Is there any textual proof that Makkah al-Mukarramah is the centre of the earth?

Study of this
issue may be viewed from two angles:

–        

the
shar‘i angle, which means looking for proof in the Qur’an, hadeeth and
athaar (reports) that have been narrated concerning this topic;

–        

the
scientific angle, which means looking at scientific research and physical
proof that will make the matter clear. 

With regard to
the shar‘i aspect, some of the scholars stated that in the Qur’an there are
references to this point of view, and that in the Prophet’s Sunnah and
reports from the early generations there are clear statements to that
effect. 

With regard to
the references in the Qur’an, that is seen in the verse in which Allah, may
He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Thus We have made you a middle nation”

[al-Baqarah 2:143]

because the
verse appears in the context of taking the Ka‘bah as a qiblah or direction
faced in prayer, so it is as if the verse means: just as the Ka‘bah is the
middle of the earth, so too We have made you a middle nation among other
nations. 

Al-Qurtubi
said in al-Jaami‘ li Ahkaam al-Qur’an (2/153): 

What is meant
is that just as the Ka‘bah is the middle of the earth, so too We have made
you a middle nation.” End quote. 

But this is
one of six interpretations that the commentators have mentioned Concerning
the words “Thus We have made you”;
perhaps the most correct of them is that which was mentioned by Ibn Jareer
at-Tabari in his Tafseer (3/141): 

As We have
guided you – O believers – by means of Muhammad (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) and by means of what he has brought to you from Allah,
and We have singled you out by guiding you to the qiblah and path of
Ibraaheem, and We have favoured you thereby over the followers of other
religions, so too We have singled you out and favoured you above the
followers of other religions, by making you a middle nation. End quote. 

See:
Tafseer al-Qur’an al-‘Azeem, 1/454; Mafaateeh al-Ghayb, 2/387;
ad-Durr al-Masoon, 2/134 

Moreover,
there is a reference to that in the verse in which Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And
this (the Quran) is a blessed Book which We have sent down, confirming (the
revelations) which came before it, so that you may warn the Mother of Towns
(i.e. Makkah) and all those around it”

[al-An‘aam
6:92]. 

Some of the
scholars said that Makkah was only called the Mother of Towns (Umm al-Qura)
because it is the origin of all towns on earth, and from it the earth spread
out; hence it is the centre of the earth. 

Indeed, some
of the scholars said that its name, Makkah, indicates that it is the centre
and middle of the earth. 

Ar-Raaghib
al-Asfahaani said in Mufradaat al-Qur’an (1/470-471): 

The name is
derived from the verb makkaka, which refers to the action of sucking
out marrow from a bone, or the action of a young animal suckling from its
mother. 

It is so
called because it would tamukku whoever did wrong therein, i.e., it
would crush him and destroy him. 

Al-Khaleel
said: It is so called because it is the centre of the earth, like the marrow
which is in the middle of the bone. End
quote.                                     

See:
Mafaateeh al-Ghayb, 4/310 for many other suggestions concerning the
derivation of the name Makkah. 

To sum up, the
Qur’an does not contain any clear text or indication that Makkah
al-Mukarramah or the Ka‘bah is located at the centre or middle of the earth.
The reports to that effect are no more than possible interpretations and
ambiguous indications. 

Secondly: with
regard to the marfoo‘ hadeeths, i.e., those with isnaads going back to the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), we tried to compile them
from the books of the Sunnah, so that we could examine all their isnaads and
reports, but we could not find anything but one marfoo‘ hadeeth on this
topic, which is as follows: 

It was
narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:

“The first
spot to be created on earth was the location of the House (the Ka‘bah), then
the earth spread out from there. And the first mountain that Allah placed on
the surface of the earth was Abu Qubays, then the mountains spread out from
there.” 

Al-Mannaawi
said in Fayd al-Qadeer (3/108): 

“then the
earth spread out from there” on all sides, so it is the centre of the earth
and its pole. End quote. 

But this
hadeeth was narrated by al-‘Aqeeli in ad-Du‘afa’ al-Kabeer, 2/341;
al-Bayhaqi in Musnad al-Firdaws, 1/1/11; Ibn ‘Asaakir in Tareekh
Dimashq, 10/31. In al-Jaami‘ (9603) as-Suyooti attributed it to
al-Haakim in his Tareekh. 

All of them
narrated it via Sulaymaan ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan, (who said): ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan
ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Ajlaan al-Qurashi told us: ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Jurayj told us,
from ‘Ata’, from Ibn ‘Abbaas, in a marfoo‘ report. 

This hadeeth
is flawed because ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn ‘Ali is unknown, and because the chain
of narration ends with ‘Ata’ or Mujaahid. 

This ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Ajlaan ad-Dimashqi narrated from Ibn Jurayj and
from ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Thabit ibn Thawbaan; Sulaymaan ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan,
‘Amr ibn ‘Uthmaan al-Homsi and his grandson Shaybah ibn al-Waleed narrated
from him. 

Nobody
suggested that ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Ajlaan ad-Dimashqi was
trustworthy except Sulaymaan ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan, and this was mentioned by
Ibn ‘Asaakir in his biography of ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan in Tareekh Dimashq
(35/133). But this Sulaymaan – who is Abu Ayyoob ad-Dimashqi – is subject to
some criticism; he was criticised for his frequent narration from unknown
narrators. Ibn Ma‘een said concerning him: He is trustworthy if he narrates
from known narrators. Ibn Hibbaan said: His hadeeth is acceptable if he
narrates from well-known, trustworthy narrators. But if he narrates from
unknown narrators, then his reports are objectionable (munkar). See his
biography in Tahdheeb al-Kamaal (12/26). Hence the scholars did not
think that Sulaymaan ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan was trustworthy, because of some of
those from whom he narrated. Al-‘Aqeeli described ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn ‘Ali
as unknown (majhool), and he regarded his hadeeth as flawed. He said in his
biography of him in ad-Du‘afa’ (2/341): He is majhool (unknown) with
regard to transmission of hadeeth. 

‘Ali ibn ‘Abd
al-‘Azeez told us: Abu Na‘eem told us, al-Haarith ibn Ziyaad al-Ja‘fi told
us: I heard ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabaah say: The first mountain to be placed on
earth was Abu Qubays. 

Abu Yahya ibn
Abi Masarrah told us: my father told me: Sa‘eed ibn Saalim al-Miqdaah told
us, from Ibn Jurayj, from Mujaahid, who said: The first spot (to be created)
of the earth was the site of the House (the Ka‘bah), from which the earth
spread out. 

Abu Ja‘far
said: This report is more likely to be correct. End quote. 

Something
similar to this hadeeth was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased
with him), as we shall see below. This explains the confusion of those who
attributed the hadeeth to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him). 

It was classed
as da‘eef by al-Albaani in as-Silsilah ad-Da‘eefah, no. 5881 

Thirdly: 

Among the
reports of the Sahaabah and Taabi‘een, there are many reports which indicate
that they used to think that the centre of the earth was in Makkah
al-Mukarramah. 

1.

It was
narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas said: 

Allah created
the House (the Ka‘bah) two thousand years before the earth … then the earth
spread out from beneath it. 

Narrated by
at-Tabari in his Tafseer, 6/20 with an isnaad of which the narrators
are trustworthy (thiqaat). In ad-Durr al-Manthoor (2/265) it
is attributed to Ibn al-Mundhir, at-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi in
ash-Shu‘ab. 

2.

It was
narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 

The House (the
Ka‘bah) was placed over the water on four pillars, two thousand years before
this world was created, then the earth spread out from beneath the House. 

Narrated by
at-Tabari in his Tafseer, 3/61, with an acceptable isnaad. 

3.

It was
narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 

The Ka‘bah was
created two thousand years before the earth. They said: How could it be
created before it, when it is part of the earth? He said: There was an
island on the water, on which there were two angels who glorified Allah by
night and day for two thousand years. Then when Allah wanted to create the
earth, He spread it out from there and made it in the middle of the earth. 

In ad-Durr
al-Manthoor (1/115) this is attributed to Sa‘eed ibn Mansoor, Ibn
al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Haatim. I found its isnaad in Majlis Imla’ fi
Ru’yat Allah tabaarak wa ta‘aala by Abu ‘Abdullah al-Daqqaaq (p. 287),
and in Amaali Ibn Bashraan (2/204). Its isnaad includes Abu Ma‘shar
Nujayh ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Madani, whose biography is in Tahdheeb
al-Tahdheeb (10/422). Most of the hadeeth scholars are of the view that
he is da‘eef (weak). 

Among the
Taabi‘een: 

Something
similar was narrated from Mujaahid, ‘Ata’, ‘Amr ibn Dinar and others, as is
stated by Ibn Abi Haatim and at-Tabari in their Tafseers, and also in
Musannaf ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq (5/90). Among the books that narrated many
such reports is Akhbaar Makkah by al-Azraqi and Akhbaar Makkah
by al-Faakihi. 

These reports
may be deemed marfoo‘ (attributable to the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him)), but they may also be narrated from the People of the
Book, because their books are filled with stories of the creation of the
heavens and earth and the beginning of creation. That is supported by the
fact that the previous report was narrated from Ka‘b al-Ahbaar. It was also
narrated from him by ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq in al-Musannaf (5/95) that he
said: The House (the Ka‘bah) was floating on the water forty years before
Allah, may He be exalted, created the earth, and from it the earth spread
out. End quote. 

It was
narrated from Qataadah (may Allah have mercy on him) – in Fadaa’il
as-Sahaabah by Imam Ahmad (2/901) – that the rock of Bayt al-Maqdis
(Jerusalem) is the centre of the earth. 

This makes one
feel that this matter is taken from the contradictory reports from the
People of the Book. 

Fourthly: 

From the
above, we conclude that there is no clear proof to strongly indicate that
Makkah al-Mukarramah is the centre is the earth. Rather the indications that
we have quoted from some texts, according to what some of the scholars
understood from them, and the reports mentioned above, makes one feel that
there is some basis for this idea. This is circumstantial evidence that
supports the view of those who say that, so long as there is no evidence to
the contrary from sound scientific proof. 

Fifthly: 

With regard to
the scientific angle, we are not specialists in geography, so we have to
leave the discussion here. But we will tell you of some specialist
scientists who have researched this matter and reached the conclusion that
Makkah al-Mukarramah is indeed the centre of the earth. Perhaps in their
scientific research there is something that will support this view, whilst
the matter is still subject to research, and in the end it is something that
is subject to ijtihaad that may or may not be correct. 

See: 

Dissertation:
Isqaat al-Kurrah al-Ardiyyah bi’n-Nisbah li Makkah al-Mukarramah by
Dr Husayn Kamaal ad-Deen Ahmad, Majallat al-Buhooth al-Islamiyyah,
Riyadh, 2/292 

Dissertation:
al-Isqaat al-Makki li’l-‘Aalam, Dr Husayn Kamaal ad-Deen Ahmad,
Majallat al-Buhooth al-Islamiyyah, Riyadh, 6/225. 

See also the
following links: 

http://www.elnaggarzr.com?l=ar&id=11&cat=39 

http://www.elnaggarzr.com?l=ar&id=476&p=2&cat=575 

http://www.elnaggarzr.com?l=ar&id=488&p=2&cat=595 

http://www.islamtoday.net/questions/show_question_content.cfm?id=114583 

And Allah
knows best.