Does the Quran Teach a Mount Qaf surrounds the Earth ? Refuting the Myth
The letter Qaf at the opening of Surah Qaf is one of the disconnected letters (muqatta’at) of the Quran, not a reference to a mythical emerald mountain. The claim that the Quran teaches a Mount Qaf surrounding the earth is a baseless Israelite tale introduced by some early Muslims without investigation, bearing no authentic chain of transmission and no mention in the Quran itself.
Christians claim that the Qur’an contains myths. They cite narrations that tell of an emerald mountain surrounding the Earth, and this mountain is called Mount Qaf. They claim that Mount Qaf is what is meant by the Almighty’s saying: {Qaf. By the Glorious Qur’an.} [Qaf 1]
This allegation confuses a Quranic letter with an Israelite legend that has no basis in the Quran. The response proceeds on three foundations: Qaf is a muqatta’at (disconnected letter) like those at the opening of twenty-nine surahs; the mountain narrative is an Israelite fabrication explicitly rejected by classical mufassirun; and the narrations attributed to Ibn Abbas are forged through a chain containing a known liar.
Qaf Is a Disconnected Letter, Not a Proper Noun
{Qaf} is just one of the disconnected letters found at the beginning of some chapters of the Holy Quran.
“Qaf. By the Glorious Qur’an.”
These letters — muqatta’at — appear at the opening of twenty-nine surahs and are understood by scholarly consensus as letters whose specific meaning is known to Allah alone, not as names of mountains, angels, or other created things.
The Israelite Origin of the Mount Qaf Myth
The story of Mount Qaf is not true, and it is nothing but an Israelite story that was introduced and passed on by some of the early Muslims without investigation or deliberation, and it is not mentioned at all in the Holy Qur’an.
[!scholar] Ibn Kathir — Tafsir al-Quran al-Azim
It has been narrated from some of the Salaf that they said: (Qaf) is a mountain that surrounds the entire earth, and it is called Mount Qaf. This was, and God knows best, one of the fables of the Children of Israel that some people took from them …, and this and its likes and similar things are the fabrications of some of their heretics with which they confuse people about their religion.
Ibn Kathir explicitly classifies the Mount Qaf narrative among the fables of the People of the Book — Israelite tales that entered Muslim discourse not through revelation but through uncritical transmission.
The Fabricated Narrations and Their Condemned Narrator
Narrations were mentioned on the authority of Ibn Abbas about Mount Qaf, and all of them are fabricated and not authentic.
Grade: Mawdu’ · Narrator Umar ibn al-Subh is a known fabricator
This narration is not authentic; it contains three calamities in its isnad (chain of transmission):
First: Abu (…) is an unknown person, and likewise Khalaf bin Maimun is unknown; as it is mentioned at the bottom of the page: [I did not find his biography], and unknown narrations are not authentic according to scholars.
Second: Umar bin Subh, who is Umar bin Al-Subh bin Imran Al-Tamimi, is a liar and a fabricator. He invented this story and attributed it to Muqatil bin Hayyan.
Third: al-Bukhari said in Al-Tarikh al-Awsat: Yahya Al-Yashkuri told me on the authority of Ali bin Jarir, who said: I heard Umar bin Subh say: “I fabricated the Prophet’s sermon” — meaning that he lied and made up words and attributed them to the Prophet Muhammad without any justification.
Now, let us see what the opinions of other scholars of hadith and ta’dil are about Umar ibn al-Subh:
- Abu Ahmad bin Adi Al-Jurjani: He is a narrator of rejected hadiths, and most of what he narrates is not authentic, neither in terms of text nor chain of transmission.
- Abu Al-Fath Al-Azdi: He is a liar.
- Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi: Weak.
- Abu Jaafar Al-Aqili: His hadith is not reliable, and he is not known for transmission.
- Abu Hatim al-Razi: He is a fabricator of hadith.
- Abu Hatim bin Hibban Al-Basti: He was one of those who fabricated hadiths based on trustworthy sources. It is not permissible to write down his hadiths except to astonish people of the trade only.
- Abu Naim Al-Asbahani: He narrated fabrications on the authority of Qatada and Muqatil.
- Ahmad bin Shuaib Al-Nasa’i: He is not trustworthy.
- Ahmed bin Ali Al-Sulaymani: He composed the last sermons of the Prophet.
- Ishaq bin Rahawayh: He is a liar.
- Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani: He is abandoned, and Ibn Rahawayh declared him a liar.
- Al-Daraqutni: He is abandoned.
- Al-Dhahabi: They left him.
- Subat Ibn Al-Ajami: He is one of the unknown people, not trustworthy or reliable.
Every classical hadith scholar condemned Umar ibn al-Subh as a liar who fabricates words according to his whims and then attributes them to the Prophet, Muqatil ibn Hayyan, or someone else. So the stories of Mount Qaf are fabrications and have no basis.
The letter Qaf is a Quranic muqatta’at, not a mountain. The Mount Qaf narrative is an Israelite fable rejected by Ibn Kathir and transmitted through a chain whose narrator — Umar ibn al-Subh — was universally condemned as a liar and fabricator by every major hadith critic.