al-Ilm Yadu lil-Iman
- Author died
- 1370 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Al-Nahdah Al-Misriyyah lil-Nashr wal-Tab', in cooperation with Franklin Book Programs for printing and publishing
al-Ilm Yad‘u lil-Iman ("Science Calls to Faith") is the Arabic translation of the apologetic work Man Does Not Stand Alone by the American scientist A. Cressy Morrison (d. 1370 AH / 1951 CE), translated into Arabic by the Egyptian economist and diplomat Mahmud Salih al-Falaki. The book presents evidence from modern natural sciences to argue for the existence of God and purposeful design in the universe.
Background and Authorship
Morrison wrote the original work, Man Does Not Stand Alone, as a direct response to claims by proponents of materialism and atheism who asserted that scientific inquiry negates religious belief, specifically countering the thesis of Julian Huxley's book Man Stands Alone. Morrison held multiple prominent scientific posts in the United States and abroad; he served as president of the New York Academy of Sciences, president of the American Institute of the City of New York, executive board member of the National Research Council of the United States, fellow of the American Museum of Natural History, and life member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.
The Arabic translator, Mahmud Salih al-Falaki, held degrees in economics from the University of Cambridge, served as undersecretary at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance and Economy, and held diplomatic postings including Egyptian ambassador to Paris and deputy governor of the International Monetary Fund. Al-Falaki encountered Morrison's book during his stay in the United States and translated it into Arabic to address contemporary materialist ideas in the Arab world.
Contents and Methodology
The book is written in accessible language aimed at the general reader rather than a specialized academic audience. It draws upon various fields of natural science—including astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, medicine, genetics, and biology—to demonstrate fine-tuning and purposeful organization in nature.
Morrison invokes the teleological tradition of nineteenth-century natural theology, referencing William Paley's watchmaker analogy to argue that observable complexity and adaptation across living organisms indicate prior design by a Supreme Intellect rather than random occurrence. He also contends that human moral consciousness, virtue, and the universal impulse toward prayer reflect an innate spiritual dimension rather than material origins. In the concluding seventeenth chapter, the text correlates the creation narrative in the opening of the Book of Genesis with scientific accounts of cosmic development and the cooling of the Earth.
In his Arabic rendering, al-Falaki appended citations and reflections from the Quran throughout the book's chapters, placing verses alongside Morrison's scientific points to demonstrate concordance between scientific findings and Quranic worldview.
Reception
The Arabic translation gained wide currency in modern Islamic apologetics literature. Muslim scholars, including Ali al-Tantawi, frequently cited the book alongside similar twentieth-century works as evidence that advanced scientific knowledge reinforces theism rather than undermining faith.
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