Taqwim al-Amaal allati tanawalat al-Ijaz al-Ilmi wa al-Tibbi fi al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya
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Taqwim al-A‘mal allati tanawalat al-I‘jaz al-‘Ilmi wa-al-Tibbi fi al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya (Evaluation of Works Dealing with Scientific and Medical Inimitability in the Prophetic Sunna) is a contemporary research study by the physician Ahmad Abu al-Wafa ‘Abd al-Akhar evaluating the literature on scientific and medical signs (al-i‘jaz al-‘ilmi wa-al-tibbi) in the Hadith corpus.
Background and Purpose
The work was prepared as a contribution to the international symposium titled ‘Inayat al-Mamlaka al-‘Arabiyya al-Sa‘udiyya bi-al-Sunna wa-al-Sira al-Nabawiyya ("The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Care for the Sunna and Prophetic Biography"), organized by the Center for the Sunna and Prophetic Biography in Medina. The author composed it in light of the growing modern interest in the scientific inimitability of the Quran and Sunna—accelerated by the establishment of the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunna in Mecca nearly two decades earlier—aiming to assess the strengths, shortcomings, and methodological rigor of contemporary literature on the subject.
Structure and Contents
The book is structured into an introduction, three main chapters, and a conclusion:
- Chapter One (Preamble): Focuses on examining and evaluating various working definitions of scientific inimitability, critiquing formulations that either overextend to aspects of revelation outside empirical human knowledge or exclude non-cosmological fields such as history, economics, and legislation. It also analyzes the methodological approaches of textual matching (uslub al-mutabaqa) and practical application (uslub al-tatbiq).
- Chapter Two (Evaluation of Existing Works): Addresses the scope of Hadith in scientific inimitability studies, observing that the share of the Sunna remains small and heavily concentrated in medical topics rather than other empirical sciences. It outlines criteria for sound evaluation, emphasizing strict adherence to Hadith principles—including proper sourcing (takhrij), exact textual wording rather than paraphrasing by meaning, reliance on authenticated chains, and consultation of classical commentaries. It then classifies and evaluates cultural, academic, and encyclopedic works, reviewing specific sample publications.
- Chapter Three (The Author's Contributions): Outlines Abu al-Wafa's practical and research endeavors from the perspective of his medical specialization, including his project on alcohol-free pharmaceuticals. It also proposes the establishment of a dedicated office for scientific guidance related to the Prophetic Sunna (Maktab al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya li-al-Tawjih al-‘Ilmi) affiliated with the Center for the Sunna and Prophetic Biography in Medina.
In the conclusion, the author maintains that despite existing methodological deficiencies, the positive contributions of scientific inimitability literature outweigh its shortcomings by introducing these concepts into contemporary Islamic discourse and media.
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