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What Bible and Qur'an says about Moon
What bible says about Moon:
" And God made two greet lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also ". (Genesis 1; 3-5)
Cross Question : In the eyes of bible the moon has its own light..
Moon stroke in Bible
Psalms 121:6 It is apparently possible to suffer moonstroke as well as sunstroke.
Bible says that one day moon will be bright as Sun
Isaiah 30:26 The moon will someday be as bright as the sun now is.
Note: Until relatively recent times, the moon and the planets were thought to give off their own light.
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Qur'an says:
Arabs made important discoveries in this field when the West was in the dark Ages or Ignorance. This is in fact, a singularly mistaken idea resulting from an ignorance of history. In the first place, science was developed in Arabian countries at a time that was considerably after the Qur'anic Revelation had occurred; in the second, the the scientific knowledge prevalent at the highpoint of Islamic civilization would not have made it possible for a human being to have written statements on the Heavens comparable to those in the Qur'an.
Qur'an distinguishes between the Sun and The Moon by the use of different epithets:
Moon = - Kamar ( borrowed light) , Muneer (Reflected Light) at the same time it calls the sun Torch
.... and made therein a lamp and a shinning moon (Holy Qur'an 25:61)
And made the moon therein a light, and made the sun a lamp ? (Holy Qur'an 71 :16)
Sun and the moon follow a reckoning (Holy Qur'an 55 :5)
Lunar Formation
( by Mohamed Abdur Rahman Khan ,president of the Hyderabad academy and research associate of the institute of meteorites ,university of new Mexico)
The spotted surface of the Moon was a subject of much speculation by ardent territorial observers. Before the invention of the telescope ,all sorts of fanciful name were given to these formation.
We know now for certain that these objects are irregularities in the surface of the moon produced by volcanic eruptions or falls of meteorites in ancient times when the moon was still somewhat plastic. Our interest in them is due to the fact that mediaeval astronomers have given them names of past Muslim astronomers.
Over 500 of these formations have been identified ad given names of astronomers, kings, etc. Out of this large number thirteen are Muslim names. We describe below their characteristic feature and give brief accounts of the scientific work of these Muslim philosophers with their approximate periods.
Abulfeda (correct name Isma'il Abu-al fida) 1273-1331, a descendant of Sultan Salah-al-din. He is a well known astronomer, geographer and historian-author of Mukht-asar- Tarikh al-Bashan. Abulfeda is fine ring plain 39 miles in diameter with steep lofty terraced walls on the east rising to 10,000 ft. A remarkable crater valley runs tangentially from the S.E. wall as far as the lunar formation almamon.
Albategnius .Albattani :A fine walled plain about 80 miles in diameter containing peaks rising from 10,000 to 14,000 ft. high. The interior contains a number of craters, two large and the others small. Muhamad bin jabir al-Battani(c.850-929), originally a sabian from Harran, was one of the greatest Muslim astronomers of all times. In spherical astronomy he introduced the use of Sines.
Alfraganus. ( Alfarghani ).Name given to a crater 12 miles in diameter. noted for brightness of its steep walls and surrounding surface. It contains a small central peak. Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad Muhammad ibn Kathir al- Farghani (c 480 ) was from Farghana. He was author of Elements of Astronomy and Chronology, and superintended for al-Mutawakkil (caliph of Baghdad 847-61) the erection of a Nilometer in Fustat Egypt in 861.
Alhazen: A ring plain on the western side of Mare Crisum ( Sea of Danger), which is one of the smallest and conspicuous of the lunar so-called seas, with well-defined mountain borders. Abu 'Ali al-Hasan ibn Haytham (987-1038) was an Arab mathematician and physicist born in Basrah. He was astronomer to the Fatimid al Hakim at Cairo. Here he wrote his book on Optics, discussed the formation of images by reflection from mirrors and refraction through plane and curved surfaces..... His book ,published at Basrah in 1572,served as a foundation fro Kepler's treatise.
Almamon : A crater 12 miles is diameter with moderately high walls and a floor containing no notable details. The 'Abbasid Khalifah ,'Abd Allah al-Mamun (813-33) was one of the greatest patrons of science among the Arabs. He was the second son of the famous Harunal-rashid and built at Baghdad his academy of sciences ( called Bayt-al-Hikmah ) and an observatory ( 829 ). a number of brilliant astronomers carried out at these places continuous observation with instruments similar to Greek but larger and more accurate. They measured the length of a degree of latitude on the plain of Sinjar north of the Euphrates and also near Palmyra (arriving at a length of 56 2/3 Arabic miles, giving nearly correct value in terms of the present English miles). They determined the obliquity of the Ecliptic afresh as 23o 33'.
Alpetragius: A fine massive ring plain 26 miles in diameter with complete circular walls rising on the West to 12,000 ft. above the interior which contains a large central mountain. Nur-al-Din Ishaq al-Bitruji ( died c 1204 ) was foremost among the last Spanish-Muslim astronomers. His Kitab al-Hay'ah (translated in to Latin by Michael Scot in 1217 and into Hebrew in 1259)on the configuration of the heavenly bodies is remarkable fort his attempt to improve on the ptolemaic system, which unfortunately proved unsuccessful.
Arzechel : A fine massive walled plain more than 60 miles across with regular and much terraced ramparts rising 10,000 to 13,000 ft. above the interior which contains a number of hills and craters and a fine cleft running at the foot of the West wall. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Yahya al-Zarqali ( c.1029-1087) was a Spanish - Arab astronomer who constructed the Toledan Tables based on his own observations assisted by a number of Muslim and Jewish observers
Azophi : A companion ring to Abenzra and of about the same size ( 26 miles in diameter ). 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Umar al-Sufi (903-983) was a Persian astronomer born in Rayy, author of the monumental treatise ( illustrated ) on the fixed stars-Kitab al- Suwar al-Kawakib al-thabit.
Geber : A well-defined circular walled plain with bright terraced walls rising from 4,000 to 6,000 ft. above the interior; the floor seems to be free from notable detail.Jabir ibn Aflah ( died c.1145 ) was a Spanish - Arab astronomer who lived in Seville and made importances in Spherical trigonometry also.
Messala :A large area enclosed by a wall in the north-west corner of the Moon's surface. Masha 'Allah ( died c.815 ) a Jewish astronomer and surveyor, became a Muslim and joined the Arab school of scientific research. He was appointed surveyor of the city of Baghdad in 762. Latin translation of his writing were much valued from 12th Century onwards
Nasireddin : A crater 30 miles in diameter with high towered walls rising some 99 ft. Nasir al-din Tusi ( 1201-74 ) was a great astronomer and geometer; he prepared with the co-operation of some Muslim and Jewish observers, the 11-Khanid Tables at Maraghah for Hulagu. He estimated the Precession of the Equinoxes at 51o .
Thebit : A fine distinct ring shaped plain 30 miles in diameter. The normal circular wall has been distorted by intrusion of a smaller ring plain, which latter has a small crater on its extreme flank. It has a very rough interior. Thabit bin Qurrah ( 826-901 ) was leader of a group of pseudo-sabians of harran ( ancient Carrhe ), who were star-worshippers interested in astronomy and mathematics from the earliest times.
Ulugh Beigh : A distinct elliptic ring close to the lunar limb. Ulugh baig ( 1393-1449 ) was a Mongol prince, grand son of Timur. He founded a school and built an observatory with a 40 metre quadrant near Samarqand. He prepared a start catalogue based on new observations of ptolemy's stars, with al-Sufi's magnitudes. He drew up planetary tables also that were much used.
( Thank you " The MUSLIM Digest. ".June 1956 )
(ICRA)