Islamic Cosmology

Borrowed Myths and Outdated Science

Islamic scripture—the Qur’an—and its traditional interpretations claim the heavens are supported by pillars, but these pillars are invisible. This idea isn’t just a minor detail; it’s a blatant holdover from ancient pagan mythologies that predate Islam by centuries, yet Muslim scholars insist on its literal acceptance.

Qur’an Verses on Pillars:

• Qur’an 13:2 states Allah raised the heavens "without any supports that you see."

• Qur’an 31:10 echoes this: “He has created the heavens without the pillars that you see.”

Muslim exegetes like Ibn Abbas and Mujahid didn’t take this metaphorically. They explicitly said the heavens do have pillars—they’re just invisible. Others, like the tafsir of al-Kathir, confirm this interpretation, making it clear: the claim is the heavens rest on pillars, hidden from human sight.

Where Did This Come From?

This isn’t some unique revelation. The idea of the sky propped on pillars is ancient and widespread:

• Ancient Chinese mythology describes eight pillars in the cardinal directions holding up the sky.

• Other mythologies have four or eight pillars separating earth and heaven.

• This concept pervades many early religions and mythic traditions, long before Islam existed.

The Throne of Allah and Ancient Divine Imagery:

The Qur’an repeatedly mentions Allah’s throne (al-‘Arsh), vast enough to encompass heaven and earth (Qur’an 2:255). Islamic sources describe Allah “sitting” on this throne above the heavens.

This imagery is strikingly similar to:

• Greek god Zeus and Roman Jupiter on their thrones.

• Egyptian goddess Isis seated on a throne.

• Hindu god Rama on his throne.

• Ancient Mesopotamian gods and the Canaanite god El depicted seated.

This isn’t coincidence or divine originality; it’s clear cultural borrowing from the dominant mythic paradigms surrounding early Islam.

Angelic Beings as Mythical Hybrids:

Islamic hadith describe angels carrying Allah’s throne as mountain-sized beings with multiple faces—human, eagle, lion, bull—mirroring the “cherubim” from ancient Egyptian and Babylonian mythology. These half-human, half-animal guardians are not unique to Islam; they appear extensively in Mesopotamian, Greek, and Roman lore as temple guardians and protectors.

What Does This Tell Us?

• The Qur’an’s cosmology is not scientifically accurate by any modern standard—it’s pre-scientific myth cloaked in religious language.

• Early Muslim scholars accepted these mythological elements literally, cementing a worldview incompatible with modern astronomy and physics.

• The imagery of Allah’s throne and the angels is not original or unique but clearly derived from earlier pagan religions.

• Islam, as it emerged historically, absorbed and repackaged pre-Islamic pagan beliefs, rather than introducing a radically new cosmology or theology.

Bottom Line:

If Islam claims to be a perfect, divinely revealed religion with knowledge transcending human ignorance, this segment of its cosmology exposes it as rooted in ancient superstition and mythology. It merely rebrands widespread pagan ideas, continuing the same unscientific worldview dressed in the language of revelation.

The insistence by some Muslims that these descriptions are literal and scientifically valid is intellectually indefensible in the 21st century. It betrays an unwillingness to confront the religion’s deep entanglement with myth and a refusal to update beliefs based on evidence.

If Islam truly sought truth, it would discard these inherited myths rather than double down on them.