I said: If a person travels from the west of a place, how will he arrive at it from the east?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, may Allah preserve you, you mentioned in the introduction to the verses the issue of the spherical Earth: that if a person heads west, he will come from the east, and vice versa. How is that?
The Shaykh : Hire one of the airplanes, yes, and fly 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. Yes, the Throne is above the heavens like a dome. The Throne, however, is not spherical; 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 will be the first to regain consciousness and will see Moses holding onto the pillars of the Throne. So this Throne is not spherical, but what is beneath the Throne is spherical. Yes.
The questioner : Do you mean this is well-known?
The Shaykh : It is well-known, there is no doubt. Take off from Jeddah Airport and head west, and you will land at Jeddah Airport, unless you intend to land for refueling, in which case we do not know; he will take fuel for the plane.
The Shaykh : Hire one of the airplanes, yes, and fly 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. Yes, the Throne is above the heavens like a dome. The Throne, however, is not spherical; 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 will be the first to regain consciousness and will see Moses holding onto the pillars of the Throne. So this Throne is not spherical, but what is beneath the Throne is spherical. Yes.
The questioner : Do you mean this is well-known?
The Shaykh : It is well-known, there is no doubt. Take off from Jeddah Airport and head west, and you will land at Jeddah Airport, unless you intend to land for refueling, in which case we do not know; he will take fuel for the plane.