Speed of Light in the Quran

[Ibrahim Al Copti]

Speed of Light in the Quran?
by Ali Sina

04 Mar 2008

Muslims are hard at work trying to find miracles in the Qur'an and each day they "find" something new. They gloat about it and pump themselves, spread the glad tiding across the Internet, publish it in their newspapers, and challenge others to disprove that miracle, until someone shows their error and deflates them like a punctured balloon. This does not stop them. Since they are eager to find miracles, and since there is no end to human gullibility, especially when you want to believe, they find a new miracle miracle every day.

The Claim

Today I received a request to clarify the claim that the Qur'an has disclosed the speed of light more than a thousand years before it was calculated by scientists.

In an article published in Islamicity.com Dr. Mansour Hassab-Elnaby claims the verse 32.5 reveals that light in one day travels a distance equal to 12,000 lunar orbits, and upon calculating that distance we find the exact speed of light.

Here is that verse translated by Shakir: “He regulates the affair from the heaven to the earth; then shall it ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count..”

According to Dr. Hassab-Elnaby, "affairs" mentioned in this verse is light. So this verse reveals that light can travel in one day the distance that will take the Moon, 1000 years to span.

It takes a Muslim's imagination to think this verse has anything to do with the speed of light. There is no mention of moon, light or even distance in this verse. However, let us agree with this assumed interpretation for now and see whether Dr. Hassab-Elnaby has his math right.

***

1- Wrong Calculation

The average center-to-center distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,403 km. The orbit of the Moon is nearly circulart. (That is why we see the Moon always with the same size)

This means that for the Moon to go a full circle around the Earth it must travel a distance of 2,415,273 km (Circumference of the lunar orbit = 2r π = 2 x 384,403 x 3.14159)

To orbit the earth 12,000 times the Moon must travel 28,983,278,898 km (2.415,273 x 12,000). This is how much the moon travels in 1000 lunar years.

Light travels at a constant speed of 299,792.458 km. per second

There are 86,400 seconds in one day (60x60x24)

In 24 hours, light travels a distance of 25,902,068,371 km (299,792.458 x 86,400).

These two numbers are not the same. They are not even close. There is a difference of 3,081,210,527 km (28,983,278,898 - 25,902,068,371) between the distance traveled by the Moon in 1000 lunar years and the distance traveled by light in one day.

This difference is over twenty times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. So clearly Dr. Hassab-Elnaby got it wrong. The two numbers do not match.

That is not all. There is a difference between lunar month (phases) and lunar orbit. The Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth every 27.3 days, (sidereal month) while the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system are responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days (synodic month). There is a difference of 2.2 days between the lunar month and the lunar orbit. (Wikipedia)

In one lunar years the Moon revolves around the Earth 12.967 times (29.5 x 12 / 27.3) and not 12 times as this Muslim has erroneously calculated. So the distance that the moon travels in 1000 lunar years is actually 32, 045,078,461 km (12,967 x 2,4715,273).

The difference between this distance and the distance traveled by light in one day is 6,143,010,090 km (32, 045,078,461 - 25,902,068,371). It would take light, another 5 hours 41 minutes to travel this extra distance.

Alternatively we can say that the Moon revolves around the Earth 10,724 times to cover the distance that the light travels in 24 hours. (Distance traveled by light in one day 25,902,068,371 km / The orbit of the Moon 2,415,273 km).

It takes only 827 lunar years for the Moon to go this distance and not 1000 lunar years. (10,724 revolutions of the Moon around the Earth x 27.3 days that takes for each revolution / 354 days that exist in each lunar year).

No matter how you look at it Dr. Hassab-Elnaby's calculations are wrong. The distance traveled by the Moon in 1000 years and the distance traveled by light in one day are NOT the same. He is off by nearly 25%.


***

2 - Wrong Interpretation

This is not his only error. The verse talks about the “affairs of God” being sent to Earth and then ascending to Him in one day, the length of which is 1000 years. How on Earth this educated slave of Allah has determined that "affairs" means light? The word used in Arabic is Amr. It means commandment, order, cause, and affair. This is an allusion to God’s religion and not light. Amrullah means the Cause of God. A more accurate translation of this verse is, God sends his Cause to Earth, which will return to Him, i.e. it will be revoked in one day, the length of which is equal to 1000 years.

This is how Sheikh Ahmad Ahsai (1753 -1826), founder of Shiite Sheikhieh school and his disciple Seyyed Kazim-i-Rashti (1792- 1843) interpreted this verse. They claimed Islam does no longer meet the needs of the time and since it does not allow reform, it must be abrogated. However, since no one can abrogate the word of God but God himself, this task rests on the shoulders of the awaited Mahdi, the Promised One of the Shiites. Ahsai and Rashti said the end of Islam and the appearance of Mahdi has already been foretold in the Hadith and the Qur'an, and verse 32:5 gives the exact date.

According to these eminent scholars, Amrullah, the cause of God, was completed when Hassan Askari, the last Shiite Imam died. He was the last intermediary between God and Mankind. Hassan Askari died in the lunar year 260 Hijra. Ahsai believed that since, according to the verse 32:5, one thousand years after the communication between God and mankind is interrupted the cause of God (Islam) would be revoked يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ , Mahdi should manifest himself in the year 1260 Hijra (1844 EC)

Seyyed Kazem Rashti died one year before the expected year. He, was so sure that Mahdi would manifest himself in the coming year that he did not appoint any successor. He dissolved the Sheikhieh school ordering his disciples to scatter around Persia to find him. It was in this atmosphere of expectation that the 26 year old Seyyed Ali Mohammad Bab claimed to be the Promised One. Thanks to his sincerity and Christ like innocence he attracted most of the students of Seyyed Kazem and in a short time the Babi movement became so popular that took the country by storm. The amazing success of the Babis in converting the Iranians was seen as a threat to the clergy who instigated the king to execute Bab. They started a brutal campaign of persecution of Babis and subsequently Bahais that has lasted till this day.

I do not want to be an apologist for Bab. I do not believe in Islam and do not think the Qur'an contains any prophecy. Anyone can interpret the Qur'an in anyway he pleases. I do not believe Bab was a messenger of God. According to this author, that young man suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, a mental condition that is characterized in his prolific, verbose, and incoherent writings. He certainly believed in his cause and refused to recant to save his life. Nonetheless, in all fairness, one can see that Ahsai and Rashti have given a much more logical interpretation to this verse than Dr. Hassab-Elnaby with his inane claim that the verse reveals the speed of light.

***

3 - Wrong Translation

Which part of this verse talks about light or its speed? Muhammad in this verse is saying that a day of Allah is 1000 years long. This is his way of saying Allah is big, everything about him is big, and even his days are big. Muhammad repeated the same thing in the verse 22.47 “Verily a day in the sight of thy Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning.” There is no mention of affairs going up and down, light or speed of light in this verse.

The length of the day is determined by how fast a planet revolves around its axis and it has nothing to do with the size of its inhabitants. All we can understand from this verse is that the creator of the world lives in a very slow revolving planet.

Just to show the absurdity and confusion in the Qur'an let us see the verse 70:4:

“The angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a Day the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years.”

This verse has a similar content of the verse 32:5, but here it says that the length of the day of God is 50,000 years. This is a clear contradiction. Is a day of God 1000 years or is it 50,000 years? Does it mean that it takes 50,000 years for angels and spirits to reach God? That is awfully slow. Then how could Angel Gabriel take Muhammad to heaven and back in one night? The Qur'an is replete with contradictions and absurdities. Muhammad had found a gullible audience who gobbled everything he told them uncritically. He never thought one day his words will be scrutinized and he lies will be exposed.

***

4 - Wrong Parameters

There is still more problem with this claim. The speed of light is constant while the rotation of the Earth, thanks to losing its kinetic energy, is slowing down. Therefore, the days of the Earth are becoming longer. Also the Moon is getting away from the Earth and its orbit is widening. To orbit the Earth, the Moon has to travel a little more each time. How can one measure something that is constant with things that are variable? The very notion of measuring the speed of light with the orbit of the Moon or the length of the day is a fallacy.

***

5 - Stolen Miracle

The funny thing is that even this comparison that the day of God is equal to 1000 years is plagiarized from the Bible and is not Muhammad's original idea.

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Psalm 90:4

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.2 Peter 3:8

When the Psalmist says a thousand years for God is like a watch in the night, he means God is timeless. In those days people used sundials that only worked in sunshine. This is a beautiful way to say time does not exist for God. This thousand years should be taken allegorically and not literally.

Peter understood that. He said with Lord not only a thousand years is like one day, also one day is like a thousand years. What that humble fisherman was saying is that Time is irrelevant for God. Compare that with the pathetic attempt of Muslim doctors and scholars who take this plagiarized allegory literally and try to find scientific equations in it.

Assuming there is a miracle in this allegory shouldn't the credit go to the Bible? Isn't it interesting that neither the Jews nor the Christians have made the claim that these verses reveal scientific information, but Muslims make that claim even though Muhammad has copied the idea form the Bible? What this tells us about the state of the mind of Muslims? Doesn't this show they are insecure and desperate to validate their illogical faith by clinging to any straw?

***

6 - Does the Qur'an distinguish synodic and sidereal months?

Dr. Mansour Hassab-Elnaby claims, "Quranic verse (10:5) discriminates between the synodic period for knowing the number of years and the real sidereal period for reckoning in scientific calculations." This is the verse in question:

It is He Who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light [wrong. Moon is not a source of light], and measured out stages for her; that ye might know the number of years and the count. 10:5

This verse in no ways discriminates between synodic and sidereal months. Dr. Hassab-Elnaby is engaging in wishful thinking.

***

7 - The Islamic Divine Comedy

In their quest to find miracles in the Qur'an, Muslims unwittingly make, not only Islam, but the entire Divine system look like a joke. Our good doctor says, "The verse begins with a reference to a certain "cosmic affair" which GOD creates and commands. This affair travels, permanently through the whole universe between the heavens and the Earth, so speedily that it crosses in ONE DAY a maximum distance in space equivalent to that which the moon passes during ONE THOUSAND LUNAR YEAR (i.e. during 12000 Sidereal months)."

"Affairs traveling permanently through the whole universe at speed of light?" Methinks the Doctor is talking about UFOs. Now, when it comes to the Universe, the speed of light is not really that fast. It is a very slow way for God to run his affairs. These "cosmic affairs" traveling at the speed of light take one full day to reach the Earth. If you are in peril, forget about asking Allah for help. By the time he send you his succor, a day is passed and that is often too late.

Consider yourself lucky because Allah is only one light day away from the Earth (I thought Muhammad said he is closer to us than our jugular vein). He lives just around the corner of our solar system. Think of other poor creatures that live hundreds or thousands light years away or those who live in galaxies that are millions or billions light years away from God. How can God run his affairs in those galaxies when the communication is so slow? For all intent and purposes, as far as those far away galaxies are concerned God does not exist. In his zeal to ascribe miracles to the prosaic book of Muhammad, Dr. Hassab-Elnaby throws out of the window the concept of omnipresence of God altogether. The maker of the Universe, according to this Muhammadan, depends on the speed of light to manage his affairs.

It is pathetic that in this day of science and enlightenment, a billion otherwise normal people, many of whom doctors and educated, should still follow an ignoramus of the seventh century and waste their time trying to find meaning and even miracles in his asinine balderdash. This should tell you everything you need to know about Muslim intelligentsia. The fact that Islamicity.com, arguably the most prestigious Islamic site has published this nonsense proves the intellectual bankruptcy of the ummah.

Islam is a joke. It is an irony that so many smart people have reduced themselves into jokers and laughing stocks for mankind. The more Muslims try to make Islam look logical and scientific the more ridiculous THEY look.

[Nefertisis]

Well I'm here again.......Thanks God, I want to say something important...why we as a Coptics, we still condem the Moslam people for this for that, why? If they have their own book, its fine let them alone...I know they don't like anybody non-Moslam, I include as and the Jews too.

really if we still condem them, tell me anyone of you...we will have salvation..? no I don't think so; really.. we are that we respect any human being and his or her believes..so why we still complaint with the Quran...I mean in the Quran, in the Torah, you can found that GOD is there..even in our Bible too (of course) but why we still make differences,? why?

I tell this to all who will read this post..nobody never thinks that will be nice, that all of us we can live in peace and harmony, Christians like us, Moslam & Jews?

I think the Man made the religions, but GOD is only ONE TRULY GOD, THE SAME GOD TO CHRISTIAN, MOSLAM AND JEWS.

So can someone explain me if this topic will be possible one day? I know all of you will think about me as usuall that I'm but its not like that.

I only want we can live in Peace, with the anothers groups of human beings, doesn't matte the color, or the language...so please think about it.


I'm tired of all these Tread about the Moslam this, or that.....so tell me anyway if someone answer this: Will someone criticize the Jews, here in Coptic.Com? because they aren't Copts like us,so there are not perfects at all.

What happend my people? anyway I'm not Moslam, I was born in Christianity and I will die in Christ too, but anyway doesn't think here that this eternal fight between Moslam-Copts...........and etc, etc

Make upset to our LORD JESUS? I mean nobody think here that we each other we are destroy our own life for differences that there are not important?
But the only important for the 3 majors religions on the world...no one can denied the HOLY POWER oF GOD...in the 3 books, The HOLY BIBLE, THE HOLY QURAN, AND THE HOLY TORAH...so please think about my friends.

Thanks

NEfertisis

Please If someone can replay tell me if you like it..



Blessings

I need answers, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,

Thans

[Ibrahim Al Copti]

Dear Nefertisis
you really need to check your beliefs again

if we still condem them

Did we?

we respect any human being and his or her believes

we respect humans and criticize demonic beliefs
specially if these beliefs are accusing and attacking ours

why we still make differences

because they are different beliefs from the start

GOD is only ONE TRULY GOD, THE SAME GOD TO CHRISTIAN, MOSLAM AND JEWS

This is a myth my dear
Allah of Islam is definitely not our God almighty Jehovah

I only want we can live in Peace, with the anothers groups of human beings

You will find peace only in Him, the Prince of Peace

Isa 9:6 For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

On the other hand you need to solve the problem of intolerance in the Quran not with us

Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection. (AL-TAWBA verse 29)
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/009.qmt.html

God bless

[Faith-Hope_Love]

Ibrahim el Copti, Thanks very much for this topic. Great work.
May our Lord bless you and keep you.

Keep up the good work.