There are repeated references to numerical patterns in the Quran and some have been unearthed in the last 70 odd years. The approach has been varying but the results have been equally mind-boggling. In spite of the widespread attempts to try and discredit these remarkable discoveries, for a neutral mind, if this is not the signature of God then nothing will do I guess. It is sad to notice that most people behind these attempts to discredit the findings are Muslims. That doesn't mean that there are not enough non-Muslims busy with muddling the issue. Some of these efforts are amateurish but you do come across many professionals. The thing about mathematics is that you don't need somebody to tell you how much is 2+2, those serious about the truth should verify it for themselves. Here are four of the many that stand out;
The first one dates back to the late 1950s and has to do with straightforward word repetition in the Quran as per research done by Abdurrazzaq Nawfal. He started out with discovering that reference to a calendar "day" is repeated exactly 365 times in the Quran and for a month it is 12 times. He subsequently released a number of papers on different aspects of word count.
http://www.yuksel.org/e/religion/365days.htm
The second effort is centered on the number 19 and Rashad khalifa is popularly credited with it. The difference with his effort and the rest of the three is that in order to make some aspects of his structure stick, he resorted to altering the spellings and removal of two verses from the widely available Quran. If one were to ignore his alteration bits, the rest of the 19 based structures are still astounding. He based his structure on the verse "Over it are nineteen" Quran 74:30
www.submission.org/miracle/ http://www.masjidtucson.org/quran/miracle/
The third effort is based on the number 7 and Abduldaem Al Kaheel is responsible for the extensive work. His genius is that instead of relying on mere word and letter multiples, his structure reveals a remarkable array of positional notation based on the number 7. His inspiration incidentally was Rashad Khalifa's works. He based his structure on the verse "And We have certainly given you, seven of the often repeated and the great Quran. Quran 15:87, among others.
http://www.kaheel7.com/eng/
or http://www.kaheel7.com/eng/book/Secrets-Of-Nemeric_Miracle_In-Holy_Qoran.pdf
The fourth is credited to Dr. Eng. Halis Aydemir and centers on the odd even aspect of the numeric structure. And the checksums unearthed truly locks each verse of the Quran in its proper place. He based his structure on the verse "And [by] the even and the odd" Quran 89:03
http://www.symmetricbook.com/
To get a sense of how difficult it is to reproduce a book like the Quran, I have put together a small test which immediately gives you a hands-on feel for the issue using your word processor. Please go here; http://lifecheat.blogspot.com/2010/04/so-why-wont-you-do-it.html
Note: If someone has any info on Adnan Rifai's works, please forward them so that I can update the note. Thanks
I have recently shown some Mormon missionaries these mathematical miracles of the Quran, one of them read for a while, and told me "To be honest, I am impressed, but not to bash you or anything, this just doesn't mean much to me..." I said there are many other miracles in the Quran too (whereas the Book of Mormon fails to contain any)... but that didn't persuade them. My brother also thinks the numerical miracles are "pretty cool" ("ok i get it, whatever, it's another 'Bible code'...") but he said he isn't sure if there is a God!! I just don't understand. Certainly, there is no compulsion in religion and "most people" are unbelievers despite the striving of Muslims, but to me, the miracles of the Quran and esp. the numerical miracles are so clear and indisputable that they should convince every human being with a rational mind of at least a being that is higher than humans. But this is simply not what happens. I once read on Yahoo answers someone saying something like: "If the Quran does provide the value of the speed of light, I would be impressed... very very impressed. However, that still doesn't prove God's existence." ?!! :( How can they understand? What could possibly be the evidence for them, then? And what do you say to the atheists who say they will believe in God when God talks to them Himself or something like that? Why is there a difference in the extent to which our hearts recognize and accept miracles like these?
ReplyDeleteIt can be very frustrating at times. Most people take a position based on probabilist knowledge and then proceed to take an irrational defensive mode and rigidly defend it come what may. Their immediate reaction when confronted with certain knowledge is to try and find faults in the presentation. They literally feel satisfied with whatever they could summon at the spur of the moment, however improbable.
ReplyDeleteDear Liphe Guru: Thank you for sharing this nice introduction on the numerical structure of the world's most amazing book with your readers.
ReplyDeleteI have not studied the claims on the number 7, yet. (I had in the past, studied the book of a Turkish author who also focuses on the same number.)
I have studied numerous claims regarding numerical structure of the Quran, and none could stand objective and rigorous scrutiny except two:
The first one is Abdurrazzaq's Nawafal's work on the numerical relationship between the meaning of the words, synonyms and antonyms... I have his Arabic book, al-Ijaz ul-Adady, in my library since 1980 and I have contributed to that study through my observations and discoveries, which I find fascinating. Yet, Nawfal's book also contains some questionable and arbitrary observation.
Rashad's discovery is phenomenal and it is a great prophecy of the Quran for our time. I worked together with Rashad on this topic for about four years (one year in the same building in Masjid Tucson, until his assassination) and have written two Turkish books on it since 1983. Recently, I finished the most updated presentation of Rashad's discovery, with new observations in my upcoming book, NINETEEN: God's Signature in Nature and Scripture. I am also finishing up the improved and updated version of Running Like Zebras, my discussions and debates with the critics of the code 19.
As for the Turkish engineer, Halis Aydemir's work titled Symmetric Book... Though I was initially impressed by the presentation and the content, when I studied it closely, to my dismay, I found no statistical merit in it. It suffers from the same problem that the so-called Bible Code suffers. I wrote a brief review on this book and provided my reasons for why it has no merit. If you wish to receive that article please contact me via email.
Peace,
Edip Yuksel
Salam Edip, Thanks for visiting the blog, my readership compared to yours is .... how should I put it, puny in size but just as important. I am obviously aware of your work and would love to see your take on Halis Aydemir's work. Will await your updated article and the book of course. if you get a chance please evaluate Adnan Rifai's works. Thanks once again for your support here and on the forums, I will email this post to you and post my email here for quick reference submission114@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteAl muddaththir:
ReplyDelete(23) Then he said: "This is nothing but magic from that of old;
(24) "This is nothing but the word of a human being!"
(25) I will cast him into Hell-fire
(26) And what will make you know what Hell-fire is?
(27) It spares not, nor does it leave!
(28) Burning and blackening the skins!
(29) Over it are nineteen.
(30) And We have set none but angels as guardians of the Fire, and We have fixed number (19) only as a trial for the disbelievers, in order that the people of the Scripture may arrive at a certainty, and that the believers may increase in Faith, and that no doubt may be left for the people of the Scripture and the believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the disbelievers may say: "What Allâh intends by this example?" Thus Allâh leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And none can know the hosts of your Lord but He. And this is nothing else than a reminder to mankind.
I see you are researching, great. My only comment on your post is that your choice of translation is a bit of, especially the word illā (إِلَّا) which should be either "except" or "but" and not "only"
ReplyDeleteHere is how Sahih International translates it:
And We have not made the keepers of the Fire except angels. And We have not made their number except as a trial for those who disbelieve - that those who were given the Scripture will be convinced and those who have believed will increase in faith and those who were given the Scripture and the believers will not doubt and that those in whose hearts is hypocrisy and the disbelievers will say, "What does Allah intend by this as an example?" Thus does Allah leave astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. And mention of the Fire is not but a reminder to humanity.
The other significance is the asking of the question and leaving the meaning for us to discover
"What does Allah intend by this as an example?"
In any case the focus is the number 19 itself, now the question is how does a number increase your faith :) Bring in the mathematical patterns and every word of the verse makes perfect sense. Needless to say none of the traditional commentators had a clue as to what was meant by this verse. In all fairness they could not know before the discovery and interesting to note not a single Sahih Hadith on the subject can be found.
It is easy to claim that "Hadith explains the Quran" but when you really need an explanation it is nowhere to be found in the Hadith literature.