29.5 days. The sunalso revolves in its own orbit. To understand the
sun's orbit, Dr. Bucaille says that the position of the sun in our
galaxy must be considered, and we must therefore call on modern
scientific ideas (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 162).
Our galaxy, the milky way galaxy, includes one hundred billion stars
situated in such a formationthat the galaxy is shaped like a disc.
This disc turns around its center like a gramophone record.Now, it is
obvious that when a gramophone record turns, any point on the disc
would move around and come back to its original position. Similarly,
every star in the galaxy moves as the galaxy rotates on its axis.
Therefore the stars that are awayfrom the center of the galaxy orbit
around the axis. The sun is one of those stars.
Dr. Bucaille explains that modern science has worked out the details
of the sun's orbit as follows:
"To complete one revolution on its own axis, the galaxy and the sun
take roughly 250 million years. The sun travels roughly 150 miles per
second in the completion of this" (The Bible, theQuran and Science, p.
162).
After describing this, Dr. Bucaille comments:
"The above is the orbital movement of the sun that was already
referred to in the Quran fourteen centuries ago." (The Bible, the
Quran and Science, p. 162)
And yet this is a new finding. As Dr. Bucaille says, the knowledge of
the sun's orbit is an acquisition of modern astronomy(The Bible, the
Quran and Science,p. 162).
Two verses in the Quran refer to the orbits of the sun and moon. After
mentioning the sun and themoon, Allah says:
"Each one is traveling in an orbit with its own motion" (Quran, 21:33; 36:40).
Even after the Quran was revealed, early commentators could not
conceive of the orbits of the sun and moon. The tenth century
commentator Tabari could not explain this so he said, "It is our duty
to keep silent when we do not know" (XVII, 15 quoted in The Bible, the
Quran and Science, p. 161).
Dr. Bucaille comments:
"This shows just how incapable men were of understanding this concept
of the sun's and moon's orbit." (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p.
161).
From this it is clear that if the Quran was here expressing an idea
already known to the people, the commentators would have easily
understood it. But this, as Dr. Bucaille explains was "a new concept
that was not to be explained until centuries later"(The Bible, the
Quran and Science,p. 161)
This confirms what Allah said to his prophet, on whom be peace:
"This is of the tidings of the Unseen which we inspire in you
(Muhammad). Neither you nor your people knew it before this" (Quran
11:49)
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