Shooting stars in the Qur'an
Meteors described as flames that guard the heavens.
Key facts
- People and tradition
- Islam
- Region
- Worldwide
- When
- 7th century to today
The story
The Qur'an speaks of the stars as lamps that adorn the nearest heaven, and of shooting flames that guard it. In several passages it describes how devils, or jinn, who try to listen in on the heavenly assembly are driven away by a piercing flame, a shihab. In Islamic tradition, then, a meteor can be a reminder that the heavens are protected.
Muslim scholars in later centuries also made careful observations of the sky, and astronomers in the Islamic world recorded comets, meteors and meteor showers in their chronicles.
What science says
Science explains the flame as a meteor: a particle from space heated to glowing as it rushes into the upper atmosphere. Believers and scientists can share the same night sky and the same wonder at it; the religious meaning and the physical explanation answer different kinds of question.
Did you know?
Several bright stars still have Arabic names, such as Aldebaran and Betelgeuse, from the astronomers of the medieval Islamic world.
The Arabic word shihab is also used for a meteor or a blazing star in everyday language.