Salaam alaikum to my Muslim friends and fellow posters. I am wondering what are your thoughts on the hadith below.
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) one day said:
Do you know where the sun goes? They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out from its rising place and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything ( unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.
http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306
The sun is described as "gliding" to a place of rest under God's throne, where it prostrates and remains in a certain place until it is told to rise and go to it's "rising place", from where it emerges and glides until it reaches its place of rest under God's throne, then it is told to rise, goes to its rising place, and continues doing this until on day God will tell it to emerge from its place of setting.
This teaching, if I understand correctly, was given to Abu Darr when he and Muhammad were at a mosque and they observed the sun setting, and Muhammad asked him if he knows where the sun "goes".
Narrated Abu Dharr:
I entered the mosque while Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was sitting there. When the sun had set, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O Abu Dharr! Do you know where this (sun) goes?" I said, "Allah and His Apostle know best." He said, "It goes and asks permission to prostrate, and it is allowed, and (one day) it, as if being ordered to return whence it came, then it will rise from the west." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) recited, "That: "And the sun runs on its fixed course (for a term decreed)," (36.38) as it is recited by `Abdullah.
http://sunnah.com/bukhari/97/52
Some questions I have.
- Why did Muhammad state that the sun has "a rising place", when there is no such thing? We know that it is the earth that goes around the sun, and what we refer to as "sunrise" and "sunset" have nothing to do with the movement of the sun and there is no "place" that the sun goes to in order to rise or set.
- If one of the signs of the end of the world is dependent on the sun doing something that it is incapable of (emerging from the "place of its setting"- a location that does not exist, given that the sun does not really "rise" or "set" from any place), what does this say about this particular prophecy?
I hope I am not being offensive or rude, but if anyone would like to discuss or debate or challenge me on what I have written and provide your input, I would be very interested. Take care and God bless.
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) one day said:
Do you know where the sun goes? They replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Verily it (the sun) glides till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it falls prostrate and remains there until it is asked: Rise up and go to the place whence you came, and it goes back and continues emerging out from its rising place and then glides till it reaches its place of rest under the Throne and falls prostrate and remains in that state until it is asked: Rise up and return to the place whence you came, and it returns and emerges out from it rising place and the it glides (in such a normal way) that the people do not discern anything ( unusual in it) till it reaches its resting place under the Throne. Then it would be said to it: Rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said. Do you know when it would happen? It would happen at the time when faith will not benefit one who has not previously believed or has derived no good from the faith.
http://sunnah.com/muslim/1/306
The sun is described as "gliding" to a place of rest under God's throne, where it prostrates and remains in a certain place until it is told to rise and go to it's "rising place", from where it emerges and glides until it reaches its place of rest under God's throne, then it is told to rise, goes to its rising place, and continues doing this until on day God will tell it to emerge from its place of setting.
This teaching, if I understand correctly, was given to Abu Darr when he and Muhammad were at a mosque and they observed the sun setting, and Muhammad asked him if he knows where the sun "goes".
Narrated Abu Dharr:
I entered the mosque while Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was sitting there. When the sun had set, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O Abu Dharr! Do you know where this (sun) goes?" I said, "Allah and His Apostle know best." He said, "It goes and asks permission to prostrate, and it is allowed, and (one day) it, as if being ordered to return whence it came, then it will rise from the west." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) recited, "That: "And the sun runs on its fixed course (for a term decreed)," (36.38) as it is recited by `Abdullah.
http://sunnah.com/bukhari/97/52
Some questions I have.
- Why did Muhammad state that the sun has "a rising place", when there is no such thing? We know that it is the earth that goes around the sun, and what we refer to as "sunrise" and "sunset" have nothing to do with the movement of the sun and there is no "place" that the sun goes to in order to rise or set.
- If one of the signs of the end of the world is dependent on the sun doing something that it is incapable of (emerging from the "place of its setting"- a location that does not exist, given that the sun does not really "rise" or "set" from any place), what does this say about this particular prophecy?
I hope I am not being offensive or rude, but if anyone would like to discuss or debate or challenge me on what I have written and provide your input, I would be very interested. Take care and God bless.
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