Incorrect Astronomical Facts? (25:45-46)

25:45-46 is claimed to assert that the sun moves to create shadows - which would be astronomically incorrect, since it is the Earth's rotation that causes shadows to move.

The false claim: 25:45-46 states that the sun moves to create shadows, contradicting the scientific fact that shadow movement is caused by Earth's rotation.

The verses do not say what the claim attributes to them. The error is in the reading, not in the Quran.

[25:45-46] Have you not considered how your Lord extends the shadow? If He willed, He could have made it still. We then made the sun its guide. Then We withdraw it toward Us, a gradual withdrawal.

Three observations resolve the claim entirely.

First, there are no words in these verses stating that the sun moves to create shadows. The sun is described as a guide to the shadow - meaning the position of the sun in the sky, which changes continuously due to the Earth's rotation, determines the length and direction of shadows. The sun functions as an indicator, not as a moving body causing shadow movement through its own locomotion.

Second, the Arabic word Qabadnah - translated as "We withdraw it" - is in the masculine form. The Arabic word for shadow (zhil) is masculine, while the word for sun (shams) is feminine. The grammatical gender of Qabadnah therefore refers to the shadow, not the sun. The verse is describing the withdrawal and retraction of the shadow as the day progresses - not the movement of the sun. If the sun were the subject of the retraction, the feminine form Qabadnaha would have been used.

Third, the changing position of the sun in our sky - which is what guides the shadow's movement - is indeed caused by the Earth's rotation, not by the sun orbiting the Earth. The verse's description is entirely consistent with this: the sun's apparent position guides the shadow, and that apparent position changes because we are spinning, not because the sun is circling us.

The verses contain no astronomical error. The error is in the translation and reading the claim relies upon.