Surat al-Waqia wa Manhajuha fi al-Aqaid
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- Dār al-Turāth al-ʿArabī
Surat al-Waqia wa Manhajuha fi al-Aqaid (Surah al-Waqi‘ah and Its Methodology in Islamic Creed) is a work of thematic Quranic exegesis (al-tafsir al-mawdu'i) by the contemporary scholar Mahmud Muhammad Gharib, dedicated to examining the theological principles and arguments contained in Surah al-Waqi‘ah.
Background and Purpose
The author composed the book while serving at the Diwan of Royal Court (Diwan al-Balat al-Sultani) in the Sultanate of Oman. Gharib intended the work to address contemporary intellectual challenges facing Muslim youth, particularly the spread of materialist and atheist ideas that claimed scientific progress required abandoning religious belief. He argued that scientific truths do not conflict with Islamic faith and that scientific discovery reinforces conviction in the divine origin of the Quran.
Content and Method
The book adopts the method of thematic exegesis, analyzing Surat al-Waqia by cross-referencing and synthesizing it with verses across the entire Quran that treat identical subjects, following the interpretive principle that parts of the Quran explain and complete one another.
Gharib highlights several dimensions of the surah's discourse:
- The Quranic methodology in moral and spiritual education (tarbiyah).
- Rational argumentation and debate (jadal) against deniers of the faith.
- Matters of the unseen (al-mughayyabat), notably the eschatological realities of the Day of Resurrection (al-ba‘th) and the fate of humanity divided into the foremost (al-sabiqun), the companions of the right (ashab al-yamin), and the companions of the left (ashab al-shimal).
- Scientific facts (al-haqa'iq al-‘ilmiyyah) and rational proofs concerning creation, rainfall, agriculture, and cosmic signs, demonstrating the Quran's inimitability (i‘jaz).
Scholarly Review and Publication
Before its wider dissemination, the text was submitted to a committee of al-Azhar scholars at the Awqaf Directorate of the Southern Region in Oman, chaired by Muhammad Mahmud Qasim. In a formal endorsement dated 17 Sha‘ban 1403 AH (27 May 1983 CE), the committee commended the work for refuting atheistic doubts and establishing creedal convictions in an accessible style that preserved classical scholarly integrity.
Specialized aspects of the work were reviewed by various scholars and experts: the thematic sections by the preachers Isma‘il Zamzam and Hamid Abu al-Sa‘ud, the medical material by Sa‘id al-Mulayji, and the agricultural sections by ‘Ali Hasan. A third edition of the book, reviewed by Muhammad ‘Atiyyah Salmi, was published by Dar al-Turath al-‘Arabi in Cairo in 1418 AH (1988 CE). Modern surveys of contemporary tafsir, such as Fahd al-Rumi's Ittijahat al-Tafsir fi al-Qarn al-Rabi‘ ‘Ashar, cite the book as a prime example of twentieth-century thematic exegesis focused on creed.
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