al-Ijaz al-Ilmi fi al-Quran al-Karim - Jamiat al-Madina
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- Al-Madinah International University
al-Ijaz al-Ilmi fi al-Quran al-Karim (Scientific Inimitability in the Noble Quran) is an academic textbook published by Al-Madinah International University as part of its postgraduate curricula, examining the concepts, history, and methodological parameters of scientific exegesis and scientific inimitability in the Quran .
Scope and Structure
The work is published in a single volume and was designed for master's-level university coursework under the course codes GUQR5313 and GAQD5133 . It is arranged in structured pedagogical units covering the conceptual distinctions between scientific interpretation (al-tafsir al-ilmi) and scientific inimitability (al-ijaz al-ilmi), classical scholarly attitudes toward extracting scientific disciplines from scripture, and modern empirical applications across various natural sciences .
Method and Content
The text defines scientific interpretation as applying modern scientific terminology and findings to Quranic expressions and attempting to derive diverse branches of natural science from the verses . It reviews classical precedents for this approach, highlighting Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s discussions in Ihya Ulum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) and Jawahir al-Quran (Jewels of the Quran), where al-Ghazali classified Quranic sciences into outer disciplines and inner branches that encompass medicine, astronomy, and anatomy . It also cites Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti’s arguments in al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran (The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Quran) and al-Iklil fi Istinbat al-Tanzil (The Diadem on Deriving Rulings from Revelation) supporting the view that the Quran contains indications of all fields of knowledge .
Distinguishing scientific inimitability from general scientific exegesis, the curriculum defines al-ijaz al-ilmi as the revelation's disclosure of cosmic and physical realities established by empirical science that were impossible to perceive through human means at the time of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ . While earlier prophets were granted temporary sensory miracles tailored to their contemporaries, the Quran's scientific indicators remain an enduring proof addressed to later generations with the advent of specialized fields such as astronomy, geology, meteorology, botany, zoology, medicine, and oceanography .
The work notes that over one thousand explicit Quranic verses address the cosmos and natural phenomena, not as direct scientific manuals, but as signs demonstrating divine omnipotence and oneness . To safeguard interpretation against speculation, the text outlines essential methodological guidelines (dawabit), mandating that researchers rely exclusively on definitive, established empirical facts rather than tentative scientific hypotheses, while maintaining rigorous grounding in the Arabic language, foundational principles of religion, and classical exegetical traditions .
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