Meaning of Daha

 

What is the meaning of daha in the saying of Allah: “And the earth after that He spread it out”?

What is the meaning of daha in the saying of Allah: “And the earth after that He spread it out,” as I read in the comprehensive dictionary of meanings that Allah spread the earth means: He spread it out, extended it, and expanded it in the shape of an egg for habitation and construction. I did not find another source that says that the meaning of daha is to make it in the shape of an egg, and they said that dahyah is an ostrich egg, so is this meaning correct?

Answer:

The statement of Allah the Almighty, “ And the earth and what He spread out ,” and His statement, “ And the earth after that He spread out, ” both of them - according to the linguists - mean: He spread it out and prepared it for habitation. Al-Jawhari said: “I spread it out” is like “I rolled it out,” meaning I spread it out, except that “rolling out” includes creation and “spreading out.” The poet said: “And Juthaymah does not know who spread it out… nor who is the inhabitant of the lofty throne.” As for “rolling out,” it includes spreading out and resting, not creation. The earth was created two days before the sky, but “rolling out” came after the creation of the sky. So, rolling is not the same as creation. Allah created the earth, then created the heavens, then spread out the earth, meaning He extended it and spread it out. In the Arabic language, the word “dahā” (rain spread out) means that it swept away the pebbles from the surface of the earth. The horse passes by rolling when it drags its hand on the surface of the earth, spreading out its soil. Perhaps the closest is to take it from: “daḥayt” (I spread something out), and “madhāh” (like a hoe) is a piece of wood that passes over the earth and does not come upon anything without sweeping it away. “Tadhā” (spreads out) is also said: “daḥā” (he plowed it and split it). Ibn Zayd said this. It was also said: “daḥā” (he smoothed it out) means he prepared it for the sustenance. The meanings are close. In the dictionary of language standards, the root of dahaw: dal, ha, and waw are one root that indicates expansion and preparation.

Interpretation is not isolated from language, but rather it is based on it. Therefore, all interpreters, past and present, agree that dahaha means spread it out. This is the understanding of the predecessors from the Companions, the Followers and the linguists. Perhaps the verse that follows explains the meaning of “Dahy” which is {He brought forth from it its water and its pasture}. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas regarding {Dahy} that he said: “ Dahy” means that He brought forth from it its water and pasture, and split rivers in it, and made in it mountains, sand, paths, and mounds, and what is between them in two days .” Its meaning is also explained from the Sunnah in the hadith of Ibn Umar: “He swept the flood into it in the plain,” meaning: He swept, threw, and cast. Ibn Al-Musayyib was asked about throwing stones, and he said: There is nothing wrong with it, meaning throwing them and racing. And on the authority of Ibn Al-A'rabi: He is throwing the stone, meaning he throws it and pushes it, and the Dahhi is the one who throws the stone with his hand. Similar to this is what came in the hadith of Abu Rafi’: “ I used to play with Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn - may Allah be pleased with them - with the madahi ,” which are stones the size of a disc. They used to dig a hole and throw those stones into it. If a stone fell into it, its owner would win, and if it did not fall, he would be defeated. Dahw is the player throwing stones, walnuts, and other things. End quote.

The people of interpretation agree that “dahw” means “spreading.” The people of knowledge from the early and later generations of the nation agree that “dahw” means “spreading.” And the people of language agree that “dahw” means “spreading.” If this is the case, why attack the Book of Allah with opinion and desire and fabricate falsehood and illusion and export it to the Muslim before the infidel? We are not in need of all this, as the Book of Allah proves the sphericity of the Earth without the need to elaborate on this verse .


Is Ad-Dahiya the ostrich eggs?

As for the claim that Ad-Dahiya is the ostrich eggs, this is not correct and is not known in the language. Rather, the place where the ostrich lays eggs and hatches them (ostrich egg-laying place) is called Adhiyy al-Na'am, or Adha and Madha, and it was called that because they push it with their feet and spread it and expand it, then lay the eggs in it. This is the preferred opinion of Al-Zamakhshari and Abu Hayyan. The name is related to the place where the ostrich spreads it, not the eggs themselves.

The first one to point out that “dahu” means a ball - as far as I know - is the author of “al-Manar”, who said: “ It indicates or alludes - at least - to the fact that it is a ball or like a ball in roundness ”. He derived this from the name of stones that resemble a disc, which are called “al-madahhi”, because they are round in his opinion. He went further by adding the meaning of “dahu” to what is capable of being rolled and making it an original language, as if he wanted to detail the rolling of a ball on the earth! And God’s statement “dahu” means that He rolled it from its place, because al-Raghib said that He moved it from its resting place. So the author of “al-Manar” was saying that after God created the earth, He rolled it from its place as a ball rolls, and this contains an exaggeration that we can do without. We have shown that the linguistic origin is to spread, while throwing, wiping and ploughing from the surface of the earth is another meaning, and it is permissible for everything that is generous and not generous. We mentioned above that one of its linguistic meanings is the Arabs’ saying “the rain rolled the pebbles,” meaning it swept them away. And pebbles, as is clear, some are oval and some have sharp triangular and square shapes and so on, and all of them accept rolling!

As for the stones on which all this was built, they are those mentioned by the author of Lisan al-Arab, in the hadith of Abu Rafi: “I used to play with al-Hasan and al-Husayn with al-Madah,” and he said that they are stones that resemble a disk, while the author of al-Manar claims that they were named with this name because they are spherical!! This is not true. Al-Madah was not named with this name because it resembles a disk, or because it is spherical, but because it is thrown into the adhiyah, meaning the hole!! So it was attributed to the place where it is thrown, and throwing itself is one of the meanings of dahu, but in throwing it it moves as if it is sweeping the ground until it reaches the hole (adhiyah), and all of this is included in its linguistic meaning, and this game mentioned by the author of Lisan al-Arab was with stones, and it was not as it is today or as it became in the era of the author of al-Manar, as this game is still in Medina today, played by children, and it is a popular game, and they call it “al-Dahl” in Medina and the Levant, and “al-Kulal” in the Gulf, and it is similar today to “al-Balli” in Egypt.. But it has developed and instead of using stones, it has been used The wear and tear.

Adhiya is a hole into which children throw the Madahi disc in the past, or the marbles today.

After clarifying the above, we quote what he said: “ (And I will add to that now) that the word ‘dahw’ in the original language means: rolling things that can be rolled, such as walnuts, pebbles, and stones, and throwing them. They call rain ‘dahhi’ because it rolls pebbles, and so does the one who plays with walnuts. In the hadith of Abu Rafi’: ‘I used to play with al-Hasan and al-Husayn, may God be pleased with them, with flattery.’” They are stones like a disc, and they used to dig and roll those stones into it. If a stone fell into it, its owner would win, and if it did not fall, he would be defeated. He mentioned it in Al-Lisan, and after that he said: Ad-Dahu is the player throwing stones, walnuts, and other things. I say: What he mentioned and repeated about it from the game of Ad-Dahu with stones The round, disc-shaped game is still common among children in our country, and they call it playing “al-Ukra,” but some of them distort it and say “al-Dukra.” Al-Raghib said in Mufradat al-Qur’an: Allah the Most High said: “And the earth, after that, He spread it out” (79:30), meaning He removed it from its place, like His statement: “The Day the earth and the mountains will shake” (73: 14) It is from their saying, “The rain rolled away the pebbles...” etc., but there is a difference between the rolling away of the earth and its moving from its place at the time of creation, and its shaking before its destruction when the Hour comes. It may be that what is meant by it - and God knows best - is that He spread it out when He “split it apart” it and the heavens from the smoky substance that was a patchwork, and in it there is an indication or allusion - at least - that it is a sphere or like a sphere in its roundness. Otherwise, it is unlikely that what is meant by its spreading out and rolling out is its movement by His power - the Most High - in its orbit. (And each, in an orbit, is swimming) (36:40) This does not contradict what was said, that its meaning is that He expanded it, that is, He expanded it and extended it, and that He flattened it, that is, He made for it a wide surface on which people and others live. So whoever made the issue of its sphericity and its surface two opposing matters, each of which is said by a people who attack others, then they have narrowed the language and religion, which is wide. “Because of the scarcity of their merchandise in both of them .”


Is there anything in the Book of God that indicates that the Earth is spherical?

The answer is yes, and Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned it in detail more than 700 years ago, while Galileo was a martyr of science, slain by the church only two hundred years ago..!! We quote the answer in detail from the words of Al-Amin Al-Shanqeeti in his book Adwaa Al-Bayan: And by contemplating the words of the commentators, we find that they agree in their entirety: that “Daha” smoothed it and made life easy for it, and he mentioned the requirements for enabling life for it from bringing forth water, pasture, and placing mountains, and this is what is agreed upon with the texts of The Qur’an says: “Have We not made the earth a bed and the mountains pegs?” [78:6-7], and His statement: “It is He who made the earth subservient to you, so walk in its paths and eat of His provision.” [67:15], and all of that is from one door, which is preparing it and enabling living on it, and it does not contain the meaning of rolling up and rounding. If we go to the books of language, we find that they all state that “daha” means: spreading, throwing, removing, and preparing. So spreading, preparing, and throwing a round stone into a small hole are common meanings, and they all explain “daha” as meaning he spread it out and prepared it. And that the ostrich's egg is the ovum, not its eggs as they say, and it was called that because it rolls it with its hand to lay eggs in it, since it has no nest.

Accordingly, there is no evidence from the books of language that rolling is rolling up, but what do the scholars say about the shape of the earth, regardless of whether the Qur'an was exposed to it or not?

If we return to the words of those Muslims who have studied astronomy, we find that they agree that the shape of the Earth is round. Before citing any of their statements, we point out that this research has no relation to the subject of movement, whether for the Earth or otherwise. That is an independent research, and this is not its place. Rather, the research is in the form. As for the statements of the scholars regarding the shape of the Earth, the most comprehensive, clearest, and most explicit statement I have come across is the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah in the Epistle of Al-Hilal , in which he said: He said in one place:

It has been established by the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the scholars of the Ummah that the spheres are round. God Almighty said: And among His signs are the night and the day. And the sun and the moon [41:37], and He said: And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; each is swimming in an orbit [21:37], and the Most High said: It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. Each is swimming in an orbit [36:40]. Ibn Abbas said: In an orbit like the orbit of a spindle . And this is how it is.In Lisan Al-Arab: Al-Falak is a round thing . From it, it is said: The breast of the girl became round. God Almighty said: He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night [39:5]. Wrapping is turning. From it, it was said: He wrapped the turban and rolled it up. That is why the spheres are called: spherical in shape . Because the root of the word “ball” is “kura,” the “waw” was moved and what preceded it was opened, so it was changed to an “alif.”

And He said: The sun and the moon move by precise calculation [55\5] like the calculation of a millstone. And He said: You do not see in the creation of the Most Gracious any discrepancy [67\3]. And this only occurs in the round shapes of bodies, not in the polygons of the triangle or the square or other than them, for it varies; because its angles are contrary to its perpendiculars. The round body has similar sides and aspects, and none of it is different from the other.

It also includes his statement: “And Imam Abu al-Husayn said: Ahmad ibn Ja`far ibn al-Munadi, one of the most prominent scholars known for his knowledge of the hadiths and major writings, in the texts of religious sciences from the second generation of Ahmad’s companions: There is no disagreement among the scholars that the sky is like a sphere , and that it revolves with all that is in it of The planets, like the rotation of the ball on two fixed, unmoving poles, one of them in the north, and the other in the south . He said: And what indicates that is that all the planets revolve from the east, falling a little in one order in their movement and the sizes of their parts, until they reach the middle of the sky, then they descend in that order, so it is as if they Fixed in a sphere that rotates all of them in one revolution .

This is a summary of the sayings of Muslim scholars regarding the shape of the spheres. Then he said:

This is the intended meaning itself, and they also agreed that the Earth with all its movements from land and sea is like a sphere . He said: What is indicated by this is that the sun, moon, and planets do not rise and set on all those in the regions of the earth at the same time, but rather on the east before the west.

He said:The idea of ​​the Earth being fixed in the middle of the sky, like a point in a circle, is indicated by the fact that the mass of each planet is seen in all parts of the sky, to the same extent, so this indicates the distance between the sky and the Earth from all directions by the same extent, so it is necessary for the Earth to be in the middle of the sky. End quote. In his wording.

This is a transmission of the consensus of the nation, from a great imam in the sciences of reason and transmission, that the Earth is in the shape of a sphere, and he presented compelling evidence from the movement of the heavens on that. From the perspective of reason, it is also said: The most perfect of bodies is the round one, as He said in His statement: You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency [67:3]. Therefore, if it were possible for someone to travel on the face of the earth, and we assumed that the earth was flat like the surface of a house or paper, for example, then this person would have an end to which he would reach, which is the ultimate flatness, or he would fall into an abyss. And considering it as a sphere, then he would complete his cycle and repeat it, and if he traveled throughout his life, it would not be… Its path has an end, because it revolves around its surface from all sides. And knowledge is with Allah Almighty.

Warning.
It was possible to present this result from the beginning as long as it ultimately agrees with the statement of the scholars of the Council, and we do not prolong the quotations from here and there, but we have presented all of that for a purpose that is more general than all of this, and a more comprehensive issue, which is from two aspects:

The first : That the scholars of the Muslims are aware of what the scholars of the Council said, But not through transmission or a special indication of this part of the Qur’an, but through contemplation and reasoning; since the Muslim scholars were not ignorant of this theory, and this fact was not hidden from them.
Their second : Despite their knowledge of this fact and their awareness of this theory, none of them attributed its significance to the texts of the Book or the Sunnah.

Accordingly, we say: If the texts are not explicit in a modern theory, we should not include them in its discussions, either in denial or confirmation. Rather, we seek knowledge through it. The sciences of astronomy are based on deduction and reasoning, and the sciences of medicine are based on experiments and induction. Thus, the Qur’an remains protected from the scope of debate in A theory that can be proven or disproven, or changed or altered, just as someone who does not know the truth of a matter in his art should not rush to deny it unless it conflicts with an explicit text.

Al-Shanqeeti’s words, may God have mercy on him, have ended. They contain many benefits, and I ask God to benefit everyone who takes the lead in the call

. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.