And we have made the earth egg shaped (dahâhâ). - Al-Qur’an 79:30
Dahâhâ, in Arabic, could mean "egg shaped" (depending on who you talk to). It could also mean to "spread out" (again, depending on who you talk to). Some, who adhere to the "egg shaped" understanding want to associate the word "dahâhâ" with an ostrich egg in particular. So let's look at this a moment.
First, if we examine the shape of the earth, it is not "egg shaped" ... not even ostrich egg shaped. While it is true that the earth is not spherical (it is a bit flatter at the poles than at the equator) it is still not egg shaped. An egg is longer at the poles and narrower at the equator (even an ostrich egg, which may be more spherical than your average egg, but is still not shaped like the earth). Therefore, if the translation of dahâhâ is "egg shaped" then we have a problem between the Qur'an and reality.
However, most scholars of the Qur'an do not seem to agree with the "egg shaped" translation. They contend that the word dahâhâ means "spread out" as in to "flatten". The association with the idea of "egg shaped" (and with an ostrich egg in particular) comes from the idea that an ostrich creates a flattened area in which to place its egg(s). One Islamic web site states it as follows:
With respect to this word’s association with eggs, it is as follows:
Due to the fact that the word conveys the meaning of “spreading, leveling, flattening, and smoothing out”, the Arabs named the place where an ostrich incubates and hatches its egg an "udhiyy". This is a hollow pit in the ground around 30 to 60 centimeters deep. The Arabic word for this shallow depression is derived from the triliteral root d-h-w – the same etymological root as the verb dahâ. The reason for this is that the ostrich spreads out and flattens this area with its legs before laying its egg in it. The ostrich uses neither a nest nor a burrow for its eggs.
From this, we must understand that the word is not used for the egg itself but rather for the flattened depression where the ostrich deposits its egg.
Whoever uses the word to refer to the egg or to the shape of the egg is being inexact in his linguistic usage.
If this is the case, then we are left with dahâhâ meaning to "spread out" as in to "flatten". This would agree with other verses from the Qur'an. The result of the understanding of this word is that the earth, according to the Qur'an is flat, having been "spread out" (as in to "flatten") by Allah.
This also does not agree with reality.
