The Heliocentric System

In the above verse, the movement of the Earth is described by the word "yukawwiru," which comes from root verb "takwir." This means "to cover up a spherical body," in the way that the rotation of the Earth gives rise to night and day, like the winding of a turban around the head of a man. In addition to the spherical shape of the Earth, the word is also the most accurate expression of its movement around the Sun. Because of the Earth's spherical shape and its movement around the Sun, the Sun always illuminates one side of the Earth while the other is in darkness. The side in shadow is shrouded by the darkness of night, only to be replaced seamlessly by the brightness of day when the Sun rises. The positions of the Sun and Earth are revealed as follows in Surah Ya Sin:

The movements of the Sun and Moon in the final verse of this excerpt are described by the Arabic word "yasbahoona," meaning "flowing, passing or swimming." This word refers to an action performed by someone without any help from others. Someone acting according to this verb continues to perform it alone, with no intervention from anyone else. The above verses may therefore be referring to the Sun's independent movement in the universe, independent of any other celestial body. (Allah knows the truth.) It is impossible for us to see or follow the movement of the Sun with our own eyes. In reality, the true nature of its existence is beyond us. It is only possible to determine that movement using special technological equipment. As stated in verse 39 of Surah Ya Sin, in addition to rotating around its own axis once every 26 days, the Sun also moves through its own course.

It is also reported in the verse that the Sun is not allowed to "overtake the Moon", and it stated in the Qur’an that the Sun and Moon do not revolve around the same body, as astronomers put it. At the same time, it is made clear in the verse that there is no connection between the motion responsible for night and day and the movement of the Sun and Moon. (Allah knows the truth.)

Until the 16th century, it was thought that the Earth was the center of the universe. This view is known as the "geocentric model," from the Greek words geo (Earth) and kentron (center). This belief was questioned by the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543 in his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (Of the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres), in which he suggested that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun. As a result of observations using a telescope performed by Galileo Galilei in 1610, it was scientifically established that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Up until this point, it had been widely accepted that the Sun revolved around the Earth – so most scholars of the time stubbornly rejected Copernicus' theory. The famous astronomer Johannes Kepler's views setting out the movements of the planets confirmed the heliocentric model in the 16th and 17th centuries. In this model, whose name comes from the words Helios (Sun) and kentron (center), the Sun is the center of the universe, rather than the Earth. Other heavenly bodies also revolve around the Sun. Yet this was all revealed 1400 years ago in the Qur'an.

By saying that the Earth was the center of the universe, the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy was responsible for the geocentric idea of the universe that dominated scientific thought for hundreds of years. For that reason, at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, nobody knew that the Earth-centered model was incorrect. The information in the Qur'an refutes the thesis that the Earth is fixed while the Sun revolves around it. It was believed that the stars and planets revolved around the Earth. Despite these prevalent errors of the time, the Qur'an contains information which was not known, or even considered, at that time. Many expressions in the Qur’an on this matter agree with the scientific facts regarding day and night:

As set out in the above verse, day – which is essentially the brightness of the Sun – results from the movement of the Earth. Our planet spins on its own axis. It is not the movement of the Sun that is responsible for night and day. In other words, the Sun is immobile in terms of night and day. The Qur'an is clearly descended from the presence of our Lord. As science and technology advance more and more, examples of the compatibility between the Qur'an and science are coming to light. This is set out in another verse from the Qur'an: