A Deep Thinking

The above Sura is often quoted as a demonstration that God must
have been the author of the Quran since people in Mohammad's day had no clue
about orbits and the true nature of the heavens. What may be clearly observed,
however, is that from every practical point of view, 36:40 is in gross error.

Poetic View

It might be said that Mohammad was speaking in this phrase from a
purely poetic standpoint, not intended to present a literal proclamation of the
relationship of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. However, the context of
the passage is not poetic.

Forgetting for a moment that Muslims interpret this sura
literally; verse 37 remarks that these things (specifically, the night) are
signs for men. The language in this passage is literal. The questions is, is it
correct?

View from Earth

36:40 can only be understood from the perspective of a man
standing on the Earth and looking at the sky. Put yourself in that position.
Mohammad is standing somewhere on the Arabian peninsula and observing the motion
of the heavens. What does he see? "The Sun is not allowed to overtake the Moon."
I.E., Mohammad, along with everyone else, observes the regular motions of the
Sun and Moon traveling across the sky. The only way this verse can be accurate
is if Mohammad is talking about an eclipse. The Moon intersects his line of
sight covering up the Sun and passes, from his perspective, "over" the Sun. The
Moon, from a visual perspective, "catches up," the Sun. Of course, Muslims
believe 36:40 does not refer to an eclipse at all. Simply put, if Mohammad is
referring to an eclipse then nothing remarkable has been revealed.

Aside from interpreting this as an eclipse (which Muslims reject)
this verse comes into question. From the visual perspective of one standing on
Earth the Sun travels more often in the sky than the Moon. Each day the Sun
comes up and goes down. Because of its rotation around the Earth, on some days
the moon appears, and on others it does not (during the New Moon).

"They float each in an orbit." Could a mere man without God's help
have known this? Sure. The Greeks knew it long before Mohammad. The Egyptians
knew it when constructing the Pyramids. The Druids knew it when building
Stonehenge. Thus, there was no new revelation in 36:40. However, modern Muslim
scholarship attributes the term "orbit" as something very specific. Note the
next section.

View from Space

In every respect 36:40 is in gross error. From a comparative view
in space, the orbits of the Sun and Moon cannot be compared as if "outpacing"
one another. To begin with, they don't even orbit on the same plane. Secondly,
they don't orbit each other, the Moon orbits the Sun by means of its orbit of
Earth. The Sun can't catch up the moon because the Moon is in subjection to the
Sun; literally! The Moon is subject to the more powerful gravitation of the Sun.

Forget for a moment that the orbits aren't comparative. View the
verse in terms of raw speed. "The sun is not allowed to overtake the moon."
Wrong again. The Sun orbits the galactic center at approximately 144 miles a
second. The Moon orbits the Earth at approximately 2,300 miles an hour. Which is
faster? Even in this regard the Moon orbits the galactic center being carried in
part by the gravitational influence of the Sun. The Sun is not allowed to catch
up the Moon? On the contrary, the Moon is "caught up" in the gravitational
influence of the Sun and carried along by it. The Moon, in fact, does not have
enough of it's own gravity, or velocity, to escape the Sun's influence on its
own.

If you view this from the perspective of rotations rather than
literal orbits the Quran fails again. The Earth gives the appearance that the
Sun is orbiting it because it rotates on it's own axis. This happens once just
under every 24 hour period. The Moon circles the Earth once every 29.5 days; so
the Sun "catches up" the Moon all the time. Note that the Moon's rotation was
discovered thousands of years ago as even the Arabs of Mohammad's day used a
Lunar calendar based upon the rotational, rather than orbital ,perspective.

As regards the translation of the term "orbit;" Muslim scholars
have noted that it means literally "to swim." The interpretation being that God
revealed to Mohammad that the planets move in their own motions of their own
accord. That is not correct. Planets, moons, comet, asteroids, and virtually all
stellar phenomenon in any kind of orbit rotate in such an orbit because of the
gravitational influence of the other bodies around them. I.E., the combination
of gravimetric forces of the major planets and the Sun determine the Earth's
orbit (the Earth's mass and gravity are factors, but it does not orbit of its
own volition. This is also true with all other orbiting bodies.) Regardless,
commentators have tried to justify this by applying the rotations of the Sun and
Moon, yet the passage is referring to orbits and not rotations on planetary
axis.

View from Regions on the Earth

"...nor does the night outstrip the day." Again we have a error
made from the perspective of one standing on the Earth. At different times of
the year night is longer than day. The closer you get to the polar regions, the
longer night or day become. Night can sometimes last months longer than day!