Why Our Planet is Having a 'Whale of a Time'
A Deep Dive (!) Into Islamic Cosmology
If you have ever spoken with someone about the truth-claims of Islam, you will no doubt have heard the claim that Islam, specifically the Quran, represents accurate descriptions of scientific facts – facts that Muhammad and the early Muslims could not have known, and that this somehow validates the truth of Islam. These claims are challenged forcefully in my book Questioning Islam, but one key aspect of Islamic cosmology that I did not have space for in the book is the concept of the ‘Islamic Whale.’
The idea of the Islamic whale, in Arabic al-hoot al-islami, significantly challenges the belief that Islam offers an accurate description of the universe. The whale is a mythological creature described as carrying the Earth on its back. While some believe it is mentioned in the Quran, it is most definitetively found in the Hadiths and Tafsir (commentaries on the Quran), where it clearly formed part of early Islamic descriptions of the universe. This doctrine obviously contradicts modern cosmology and scientific understandings of the universe. In fact, it resembles something more akin to Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels than anything related to modern science!
To understand its origins and relevance, let’s explore where this idea comes from and how it has been applied in Islamic theology.
The Whale in the Quran
The Islamic whale is derived from the mysterious appearance of the Arabic letter "nun" at the beginning of Surah 68, verse 1 in the Quran: "Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe." (Quran 68:1) In this surah, a link is made between the letter "N", the pen – al-qalam in Arabic – and the act of divine writing by God. Although there is no specific mention of a whale in the surah, traditional interpretations by Ibn Kathir, Al-Tabari, and Al-Qurtubi – some of the most illustrious commentators on the Quran – interpret the "nun" in Sura 68:1 as referring to a whale that supports the Earth.
This reflects ancient cosmologies found in pre-scientific societies, such as the Hindu concept of the tortoise Akupāra or the Chinese myth of Ao, the sea turtle. These interpretations suggest pre-scientific cosmologies at work, as well as an act of borrowing by Islam from pre-Islamic traditions.
The Whale in the Traditions and Commentaries
Authoritative traditions of interpreting the Islamic holy book hold significant weight in the development of Islamic theology. In the Hadiths and Tafsir (commentaries), the whale is frequently referenced. One important example is a statement attributed to Ibn Abbas, a companion of Muhammad and a highly regarded authority on Quranic interpretation. In his Tafsir on Quran 68:1, Ibn Kathir mentions this narration from Ibn Abbas: "The first thing Allah created was the pen. He said to it: 'Write.' It said: 'What should I write?' He said: 'Write what will happen until the Day of Resurrection.' Then the whale was created, and the earth was spread upon its back. The whale began to sway, so mountains were created to keep it stable."
Ibn Abbas describes a cosmology where a flat earth – as described in the Quran – is spread out on the back of a giant whale. Note, furthermore, how he describes the Earth's mountains acting as pegs to stabilise the Earth on the whale's back, preventing it from slipping off. This is reflected in the Quranic verse: “Have We not made the earth as a bed, and the mountains as pegs?” (Quran 78:6-7).
Ibn Abbas continues to explain that the whale rests on a sea of water, beneath which is a giant rock, and below that rock is another sea. This concept, once again, reflects ancient Mesopotamian and Jewish cosmological beliefs.
Ibn Kathir, in his Tafsir on Quran 68:1, mentions that after Allah created the pen and commanded it to write, he created the whale. The Earth was placed on the back of the whale, but the Earth became unstable. As a result, Allah created mountains to act as stabilising forces. This interpretation is consistent with the references to mountains being pegs in the Quran.
It is obvious that significant problems arise when we contrast this pre-scientific cosmology with modern scientific understanding. The idea of the Earth – or multiple earths – balanced on the back of a giant whale is wildly inaccurate. In fact, it is positively laughable when compared with our current knowledge of the Earth's structure and how the solar system works. Today, we know that the Earth is a spherical body, not something flat as claimed by the Quran, and that it orbits the Sun. It certainly does not rest on the back of a whale, no matter how charming this idea might sound. Furthermore, mountains are formed due to tectonic activity, not put in place as pegs to hold the Earth in place.
The Islamic Whale, based on ancient and disproven beliefs, fundamentally undermines any claim that Islamic theology offers a scientifically accurate description of the universe. This discrepancy becomes even more troubling when we consider that Muslim theologians often present the Quran, and the traditions based on it, as timeless and scientifically accurate.
Links to Jewish Traditions
Another important implication of the idea of the Islamic whale relates to the fact that it once again provides proof of early Muslim leaders and commentators freely borrowing ideas from other belief systems, in this case, Judaism. Many scholars suggest that the idea of the Islamic whale can be related to Jewish ideas, particularly that of Leviathan, mentioned in the Bible (Isaiah 27:1, Job 41:1-2). In the Bible, Leviathan is not described as holding up the Earth as such, but in later Jewish tradition, it was understood to be a giant sea creature of astronomical proportions.
The Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer, a key Jewish text, furthermore describes a flying serpent resting between the Earth’s fins. Of course, this sounds an awful lot like what we find in the concept of the Islamic whale.
All of this raises questions about how much of Islamic cosmology was actually built on Jewish mythology. The fact that this key idea was clearly borrowed from pre-Islamic traditions makes it harder to argue that Islamic views of the world were divinely revealed, let alone that they are scientifically accurate.
Modern Muslim Responses
So, how do modern Islamic authors respond to this? When faced with the scientific and other problems related to the idea of the Islamic whale, modern thinkers and writers vigorously try to distance themselves from the traditional interpretation of the nun as a whale. They argue that the Quranic mention of nun was never meant to be literally interpreted and that the whale is not directly referenced in the Quran itself.
Of course, this attempt to downplay or reinterpret the myth is problematic in itself because it calls into question the authority of the Hadiths and the authoritative commentaries. Once you do that, many other aspects of Islamic belief come into question. For example, many core Islamic beliefs and practices (five daily prayers, the confession of faith, etc.) are derived from the Hadiths and not the Quran.
Furthermore, it needs to be emphasised that the interpretation of nun as a whale is not some kind of far-out idea existing on the fringe of Islam, but it is right at the heart of the writings of some of the most respected early commentators and interpreters of the Quran. In fact, Ibn Abbas' holds the formal title as the "turjuman al-Quran" (the interpreter of the Quran). So the whale cannot be dismissed as an error or misunderstanding by later generations, because that would undermine the credibility of people like Ibn Abbas and Ibn Kathir and raise further questions about other aspects of traditional Islamic beliefs that are equally related to the writings of these scholars.
Conclusion
It is clear that the earliest Muslims, including the author of the Quran, got fundamental aspects about how the Earth and the cosmos are shaped wrong. What does this then imply for other parts of their supposed accurate scientific understanding?
In summary, the concept of the Islamic whale is a clear example of the ways in which Islamic views of the world and the cosmos were influenced by pre-Islamic mythological notions. While something like this could have been believable and perhaps even respectable in earlier generations, there is, of course, no way we can represent this as an accurate understanding of the universe in the 21st century. The fact that this myth made its way into Islamic texts and was seen as part of core Islamic theology confirms that early Islamic theology was deeply shaped by outside forces, and not the divinely inspired, out-of-the-blue, revelations that Muslim teaching supposedly rests on.
Cosmology is far from the only instance where Islam clashes with established scientific understanding. For much more about the claim that the Quran contains ‘scientific miracles’, and the truth-claims of Islam in general, please see my book ‘Questioning Islam - Tough Questions and Honest Answers About the Muslim Religion’.
Kind regards,
Peter
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