When we observe the universe through the naked eye, we think there is a non-unmoving universe. The immense activities in the universe started to be noticed only after the invention of the telescope.

In a very long period of history, people thought the world was not moving and that the sun rotated round the world. Then, in the process that started with Copernic, Kepler and Galileo, they discovered that the sun rotated round the sun, which remained fixed. This discovery, which is regarded as a revolution, was very important but it had not yet been discovered that the sun moved on its own orbit.

Then, thanks to the advanced telescopes and the development of science, it was understood that the world rotated round the sun, which also moved. The sun moved at a speed faster than 720.000 km an hour with the planets around it toward the star Vega on an orbit called the Solar Apex.

This fact, which was discovered only in the last century, was stated by the Quran 1400 years ago:

{And the Sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing} (36: 38)

{It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law)} (36: 40)

{It is He Who created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along each in its rounded course} (21: 33)

As we can see it, the Quran stated 1400 years ago that the sun and the stars moved; this proves that the Quran is the word of Allah.

The Quran attracts attention to another scientific discovery about the movements of the sun through another verse. The following is stated in the Quran:

{The Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and Lord of the easts.} (37:5)

It is understood from the phrase “the Lord of the easts” that the sun had more than one rising point; it attracts attention to the fact that “the east”, which we know as the rising “place” of the sun, needs to be thought as “places”, that is, more than one “east”.

Yes, the sun rises every morning and sets every evening. However, these risings and settings take place in a different part of the universe each time. That is, the stars and the planets that float in the sea of the sky do not pass from the same route again; they move on their orbits.

The sun, which rises in a place, sets in another place at the same time since the world is round. The night follows the day and the day follows the night. Then, the rising places of the sun, not the rising place, is in question. The morning time is different for every point of the globe. Every place waits for the sun to rise at a different hour, minute and second. We watch the sun rise from different places of space. The sun is the same sun, the world is the same world but the place in space is different…

Now, let us ask some questions about these two miracles of the Quran:

1- Can the fact that the sun and the stars moved – something stated by the Quran 1400 years ago – was approved by scientists be interpreted as anything but as “the Quran is the word of Allah, who created the skies, determined routes there and made the sun and stars move on that routes”?

2- Is it possible for a person who lived 1400 years ago and who could not read and write to discover a fact that was rejected by a lot of scientists who lived before the last century and that was discovered only in the last century, which was a century of science and technology?  

3- Why should Muhammad (peace be upon him) make these claims and risk his credibility by opposing the people of that century in a period when almost all of the knowledge about the sky was wrong and superstitious and when people did not have anything like that on the agenda?

All of these questions can only be answered by the fact that the Quran is the book of Allah. If it is accepted that the Quran is the word of a human being, hundreds of questions will arise. In that case, no scientific fact stated by the Quran can be explained.

The only answer to this question that can persuade the heart and the mind is as follows: The Quran is the pre-eternal book of Allah and His address to humanity. Muhammad (peace be upon him) is Allah’s Messenger and beloved slave. We believe in it.