Surah 88:20:
And at the earth—how it is spread flat?
The foundational vulnerability of Surah 88 lies in its precise, unambiguous choice of vocabulary to describe the geometry of the planet: "And at the earth—how it is spread flat (sutiḥat)?"
The Philological Reality: In classical Arabic lexicography (as documented in Lisan al-Arab), the verb saṭaḥa means to spread open, flatten out, or lay something perfectly level like a rooftop (saṭḥ). It describes an explicitly two-dimensional leveling process.
The Classical Commentary Consensus: Rather than attempting to spin this into a modern sphere, the most authoritative classical Islamic commentators bluntly accepted the literal geometry of the verse. For instance, Jalaluddin al-Suyuti writes in Tafsir al-Jalalayn:
"As for His words 'how it is spread out flat,' this denotes the literal surface structure. The leading scholars of the religious law agree that the Earth is a flat plane (basiṭah), not a sphere as claimed by the astronomers, even if the spherical view does not technically violate pillars of prayer."
The Scientific Conflict: Modern planetary science, geology, and geodesy demonstrate that the Earth is an oblate spheroid orbiting a star in a gravitational vacuum. The text mistakes the localized visual illusion of a flat horizon for an objective, cosmic architectural blueprint. It views the planet not as a planet, but as a vast, static geographic bed stretched open beneath a raised canopy.