Ila alladhina yuhaduna Mafatih al-Ghayb bism al-Ilm al-Hadith
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- الجامعة الإسلامية
Ila alladhina yuhaduna Mafatih al-Ghayb bism al-Ilm al-Hadith (To Those Who Oppose the Keys of the Unseen in the Name of Modern Science) is a theological treatise and published lecture by Abd al-Fattah bin Sulayman Ashmawi, an instructor at the Secondary Institute of the Islamic University of Madinah . The work defends the theological doctrine of God's exclusive knowledge over the "keys of the unseen" (mafatih al-ghayb) against contemporary claims made in the name of modern science and disseminated by contemporary media .
Background and Context
The text originated as a public lecture delivered by Ashmawi and was subsequently published in the scholarly journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah) . Ashmawi framed the discourse around the Quranic verse: وَعِنْدَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا هُوَ ("And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him") from Surah al-An'am (6:59), connecting it to the prophetic tradition that interprets these keys as the five matters specified at the conclusion of Surah Luqman (31:34) .
Ashmawi divides the concept of the unseen (al-ghayb) into two distinct categories: the unseen of this world (ghayb al-dunya), parts of which God permits human faculties to perceive according to decreed measures, and the unseen of the Hereafter (ghayb al-akhirah), which remains entirely veiled from sensory perception until after death .
The Five Keys and Theological Structure
Ashmawi addresses the five keys of the unseen, arguing that their sequential arrangement in the Quran reflects a precise theological and existential order: knowledge of the Hour (al-Sa'ah), the sending down of rain (al-ghayth), what is in the wombs (ma fi al-arham), what a soul will earn tomorrow, and the land in which a person will die .
Regarding the Hour, Ashmawi clarifies that the Hour belongs to the worldly realm as the event that terminates mortal life, whereas the Resurrection (al-Qiyamah) belongs to the Hereafter, separated by the two blows of the Trumpet . He refutes the conflation of the two, emphasizing that while the portents of the Hour appear in this world, its precise timing is known solely to God .
Critique of Modern Claims
A central component of the treatise is Ashmawi's critique of contemporary events where scientific authority was invoked to claim foreknowledge of divine prerogatives:
- Predictions of the End of the World: Ashmawi condemns the coverage given by Muslim press and broadcasting outlets to a Western cosmic researcher who claimed to determine the exact day and minute of the Hour . He recounts that when the predicted time—a Sunday afternoon—passed without event, he addressed worshippers in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, rebuking the gullibility of those who believed the rumor and the media that amplified it .
- Artificial Rainmaking: Ashmawi challenges the exaggerated claims surrounding artificial rain and technological control of weather . Drawing on his travels to Europe on an assignment for the Islamic University, he describes observing severe drought in the French countryside and along the Seine River in Paris, pointing out the inability of modern technology to generate rain at will and recalling how Muslim communities were requested to perform the prayer for rain (salat al-istisqa') .
The text also discusses the sanctity of Medina, the spiritual causes associated with the withholding of rainfall and the salinization of wells, and classical traditions documenting rain prayers led by the Prophet .
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