Saudi Cleric Says the Sun Rotates Around the Earth

4:53

19 Feb 2015

Astonomy

Elliot Hill

Mark Sovel

In this episode of TheLip.TV (a comedy show), Elliot Hill and Mark Sovel satirize Saudi Arabia by quoting Sheikh Bandar al-Khaibari, a Saudi religious scholar who claimed in a talk to students at a university in the United Arab Emirates that the sun rotates around the earth.  The “Naked Scientist” from Cambridge University presents the error of the cleric’s science.

Hill does make the point that “Islam is the most science friendly of any of the religions”.

Evaluation:

Although Hill goes out of his way to suggest he is not bashing Islam, Sovel notes that there are similar ideas in the US among non-Muslims that do no cohere with modern science.

The correction presented by the “Naked Scientist” is correct.

There is insufficient historical material on which to base an evaluation.