Quran Tells A Heliocentric Cosmos With Sun In Motion

Geocentric Vs Heliocentric

Animation Showing Planets Revolving around sun

In past scientists believed that the Earth stood still in the center of the universe and Sun, stars and everything else revolved around it. Then Copernicus told the Heliocentric Theory which says that the Sun is motionless at the center of the solar system with the planets revolving around it. Then we came to know that planets not only revolve around the Sun but also rotate around their own axis. Now we know that our Earth rotates around its axis at 1600km/hr, which causes day and night on Earth. Then it revolves around the Sun at 107,000km/hr which is responsible for our 12 months year and different seasons on Earth.

Rotation Of Sun & Galactic Year

Animation Of Sun Rotation
The Sun is also not stationary but is in motion with a speed of 800,000 km/hr in the direction of the bright star Vega in the constellation of Lyra along with all the solar system including planet earth and our moon. It takes our Sun approximately 225 million years to make the trip around our Galaxy. This is sometimes called the galactic year. Since the Sun formed, about 20 Galactic years have passed; we have been around the Galaxy 20 times. The Sun also rotates around its own axis with a speed of 7000 km/hr and takes 24 days to complete this rotation. This knowledge is very recent, and only 100 years back scientists believed that the Earth revolved around a stationary sun.

Quran Miracle As It Says Sun Is Not Stationary

But Quran almost around 1400 years ago told us that the Sun is also not stationary and also tells about the movement of planets, Earth and all celestial bodies in space and also around their own axis.

وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ ۖ كُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

And it is He who created the night and the day and the Sun and the moon; all in an orbit are swimming. Surah Anbiya 21:33

٣٨  وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ

And the sun runs its course for a term and place appointed for it. That is the decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. Surah Yasin 36:38

For many years critics mocked at these verses, claiming that it explained the doctrine of Geocentricity i.e the Sun revolves around the Earth. Scientists at that time thought the Sun was stationary. However, it has been discovered in recent years that the Sun is, in fact, moving through space as I mentioned above and it is traveling through the heavens and has a فَلَكٍ  “Orbit” just as the Quran says. Its orbit is so large that it would take approximately 225 million years to complete one orbit.

Meaning Of Word “فَلَكٍ” And “يَسْبَحُونَ”

The Arabic words used in these verses are فَلَكٍ and يَسْبَحُونَ which means the “