I am participating in this forum after a long time. Someone brought this 'geocentric" issue to my attention. Here is my take on the verse 21:33:
<<<21:33: And He it is Who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; all (orbs) travel along swiftly in their celestial spheres"
What most of us will tend to ignore in this verse is that are FOUR things (sun, moon, night, and day) mentioned here—not two--that are created by Allah with reference to their "going around/orbiting" motion. Sun and moon are obvious but what about "night" and "day"? Are they not moving/swimming in orbital motions as well? Think about it. The Qur'an says that the formation of night and day is a continuous process (cleaving from each other/racing to—13:2, 32:29).
The Qur'an is saying here that the night and day formation is a continuously changing process (cleaving from each other/racing to catch/passing by) without break (day and night always exist simultaneously in a dynamic way on different parts of the earth because of the “orbital” motion of light and darkness. So, the verse 21:33 is exceedingly deeper in meaning. In sum, it says that:
1. THE EARTH IS ROUND, NOT FLAT. How? Well, because the Night and the Day are ‘orbiting’ in a swimming-like motion
2. THE EARTH IS MOVING AROUND THE SUN AND AROUND ITS AXIS. How? If the earth were FLAT and STATIONARY, the night and the day would not be continuously ‘orbiting’ around the earth (yes, around the Earth—rather, they would be static switching places every six months on the only TWO faces—irrespective of the sun moving around the earth or earth moving around the sun! This is not a reality. The fact remains that the Night and Day are created out of the axial motion of the earth and the night and the day are always there—‘swimming’ in their own ‘orbits’. That is possible ONLY and ONLY if the earth were round, moving around the Sun AND moving on its own axis. How else can you have a 24-hour cycle of the day and the night! If the Sun is moving around the Earth, then the day and night would be a 365-some day cycle!
In sum, the following points need our attention: First, FOUR orbital motions are mentioned in 21:33, not two. If there were only two, the Arabic word would be “kullaa or kullohuma” (for duality),---not “kullun” (for plurality—more than two). The word “Kullun” qualifies for more than two objects. Second, the orbital motion of the images of night and the day would not be ‘orbiting’ if the earth were stationary and flat.
I hope the forgoing explanation answers not only the question that the earth is moving but it is moving on its own axis and that it is basically round.
Here’s another ayah that supports the FOUR orbital motion routines for the sun, moon, night and the day:
36:40
It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor can the night outrun the day. All of them swim
along in their orbits. [The sun cannot pull the moon on to itself and the night and the
day cannot lengthen or shorten other than the appointed measure.