Sunrise from the West

An interesting argument related in the Qur’an is that of Prophet Abraham’s conversation with the King who rejected Allah, and considered himself as capable as Allah. Prophet Abraham challenged him to make the Sun rise from the West:

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا أُحْيِي وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

[Al-Qur’an 2:258, Translator: Arberry] Hast thou not regarded him who disputed with Abraham, concerning his Lord, that God had given him the kingship? When Abraham said, 'My Lord is He who gives life, and makes to die,' he said, 'I give life, and make to die.' Said Abraham, 'God brings the sun from the east; so bring thou it from the west.' Then the unbeliever was confounded. God guides not the people of the evildoers. 

Can the Sun rise from the West?

The general direction of rotation of most objects in the observable Universe is counter-clockwise, including the Earth, which means that the eastern side sees the Sun before the western side. 

However, Venus is an exception. It rotates clockwise on its axis, which means that if we were standing on Venus, we would see the Sun rise on the western horizon. Planet Uranus also rotates clockwise. 

Some links: 

http://www.universetoday.com/36687/rotation-of-venus/ 

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Venus 

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Uranus

Signs of the Heavens 

Was Abraham aware of the retrograde rotation of some heavenly bodies? Consider the following verse: 

وَكَذَ‌ٰلِكَ نُرِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ مَلَكُوتَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلِيَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُوقِنِينَ

[Al-Qur’an 6:75, Translator: Arberry] So We were showing Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and earth, that he might be of those having sure faith.  

Length of a Day: variable or fixed?

A day is a period of time which can be of variable length. The arabic word for day is  يَوْمٍ .  On Earth, a day is approximately 24 hours which is the approximate time the earth completes one rotation on its axis. A day on Venus is also the time it takes to complete one rotation on its axis, however the speed of rotation is so slow that a Venusian day is longer than a Venusian year. 

Verses of the Quran also state that the length of a day is variable. Consider the following verses:

اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ ۖ مَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا شَفِيعٍ ۚ أَفَلَا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ 

[Al-Qur’an 32: 4-5, Translator: Shakir] Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six periods, and He mounted the throne (of authority); you have not besides Him any guardian or any intercessor, will you not then mind? He regulates the affair from the heaven to the earth; then shall it ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count. 

مِّنَ اللَّهِ ذِي الْمَعَارِجِ

تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ

[Al-Qur’an 70:3-4 Translator: Shakir] From Allah, the Lord of the ways of Ascent. To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 

References: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_rotation  

http://www.universetoday.com/36687/rotation-of-venus/