بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

Yesterday, I uploaded a criticism by Shaykh Mahmud related to brother Hamza Tzortzis’ article ‘Does the Qur’an Contain Scientific Miracles? A New Approach on how to Reconcile and Discuss Science in the Qur’an’. There are some people who may ask why I have accepted a criticism of his work to be posted on the one hand, while there are other articles on this very site, especially in the ‘Notes on Islamic Works’ section, that are based on the writings of this very same brother.

The truth is, as I have mentioned a number of times and as is inherent in most of the works I am writing, that this site started out as a small effort by lay Muslims to simply present some points that we consider to be of importance in the field of defending Islam against some of the many accusation of the non-Muslims, and of showing the problems the non-Muslim ideologies and religions face. But we definitely know and acknowledge upfront that this is meant to only be a starting point, and in the meantime we are actively looking for ways to get formal students of knowledge and Shuyookh to participate directly on our site if possible, or at least to provide support in terms of critically reviewing our works, etc.

This incorporation of Shuyookh into the work of this site may take quite some time and may be difficult to accomplish and sustain, but we understand the importance of this facet in our endeavor. After all, there is a big difference between us as laymen writing something, us as laymen commenting on a text written by another lay person, or us commenting on a text written by a Shaykh or ‘Aalim, and a Shaykh or ‘Aalim directly writing something, answering objections, etc.

While we hope for this last option to be the norm on this website at some point in the future, we can write a few general things based on simple observations, noting that our hope is for these writings to be subjected to improvements, additions, and deletions.

And if we want to consider the specific case of brother Tzortzis’ work, whatever deficiencies there may have been in his work with respect to the ‘scientific miracles in the Qur’an’ narrative does not mean that the work he has done surrounding the linguistic aspects of the Qur’an is just as deficient^[1]. Yes, we have commented on a couple of his articles, and we are aware that a proper scholar of the Qur’an may offer suggestions, criticisms, additions, deletions, etc., of brother Tzortzis’ work in this vein as well, and we will be ready to modify whatever we have written that is connected to his work accordingly, if this is the better way forward. And if it is told to us that we have overextended ourselves in our comments in certain places, then Insha Allah we will remove whatever is incorrect and inappropriate, based on what the Shuyookh may tell us.

Lastly, we want to say that this mode of operation will hopefully be what we follow with respect to any other works we have written up to now. After all, our goal is to disseminate Islam in the best way possible, and if this includes our stepping away from direct writing in order to improve our knowledge, etc., then this is a step we should be willing to take.

We end by asking Allah to help all the Muslims in the world, and that He may send peace and blessings on our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his Family, and Companions.