The Sphericity of the Earth
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The questioner: Your Eminence, in your introduction to the verses, you mentioned the issue of the Earth's sphericity: that if a person heads west, he will come from the east, and vice versa. How is that possible?
The Shaykh: Hire one of the airplanes and travel in that direction, and you will find this to be the case. This is a certainty. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) spoke about this in the past, such as Ibn Hazm and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and others. They affirmed that the Earth is spherical. As for the Throne, it is above the heavens like a dome, but it is not spherical; because it has pillars, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that when people faint on the Day of Resurrection, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) will be the first to regain consciousness, and he will see Moses holding onto the pillars of the Throne. So this Throne is not spherical, but what is beneath the Throne is spherical. So if you take off from Jeddah Airport and head west, you will land at Jeddah Airport again.
The Shaykh: Hire one of the airplanes and travel in that direction, and you will find this to be the case. This is a certainty. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) spoke about this in the past, such as Ibn Hazm and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and others. They affirmed that the Earth is spherical. As for the Throne, it is above the heavens like a dome, but it is not spherical; because it has pillars, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that when people faint on the Day of Resurrection, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) will be the first to regain consciousness, and he will see Moses holding onto the pillars of the Throne. So this Throne is not spherical, but what is beneath the Throne is spherical. So if you take off from Jeddah Airport and head west, you will land at Jeddah Airport again.