Debunked: Makkah The Miraculous Golden Ratio City
2:54
12 Oct 2014
Miracles / Ijaz, Geography
TheRationalizer
In this vlog (video blog), The Rationalizer uses several online tools (Google Earth, Wolfram Alpha) to demonstrate that the Ka’ba (the building that marks the point towards which Muslims pray) is not the center of the planet, as some iʿjāz videos portray. He is critiquing a video that uses the Golden Ratio to mathematically make this point.
Evaluation:
Although there is an undertone of sarcasm about the idea of ijaz, TheRationalizer avoids any anti-Islamic representation.
The construction of using the Golden Mean to represent the Ka’ba as the center of the earth is not his idea, and the tools and methods he uses are valid, although there is disagreement about how the measurements ought to be done. The comments on this video suggest other ways of measuring.
There is insufficient historical material on which to base an evaluation.
About TheRationalizer
The Rationalizer is the user name for an anonymous vlogger (videos on YouTube since 2010) who began learning about Islam after he started learning Arabic in the UK. Raised by agnostic and atheist parents, he also attended a school with required Christian assemblies, which provided a grounding in religious beliefs. For a time as an adult he investigated Islam with a view to converting, but the claims for miracles in the Qurʾān (iʿjāz) led him to learn more about science and ancient beliefs, which ultimately led him down the path of becoming an atheist.
He works in the information technology industry as a business analyst and programmer.
To date (May 2015) he has created 25 videos about Islam, generally discussing errors in internet videos, often those associated with iʿjāz. (The ones addressing science and Islam may be found on the Portal using the search feature in the upper right corner of the site.)
In addition to his YouTube account, the Rationalizer is active on social media such as Twitter and the forums at CouncilOfExMuslims.com.