Ma Dalla Alayhi al-Quran Mimma Yadud al-Haya al-Jadida al-Qawima bil-Burhan
- Author died
- 1342 AH
- Editions
- al-Maktab al-Islāmī
Ma Dalla Alayhi al-Quran Mimma Yadud al-Haya al-Jadida al-Qawima bil-Burhan (What the Quran Indicates of That Which Corroborates the New, Firmly Proven Astronomy) is a treatise by the Iraqi scholar Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi (1273–1342 AH / 1856–1924 CE) addressing the relationship between Quranic verses and modern astronomical theories .
Composition and Scope
Alusi completed the work toward the end of his life on 24 Shawwal 1339 AH (1921 CE), approximately three years before his death . The treatise examines the modern heliocentric model of astronomy (al-haya al-jadida), engaging with contemporary scientific positions regarding the daily and annual motion of the Earth, the central position of the Sun, and the role of gravity in the cosmos .
Content and Method
Alusi structured the book by gathering relevant verses according to the canonical order of the Quran's suras, focusing specifically on passages addressing upper and lower celestial bodies (al-ajram al-ulwiyya wal-sufliyya) and pairing them with the interpretations of major classical exegetes . In his introduction, he stated that Islamic revelation was not sent to comprehensively encompass the mathematical or physical sciences, but rather to secure the spiritual welfare and salvation of humanity; nevertheless, the Quran contains allusions from which scientific principles can be inferred .
The text contrasts the Ptolemaic cosmological model—which conceived celestial bodies as fixed within solid spheres like nails in a door—with modern astronomy, noting that the idea of the Earth's daily and annual rotation around the Sun had ancient antecedents in Pythagoras before being revived by modern astronomers . Alusi cited the observations of European astronomers, including William Herschel, Heinrich Olbers, Karl Harding, Giuseppe Piazzi, and Otto Struve, and referenced Muslim contemporaries such as Muhammad Rashid Rida . Discussing the verse وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَن تَقُومَ السَّمَاءُ وَالْأَرْضُ بِأَمْرِهِ ("And of His signs is that the heaven and earth remain by His command"), he argued that explaining the stability of the heavens and the Earth through gravity does not conflict with the text, as God is the one who instituted that gravitational force by His command .
Reception and Publication
Later researchers classified the treatise among early modern works on the scientific inimitability and scientific exegesis of the Quran . It also provoked strong opposition from traditionalist opponents of modern astronomy; Hamud ibn Abd Allah al-Tuwayjiri criticized the work in his al-Sawa'iq al-Shadida ala Ittiba' al-Haya al-Jadida, asserting that modern astronomical theories contradicted the Quran, Sunnah, and consensus, and noted that he initially doubted the authenticity of the book's attribution to al-Alusi because of the latter's well-known Salafi theological works .
The text was published in Beirut by al-Maktab al-Islami, with editions prepared by Zuhayr al-Shawish and hadith verification (takhrij) by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani .
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