Patient research in the last few years has
demonstrated how the Quran as a written divine document evinces
a mathematical structure or pattern based on the number 19.
As is well known, the Quran has 114 (19x6) chapters (suras) and
29 of them have certain initials (muqatta'at) in their
starting verses. These initials are letters of the Arabic alphabet.
Among these 29 chapters with initials, two and only two, namely,
chapters 42 and 50, contain the Arabic letter qaf (Q) as
an initial. Dr. Rashad Khalifa was the first to point out and publish
the fact that in each of these two chapters, the letter qaf
occurs exactly 57 (19x3) times, in spite of the additional fact
that chapter 42 is about twice as long as chapter 50. Muslim tradition
has it that the letter qaf, used as an initial in the two
chapters, stands for the word “Quran.” Readers will
easily conclude that the count of the letter qaf in both
qaf-initialed chapters results in 114 (19x6) qafs, a number
corresponding to the total number of chapters in the Quran.
That the number 57 is intimately connected with the Quran is clearly
revealed in the first verse of chapter 50, one of the qaf initialed
chapters:
Qaf. By the glorious Quran. (50:1)
In the Quran, the word “majid” (translated
above as “glorious”) is once used as a quality (sifat)
of Allah (11:73) and twice (50:1 and 85:21) as an attribute of the
Quran. Now, when the so-called abjad (gematrical) or ancient
numerical system of the Arabs is applied to the Arabic word “
مجيد ” (majid), the total adds up
to 57:
= 40; = 3; = 10; and = 4.
Total = 57
That the letter qaf is an initial (actually the only initial) in
the first verse of chapter 50, that this first verse describes the
Quran as majid (which has a value of exactly 57 in the ancient abjad
numerical system), and that letter qaf occurs |
exactly 57 times in this chapter cannot be
sheer accident. Indeed, there are other instances in the Quran which
demonstrate that the number 57 is intimately connected with it.
In the Quran, the Arabic word “قرٔان
” (Quran) with an abjad (gematrical) value of 351 is found
exactly 58 times. As spelled, this word is grammatically different
from the related word “قرٔانا”
(qur’anan) which has an extra letter alif as a prop for the
so-called tanwin (a grammatical device to express indefiniteness).
The word qur’anan has 352 for its abjad value, and is found
10 times in the Quran. Now, the word “Quran” with the
abjad value of 351 and spelt as “قرٔان”
with or without the definite article occurs in the following verses:
1. 2:185 2. 4:82
3. 5:101 4. 6:19
5. 7:204 6. 9:111
7. 10:15 8. 10:37
9. 10:61 10. 12:3
11. 15:1 12. 15:87
13. 15:91 14. 16:98
15. 17:9 16. 17:41
17. 17:45 18. 17:46
19. 17:60 20. 17:78
21. 17:78 22. 17:82
23. 17:88 24. 17:89
25. 18:54 26. 20:2
27. 20:114 28. 25:30
29. 25:32 30. 27:1
31. 27:6 32. 27:76
33. 27:92 34. 28:85
35. 30:58 36. 34:31
37. 36:2 38. 36:69
39. 38:1 40. 39:27
41. 41:26 42. 43:31
43. 46:29 44. 47:24
45. 50:1 46. 50:45
47. 54:17 48. 54:22
49. 54:32 50. 54:40
51. 55:2 52. 56:77
53. 59:21 54. 73:4
55. 73:20 56. 76:23
57. 84:21 58. 85:21
The above total number of entries (58) might lead one to conclude
that the pattern of 57 (or, for that matter, that of |
19) had been broken at least in the occurrence
of the word “Quran” in its Arabic form with the abjad
(gematrical) value of 351. But a logical analysis of each of the
above 58 entries will reveal that in exactly 57 of the entries,
the word refers to the Quran as Muslims understand it to be, that
is, as a revealed book or Divine Scripture sent down to mankind
through Prophet Muhammad. Furthermore, in one entry, namely 10:15
(No. 7 in the above list), the word does not, unlike the other 57
entries, refer to the Quran as we know it but refers to something
else—a non-existent Quran. The pertinent verse is as follows:
And when our clear revelations are recited to them, those who do
not expect to meet us say: “Bring a Quran other than this,
or change it!”... (10:15).
Clearly, the word “Quran” in the above verse refers
to another Quran which, in effect, was non-existent. The Arabic
term qur’anin ghair used in the above verse clearly means
“another quran” or “a quran different from this
Quran.” That other quran does not exist, and should not be
counted with the other 57 entries. But even if it is added to the
57 entries, since it does not exist, the final result will still
be 57!
In modern mathematical logic and one of its forerunners, Boolean
Algebra, as well as modern arithmetic, what is non-existent is normally
called a Null Class (NC). And when the Null Class is added to any
given class or a given number, the result is always the given class
or original number. For example, 57+NC = 57. Also, there is nothing
in common between an existing number and the Null Class. For example,
57xNC = NC. Thus, the Arabic word “Quran” when referring
to the Quran as Divine Revelation or Sacred Scripture, occurs exactly
57 times in the text of the Quran.
It may be added that the Quran in 55:1-2
Continued on page 4
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