Contemporary Scientific Interpretations of Cosmic Verses: A Critical Review in Light of the Principles of Quranic Exegesis

Abstract

The unprecedented advancements in empirical sciences during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries catalyzed an apologetic hermeneutical trend across the Muslim world, widely designated as "Scientific Exegesis" (al-Tafsir al-‘Ilmi) and "Scientific Miracles" (al-I‘jaz al-‘Ilmi). This intellectual movement seeks to correlate the cosmological verses (Ayat Kawniyyah) of the Holy Quran with contemporary physics, astronomy, and embryology. Utilizing a critical, analytical, and comparative methodology, this paper examines the validity of this interpretive trend against the classical tenets of Quranic exegesis (Usul al-Tafsir). The findings demonstrate that the primary teleological objective of cosmic verses is metaphysical directing human intellect toward divine monotheism (Tawhid), divine power, and eschatological accountability rather than the pedagogy of empirical mechanics. Epistemologically, subordinating immutable divine revelation to provisional, inductive, and mutable scientific paradigms undermines the transcendental authority of the text. Furthermore, excessive scientific harmonization often breaches established hermeneutical boundaries, including classical Arabic lexicography, textual context (Siyaq), and the consensus of early exegetes. The paper concludes that empirical science must not function as an interpretive arbiter (Hakim) over revelation; rather, only indisputable scientific facts aligned with Arabic linguistic norms may serve as secondary, corroborative reflections (Isti’nas).

Keywords: Cosmological Verses, Scientific Exegesis, Scientific Miracles, Principles of Exegesis, Epistemology, Mutable Science, Classical Arabic Lexicography