SURAH 68:1 – THE QUR’ANIC VERSE THAT DESTROYS ISLAM

Majority of Muslims today claim the scientific accuracy of the Quran and how it tells us about the facts which were not known by the desert dwellers of the 7th century and have just recently been discovered by contemporary science however evidence says otherwise. Not just that the claim that the Quran is scientifically miraculous is false it’s actually the opposite.

In order to elevate Islam, Muslim apologists often criticize the religious beliefs of others. While Christianity is their main target, other religions are not spared either. For example, in their criticism of Hinduism, they frequently attack the teachings of Hinduism on cosmology. In Hindu mythology, the earth is believed to be supported on the back of four elephants standing on a large sea-turtle floating in the ocean. Earthquakes were believed to be caused by the movement of these animals. This sea-turtle is known as Akupara in Hinduism. One avatar (reincarnation) of Vishnu is said to be a giant tortoise. The Sri Kurmam Temple in India is dedicated to this avatar of Vishnu.

Today we know for a certainty that such teachings are not true. However, the Muslim criticism of the teachings of Hinduism is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. Why do I say that? Except for the differences in the animals, Islam also teaches this same mythology. Islam teaches that the whole earth is carried on the back of large whale. Yes! You read that right. This is exactly what Islam teaches, a literal whale. Now let’s look at some evidences.

Before we look at the evidences, let us lay some groundwork in anticipation of the common counter-arguments which we are so familiar with. Whenever someone highlights some errors in the teachings of Islam which Muslims are unable to refute, they quickly respond by saying that one must understand Arabic in order to judge the teachings of Islam fairly. This is another deception by Muslims. Well, do Muslims learn the original languages of the Scriptures of other religions in order to judge their teachings? Do they learn Sanskrit to discuss Hinduism? Do they take the effort to learn Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek to factually challenge the teachings of Christianity? Do I have to learn all the original languages of all the ancient scriptures in order to render them as false? Worse still, more than 85% of the Muslims do not understand Arabic – the language of the Qur’an.

Another common counter-argument of Muslims is that to refute the teachings of Islam, one must first talk to their scholars. Do Muslims apply this rule to themselves? Do they talk to the scholars of the other religions before dismissing their teachings as false? Again do I really need to talk to the scholars of all the various religions before I disagree with their teachings? Furthermore, Muslim scholars themselves do not agree with one another. The fact that Islam is divided into various sects and sub-sects proves this fundamental truth. Not to mention the internal strife between the various sects to uphold their version of Islam. So which Muslim scholars are they talking about?

Moreover, all the present Muslim scholars of today came centuries after the time of Muhammad. They themselves have to rely on the Tafsirs (Exegesis) which were written and compiled by the early scholars of Islam. These early scholars of Islam hold the key to the understanding of the teachings of Allah as it was originally taught by the Prophet of Islam.These early scholars have dedicated their entire lives to understanding the religion of Islam. It is the knowledge of these scholars that I need to seek to know the true teachings of Islam. And I will do just that. The two most recognized Tafsirs are that of Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari. Of course there are also the Tafsirs of other early Muslim scholars such Al-Qurtubi which are valued highly in Islam.

THE COSMIC WHALE

Let us begin by reading the Qur’anic verse that is central to our discussion:

Surah 68:1: Nun. I swear by the Pen and by that which they write. (Hamid S. Aziz)

As we can see, this Qur’anic verse by itself does not tell us much. In order to know what this Arabic term “Nun” means, we need to examine the Tafsirs of the early scholars of Islam. Let us now read the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir on the meaning of “Nun” in Surah 68:1.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Surah 68:1:

It was said that Nun refers to a great whale that rides on the currents of the waters of the great ocean and on its back it carries the seven Earths, as was stated by Imam Abu Jafar Ibn Jarir. Narrated by Ibn Bashar, narrated by Yahya, narrated by Sufyan Al-Thuri, narrated by Sulayman Al-Amash, narrated by Abu Thubian, narrated by Ibn Abbas who related, “The first thing that Allah created was the pen and He said to it ‘Write’. The pen asked, ‘What shall I write?’ Allah said, ‘Write the fate of everything.’ So the pen wrote everything that shall be from that moment until judgment day.

Then Allah created the “Nun” and He caused steam to rise out of which the heavens were created and the Earth was then laid flat on nun’s back. Then the Nun became nervous and as a result the earth began to sway, but Allah fastened the earth with mountains lest the earth should move…,

It was narrated by Ibn Jarir, narrated by Ibn Hamid, narrated by Ata’a, narrated by Abu Al-Dahee, narrated by Ibn Abbas who stated, “The first thing my Lord created, may He be Exalted and Glorified, was the pen and He said to it, ‘Write.’ So the pen wrote all that will be until judgment day. Then Allah created the Nun (the whale) above the waters and he pressed the Earth into its back.

Al Tabarani narrated the same Hadith above (from the prophet Muhammad) who narrated from Abu Habib Zaid Al-Mahdi Al Marouzi, narrated by Sa’id Ibn Yaqub Al-Talqani, narrated by Mu’amal Ibn Ismail, narrated by Hamad Ibn Zaid, narrated by Ata’a Ibn Al Sa’ib, narrated by Abu Al Dahee Muslim Ibn Subaih, narrated by Ibn Abbas who stated that the prophet – may peace and blessing be upon him and his family – said, “The first things Allah created were the pen and the whale and He said to the pen ‘Write.’ The pen asked, ‘What shall I write?’ Allah replied, ‘Everything that shall be until judgment day.’ Then He said ‘Nun. By the Pen and by what they write.’ So Nun is the whale and al-Qalam is the pen.”

… Ibn Abu Nujaih stated that Ibrahim Ibn Abu Bakir was informed by Mujahid who said, “It was said that Nun is the great whale who is underneath the seven Earths.”

Let us consider now the Tafsir of another early distinguished scholar of Islam. We will examine the Tafsir of Al-Tabari (838 CE–923 CE). The Tafsir of Al-Tabari encompasses dictionaries, historical notes, law, recitation, theology and Arabic literature within its compilation. As such, it became a highly referenced book throughout the history of Islam.

Tafsir Al-Tabari on the meaning of Surah 68:1:

Someone might say: If it is as you have described, namely, that God created the earth before the heaven, then what is the meaning of the statement of Ibn ‘Abbastold all of you by Wasil b. ‘Abd al-A‘la al-Asadi- Muhammad b. Fudayl- al-A‘mash- Abu Zabyan- Ibn ‘Abbas: The first thing God created is the Pen. God then said to it: Write!, whereupon the Pen asked: What shall I write, my lord! God replied: Write what is predestined! He continued: And the Pen proceeded to write whatever is predestined and going to be to the Coming of the Hour. God then lifted up the water vapor and split the heavens off from it. Then God created the fish (Nun),and the earth was spread out upon its back. The fish became agitated, with the result that the earth was shaken up. It was steadied by means of the mountains, for they indeed proudly tower over the earth.

I was told about the same by Wasil – Waki’ – al-A‘mash – Abu Zabyan – Ibn ‘Abbas.

According to Ibn al-Muthanna – Ibn Abi ‘Adi – Shu‘bah – Sulayman (al-A‘mash) – Abu Zabyan – Ibn ‘Abbas: The first thing created by God is the Pen. It proceeded to write whatever is going to be. God then lifted up the water vapor and the heavens were created from it. Then He created the fish, and the earth was spread out on its back. The fish moved, with the result that the earth was shaken up. It was steadied by means of the mountains, for the mountains indeed proudly tower over the earth. So he said, and he recited: “Nun. By the Pen and what they write.”

I was told the same by Tamim b. al-Muntasir – Ishaq (b. Yusuf) – Sharik (b. ‘Abdallah al-Nakha‘i) – al-A‘mash – Abu Zabyan or Mujahid – Ibn ‘Abbas, with the exception, however, that he said: And the heavens were split off from it (instead of: were created).

According to Ibn Bashshar – Yahya – Sufyan – Sulayman (al-A‘mash?) – Abu Zabyan – Ibn ‘Abbas: The first thing created by God is the Pen. God said: Write!, whereupon the Pen asked: What shall I write? God replied: Write what is predestined! He continued. And the Pen proceeded to write whatever is predestined and going to be from that day on to the Coming of the Hour. Then God created the fish. He lifted up the water vapor, and heaven was split off from it, and the earth was spread out upon the back of the fish. The fish became agitated, and as a result, the earth was shaken up. It was steadied by means of the mountains, he continued, for they proudly tower over the earth.

According to Ibn Humayd – Jarir (b. ‘Abd al-Hamid) – ‘Ata’ b. al-Sa’ib – Abu al-Duha Muslim b. Subayh – Ibn ‘Abbas: “The first thing created by God is the Pen. God said to it: Write! And it wrote whatever is going to be until the Coming of the Hour. Then God created the fish. Then he heaped up the earth upon it.”

In both the above Tafsirs, we can note that the name Ibn Abbas appears frequently in the chain of narrators. But who is this scholar? Ibn Abbas (619 CE – 687 CE) was a cousin of Muhammad. He was not only an esteemed scholar of Islam but he was also personally taught by Muhammad. Ibn Abbas was known for his authoritative interpretation of the Qur’an. He is widely respected for his authority on Islam. Even the Caliphs of Islam who are known as Guardians of the Islamic Faith, frequently consulted him on vital matters pertaining to the interpretations of the Qur’an.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

The Prophet embraced me and said, "O Allah! Teach him (the knowledge of) the Book (Quran)."

sahih bukhari 9:92:375

Ibn Abbas has no doubts whatsoever as to what Allah actually meant by the term “Nun” in the Qur’an. He stated: “Then Allah created the Nun (the whale)above the waters and he pressed the Earth into its back.”

Let us look at one more Tafsir. This time we will consider the Tafsir by Al-Qurtubi. He is one of the foremost experts on the exegesis of the Qur’an.

Tafsir al-Qurtubi on Surah 68:1:

Mujahid related that ‘Nun’ is the whale that is underneath the seventh earth. He stated that the ‘Pen’ is what was used to write ‘Al-Thikir’ (The Remembrance – Quran). Likewise, it was also narrated by Mukatil, Murrah Al-Hamdani, Ata’ Al-Kharasani, Al Suddi and Al-Kalbi who all said, “Nun is the whale upon which all the earths are placed.”

Narrated by Abu Thabyan, narrated by Ibn Abbas who said, “The first thing that Allah created was the Pen which wrote all that shall be. Then water vapor began to rise, out of which the heavens were created. Then (Allah) created Nun (the whale) and flattened the earth on its back. When the earth began to lean, it was reinforced with mountains, which are on its surface.” Then Ibn Abbas read the verse (Surah 68:1) ‘Nun and the Pen.’

All the above Tafsirs of the Qur’an were written and compiled by the early Muslim scholars who are heavyweights in Islam. There are many more references of this cosmic fish in the Tafsirs of other early scholars. But the above is sufficient to prove my point. All the early scholars of Islam clearly understood that Surah 68:1 contains a reference to a very large fish that carries the earth on its back. Do I have a Qur’anic verse to further substantiate the meaning of “Nun” in Surah 68:1? I sure do! It is interesting to note that the prophet Jonah was addressed as “Zun-nun” in Surah 21:87 which literally means “the man of the Whale.”Jonah was identified as such because he was swallowed by a very large fish:

Surah 21:87: And remember Zun-nun (the man of the Whale, Jonah), when he went away in wrath and thought that We had no power over him; but he cried out in the darkness, “There is no God but Thou, celebrated be Thy praise! Verily, I was of the wrong!” (Hamid S. Aziz)

Surah 37:139-142: Jonah too was one of the messengers …And a great fish swallowed him, for he had committed blameworthy acts. (Abdel Haleem)

This additional detail confirms the meaning of “Nun” in Surah 68:1. The Qur’an itself substantiates the fact that “Nun” refers to very large fish. Before we move on let us pause for a moment to reflect on the similarities between the mythologies of Hinduism and Islam. Both involve a huge sea-creature – one a turtle and the other a whale. Both the mythologies clearly state that the earth is supported on the backs of these creatures. And both share the same view for the causes of earthquakes – the movement of these creatures.

If you are a Shia Muslim then i can bet you are laughing with me on the foolishness and absurdity of Sunni Islam, Well to your dissapointment this laugh won’t last long since I even have a Shia hadeeth which tells about a cosmic whale carrying our earth on it’s back:

Abu Abdullah (ASWS) has said that: ‘The whale which is carrying the earth secretly said to itself that it is carrying the earth by its own strength. So Allah (AZWJ) the High Sent to it a fish smaller than a palm’s length, and larger than a finger. So it entered in its gills and shocked it. It remained like that for forty days. Then Allah (AZWJ) Raised it and was Merciful to it, and Took it out. So whenever Allah (AZWJ) Intends the earth to be in a quake, He (AZWJ) Sends that (small) fish to that (big) fish. So when it sees it, it becomes restless, so the earth gets engulfed by the earthquake.’

Alkafi hadeeths Volume 8, page 45 H - 14814

THE COSMIC BULL

If you think that it can’t get more ridiculous than the teaching about the great celestial whale then you are dead wrong. As Ibn Abbas didn’t stop at that, he further mentioned a giant cosmic bull under the giant whale. Now, I can really imagine the embarrassment and cognitive disonance of Muslim apologists at this moment and actually can sympathize with them, we quickely are coming from the predication of Qur’an being scientifically miraculous to rather some ludicrous disney story.

Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs on 68:1:

And from his narration on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that he said regarding the interpretation of Allah's saying (Nun): '(Nun) He says: Allah swears by the Nun, which is the whale that carries the earths on its back while in Water, and beneath which is the Bull and under the Bull is the Rock and under the Rock is the Dust and none knows what is under the Dust save Allah. The name of the whale is Liwash, and it is said its name is Lutiaya'; the name of the bull is Bahamut, and some say its name is Talhut or Liyona. The whale is in a sea called 'Adwad, and it is like a small bull in a huge sea. The sea is in a hollowed rock whereby there is 4,000 cracks, and from each crack water springs out to the earth. It is also said that Nun is one of the names of the Lord; it stands for the letter Nun in Allah's name al-Rahman (the Beneficent); and it is also said that a Nun is an inkwell. (By the pen) Allah swore by the pen. This pen is made of light and its height is equal to the distance between Heaven and earth. It is with this pen that the Wise Remembrance, i.e. the Guarded Tablet, was written. It is also said that the pen is one of the angels by whom Allah has sworn, (and that which they write (therewith)) and Allah also swore by what the angels write down of the works of the children of Adam.

This is a major blow to the claim that Qur’an did away with superstitions and false myths, to the contrary it actually plagiarised old mythologies and dark age folks and gave it an islamic twist. The claim that a whale and a bull carries the earth on their backs is enough to dismiss the Qur’an as a book with divine authorship.

Why did so many highly credible scholars of Islam believe and circulate this teaching about a giant whale and bull? Why did they accept this teaching as true? These questions should trouble Muslims. The answer is obvious but not to Muslims. This is because aside from this mythology, the Qur’an provides no clue whatsoever about the true design of our universe. There are absolutely no verses in the entire Qur’an to equip these scholars with an accurate knowledge of our cosmos to reject this fanciful story. Had the Qur’an contained a single verse that accurately describes the earth as a suspended body in space, then these scholars would have dismissed this entire whale and bull story as a myth. They would not have given this story any credibility whatsoever. In order to render this myth as fallacious muslims have to reject their own islamic teachings and their own most authentic sources on which the whole Islam is standing today. The best Islamic scholars were dead wrong because the only Qur’anic verse that Allah provided them was based on the myth of a cosmic whale and a celestial bull.

Muslim apologists shamelessly lie to cover this embarrassment in Islam. To save Islam they destroy the original teachings of Allah in the Qur’an. It is really a shame that Muslim apologists have to lie so much and deny so much of their Scriptures just to keep the Muslims satisfied. Most Muslims today are in denial. They do not spend enough time to familiarize themselves with the authentic teachings of Allah in the Qur’an. Instead, they spend their time watching Islamic channels that spread lies. Sadly, Muslims–some even knowingly–believe all these lies that are fed to them. They then repeat these lies. This is a double jeopardy for Muslims. They are lied to by Allah and then by the Muslim apologists who lie to cover up these lies of Allah.