Written by Zia H Shah MD

Yes, the Sun – in fact, our whole solar system – orbits around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. We are moving at an average velocity of 828,000 km/hr. But even at that high rate, it still takes us about 230 million years to make one complete orbit around the Milky Way! The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.[1]

The orbiting of the moon around the earth is known to every learned and unlearned child of our global village now.

The detractors of the holy Quran sometimes ask where are the specific prophecies, which are precise in meaning, not ambiguous and clearly talking about unknowns? The Quranic language despite being precise also has the dual requirement to not only satisfy the 7th century Arab but also the 21st century cosmologists and everyone in between and beautifully accomplishes that goal. In Surah Fatir we read:

Allah merges the night into the day, and He merges the day into the night. And He has pressed into service the sun and the moon; each one runs its course to an appointed term. Such is Allah, your Lord; His is the kingdom, and those whom you call upon beside Allah own not even a whit. (Al Quran 35:13)

The seventh century Arabs had no idea about life expectancy of the moon or the sun. They did not know these were eternal or not and they did not care to know. The verse is to impress the 21st century reader. In other words the author knew that the book also has a long life and will survive as long as the humanity survives.

In this verse we in the 21st century not only learn about the movement of the moon and the sun but also their limited life and eventual death, which I have covered before: The Big Freeze and the Holy Qur’an.

Additional reading

Why is the Quran a Sign or a Miracle, According to Itself?

Everything is a Miracle According to the Holy Quran and Albert Einstein

The best proof against atheism is to imagine what they profess: What if nothing exists, no God a total blank!

Allah created the universe or the multiverse through mathematics  بِالْحَقِّ

The Quran and Creation Ex Nihilo: Is This God Speaking or Muhammad?

The Quran and the Expanding Universe: Is This God Speaking or Muhammad?

Quran: Is This God Speaking or Muhammad?

References

1. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question18.html#:~:text=Yes%2C%20the%20Sun%20%2D%20in%20fact,Way%20is%20a%20spiral%20galaxy.