Daily Israel Report

Saudi Cleric Claims: The Sun Revolves Around the Earth

Forget what you learned at school. A Saudi cleric recently said that the sun revolves around the Earth, citing the Koran as proof.
By Elad Benari
First Publish: 3/18/2014, 6:14 AM

We have all been taught at school that the Earth revolves around the sun, but, according to a senior Saudi cleric, we’ve been misled.

In fact, Saleh Al-Fawzan, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, recently claimed in a televised interview that not only does the Earth not revolve around the sun, the opposite is true.

Al-Fawzan’s proof for his claim that the sun revolved around the Earth is none other than the Koran. The interview aired on Saudi Channel 1 and was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

In the interview, the host asks Al-Fawzan, “Allah says in a Koranic verse: ‘And the sun runs towards its stopping point. That is the determination of the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing.’ Does the sun revolve around the earth?”

Saleh Al-Fawzan replies by saying, “There is no doubt about it. The Koran says: ‘The sun runs…’ Nevertheless, they say that the sun stands in place and the Earth moves. This contradicts the Koran.”

“Ignoring the Koran and adopting modern theories is not something a Muslim can do. A Muslim must follow the Koran,” he adds.

In another recent science-related claim by Muslims, an Iranian cleric declared that famed Jewish scientist Albert Einstein was not Jewish at all.

In fact, said Ayatolla Mahadavi Kani, Einstein was a Shiite Muslim who converted to Islam and got the idea for his Theory of Relativity from Islam.