Stars as Missiles Against Devils: Quran 67:5

Shooting Stars and Demons

The Quran presents a peculiar cosmological claim: stars were created by Allah to serve as missiles to stone devils (shayatin) who try to eavesdrop on heavenly conversations. This reflects a pre-scientific understanding of both astronomy and meteorology common in 7th-century Arabia.

"And We have certainly beautified the nearest heaven with stars and have made [from] them what is thrown at the devils and have prepared for them the punishment of the Blaze." — Quran 67:5

"Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of stars, And as protection against every rebellious devil, [So] they may not listen to the exalted assembly [of angels] and are pelted from every side, Repelled; and for them is a constant punishment, Except one who snatches [some words] by theft, but they are pursued by a burning flame, piercing [in brightness]." — Quran 37:6-10

What the Quran Claims

According to multiple Quranic passages, stars serve dual purposes:

• Decoration: They beautify the lowest heaven
• Weapons: They are missiles thrown at devils who try to eavesdrop on Allah and the angels

The Quran describes devils climbing toward heaven to spy, but being chased away by "shooting stars" or flaming projectiles. If a devil manages to steal some information before being hit, he passes it to fortune tellers on earth—but the information is corrupted.

Scientific Reality

Modern astronomy reveals how profoundly wrong this cosmology is:

• Stars are massive: Stars are enormous balls of plasma undergoing nuclear fusion. Our sun (a medium-sized star) is 1.4 million kilometers in diameter—over 100 times Earth's diameter
• Stars are distant: The nearest star to Earth (besides the sun) is over 4 light-years away. Most visible stars are hundreds or thousands of light-years distant
• Stars are stationary: Stars don't move around being "thrown" at anything. They follow orbital paths around galactic centers
• Meteors aren't stars: What ancient people called "shooting stars" are meteors—small pieces of rock or ice burning up in Earth's atmosphere, not stars being thrown
• No demons in space: Space is a vacuum. There are no invisible demons climbing through it or being pelted with celestial objects

The Pre-Islamic Arabian Belief

This Quranic claim wasn't original to Muhammad—it reflects pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. Ancient Arabs observed meteor showers and shooting stars and interpreted them as divine weapons against evil spirits. The Quran simply adopted and sanctified this existing folklore.

In pre-Islamic Arabia, fortune tellers (kahin) claimed to receive information from jinn or demons. The Quran explains their occasional accuracy by saying demons steal information from heaven—but are usually hit by stars before escaping with it.

Classical Islamic Interpretation

Ibn Kathir, in his authoritative tafsir, explains that Allah placed stars in the lowest heaven both for beauty and "as missiles to stone the devils." He describes how devils try to steal information from angels but are chased by "flames" or "piercing projectiles."

Classical scholars took this literally—they believed demons physically attempted to reach heaven and were literally struck by stars or flames. This wasn't understood as metaphor but as cosmological fact.

The Problem of Scale

If we take the Quran's claim seriously, the absurdity becomes clear:

• A single star is larger than millions of Earths
• The nearest star is trillions of kilometers away
• Using a star as a "missile" would be like using a galaxy-sized object to swat a mosquito
• Stars don't and can't move in the manner described

The Quranic description only makes sense if you think stars are small lights in a nearby sky—the primitive cosmology of 7th-century Arabia.

Modern Apologetic Defenses

Defense 1: "It means meteors, not stars"

Some Muslims claim the Quran is referring to meteors, not actual stars.

Problem: The Arabic word used is kawakib (كواكب) or nujum (نجوم), which mean "stars," not meteors. If Allah meant meteors, why didn't He use clear language? Classical scholars understood these as stars, not meteors.

Defense 2: "It's metaphorical"

Some argue this is symbolic language, not literal cosmology.

Problem: The Quran presents this as literal fact, not metaphor. Classical scholars interpreted it literally. If this is metaphor, what else in the Quran is metaphor? How do we decide?

Defense 3: "It's beyond our understanding"

Some claim we don't understand the spiritual realm so can't judge this claim.

Problem: The Quran makes specific physical claims about stars being thrown. We can test these claims and they're demonstrably false. Appealing to mystery doesn't resolve the scientific error.

The Pattern of Scientific Errors

This isn't an isolated mistake—the Quran contains multiple scientific errors:

• Sun setting in a muddy spring (Quran 18:86)
• Sky as a solid ceiling (Quran 21:32)
• Sperm originating between backbone and ribs (Quran 86:6-7)
• Mountains preventing Earth from shaking (Quran 16:15)
• Seven heavens stacked on top of each other (Quran 2:29)

All these errors reflect 7th-century Arabian cosmology, not timeless divine knowledge.

Biblical Contrast: The Heavens Declare God's Glory

The Bible speaks of stars differently:

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge." — Psalm 19:1-2

"He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit." — Psalm 147:4-5

The Bible presents stars as declarations of God's power and majesty, not as weapons against demons. While using phenomenological language (describing things as they appear), the Bible doesn't make false scientific claims about stars being thrown at devils.

The book of Job, written thousands of years ago, hints at the vast scale of the cosmos: "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion's belt?" (Job 38:31). This points to the ordered, massive scale of creation—not tiny lights being hurled at demons.

Questions to Consider

1. If the Quran is the word of an all-knowing God, why does it describe stars using 7th-century Arabian superstition?
2. How can Muslims claim the Quran contains scientific miracles when it contains such obvious errors?
3. Does this error suggest the Quran was authored by a human who shared the scientific misconceptions of his time?
4. If we must reinterpret this verse in light of modern science, what prevents reinterpreting any verse?
5. Can a book containing demonstrable scientific errors be trusted on spiritual matters?

Conclusion

The Quranic claim that stars are missiles thrown at demons is a clear scientific error rooted in 7th-century Arabian mythology. No amount of apologetic maneuvering can reconcile this claim with modern astronomy. Stars are not weapons, demons don't climb through space, and shooting stars are meteors, not projectiles from heaven.

This error—along with others in the Quran—strongly suggests human authorship rather than divine revelation. An all-knowing God would not make such elementary cosmological mistakes.

Related articles: The Sun Sets in a Muddy Spring, The Sky as a Solid Ceiling, The Seven Heavens