Dhayl al-Sawaiq li-Mahw al-Abatil wa al-Makhariq
- Author died
- 1413 AH
- Editions
- Without publisher
Dhayl al-Sawaiq li-Mahw al-Abatil wa al-Makhariq (The Sequel of the Thunderbolts for Erasing Falsehoods and Illusions) is an astronomical and theological polemic written by the Saudi scholar Hammud ibn Abdullah al-Tuwayjiri (d. 1413 AH / 1992 CE) to refute modern cosmological theories and defend traditional geocentric views.
Background and Purpose
The book was composed as an extended supplement (mulhaq) and sequel to al-Tuwayjiri's earlier treatise, al-Sawa'iq al-Shadidah 'ala Atba' al-Hay'ah al-Jadidah (Severe Thunderbolts upon the Followers of Modern Astronomy). The impetus for both works was a series of articles published in the newspaper Jaridat al-Da'wah by the Iraqi scholar Muhammad Mahmud al-Sawwaf, who had written a rejoinder to Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz concerning the movement of the Sun and the immobility of the Earth. Al-Sawwaf subsequently expanded his articles into a book titled al-Muslimun wa Ilm al-Falak (Muslims and Astronomy), published in Lebanon in Jumada al-Ula 1387 AH.
While al-Tuwayjiri intended his first work as a direct reply to the newspaper articles, he wrote this sequel to address the additional cosmological arguments, calculations, and scriptural interpretations that al-Sawwaf introduced in his printed book.
Structure and Arguments
The work is organized into successive chapters (fusul) that critique al-Sawwaf's text page by page. Al-Tuwayjiri argues that modern astronomy (al-hay'ah al-jadidah) originates not from Muslim scholars but from European astronomers such as Nicolaus Copernicus and William Herschel, and he censures al-Sawwaf for presenting these theories as part of Islamic heritage or the legacy of early Muslim generations.
The author concentrates on several core theological and cosmological disputes:
- Geocentrism and Heliocentrism: He rejects the notion that the Sun is stationary at the center of the planetary system and that the Earth rotates or orbits the Sun, arguing that literal interpretations of Quranic verses, prophetic traditions, and scholarly consensus indicate that the Earth is fixed and immobile while the Sun and Moon actively move in their orbits.
- The Nature and Significance of the Earth: He criticizes descriptions of the Earth as an "earthly planet" (al-kawkab al-ardi) or characterizing it—such as in verses quoted by al-Sawwaf from the poet Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi—as a mere speck or bubble within vast cosmic space.
- Cosmological Scales and the Age of the Universe: He refutes modern scientific estimates concerning the age of the Earth, the Sun, and the universe spanning billions of years, distances measured in light-years, the existence of multiple solar systems, and calculations of solar mass loss, categorizing them as unproven conjectures that lack scriptural basis.
- The Structure of the Heavens: He rejects modern views that deny the existence of the seven physical heavens or describe space as infinite, and he critiques positions expressed by Abul A'la Maududi regarding the alignment between Quranic discourse and contemporary scientific findings.
Reception and Publication
The book includes a preface written by Sheikh Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Humayd, General President of Religious Supervision at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, dated 3 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1389 AH. Ibn Humayd endorsed the book after al-Tuwayjiri read it to him, praised its refutation of al-Sawwaf's claims, and called on al-Sawwaf to retract his positions in light of the Quran and the Sunnah.
The first edition of the work was published directly by the author in Riyadh in 1390 AH (1970 CE) in a single volume consisting of 367 pages.
Answer updated