A Study of the Hadith of Dahw or “Spreading the Earth

Twenty fifth of Dhilqidah is called “the spreading of the earth”. It is commonly believed that at the beginning all the surface of the earth was inundated by the water of the first torrential rains. Water gradually receded to ditches on the earth and in consequence the lands surfaced, and with the passage of time they were spread, the first place emerging out of water being that of Kaba. In this article it is explained that dahw or “spread” in traditions could be interpreted in two ways: the expansion of earth and the movement of earth, and therefore dahw could have two meanings. The writer of this article, besides looking into the sources of the traditions related to the spread of earth and evaluating their documents, discusses the meaning of the word dawh or spread, and by offering some documents shows which one of the two meanings is intended here. He also tries to compare the traditions with the verses of the Quran and reiterated traditions to show their truth or incorrectness.