 37). While there is not the slightest allusion to a spherical Earth, all the verbal roots — about ten in total — used in the Quran to describe the Earth refer to ideas of extension and flatness¹² .

We will illustrate these points through the analysis of several Quranic verses concerning the shape of the Earth. Before starting, it is useful to recall for non-Arabic speakers. In Arabic, words are built from a root composed of two, three, or four consonants, which conveys the same idea. For example, the root k.t.b. (كتب) refers to the concept of writing. This root is then "dressed" with the addition of other consonants and vowels to form words. In our example, the root k.t.b. produces the words maktub ("written"), katib ("writer"), maktaba ("correspondence"), etc.

Now, let's see which verbal roots are used in the Quran to describe the shape of the Earth.

⎯ Root f.r.ch. (spread out)

"It is He who made for you the Earth as a bed (firâch)" (2:22). [firâch]: Mattress, bed, mat, carpet, layer, mattress.

"And the Earth, We have spread out (farach)" (51:48). [faracha]: Spread (on the ground), unroll, extend, disperse, scatter, lay out, make a bed.

⎯ Root m.h.d. (smooth out)

"It is He who assigned the Earth as a cradle (mahd)" (20:53). [mahd]: Cradle, origin, place of origin.

"Did We not make the Earth a bed (mihâd)?" (78:6). [mihâd]: Flat and even terrain, riverbed / sea floor.

⎯ Root t.h. (spread out)

"And by the Earth and He who spread it out (tahâ)!" (91:6). [tahâ]: Spread out, extend.

⎯ Root d.h. (spread out)

"And as for the Earth, after that, He made it spread out (dahâ)" (79:30). [dahâ]: Spread (dough), crush (gravel).

⎯ Root m.d. (spread out)

"And it is He who spread out the Earth (madda)" (13:3).

"And as for the Earth, We have spread out (madad)" (15:19).

"And the Earth, We have spread out (madad)" (50:7). [madda]: Lengthen/advance, unfold, deploy, develop, spread, extend, stretch, elongate, prolong, stretch out, rise/ascend (water level).

⎯ Root b.s.t. (spread out)

"And it is Allah who made the Earth a carpet (bisât)" (71:19). [bisât]: Carpet.

⎯ Root s.t.h. (level)

"And how is the Earth leveled (soutihat)?" (88:20). [sattaha]: Level, flatten, smooth, surface, terrace, make a terrace.

It is clearly evident from all these examples that the Earth is perceived as being flat. God has "spread out," "flattened," "laid out" the Earth like a "carpet" so that it serves as a "bed" and a "layer" for humans. Even with a good dose of imagination, it is hard to see how a spherical Earth could fit this description. Furthermore, other clues in the Quranic text suggest a flat Earth. In the story of Dhul-Qarnayn (18:83-93), the hero travels across the Earth and reaches the sunset and sunrise of the sun. The topographical details of the story emphasize the evidence of a flat Earth where the sun rises and sets at its edges as was believed in ancient times. Other passages express a similar idea (26:28, 37:5, 70:40, 73:9), and notably the divine epithet "Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests" (55:17). Moreover, if Dhul-Qarnayn can "enclose" Gog and Magog behind a barrier, it is precisely because the Earth is flat, and therefore has an immeasurable edge. Gog and Magog are thus effectively trapped between the barrier and the edge of the Earth. Obviously, on a spherical Earth, such a "limit" is unthinkable, and Gog and Magog could simply circumvent the barrier by going around the globe. Additionally, the Quran states that mountains have been planted into the earth like "pegs" (jibâl) to prevent it from tipping over (21:31; 31:10; 79:32; 78:6-7). This clearly denotes the idea of a flat Earth that may tilt from side to side, stabilized by mountains, as Heidi Toelle rightly noted: "The Quranic earth is a 'layer' or 'carpet' extended for humans, and God has set up or cast mountains into it to anchor and prevent it from tilting" ¹³ .

The shape of the Earth among medieval exegeses

Until now, we have seen that the Quran, faithful to Near Eastern cosmological traditions, describes the Earth as a flat surface. However, the shape of the Earth became the subject of intense debates among later Muslim commentators, who divided into two camps. The first, based on the Quranic text, defended the idea of a flat Earth. This is the most widespread opinion in the earliest Quranic commentaries, and at least the oldest. It is already found in the Tanwīr al-Miqbās min Tafsīr, traditionally attributed to Ibn Abbās (d. 687), the "father" of Quranic exegesis¹⁴ . Although there are reasons to doubt that it actually dates back to Ibn Abbās, this commentary remains very old and respected by later exegeses¹⁵ . Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. ~730), a renowned early Islamic scholar, and son of a Companion of the Prophet, expressed a similar opinion that al-Tabari (d. 930) reports: "We asked Wahb about the Lands: 'What are they like?' He replied: these are seven flat Lands and islands. Between each Land there is an ocean" ¹⁶ . Ibn Mājah (d. 936), famous for establishing the tradition of the "seven readings" of the Quran, also claimed that the Earth was flat, reasoning that if it were not, "water would not remain still" ¹⁷ . The argument appears to be quite convincing.

The second point of view among Muslim exegetes is that the Earth is spherical. However, this opinion relies less on the Quran itself than on inherited scientific knowledge from the Greeks, which had become accessible to the Muslim-Arab world. Seyyed Hossein Nasr explains that: With the establishment of the Abbasid caliphate, translations of Greek, Syriac, Pahlavi, and Sanskrit sources on various sciences became available in Arabic, so that, in addition to the earlier schools[…] which relied almost entirely on Islamic revelation for their knowledge, new schools appeared that also drew from non-Islamic sources¹⁸ .

With the spread of Greek astronomy treatises, more and more Muslim scholars supported the idea of a round Earth. The Andalusian polymath Abu Ubayda al-Layti al-Balansi (d. 908), who made a name in the "science of the stars," was among the first Muslims to advocate such an opinion, which earned him ridicule from his contemporaries¹⁹ . The Persian scholar Al-Bīrūnī (d. 1048) offers another example: like Eratosthenes before him, he managed to calculate the Earth's circumference very accurately. His contemporary Avicenna (d. 1037), based on sea observations, concluded that the Earth could only be round: "If the surface of the water were not spherical," he writes, "ships would be seen in their entirety from afar […]. That does not happen this way. First, you see the top of the rudder, then the ship" ²⁰ .

Although many Muslim scholars affirmed the sphericity of the Earth, these are personal opinions based on scientific writings or experiments, not on the Quran. As Damien Janos points out, "it is clear that the Quran and early Muslim tradition do not support the conception of a spherical Earth and universe. That was the prevailing view in educated circles of Muslim society following the infiltration of Ptolemaic astronomy" ²¹ . To date, there are no known Islamic writings asserting that the Earth is round prior to the 9^th century—when Greek works were widely translated into Arabic. It is therefore important to distinguish scholarly opinions from what the Quran itself states, although a certain confusion between the two is sometimes intentionally maintained. The Andalusian scholar Ibn Hazm (d. 1064) provides a good illustration, openly citing a verse of the Quran to "prove" the Earth's roundness: No imam among the Muslim scholars deserving the title of imam has denied the Earth's sphericity (…). The proof of its roundness comes from the Quran and the Sunna, Allah said: "He coils the night upon the day and coils the day upon the night" (39:5)" ²² . However, Ibn Hazm's interpretation is unpersuasive, and relies on a forced reading of the text. Indeed, the verse simply mentions the regular alternation of day and night, a theme addressed in many other Quranic verses: "It is He who causes the night to enter into the day and causes the day to enter into the night" (22:61); "And He is who assigned an alternation to the night and the day" (25:62, also see 31:29; 35:13; 57:6). The idea expressed by the verse has nothing to do with the shape of the Earth but concerns the endless renewal of time (night following day and vice versa). Georges Tamer has shown that the Quranic image of time as unrolling echoes ancient beliefs, particularly the myth of Aeon, the god of infinite time in Greek mythology, often depicted in ancient artwork holding a wheel through which he brings about the succession of time and seasons²³ . As for the claim that "no imam has denied the Earth's sphericity," that is simply inaccurate. Certainly, the theologian Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1111) speaks of the "consensus" of scholars regarding the sphericity of the Earth²⁴ . However, it seems clear that these are astronomers being referred to, not religious scholars. Around the same time, Ibn Atiyya (d. 1075) reports that "the opinion on its roundness, although it does not diminish one of the pillars of law, is an unproven opinion among Islamic scholars" ²⁵ . About five centuries later, the eminent theologian Al-Suyûtî (d. 1505), commenting on the meaning of the word soutihat ("extended," "flattened") in verse 88:20, reports the consensus of religious scholars in favor of a flat Earth: Regarding His word soutihat, its literal meaning suggests that the Earth is flat — this is the opinion of most scholars of the law — and not spherical as claimed by astronomers²⁶ .

It seems, therefore, that there was a divergence of opinion concerning the shape of the Earth between scientists and religious scholars. This divergence is well illustrated in a statement by the traditionalist ʿAbd Allâh ibn Muḥammad al-Qaḥṭânî (d. 993), who wrote: "The geometer lied, and the astrologer too — both falsely claim to have access to the knowledge of Allah; The Earth is round, they both say — they agree on this point; But according to those who have sound reasoning, the Earth is flat, in accordance with the truthful and clear testimony of the Quran" ²⁷ . In his article "Against Ptolemy? Cosmography in Early Kalām", Omar Anchassi shows that even after its spread in the Muslim-Arab world, many Islamic theologians remained opposed to the Ptolemaic model and rejected the idea of a round Earth. For example, the Mu'tazilite theologian Abû Rashîd al-Nîsâbûrî (d. 1068) wrote a treatise in which he demonstrated that the Earth is flat via three arguments: i) if the Earth were round, it would be equidistant from the sky at all points (like a circle with the center at the same point). In this case, the movements of the sun would not be visible throughout the day; ii) on a round Earth, seas and rivers would not remain in place but would fall into the surrounding air; iii) finally, the Quran says that Allah "spread out" or "flattened" the Earth after its creation (79:30). This proves that the Earth is flat ²⁸ .

The last argument made by al-Nisaburi is interesting. Indeed, while most scholars supporting the sphericity of the Earth based their opinions on scientific observations, the supporters of the flat Earth conception mainly relied on the Quran, not hesitating to mobilize certain verses to support their demonstration. As Mohamed A. Mahmoud notes, "in the pre-modern era, neither the history of Islamic thought in general nor that of Muslim geographical thought in particular shows evidence of a contrary perception inspired by the Quran, that the Earth is round" ²⁹ . The verse: "And it is He who extended the Earth" (13:3) was often cited to prove that the Earth is flat. Al-Mawardi (d. 1058) comments on this: "That is, He stretched it out for settling, in response to those claiming it was round like a ball" ³⁰ . Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri (d. 1072): "And this verse is proof that the Earth is flat and not shaped like a sphere" ³¹ . Al-Qurtubi (d. 1273) likewise notes that "in this verse, there is an answer to those who claim that the Earth resembles a sphere" ³² .

Contemporary positions

We have seen that the medieval period was marked by intense debates among Muslim scholars about the shape of the Earth. On one side, Greek astronomical works, enriched with new more detailed observations, clearly demonstrated that the Earth was round. But on the other side, the Quranic text, inheriting the ancient Mesopotamian tradition, describes a definitively flat Earth. The dichotomy between these two approaches – one based on science, the other on Quranic revelation – inevitably leads to a conflict that occasional attempts at harmonization have never fully resolved. Even today, the Muslim world is torn between different positions which we will now present.

The Quranic concordism

The first position, which can be clearly called concordist³³ , attempts to harmonize the Quran with modern science by proposing new interpretations. One of these suggests that the passages describing the Earth as a vast expanse do not actually refer to the planet itself but to the earth's surface. According to this reading, the Quranic Earth would indeed be round, with Allah merely smoothing its surface to make it habitable for humans. It is true that in the Arabic language, as in French, the word ard designates both the planet and the ground beneath our feet. This latter meaning is occasionally used in the Quran, for example in the following verse: "And He caused you to inherit their land, their dwellings, their goods, and also a land that you had not trodden" (33:27). However, most occurrences of the word ard associated with the idea of flatness are found in stories about creation. It is therefore more natural that the term refers here to the entire Earth as a planet rather than a portion of it.

Moreover, the assertion that the Earth's surface would be flat is a geometric misunderstanding: by definition, a spherical object has a curved surface. The impression that the Earth's surface is flat is due to its immense size compared to our observational scale: the horizon appears flat because our field of view is limited and cannot discern the Earth's curvature. However, when the horizon is clear, especially at sea, the Earth's curvature becomes visible in the distance. That is why ancient philosophers and astronomers relied on sailors' observations to prove the Earth's sphericity (for example, referring back to Avicenna's commentary). Lastly, note that about a quarter of the Earth's surface is composed of mountain ranges, which cannot be accurately described as "flat".

Another attempt at harmonization, popularized by preacher Zakir Naik, involves assigning an unusual meaning to the word daha: And as for the Earth, after that, He made it spread out [Quran 79:30] The Arabic word for extend here is "dahaha" which means an ostrich egg. The shape of an ostrich egg resembles the geodesic form of the Earth. Thus, the Quran correctly describes the Earth's shape, even though the notion at the time of revelation was that the Earth is flat. [...]³⁴ . This explanation is obviously absurd. Besides, the Earth does not really resemble an ostrich egg, which is oval and not round, daha is a verb – so it is impossible for its meaning to be "ostrich egg," which is a noun (the ha suffix indicates the Earth). All translators of the Quran have translated the verb as "extended" or "flattened," as seen in the main French versions:

⎯ Régis Blachère: "The Earth, after that, He extended it."

⎯ Denise Masson: "He then extended the Earth."

⎯ Muhammad Hamidullah: "And as for the Earth, moreover, He extended it."

⎯ Jacques Berque: "After that, the Earth was made flat."

The flat-earthers

Unlike concordist approaches, several contemporary Muslim theologians have supported the idea that the Earth is flat. Such was the case with the great Saudi Mufti ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn Baaz (d. 1999), who wrote in the first edition of his book Al-Adilla an-Naqliyya wa-l-Hissiyya `ala Imkân as-Sou’oud ila al-Kawâkib wa-’ala Jarayân ach-Chams wa-l-Qamar wa-Soukoun al-Ard published in 1976 that “the opinion that the sun is fixed and that the Earth is round is an abominable and hated opinion, the one who says that the Earth rotates and who denies the existence of the sun's movement is an apostate and has gone astray. He is invited to repent, otherwise the apostate infidel is killed and his properties are transferred into the treasury of Muslims”³⁵ . Due to the outrage caused by his book, Ibn Baaz was forced to backtrack, even denying he had made such statements. However, many overwhelming testimonies reveal the former Mufti’s true views. Syrian philosopher Sadek al-Azem stated in an interview with a Qatari newspaper: In his book published in 1985, Ibn Baaz completely rejected the idea that the Earth is round. He mentioned the issue based on the idea that the Earth is flat. He completely rejected the idea that the Earth orbits the sun. I have the book and you can verify what I say. And yes, the Earth does not orbit the sun, it is rather the sun that revolves around the Earth. It takes us back to ancient astronomy, to the pre-Copernican period. Of course, in this book, Ibn Baaz declares that anyone who says that the Earth is round and revolves around the sun are apostates. Anyway, it’s free to think what he wants. But the big problem is that not a single religious authority or academic institution in the Muslim world, from Al-Azhar to Al-Zaytouna, from Al-Qaradawi to Al-Turabi, including Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, and the departments of Islamic law, dared to tell Ibn Baaz how absurd his claims are in the name of Islam³⁶ . The Lebanese scholar Gibril Haddad, ranked among the five hundred most influential Muslims in the world³⁷ , also alluded similarly to the words of the great Mufti: "he claimed that the Earth was flat and resembled a disc and that the sun revolved around it" ³⁸ . In a debate on an Iraqi television channel, astronomer Fadhel al-Sa’d opposed physicist ‘Aboud Al-Taei, arguing: "A garden with a width equal to that of the sky and the earth" (57:21), attests that the Earth is flat. […] What I say is based on Quranic science. He (‘Aboud Al-Taei, ed) based his arguments on the kind of science I categorically reject, modern science taught in schools. This science is heretical innovation that has no confirmation in the Quran. No verse in the Quran indicates that the Earth is round or that it rotates. Everything not indicated in the Quran is false³⁹ . While al-Sa’d's analysis may seem baffling to the modern reader, it remains coherent from a Quranic perspective. Of course, if the planet has a width, it is rectangular and cannot be a globe with a diameter… In 2017, a doctoral student in environmental sciences caused a scandal in Tunisia by submitting a thesis claiming that the Earth is flat, immobile, and relatively young (13,500 years). Despite these scientific absurdities, the thesis was approved by the two reviewers to whom it was submitted. A copy leaked a few days later to the former president of the Tunisian Astronomical Society, who, after initially thinking it was a joke, made public the conclusions of the thesis on Facebook⁴⁰ .

A position of balance

Finally, some Muslim intellectuals have developed a unique perspective on the issue. Reformist theologian Mahmoud Mohamed Taha (d. 1985) argues that the Quran indeed describes the Earth as flat because it reflected the Arab perception of the time: The Quran intentionally avoided contradicting what sensory perception confirmed to its Arabic audience, as part of an intentional educational strategy involving what could be called a gradual cognitive approach. While the Quran advocated monotheism, Allah, according to Taha, did not consider it wise to overload the cognitive capacities of its recipients with a conception of the Earth's shape that would contradict their senses. Their sensory illusion was thus confirmed, with the aim of gradually dissipating it as they gained better knowledge through practice and improved worship⁴¹ . The Kurdish-born theologian Said Nursi (d. 1960) expressed a similar view in his Ishârât al-ʿjâz fî mazan al-ījâz, arguing that it would be contrary to divine wisdom to disturb the minds of the masses, for whom the idea of a round Earth would seem counterintuitive⁴² .