The Flat Earth Koran

01 of 13 Introduction

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 1

An interpretation of the Cosmology of
the Koran & a critique of Islamic
Fundamentalism

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 2

 Introduction
1. Are you fed up hearing Islamic Fundamentalists proclaiming how
wonderful their Religion is supposed to be and why the whole
World should embrace Islam?

2. Are you also fed up with Islamic Fundamentalists talking

nonsense about the Koran supposedly being free from error?

3. Have you heard claims that the Koran contains Scientific

Miracles that prove its divine origin?

4. If so, then read on.I shall attempt to falsify Islam by showing that
the Koran assumes that the Earth is Flat and immobile at the
centre of the Universe. A book written by God would never
contain such beliefs.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 3

 Islamophobia?
1. When anyone criticises any aspect of Islam, some people are likely to
say that it is wrong to criticise any Religion.
2. Some may complain that criticism is “Islamophobia” or even
Racism.Is criticism of Christianity “Christophobia?”
3. But this is just an authoritarian attempt at censorship by people with
extreme religious or political views.
4. Many Muslims routinely criticise followers of other religions for
supposedly being in error. The Koran itself strongly criticises non-
Muslims, especially Jews and Christians.
5. Labelling criticism of Islam as as Islamophobia is like saying that
anyone who criticises Barrack Obama is a racist or that anyone who
does not agree with the policies of Israel is anti-Semitic and a Nazi.
6. Furthermore, the Koran challenges its readers to find any flaws in
it.Therefore criticising Islam is actually encouraged by Islam.Muslims
who do not like criticism of Islam are acting contrary to their own
religion. (Surah 4:82)

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 4

 The Challenge of the Koran

“Will they not ponder the Qur'an? If it had been

from other than Allah, they would have found
many inconsistencies in it.”
(Surah 4:82)

These Presentations will seek it inconsistencies and errors

and attempt to demonstrate that the Koran is a flawed human
creation and not from Allah or any supernatural source.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 5

 This picture contradicts the Koran

Nowhere in the Koran

is there any reference
to the Earth being a
Sphere.

On the contrary, many

verses of the Koran
imply that the Earth is
Flat.

These verses are the

subject of these
Presentations.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 6

 Earth orbiting Sun not in Koran

Nowhere in the Koran

is there any reference
to the Earth orbiting
the Sun.

In fact, the Koran says

that the Sun orbits the
Earth just as the Moon
does. (Surah 21:33)

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 7

 Divine Revelation & the Koran.
1. Many Religious Scriptures such as the Bible are believed by
many to have been Divinely inspired.
2. The Islamic Fundamentalist view of Divine Inspiration is very
strict compared with Judeo-Christian ideas of Divine Inspiration.
3. Islamic Fundamentalists deny that Mohammed is the author of
the Koran.They say that he just recited what he was told to say.
4. God or Allah, is said to have created the Koran in Heaven long
ago before the Bible or other Scriptures were written.
5. Mohammed is said to have been given the words of this
Heavenly Koran by the Angel Gabriel and it is believed that he
recited it in many instalments over many years to scribes who
wrote the first Earthly Koran in the early C7th AD in Arabia.
6. It follows from this belief that the Koran must be perfect and
infallible in every way since its presumed author is perfect and
infallible.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 8

 Birth of Mohammed

Left:The birth of
Mohammed in Mecca,
Arabia in AD 570.

Contrary to popular
belief & the claims of
some Islamic
Fundamentalists,
There is no universal
prohibition in Islam
on depictions of the
human form including
images of Mohammed

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 9

 Mohammed meets the Angel Gabriel

Left: In the year

AD 610
Mohammed is said
to have met the
Angel Gabriel who
revealed the 1st of
114 Surahs or
Chapters of the
Koran. The Koran
actually says that
Angels have wings.
(Surah 35:1)

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 10

 Mohammed teaching his Disciples

Soon after his

Religious Experience,
Mohammed began to
preach Islam to a
small group of
followers as shown
in this traditional
Islamic picture.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 11

 Mohammed
ascends to
Heaven

Left: In the year AD 620

Mohammed is said to
have been taken to
Jerusalem by Gabriel
on the back of a magical
creature called Buraq.
He is then said to have
then ascended into Heaven.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 12

Mohammed meets Biblical characters
in Heaven

While in Heaven
Mohammed is
said to have
met Adam,
Jesus, Moses,
Enoch, Abraham
and the
other prophets
of Islam

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 13

 Mohammed flees Mecca (The Hijra)

In AD 622
Mohammed
was forced
to flee from
Mecca by
his enemies
& he sought
refuge in the
City of
Medina.

This is the starting point for the Islamic Calendar.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 14

Mohammed preaching to followers in
Medina

Left: While in Medina,

Mohammed gained a lot
of followers and became the
leader of the City.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 15

Mohammed returns to Mecca in triumph.
In Medina
Mohammed
gained many
followers.

War ensued
between
Mecca
& Medina.

In 630 AD
Mohammed
conquered
Mecca.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 16

 Death of Mohammed
Left: The death of
Mohammed in AD 632
while in Medina

Azrail (or Malik)

the Angel of death arrives
in order to carry the
Prophets soul to Heaven.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 17

 Mohammed in
Islamic Heaven

Left: Mohammed up in
Heaven after his death with
various Angels.

Some Islamic artists depict

Mohammed, but with his face
hidden as shown here.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 18

Modern Iranian picture of Mohammed.
Many Muslims argue that the Koran
does not explicitly forbid pictures
of Mohammed.

This picture and others like it are

openly on sale in Iran with approval
from religious authorities.

Muslims in Iran, Turkey and Central

Asia do not have any problem with
images of the Prophet.

The caption reads “There is no God

but Allah & Mohammed is his
Prophet.”
8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 19
 Angry Muslims protesting about
Danish cartoons.

Many modern
Sunni Muslims
do not like to
see pictures of
Mohammed
though – even
when they are
drawn by other
Muslims

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 20

 Islamic Fundamentalist Hypocrisy

Such attitudes are

hypocritical since many
Muslims will not hesitate
to produce cartoons
attacking other religious
groups such as Jews.

http://somebodyhelpme.info/cartoons/anti-Semitic/anti-Semitic.html

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 21

 Mohammed's successors conquer
Middle East
Left: By AD 750
the Muslims had
conquered a
huge Empire.

This began the

500 years of
the Golden Age
of Islam in which
Science and
Learning
prospered

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 22

 Islam Today

Today Islam is the 2nd largest Religion in the World with perhaps
1.5 Billion followers. (Christianity is thought to have about 2.2 Billion
followers.)

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 23

 Koran Science
Some people have claimed that
there is hidden Scientific knowledge
in the Koran that proves its divine
origin.

Many books and articles have

been written on this subject.

In fact, the Koran, like the Bible

presumes a Flat Earth. There are
no explicit statements on the shape
of the Earth, since everyone “knew”
what shape it was. Instead, there
are many statements that imply or
assume a Flat Earth in the Koran.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 24

 Koran Science

In reality, “Koran Science” is an oxymoron. The arguments used are

spurious and I shall examine them in detail in Presentation 10 of 11
in this series.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 25

 Definition of Islamic Fundamentalism
• The belief that the Koran is divinely inspired, of
supernatural origin and not a human creation.
• The belief that the Koran is literally true in all instances
and inerrant on absolutely all matters.
• The belief that the Islamic Fundamentalist
interpretation of the Koran is the only acceptable one.
• The belief that non-Fundamentalists are enemies of
God, either knowingly or unknowingly.
• The belief that the whole World should be a Theocracy
based on the Fundamentalists interpretation of the
Koran and related traditions.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 26

 According to the Koran
1. The Earth is Flat, Circular & sits in a Cosmic Ocean.

2. The Sky is solid & held up by Pillars.

3. Heaven is a place up in the Sky where God lives.

4. The Sun, Moon & Stars are just little lights in the Sky
moving around a stationary Earth.

5. Dead people exist under the ground.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 27

 Korans used
1. It is difficult to find a reliable translation of the Koran
that everyone will accept.
2. There is always the possibility that Western
Translations may contain some degree of Anti-
Islamic bias.
3. However, there is also the possibility that Islamic
Translations may contain some degree of Pro-
Islamic bias.
4. For this reason, twelve different translations have
been used. Six are Islamic translations and six are
Western Translations.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 28

 Koran’s used (http://qb.gomen.org/QuranBrowser/)
Orthodox Muslims
Pickthall
Yusuf Ali
Hilali-Khan
Shakir
Non-Orthodox Muslims
Sher Ali
Khalifa
Western Translations
Arberry
Palmer
Rodwell
Sale
Irving (http://www.isgkc.org/translat.htm)
Dawood (Penguin classics)

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 29

 No DIY Translations accepted
1. Only genuine published translations of the Koran
will be accepted here.
2. Some Muslims often say that the Arabic word
translated as “X” really means “Y” if they run into
difficulty.This is dishonest and unacceptable.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 30

 No Circular reasoning accepted here
Islamic Fundamentalists often use faulty logic and circular
reasoning to “prove” a point.
1. They assume that the Koran is of Divine origin because it
says so.
2. Based on this assumption, they further assume that there are
no errors in the Koran.
3. When they find an apparent error, they try to think up some
interpretation that still allows them to accept the Koran as
infallible.
4. Often, their interpretation stretches and distorts the text to
vaguely allude to some modern Scientific phenomena.
5. This “discovery” of modern Science in the Koran is then
taken as “proof” of its divine origin.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 31

Circular reasoning (From previous Slide)

1 This is the basis for

the claims about
modern Science
being found in
5 2 the Koran.

See Presentation
10 of 11 – Koran
Science in this
4 3 series for more
details.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 32

 
Map of the World of the Koran
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All the parts of
 
 
the World
  mentioned in the
 
 
Roman Koran fit into this
 
  Empire Persian map.
 
 
  Mecca Empire
 
  Arabia The Americas,East
  Ethiopia Asia,Sub-Saharan
 
 
 
Africa and Australia
 
 
are not mentioned in
the Koran.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 33

 Another view of the World of the
Koran

The World of the

Koran is Flat &
Canopy of the Sky
circular below
a solid Sky dome
or Firmament.

Mecca is
at the centre of
the World.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 34

The Cosmos of the Koran (See legend
on the next page)
Contrary to the
claims made by some
Muslims, the Koran
does not agree
with modern Science.

The Koran assumes

a Universe like the
one shown on the
left.

Dozens of verses in
the Koran support this.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 35

Legend for the Cosmos of the Koran

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 36

 Other Presentations in this Series
Flat Earth Koran 01 of 13 - Introduction (This one)
Flat Earth Koran 02 of 13 - The Flat Earth
Flat Earth Koran 03 of 13 – The Two Seas & the Ocean of Heaven
Flat Earth Koran 04 of 13 - The Solid Sky Dome
Flat Earth Koran 05 of 13 - Heaven in the Sky
Flat Earth Koran 06 of 13 - The Sun Moon and Stars
Flat Earth Koran 07 of 13 - Beneath the Flat Earth
Flat Earth Koran 08 of 13 - Cosmology in the Hadith
Flat Earth Koran 09 of 13 - The Golden Age of Islam
Flat Earth Koran 10 of 13 - Koran Science & Cosmology (Part 1)
Flat Earth Koran 10 of 13 - Koran Science & Cosmology (Part 2)
Flat Earth Koran 10 of 13 - Koran Science & Cosmology (Part 3)
Flat Earth Koran 13 of 13 - Conclusions
8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 37
 Fundamentalist Denials
1. Of coarse, Islamic Fundamentalists cannot accept this without
rejecting their own Religious beliefs

2. They are likely to respond to such suggestions with outright

denials based on blind faith or Islamic pseudo-science

3. They might even quote a couple of verses from the Koran to try
and support their beliefs. (These do not stand up to scrutiny)

4. In reality, there are dozens of verses in the Koran supporting

the point of view outlined in these Presentations.

5. The following Presentations systematically explore the Cosmos

of the Koran and Hadith and provide numerous verses to
support all the interpretations presented.

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 38

8th March 2009 01 - Introduction 39

Continued on next Presentation ……