In early times..people believed that the earth is flat. For centuries,men were afraid to ventureout too far, lest they should fall off the edge. Sir Francis Drake was the first person who proved that the earth is spherical when he sailed around it in 1507. Consider the following Quranic verse regarding the alternation of day and night:
"Seest thou not that Allah merges Night into Day And He merges Day into Night?"(31:29)
Merging here means taht the night slowly and gradually changes to day and vice versa. The phenomenon can only take place if the earth is spherical. If the earth was flat, there would have been sudden change from night to day and from day to night. The following verse also alludes to the spherical shape of the earth:
"He created the heavens And the earth In true (propotions): He makes the Night Overlap the Night."(39:5)
The arabic word use here is Kawwara meaning that 'to overlap' or 'to coil'-the way a turban is wound around the head. The overlapping or coiling of the day and the night can only take place if the earth is spherical.
The earth is not exactly round like a ball, but geo-spherical i.e. it is flattened at the poles. The following verse contains a description of the earth's shape: The Quran and Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible?
"And the earth, moreover, Hath He made egg shapped."(79:30)
The Arabic word dahaha has been translated by A.Yusuf Ali as 'vast expanse', which also is correct. The word dahaha also mean an ostrich-egg. Consider the following verses related to nature of light from the sun and the moon: "It is He who created the sun To be a shining glory And the Moon to be a light (Of Beauty)."(10:5)
