Short answer
No. The Qur'an never calls the earth flat, and it sets the earth on no pillars. The Bible does speak of "the pillars of the earth". The Qur'an says instead that God (﷾) raised the heavens "without any pillars that ye can see". It says the earth is spread out. That is how the ground looks to people who walk on it. It is not a claim about the shape of the planet. It says God (﷾) winds the night over the day, using the Arabic verb for winding a turban. It says the sun and moon each swim in an orbit. Muslim scholars such as Ibn Hazm, who died in 1064, taught that the earth is round and pointed to the turban verse. Islam's answer is that the Qur'an speaks of the ground as people walk on it. Nothing in it makes the earth flat or sets it on pillars.
Full explanation
The Qur'an puts nothing under the earth
The Qur'an sets the earth on nothing: no pillars, no beast, no foundation stones. Pillars come up when it tells how God (﷾) made the heavens and the earth. There it says the heavens were raised without any pillars that people can see. The Arabic is bi-ghayri 'amadin tarawnaha. It is also read "without pillars, as you see". Either way the verse is about the heavens, not the earth. The Qur'an also names what holds them both: Allah (﷾) sustains the heavens and the earth lest they cease.
“Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; is firmly established on the throne (of authority); He has subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law)! Each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. He doth regulate all affairs, explaining the signs in detail, that ye may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord.”
“He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs.”
“It is Allah Who sustains the heavens and the earth, lest they cease (to function): and if they should fail, there is none - not one - can sustain them thereafter: Verily He is Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.”
"Spread out": the ground as its people see it
The Qur'an says the earth was spread out and made a couch for its people. These verses speak of the earth as a place to live and walk on. To anyone standing on it, the ground looks spread out. Al-Razi was a scholar of tafsir, the explanation of the Qur'an, who died in 1210. He answered those who argued that a bed cannot be a ball. A very large sphere looks flat in every part, so the earth can be both. Ibn al-Qayyim, a scholar who died in 1350, said the same of the verse "And at the Earth, how it is spread out?" The earth is spread out, he wrote, and yet in truth it is a ball, with a surface that living things settle on.
“And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.”
“And at the Earth, how it is spread out?”
“Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith Fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth).”
Answers those who argued that an earth made a bed cannot be a sphere: a sphere that is very large looks flat in every part of it, so the earth can be a bed to its people and still be round.
Counts among the signs in the earth its being spread out, quoting "And at the Earth, how it is spread out?" (88:20). He says this does not rule out its being round: it is in truth a ball, with a surface on which living things settle.
Night wound over day
The Qur'an says God (﷾) makes the night overlap the day and the day overlap the night. The Arabic verb is yukawwiru, the word for winding a turban round the head. That is a strange thing to say of a flat plate and a natural thing to say of a ball. Ibn Hazm, a scholar of the eleventh century, cited this verse. He said no leading Muslim scholar denied that the earth is round. He said the Qur'an and the Sunnah, the teaching and example of the Prophet (ﷺ), indicate it.
“He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power - He Who forgives again and again?”
States that no leading Muslim scholar denied that the earth is round, and that the Qur'an and Sunnah indicate it. He cites Qur'an 39:5, explaining that the verb for winding night over day is taken from the winding of a turban.
Sun and moon each in an orbit
The Qur'an says the sun and the moon each swim along in their own course. It says the sun may not catch up the moon, nor the night outstrip the day.
“It is He Who created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course.”
“It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law).”
The pillars in the Bible
The Bible, the scripture of the Jews and Christians around Arabia, speaks of the earth resting on pillars more than once. It says God (﷾) set them up and holds them. It also speaks of God (﷾) shaking the earth out of its place until its pillars tremble.
“for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.”
“Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.”
“The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.”
One measure for both books
Christians often read the Bible's pillars of the earth as poetry. Many of these verses do stand in songs and poems. If that is fair for the Bible, it is fair for the Qur'an's "spread out", which plainly describes the ground under our feet. But the two books are not level. The Bible uses the picture of pillars under the earth, even where it also speaks of the earth hung on nothing. The Qur'an never uses that picture. When it speaks of pillars in the making of the world, it says the heavens stand without any that can be seen.
“for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.”
“Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; is firmly established on the throne (of authority); He has subjected the sun and the moon (to his Law)! Each one runs (its course) for a term appointed. He doth regulate all affairs, explaining the signs in detail, that ye may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord.”
The objection answered
Qur'an 88:20 — Surat al-Ghashiya (The Overwhelming), verse 20
“And at the Earth, how it is spread out?”
Cited for
Critics say the Qur'an calls the earth spread out and flattened, so it teaches a flat earth.
The response
The verse asks people to look at the earth they walk on and see how it is spread out for them. That describes the ground as it looks, not the shape of the planet. Al-Razi made this point centuries ago: a very large sphere looks flat in every part. And the Qur'an winds night over day like a turban.
Where it lands — "Spread out" describes the ground under our feet. The Qur'an nowhere says the earth is flat.
Tafsir al-Jalalayn, on 88:20
Explains "spread out" as laid out, a sign from which people infer God's power and Oneness. He adds that the plain sense of the word is that the earth is a flat surface. He says the scholars of the Law hold this, not that it is a sphere as the astronomers say. But he says the astronomers' view does not overturn any pillar of the Law.
Cited for
Critics say Tafsir al-Jalalayn, a well-known short tafsir, reads "spread out" in 88:20 as a flat earth. It says the earth is a flat surface, and denies the astronomers' view that it is a ball.
The response
That is a fair report of one line in it, and the same line limits it. Al-Mahalli, an Egyptian scholar who died in 1459, wrote this part of al-Jalalayn. He took the plain sense of the word to be a flat surface, not a sphere as the astronomers say. But he added that the round view goes against no basic rule of the religion. So even he did not make a flat earth part of the faith. He also said the scholars of Islamic law held the flat view. That was his own claim, and earlier scholars reported the opposite. Ibn al-Qayyim, who died in 1350, quoted this very verse. He said the earth is spread out, yet in truth it is a ball, with a surface that living things settle on. Long before both, Ibn al-Munadi, a Baghdad scholar who died in 947, reported that the scholars agreed the earth is like a ball. His evidence was that the sun, moon and stars rise and set earlier for people in the east than for people in the west. Ibn Taymiyya, a scholar of the fourteenth century, passed on his report. The commentators did not all agree, so no one of them settles what the verse means. The verse itself says only "spread out", and a ball has a surface that is spread out.
Where it lands — One commentator read "spread out" as flat, and said the round view breaks no basic rule of the faith. The verse itself says only "spread out".
Job 26:7 — Ketuvim, Iyov, chapter 26, verse 7
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”
Cited for
Christians point out that the Bible also says God hangs the earth upon nothing, so it does not teach an earth on pillars.
The response
The same book of Job also says God (﷾) shakes the earth so that its pillars tremble (9:6). And 1 Samuel 2:8 says God (﷾) set the world upon pillars. The Bible holds both pictures. The Qur'an never uses the picture of pillars under the earth at all.
Where it lands — The Bible holds both pictures. The Qur'an never sets the earth on pillars.
Qur'an 18:86 — Surat al-Kahf (The Cave), verse 86
“Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness."”
Cited for
Critics say the Qur'an has the sun set into a muddy spring on a flat earth.
The response
The verse says what Dhul-Qarnayn, a ruler whose journeys the Qur'an tells, found: he found it set in a spring of murky water. It reports what a traveller saw where the sun went down over the western water. Anyone on a shore sees the sun sink into the sea in the same way. It is not a statement about where the sun goes. Where the sun goes after it sets is a separate question, answered on its own page.
Where it lands — The verse reports what he saw, not where the sun goes.
Perspectives
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an never says the earth is flat and never sets it on pillars. It describes the ground as its people see it. It winds night over day like a turban, and puts the sun and moon each in an orbit.
The Bible speaks of the pillars of the earth, which God (﷾) set up and holds.
The Qur'an sets the earth on no pillars, and says the heavens were raised without pillars that can be seen.
The Qur'an says the earth was spread out and made a couch for its people.
Al-Razi explained that a very large sphere looks flat in every part. So "spread out" does not rule out a round earth.
Ibn al-Munadi reported that the scholars agreed the earth is like a ball. Ibn al-Qayyim read 88:20 with a round earth. Al-Mahalli, in Tafsir al-Jalalayn, read "spread out" as flat. But he said the round view breaks no basic rule of the religion.
The verb in 39:5 is the one used for winding a turban. Ibn Hazm cited it for the roundness of the earth.
The Qur'an says the sun and moon each move in their own orbit.
The Qur'an teaches that God (﷾) raised the heavens and spread out the earth as a home for people.