Q: What is the ruling on scientific books of Tafsir (exegesis of the meanings of the Qur'an)?
A: No recourse should be taken to any books of Tafsir which contain invalid interpretations like interpreting the Qur'anic Ayah (verse) which reads:Surah Al-Anbiya', 21: 30 Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united piece, then We parted them? And We have made from water every living thing. as meaning that the earth used to be part of the sun and due to the speedy rotation of the sun on its axis, the earth detached from it. Some time later, the surface of the earth cooled down while the bottom part remained hot. The earth then joined the nine planets of the known solar system orbiting the sun. Scientific books of Tafsir which support such theories are not reliable.
The same holds true of other books of Tafsir which prove the theory of the earth's rotation based on interpretation of the Qur'anic Ayah which states:Surah Al-Naml, 27: 88 And you will see the mountains and think them solid, but they shall pass away as the passing away of the clouds. These kinds of Tafsir change the words of the Qur'an out of their natural context in an attempt to subject them to 'so-called' scientific theories which are no more than hypothetical assumptions and speculative suppositions.
Falling under the same category are all such books of Tafsir which depend on introducing novel theories which are not known to have an origin in the Qur'an or Sunnah (whatever is reported from the Prophet) or in the opinions of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) of the Islamic Ummah (nation). The obvious reason is that the authors of these books invent inadvertent fallacies against Allah (may He be Exalted).
May Allah grant us success! May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and companions.
Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta
`Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz `Abdul-Razzaq `Afify `Abdullah ibn Qa`ud `Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan
sajid_chauhan_81
26-08-2008 @ 3:47 PM
