The emergence of the flat earth theory began to develop a few years ago in 2022. Until now, there is still much debate about what the shape of the earth actually looks like.
Several great scientists in the world, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have been recorded to have conducted experiments and expressed their opinions about the shape of the earth. Various opinions emerged such as from,
Read:
1. The shape of the earth according to the Qur’an
2. Opinions of international scholars regarding the shape of the earth
3. The shape of the earth according to the global elite
One of them is a Muslim scientist named Al Biruni, a great Muslim scientist in the Middle Ages who made a major contribution to the history of Islamic civilization. What do you think about the shape of the earth? Following
The Shape of the Earth According to Muslim Scientist Al Biruni
Assalamu’alaikum all Muslim friends, one of the most legendary scientists in the history of science is Albiruni. His full name is Abu Raihan Muhammad Al-Biruni. He was a Persian mathematician, as well as astronomer, physicist, scholar, encyclopedia writer, philosopher, traveler, historian, pharmacist and teacher, who made many contributions in the fields of mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and his statements about the shape of the earth.
Al Biruni was born on September 5, 973 AD or 362 Hijriyah in Khwarizmi, a small town in Turkmenistan or Khiva, an area of Lake Aral in Central Asia which at that time was located in the Persian Empire.
Albiruni has made a multidimensional contribution to the world of science. His legacy works are evidence of the breadth of his knowledge in various disciplines at once. Book of Al Tafheem Le Awa’el Senaat Al Tangeem for example, is considered a qualified work in the field of astronomy, as well as the earliest major work on the science of mathematics.
In addition to receiving praise from Muslims, Al-biruni also received high appreciation by western nations, his works surpassed Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, and Indologists who were hundreds of years ahead of him.
In the discussion about flat earth there is a statement that says Al Biruni believes that the earth is flat and he created the Azimuthal Equidistant Projection (AEP).
For those who don’t understand AEP, they will think that Al Biruni created and formulated a flat earth map. In fact, if you understand why AEP was made, you will know that Al Biruni realized that the earth is round. That’s the basic reason for the existence of AEP.
The opinion that Al Biruni agrees with the flat earth theory will also be refuted by a simple fact. This fact is that during his lifetime Al Biruni had calculated the diameter of the earth by a method and instrument of measuring angles called Astrolabe.
His calculations with this Astrolabe he developed himself and became one of the most famous and made him recognized in the world. The instrument he made became a reference for making modern angle measuring instruments.
Al Biruni At that time he was very sure that the earth was round, therefore he measured the diameter of the earth. How did Albiruni determine the earth is round? even measure the diameter of the earth?
It turned out that the experiment was quite simple, he only had to capitalize on a star measuring instrument called the Astrolabe. On a high mountain with a perfectly flat Horizon view and trigonometric formulas.
First he measured the height of the mountain he was climbing, Al Biruni directed the Astrolabe to two different points on the mainland, then tangent multiplied and divided by the difference tangent the two angles using the formula trigonometry.
Then then, now this is the coolest part, Al Biruni directs the Astrolabe to the Horizon point then makes an imaginary 90° line through the earth, He makes a giant right triangle between the position he stands, the Horizon point, and the core of the earth.
Al Biruni also said that the radius of the earth is 6,335.725 km. According to data recorded in the World Geodetic System (WGS-84), the circumference of the earth is 40,075,071 km, meaning that Al Biruni’s calculation is accurate, only the difference is in decimal, which means the error is only under 1%.
What’s surprising is that Albiruni did it 11 centuries ago. Uniquely, when the circumference of the earth is calculated transversely with the north and south axes, the result is 40,007.86 km. There is a difference of 67,211 km, meaning that the earth is slightly oval, but this is not too obvious to see with the naked eye.
There, Al Biruni did the calculations. In fact, there was already a calculation of the radius of the earth from the previous Greek scientist, Eratosthenes, which gave a result of 6,406.5 km. So it is clear that Al Biruni’s experiment stated that if the earth was flat, it would not be possible to do calculations using trigonometry. Wallau’lam bisshawab
Image source: Reddit;Education Reports;Daily Sabah
