al-Sawaiq al-Shadida ala Ittiba al-Haya al-Jadida
- Author died
- 1413 AH
- Editions
- al-Sawaiq al-Shadida ala Ittiba al-Haya al-Jadida
al-Sawaiq al-Shadida ala Ittiba al-Haya al-Jadida ("The Severe Thunderbolts upon the Followers of Modern Astronomy") is a treatise by the Saudi Hanbali scholar Hammud ibn Abdullah al-Tuwayjiri (d. 1413 AH / 1992 CE) written to refute modern heliocentric astronomy and argue for the stationarity of the Earth and the motion of the Sun .
Background and Context
In the work, al-Tuwayjiri traces the heliocentric theory—that the Sun is the stationary center of the planetary system and that the Earth is one of several orbiting planets—back to the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras . He contrasts this with the geocentric cosmology associated with Ptolemy and traditional astronomers, maintaining that the immobility of the Earth and the rotation of the celestial bodies around it represent the truth established by the Quran, the Sunnah, sensory observation, and the consensus of Muslims and the People of the Book .
Al-Tuwayjiri states that Pythagorean cosmology remained abandoned for approximately 1,800 years until it was revived and mathematically argued by Nicolaus Copernicus in the tenth century AH, and subsequently developed by European astronomers such as William Herschel in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AH . He critiques contemporary Muslim scholars and intellectuals who embraced these models, arguing that their acceptance was driven by cultural imitation following European colonial influence across Muslim lands in the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries AH .
Contents and Structure
The book presents arguments against modern astronomical positions, responding directly to interpretations such as those found in Ma Dalla alayhi al-Qur'an mimma Yu'addid al-Hay'a al-Jadida by Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi . Al-Tuwayjiri arranges his refutation around nineteen specific examples of what he considers false tenets of modern astronomy, including :
- The claim that the Sun is 1,328,000 times larger than the Earth (examined in example five) .
- Calculations estimating the distance of the Sun as 34 million French leagues (example seven) and calculations of the Moon's distance (example nine) .
- The assertion that there are multiple suns and moons throughout the universe (example eleven) .
- The proposition that billions of stars are orbited by planetary bodies (example eighteen) .
- The denial of the physical existence of the seven heavens and the claim that atmospheric or cosmic space is infinite .
Reception and Supplement
The work was read before the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chief Judge, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh, who endorsed its conclusions on 20 Sha'ban 1387 AH, affirming that the author's refutation of Earth's rotation and the Sun's stationarity was correct . The book was published by the author in Riyadh in 1388 AH (1968 CE) in a single volume consisting of 191 pages .
Al-Tuwayjiri later authored a larger continuation titled Dhayl al-Sawaiq li-Mahw al-Abatil wa-l-Makhariq . In this supplement, he expanded on the themes of the original book and composed a detailed refutation of the treatise al-Muslimun wa-Ilm al-Falak by Muhammad Mahmud al-Sawwaf, as well as views expressed by Abul A'la Maududi regarding the Quran and modern scientific theories .
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