Idah al-Mahajja fi al-radd ala Sahib Tanja
- Author died
- 1413 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Nūr lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Tajlīd
Idah al-Mahajja fi al-radd ala Sahib Tanja (Clarification of the Clear Path in Refuting the Author of Tangier) is a polemical treatise written by the Saudi scholar Hammud ibn Abdullah al-Tuwayjiri (1334–1413 AH / 1916–1992 CE) to refute the interpretive methodology of modernizing scriptural texts .
Context and Purpose
The work was composed as a line-by-line refutation of the Moroccan scholar Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ghumari (d. 1380 AH / 1960 CE), who was based in Tangier . Al-Tuwayjiri targeted Ghumari's book Mutabaqat al-ikhtira'at al-'asriyya lima akhbara bihi sayyid al-bariyya (The Conformity of Modern Inventions with What the Master of Mankind Foretold), specifically engaging with its second edition published in 1379 AH .
Al-Tuwayjiri stated in his introduction that his motivation was to correct what he identified as severe hermeneutical errors: the misinterpretation of Quranic verses and prophetic traditions to fit modern technological developments, disparaging orthodox defenders of the religion, and praising opponents of the faith .
Content and Method
In the treatise, al-Tuwayjiri criticizes the tendency to project modern inventions and political events onto eschatological texts and apocalyptic portents (ashrat al-sa'ah and fitan) . He examines Ghumari's assertions by contrasting them with classical commentaries (tafsir) and hadith interpretations:
- Telecommunications: Al-Tuwayjiri refutes Ghumari's claim that scriptural references, such as casting from a distant place, allude to inventions like the telephone, telegraph, or radio, demonstrating that the relevant Quranic verses concern the pagan Meccans' conjecture against the Prophet ﷺ rather than technical devices .
- Modern Warfare and Vehicles: He counters Ghumari's interpretation of Quranic verses describing punishment from above and below as references to airplanes, aerial bombardment, and submarines, affirming instead the established exegetical view linking these verses to cosmic punishments such as pelting from heaven or being swallowed by the earth .
- Eschatological Portents: Al-Tuwayjiri addresses Ghumari's metaphorical reinterpretations of literal portents of the Last Hour—such as interpreting beasts speaking to humans as circus acts or police dogs, the speaking of inanimate objects as phonographs or recording machines, and the destruction of the world as the detonation of atomic and hydrogen bombs—affirming that the texts describe literal supernatural events rather than technological contrivances .
Publication and Reception
The book was endorsed in an introductory preface by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh, dated 14 Jumada al-Ula 1385 AH (1965 CE), who praised it as an exhaustive rebuttal that dispelled misunderstandings and invalidated falsehoods . It was published in Riyadh by Mu'assasat al-Nur li-l-Tiba'a under the auspices of Dar al-Ifta' for free distribution, spanning 197 pages in a single volume .
Later scholars, including Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad and Abd al-Karim al-Khudayr, frequently cited Idah al-Mahajja when warning against forcing sacred texts to align with transient scientific theories and contemporary inventions . Al-Tuwayjiri also referred readers back to this work in his broader encyclopedia on eschatology, Ithaf al-Jama'a .
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