Thursday 8 December 2016

Interpretation of verse; "Stars are missile shots at devils"


Stars are missile shots at devils,Response;
This is what wikiIslams author says
The Qur'an says that stars (kawakib ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ) / lamps (masabih مَصَٰبِيحَ) adorn the heavens and guard against devils.
The author of the Qur'an does not seem to know the difference between stars (giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth) and meteors which are small rocky masses of debris which brighten up after entering the earth's atmosphere. Many ancient people confused the two, as meteors look like stars that are streaking across the sky; this is why there were often called shooting stars or falling stars. In the following verse, the Qur'an claims that Allah uses stars as missiles to ward away devils. This repeats a common Arab myth at the time the Qur'an was first recited.
We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars, (For beauty) and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, (So) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted Assembly but be cast away from every side, Repulsed, for they are under a perpetual penalty,Save him who snatcheth a fragment, Except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness.
Qur'an 37:6-10
The same Arabic words are used at the start of verse 67:5 as in 37.6 (زَيَّنَّا ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا), except the stars are described as lamps. Clearly the lamps that 'beautify the heaven' refer to stars (and perhaps also the 5 visible planets), which are always there. Meteors are generally not much larger than grains of sand and are only visible for a second when they burn up, generating light in the Earth's atmosphere after millions of years in darkness, but the author of the Qur'an believes that meteors (the 'missiles') are a kind of star.
And verily We have beautified the world's heaven with lamps, and We have made them missiles for the devils, and for them We have prepared the doom of flame.
Qur'an 67:5

In Sahih Muslim we have a hadith confirming that the pursuing flames / missiles in the two verses refer to what we would call meteors which they saw shooting across the sky.
'Abdullah. Ibn 'Abbas reported: A person from the Ansar who was amongst the Companions of Allah's Messenger (pbuh reported to me: As we were sitting during the night with Allah's Messenger (pbuh), a meteor shot gave a dazzling light. Allah's Messenger (pbuh) said: What did you say in the pre-Islamic days when there was such a shot (of meteor)? They said: Allah and His Messenger know best (the actual position), but we, however, used to say that that very night a great man had been born and a great man had died, whereupon Allah's Messenger pbuh) said: (These meteors) are shot neither at the death of anyone nor on the birth of anyone. Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, issues Command when He decides to do a thing. Then (the Angels) supporting the Throne sing His glory, then sing the dwellers of heaven who are near to them until this glory of God reaches them who are in the heaven of this world. Then those who are near the supporters of the Throne ask these supporters of the Throne: What your Lord has said? And they accordingly inform them what He says. Then the dwellers of heaven seek information from them until this information reaches the heaven of the world. In this process of transmission (the jinn snatches) what he manages to overhear and he carries it to his friends. And when the Angels see the jinn they attack them with meteors. If they narrate only which they manage to snatch that is correct but they alloy it with lies and make additions to it.
REPLY

The first line by the wikiIslam,s author is wrong.He said that Kwakib and Masabeh both mean star which is a wrong thing. kwakib means star it is right but masabih also means star is not right. Masabih means lamps and it is used metaphorically because there is no meaning of misbah as star. Many of Muslim interpreters new and old ones have written in their tafsirs that the meaning of this verse is beyond their knowledge and knowledge of their time See Tafsir Jalalain, Tafseer roh ul Maani Tafseer e Namoona . They did not know about meteors so they translated as stars. Now look at the metaphor beautifully manifested. Misbah is chiragh if we look at its manufacturing it is made of stone ( which is mud dried and hardened) and have a flame on one end.If we through the chiragh like the motion of meteors ,it will provide the same scene.Hence Masabih was a metaphor which could not be understood by the interpreters and people of that time so they took stars from them. The verses 37- 6-10 does not have any demor. The only proof by them is the hadith of Sahih Muslim which does not discusses the meaning of Misbah in that verse but it is a conversation between Holy Prophet SAW and some non Muslims . The words used are shooting stars .As we have already discussed in the section about verse regarding Hazrat Abraham As that Prophets always talk in the language of people talking with them. So he used the word shooting star. There is no reason to translate the word Misbah as star but one have to translate according to his knowledge and knowledge of his time.


20 comments :

  1. I have a doubt; does Misbah mean chiragh? Doesn't misbah mean lamp? What about kawaakib? Does kawaakib mean star? But stars are Nujoom. What does Kawaakib mean?

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  2. Chiragh is translated here in English as 'lamp'. In dictionary both Kawaakib and Najam are broadly translated as 'stars', however a difference defined in books is that kawaakib are stars with no light of their own i.e. planets while najam are stars with their own lights i.e. true stars.

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  3. There's two different subjects being mentioned in the Qur'an, One is about the Heavenly Council of Angels; the Jinn Spirits traveling to this Council like in Job when Satan goes to God asking if he can Tempt Job, this was the Heavenly Council as you can see Satan one of the Jinn was allowed to enter this Council with other Spirits, the people Arabs; Jews Christians Pagans were aware of this Council; Spirits being allowed at this Council gathering information revelation to be a test lying Spirit just like in The Bible, they would give information prophecies to Humanity, the Unbelievers told Muhammad your being given this information knowledge from a Spirit Satan from the Council Heavens, Allah closed off the Heavens guarding them with Angels having Bright Scorching Flame protecting the Revelation, explaining Muhammad was receiving his Revelation from Gabriel, this was the context of Muhammad's Revelation not being from Jinn, because Allah was guarding the Heavens with Angels, so this was the Flames waiting for the Jinn, Muhammad mentioned this in the hadith above, this isn't about the verses that deal with Astrologers; Allah creating in the lowest Heaven Lamps Planetary Systems that Astrologers use to guess the future prophecies noble births, these verses aren't speaking about Stars being projectiles against the corrupted or devils, but Lamps being placed in the Heavens as guesses for the unbelievers corrupted Astrologers conjecture as a test.

    Asad

    And, indeed, We have adorned the skies nearest to the earth with lights, 4 and have made them the object of futile guesses for the evil ones [from among men]: 5 and for them have We readied suffering through a blazing flame

    Amatul Rahman Omar

    We have, certainly, adorned the lowest heaven with (stars-like) lamps and We have made them as means of conjecture for the evil ones (and the astrologers who invent good or bad omens from the movement of the stars). (Remember) We have prepared for these (soothesayers) the punishment of the blazing Fire.

    Quran (37:8) (So) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted Assembly but be cast away from every side,

    They are driven away, there's no Stars being thrown at these rebellious devils.

    Quran (37:9) and are repelled. Theirs is an unceasing chastisement.

    If they snatch information Angels throw Bright Flames at these devils rebellious Spirits, there's no Stars being thrown at these devils.

    Quran (37:10) And if any is able to snatch a fragment, he is pursued by a piercing flame.

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    1. Actually with further study Muhammad said shooting stars are thrown at devils according to the hadith, this isn't remotely even scientifically possible, shooting stars are a natural phenomenon, having nothing to do with chasing off spiritual beings, so the Qur'an is wrong.

      Muhammad was probably mixing Arabs belief with Judaism; Christianity,telling stories from apocryphal writings being mixed with the Arabs belief superstitions; history, Muhammad was trying to save his people from Idolatry he wasn't trying to deceive anybody; some Jews have no problems with Islam; claim Muslims have salvation because they worship One God; observe the Noahide laws, they probably believe the Jews in Arabia taught the Arabs Judaism trying to save them, but since shooting stars obviously isn't weapons against devils the Qur'an has errors, unless someone can convince me with actual logical evidence this is the only logical understanding, plus there's other problems with the Qur'an stories.

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    2. As it is clearly stated that, the hadith and the ayah quoted by the opponents refer to Shihab e Saqib and not the stars and Shihab e Saqib are meteors which are metaphorically referred as 'the shooting stars'. Both the quran and hadith say that these meteors are shot at the devils who try to listen to the what's going on in higher heavens. It is not against the science, science neither proves it nor disproves it. It is the thing which simply lies outside the scope of Science at least for now. Plus Muhammad PBUH did not copy any one, he told the people what was revealed from Allah. Islam has whole the truth and there are no errors in Quran and Islam.

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    3. Wrong the Qur'an clearly describes what Muhammad thought about shooting stars; their function, Muhammad said when Allah created our world, he placed lamps in the lowest heaven as decorations; as a guard, so these nighttime lamps, lights we see in the nighttime sky are placed there as a guard against the devils; Angels snatch these lamps throwing these lamps at devils who are trying to escape our Globe to gather secrets from this council of Angels, who are passing information to the Angels on Earth, so Muhammad thought the nighttime MilkyWay of Stars & Planets are decorations; weapons against devils ? Muhammad is 100% wrong because shooting stars are only dust rocks entering our atmosphere then burning up; if Muhammad got this wrong because of myths Jewish teachings from their mistakes; God didn't explain these false superstitions then Muhammad can't be a prophet from God because he can't get this wrong; the only way to fix this problem is to twist the interpretations; ignore the prophet, then claim some other outrageous illogical claims like Sunburst, Muhammad can't make this mistake.

      So Angels are surrounding the Globe throwing meteors at Jinn who are trying to leave our atmosphere to steal information from the heavily council of Angels ?

      This can't be true because the sky would be filled with these shooting stars Angels battling Jinn, this is the Arabs superstitious coming from other nations, that shouldn't be in the Qur'an, Allah should've explained this like the Scientists know for a fact what shooting stars are just dust debris rocks from Space, there's nothing else to discuss, Muhammad was wrong.

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    4. Do you know Arabic? Who asked you to put your words in our mouth? You are going too literal to prove us wrong. It's eloquent Arabic lingustics and not a simple is am are style English. So, next time don't try to impose your false opinion on us.
      The verse you are quoting says that ''We have decorated the first sky with lamps, and they are missile shots at devils'', now pay attention THOSE lamps which are missile shots are 'Shihab e Saqib'i.e. meteors (which are commonly referred to as shooting stars) [this is what is mentioned in that Hadees quoted above too], there is no scientific wrong in it. Meteors fall, they look like lamps, the look like firing missiles. Now coming to the second part, you first need to explain what are devils and what are angels, only then you can comment on whether this burning dust or debris is of use against devils or not? Prophet Muhammad PBUH never copied anything from any one, He was a true messenger of God.
      How can you say that sky would be filled with shooting stars with this battle? Do you think its like a battle between humans? first explain the nature of Jinns and Angels, how many devils try to cross and pass information etc. then we can pay heed to this illogical argument.

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    5. The Qur'an says Allah has decorated the Heavens with the Stars, meteors are not lowest heaven lamps decorations that's visible that is what a decorations are, visible lamps but meteors are only dust or the size of rocks burning up in the atmosphere these are not decorations the decorations the Qur'an is speaking about are visible Stars in the nighttime sky; not leftover dust particles burning up in out atmosphere, so Muhammad thought that shooting Stars were actually Stars being thrown at Jinn, even Ibn Abbas believed this because this was the understanding of shooting Stars they were placed in the sky within our Earths atmosphere as decorations for us and weapons that Angels could grab and throw at Jinn, that's why the sky is full of these decorations lamps.


      So the Qur'an says Allah decorated made visible in the raised sky nearest to us lights meteors are not lights and he's made them the lights as weapons to throw at devils Jinn, you can't get around this scientific mistake because Stars have nothing to do with Shooting Stars nor meteors absolutely nothing neither does planets, shooting stars are only space dust and small rocks the size of a fist they are just a natural phenomenon and that's all they are not Stars, so Muhammad's revelation isn't from God, because he didn't know the simple science about shooting stars but made up some fantastic fantasy about Angels protecting his revelation from devils trying to fly out of our atmosphere but Allah stopped this by placing Stars nearest to us in the sky close not millions billions of light years away but close and Angels grab these Stars and throw them at devils Jinn, this is WRONG, so Islam is just Judaism mixed with other faiths and the Qur'an is based off Jewish legends and Arabs belief taboos like Magic Imaginary Jinn and other beliefs, even Ibn Abass confirms this and according to hadith's Muhammad asked Allah to bless him with the knowledge of the Qur'an and it's correct interpretations, the Arabic can't help you because the science is wrong and goes against science.


      Ahmad Ali
      We have adorned the lowest sky with lamps, and made them missiles against the devils, for whom We have prepared a torment of most intense fire.

      walaqad emphatic prefix And certainly, zayyannā Adorned, decorated, ornamented Handsome, beautiful, fine We, have beautified, l-samāa the heaven, a. Heaven, sky something raised high our sky, l-dun'yā nearest, Was near, drew near, approached, bimaṣābīḥa with lamps, Light:lamp;lantern; torch. wajaʿalnāhā and We have made them perfect first person plural verb, them plural perfect tense meaning it's still happening plural them, Made; made to be, rendered, rujūman (as) missiles Threw stones at, pelted; stoned, lilshayāṭīni for the devils, as implied in the context, a devil; or one excessively, or inordinately, proud or corrupt or unbelieving or rebellious,



      67.5 Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
      (And verily We have beatified the world's heaven) the first heaven (with lamps) with stars, (and We have made them) i.e. the stars (missiles for the devils) such that some of them become bewitched, some are killed while others are burnt, (and for them) for the devils (We have prepared) in the Hereafter (the doom of flame.

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    7. Why are you deleting his comments Imtiaz Bashir?

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  6. Born Muslim, stout follower. Was reading the Quran with English translations where i came upon these verses. So far they make no sense to me and I am doing my own reasearch on it. Must say this has shaken my trust in the Quran somewhat, but not my faith in Muhammad. But, instead of being blind to this fact, we should probe more and get to the bottom of it. Thank you for your objective comments Dale, will look into it further

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    1. Still working on it, gone on a ride, will be posting soon, hopefully a week from now

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  7. The Quran, A Book We Muslims believe to be revealed by God to Muhammad through which God addresses humankind that have existed from the Time of Adam and will exist till the End of Times.
    A Book with such an assertion should:
    1. Give Evidence of its Declaration.
    2. Hold True for all the statements put forth by it

    As such it should be concurrent with the Established Facts of all sciences. And even if The Theory of Evolution, Theory of Relativity and other Scientific Theories ever become established Facts, everything stated in the Quran should be in tandem with these doctrines.
    Thus, for anyone believing or not, it is imperative to look at this Book from a critical view point to determine whether this is in actuality, the Word of God sent to Muhammad.
    I am writing this reply not to state my findings and opinion trying to debunk the verses in relation to the verses in question.

    For if what is stated means that “Shooting Stars are Missiles used to Fire at Devils(Jinns)”, that alone would be a mis-statement. We know shooting stars are space dust and tiny rocks entering the earths atmosphere and they only become ablaze as they enter the earth. By this logic, this would render the statement in the Quran untrue and hence conclude that Quran could not be the Word of God.
    I am no scholar, neither have I gone through the whole Quran. The research that I have conducted is basic from sources available on the internet and I am only stating my understanding of these verses by looking at the definition and the topic being discussed at various places in the Quran. Please feel free to question or add to my knowledge if I have erred.
    The Quran states about Stars in this context in the following verses:

    37: 1-10
    Surah: The Ranged Ones
    Source: al-quran.info
    Translation:
    (1) By the [angels] ranged in ranks, (2) by the ones who drive vigorously (3) by the ones who recite the reminder (4) indeed your God is certainly One (5) the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and the Lord of the easts (6) Indeed We have adorned the lowest heaven with the finery of the stars (7) and to guard from any froward devil (8) They do not eavesdrop on the Supernal Elite but are shot at from every side,(9) to drive them away, and for them there is a constant mortification,(10) except him who snatches a snatch, whereat there pursues him a piercing flame

    72:1-12
    Surah : The JINN
    Source: al-quran.info
    Translation:
    (1) Say, ‘It has been revealed to me that a team of the jinn listened [to the Qurʾān].’and they said, “Indeed we heard a wonderful qurʾān, (2) which guides to rectitude. Hence we have believed in it and we will never ascribe any partner to our Lord. (3) Exalted be the majesty of our Lord, He has taken neither any spouse nor son (4) Indeed the foolish ones among us used to utter atrocious lies concerning Allah. (5) Indeed we thought that humans and jinn would never utter any falsehood concerning Allah. (6) Indeed some persons from the humans would seek the protection of some persons from the jinn, thus only adding to their rebellion. (7) They1 thought, just as you think, that Allah will not raise anyone from the dead. (8) Indeed We made for the heaven and found it full of mighty sentries and flames (9) We used to sit in its positions to eavesdrop, but anyone listening now finds a flame waiting for him (10) We do not know whether ill is intended for those who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intends good for them


    67: 5
    Surah: The Sovereignty
    Source: Al-quran.info
    Translation:

    We have certainly adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and made them missiles against the devils, and We have prepared for them punishment of the Blaze.

    Other Translations of the Same Ayah
    https://www.alim.org/quran/compare/surah/67/5

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  8. Meaning of Shihab un Saqib
    For the Passages of Surah Saffat and Surah Jinn, the object that chases the Eavesdropping Jinn is Shihab un Saqib. The word Shihab in Arabic means flame or a blaze, not shooting star and most authentic translations mention the term as ‘piercing flame or flare’.
    https://www.alim.org/quran/compare/surah/37/10
    https://www.bing.com/search?q=meaning+of+shihab+in+arabic&qs=NWB&pq=meaning+of+shihab+in+a&sc=8-22&cvid=B6032ACAAB514E2E9CE13AAA1A1D17F0&FORM=QBRE&sp=1

    So to answer the question about whether the Quran is stating that the Jinn are being shot at by a shooting star, it is not, its being shot at by a blaze, a flare coming out of the Stars.

    The Blaze
    Assumption: The Piercing Flame being talked about is more likely to be a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) or a strong Solar Flare rather than a shooting Star

    Wikipedia describes a CME as a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the Sun's corona into the solar wind. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted theoretical understanding of these relationships has not been established A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. CMEs are sometimes associated with flares but can occur independently.

    The Jinn
    One of a class of spirits that according to Muslim demonology inhabit the earth, assume various forms, and exercise supernatural power
    Adopted from an Arabic word for demon (usually represented in our alphabet as jinnī), this word is spelled a variety of ways in English-including genie, a spelling that comes from the same Arabic word but by way of French. All of those variant spellings are used to describe a supernatural spirit from Arabic mythology that is made of fire or air and can assume human or animal form.
    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jinn

    15:26-27
    AND, INDEED, We have created man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted. whereas the invisible beings We had created, [long] before that, out of the fire of scorching winds (or smokeless fire).
    https://www.alim.org/quran/compare/surah/15/27

    There’s plenty of reading material pertaining to Jinns available on the internet of which I found this link to be most descriptive and accurate of our understanding of Jinns.
    https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1268&context=jams

    Satan in Islam is categorized as a high-ranking Jinn, so if one believes that Satan exists, then by default one believes Jinns exist.

    Gases like Methane burn without smoke. One of the most common compounds found in those Gases is Hydrogen which also burns without smoke. If I was to guess I would say that it could be one of the major elements in composition of Jinn. Pure hydrogen burns in oxygen to generate water and there is no way the normal things that make up smoke can be created.

    So if I were to say that the blaze or the piercing flame being talked about is the Solar Flare and Jinns may be composed of Hydrogen then this article below supports the theory:
    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081215121609.htm

    Sun Being Part of the Lower Heaven
    We know that the Solar System is part of the Milky Way Galaxy which is one of billions of galaxies in the universe so for the Quran to imply that the current stars and the Solar System forms the lower heaven is remarkably closer to our findings about the size of the Universe and our position in it.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At7ORzmAaT4

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  9. Conclusion:
    To say that the Quran is inaccurate on account of it meaning to say that shooting stars are used to disperse the Jinns would be incorrect as quite evidently it does not mean to say that. The word is blaze/flame/flare not shooting stars.

    On the contrary, if it does mean to point out that the Shihabs are CMEs or Solar Flares and if that can be concretely established, then for a desert dweller to make that assertion 1400 years ago is mind-bending.
    There is no mention in history that Muhammad ever had a teacher or a mentor other than his Uncle Abu Talib. The dwellers of Muhammad’s city at the time he pronounced divine revelation were more obstinate, incredulous and antagonistic than any other people who have lived ever since, yet he was able to overcome them. The main reasons was by demonstrating patience, endurance, exemplary morals of conduct and kindness.

    He was known to be one of the most honest and truthful individuals in Mecca before he claimed divine revelation at 40 years of age. Its hard for me to believe that he fabricated 30 Volumes of a Book that has excelled in linguistics, philosophy, prophesies, laws and stood the test of time.

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    1. Assalam o Alaikum
      You have done a great research on the topic with quite satisfactory answers. JazakAllah
      If you allow, can I copy it with your name on this blog.

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