Salam a leikum
A brother explained this verse to me in the following way:
"The Quran is employing imagery OF A TENT in this verse. The earth is described as being spread out like a carpet, i.e. made comfortable for living. Entering into a beduoin tent, one would come across beautiful carpets that covered the ground and made sitting comfortable.
Yes, the heaven is like a roof, it protects us from Sun rays and all kinds of stuff!
And yes, the earth (GROUND) is like a capet,
And like a couch:
[Yusuf Ali 002:022] Who has made
the earth your couch,
And like a Bed:
[Sher Ali 002:022] WHO made the
earth a bed for you,
Like a Craddle:
[Munir Munshey 078:006] Have We not laid out the earth as a cradle?
But what you have to realise is that these verses do NOT speak about the shape of the earth, this is obvious since the earth does not look like a couch, if it would, it would be visible even from the earth! These verses speak about the FUNCTION, the earth is LIKE a bed for us, LIKE a couch, LIKE a cradle, it is comfortable, YOU are just like a child on it (I.e the child on the cradle) and you do not have to make your own food, contrary Allah grows it for you, and so on... (See what early scholars said about these verses, they agree with me, see Ibn KAthir Tafseer, Al Qurtubi, Ibn Abbas, Al Jalalayn, and so on)
"
The heavens being 'raised above the earth' is another imagery employed, i.e. the heavens are the roof of the tent that provide shade from the harsh environment."
Very nice
"
The Quran in other verses, also speak about the mountains as pegs providing stability to the arth. The mountains are also playing off the imagery of the pegs of a tent which stabilize the foundation of the tent."
See these links for scientific explanations for this, its actually amazing how accurate the Qur'an is regarding this!:
http://www.answering-christianity.com/reason_4.wmv
http://www.answering-christianity.com/mountains.htm
"
The Holy Book is playing off the psychology of the Arabs and their concept of chivalry. Welcoming guests and providing them comfort as well as a place of rest for their journey was something looked highly upon."
Im not sure what the brother is talking about :S
"The tent he is currently staying in, God is the owner of it and God is the best at being chivalrous. Men have been provided, and are being provided with what the best the earth has to offer. God has spread out the carpets for men to rest, and has provided them with delicious fruits to eat. God has provided them shelter from the harsh sun, as well as given them a comfortable place to sleep and regain their energy."
Exactly, its talking about the function of the heaven and earth, not the actual shapes, and the word "Tent" is not used in the Qur'an for the heaven, the word "Roof"(Another meaning would be "Canopy") To explain how it functions, not how it looks like, its a protection!
"
This imagery takes us conceptually to the concept of temporality of the world. Man is on a journey in this life. Just as a tent is one day folded up and men leave their temporary home, the heavens and earth will be folded up and man will proceed on the next journery of their life. The Quran often speaks about the heavens and earth folding up as well."
[039:067] They can never fathom the greatness of GOD. The whole earth is within His fist on the Day of Resurrection. In fact, the universes are folded within His right hand.
The Qur'an doesnt say that the earth will be folded! But the heaven will be, this is also called "The Big crunch"!
As for the earth being folded, this is found in a Authentic Hadith, this doesnt mean that the earth is flat at the present time because Allah said that he will first make the earth flat:
[084:003] "And
when the
earth is
flattened out (On the judgement day).."
so Allah will first make it FLAT, and THEN folded up!!!!
I see no problems
"
One of the interesting aspects of these type of verses, as Neal Robinson points out, is the sound of the recitation. The building of this tent sounds like the banging of a hammer when reciting it."
Yeah the recitation is beautiful indeed, but the Arabic text is a miracle!
"
The Quran is NOT a scientific textbook. And interpreting verses in light of science distorts the message, as well as the literary master-piece that is the Quran."
Yeah some people may take the Qur'an TOOOO Scientifically, thats not good because Allah also said that he gave us many metaphors:
[Holy Qur'an 3:007] He it is who hath sent down to thee the Book.
Some of its verses are of themselves perspicuous; - these are the basis of the Book -
and others are figurative.
But they whose hearts are given to err, follow its figures, craving discord, craving an interpretation;
yet none knoweth its interpretation but God. And the stable in knowledge say, "We believe in it: it is all from our Lord."
But none will bear this in mind, save men endued with understanding.
So the brother is right, we should not take the entire Qur'an as a science book, there are verses that are figurative, metaphorical, open for interpretation! For example the metaphores I gave you:
And like a couch:
[Yusuf Ali 002:022] Who has made
the earth your couch,
And like a Bed:
[Sher Ali 002:022] WHO made the
earth a bed for you,
Like a Craddle:
[Munir Munshey 078:006] Have We not laid out the earth as a cradle?
"Grand literature often eploys styles which are totally in an opposite world from the styles of a technical book."
Actually, not the Qur'an, the Qur'an explains science very good, but you have to know which verses are to be taken Literally and which are not, and those whom you should take as metaphors are actually clear, only those who look for errors will stop and say "HEY, THE QUR'AN SAYS THE EARTH LOOKS LIKE A COUCH" while it is pretty clear that Allah is giving us a metaphor since even a bedouin Arab can figure out that the earth doesnt LOOK like a couch since it doesnt have a chair back (Or Couch back) where you rest your back!
For Qur'anic science in depth please visit
www.55a.net/ and click "English"
I hope I helped, anything good is from ALlah, the bad is from Shaytan!
Salamu Alaikum my dear brother in Islam
P.S Please stay away from Anti Islamic sites
(Even if you're not visiting them, its simply Haram to visit if you dont have good knowledge about Islam)