………”Over it are nineteen
By Dr. Rashad Khalifa
“We have appointed none but angels as guardians of the Fire. And We have not assigned their number except as a test for those who have disbelieved, and so that those who were given the Scripture would attain certainty, and so that those who believe would increase in faith, and so that those given the Scripture and the believers would not doubt, and so that those with sickness in their hearts and the disbelievers would say, “What did God mean by this example?” Thus does God misguide whom He wills and guide whom He wills. None knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. It is nothing but a reminder for mankind.
No indeed! By the moon,
and the night when it withdraws,
and the morning when it brightens,
it is indeed one of the greatest.
It is a warning to mankind,
to those among you who wish to advance, or regress.”
Quran 74:30-37
Presentation
A truly awesome mathematical structure was discovered in the Quran in 1974 by Dr. Rashad Khalifa. For 14 long centuries Muslims understood the challenge presented by God to produce a Sura like it (2:23), to be one primarily related to literacy excellence. However, as a result of the new scientific discovery, a new meaning for the challenge has surfaced and is astounding mathematicians worldwide.
It was discovered that the verses, words, letters and all parameters of the original Scripture were coded by means of the prime number 19. The complexity and amazing intricacy of this deliberate structure made it apparent that the phenomenon was superhuman.
The discovery of the miracle established two prime matters:
1-The mathematical structure of the Book cannot be duplicated today, even with the aid of a computer, let alone by a man living in the desert 1400 years ago. This confirms that the Book was not written by any human, but is the true word of God.
2-The mathematical miracle of the Quran also confirmed that one of the functions of the code 19 in the Book is to detect any corruptions that may enter the original text.
The miracle of the Quran was discovered by Dr. Rashad Khalifa in fulfilment of the prophecy contained in the Quran: God took a covenant from the prophets, “For what I have given you of the Scripture and wisdom, then afterwards, a messenger comes to you, confirming what is with you; you shall believe in him and support him.” He said, “Do you agree to this and accept this obligation from Me?” They said, “We agree.” He said, “Therefore bear witness and I am with you among the witnesses.” 3:81
Numerically Coded Scripture
Before detailing any of the features of the mathematical design, it is first necessary to demonstrate the meaning of a ‘numerically coded book’.
Suppose you are asked to write a small book, and that this book must be coded with the number 19 as follows:
Chapter 1 is to contain exactly 741 of the letter S, (741 = 19 x 39)
Chapter 2 is to contain exactly 247 K’s and 646 B’s (247 = 19 x 13 and 646 = 19 x 34)
Chapter 3 is to contain 893 of the letters T, N and G combined. (893 = 19 x 47)
Chapter 4 is to contain 475 of the letters D and F combined (475 = 19 x 25)
The total number of chapters must be 38 (38 = 19 x 2)
The total number of sentences must be exactly 1254 (1254 = 19 x 66)
The above 6 conditions are a few simple conditions that would render a book to be described as ‘numerically coded’. It must be emphasised that the intricacy of the pattern in the Quran is far more complex than these 6 conditions.
Consequently, and being given such conditions, you will then try to write this hypothetical book, carefully counting and keeping track of those letters and the number of sentences in order to conform with the specifications given to you. As you conform to these specifications, you must also write words and sentences that make sense. If you spend sufficient time, you should be able to come up with a book which satisfies the above conditions.
What if the conditions required are not only 6 but are in their hundreds or even thousands of conditions similar to the ones above, and all in numbers that are multiples of 19? Could you compose such a book, even with the aid of computers and software?
Is it possible that such a book containing these thousands of conditions, which are all multiples of 19, was written by a man who lived in the desert 1400 years ago?
The Discovery
For many centuries, Muslim scholars have been trying to understand the significance of the 14 letters that are placed at the beginning of 29 Suras (chapters) of the Quran. These letters of the Arabic alphabet which are placed in two’s, three’s and larger combinations baffled scholars. Many came up with some explanation or another, but no one had any concrete or verified explanation.
Finally in the 1970’s, Dr. Rashad Khalifa entered the Quran into a computer in an attempt to search for any design that could account for these letters. The result of his extensive research was the discovery of the intricate mathematical structure which pervades the whole Quran and governs all its parameters.
The design is so extensive that Dr. Khalifa only discovered the tip of the iceberg. The discoveries in this field are made frequently since the initial discovery. Some of the features of the mathematical structure are simple and easy for any person without any mathematical skills to see. Equally, some of the aspects of this design require a higher degree of mathematical skills.
The Design
The following are some of the simple facts:
1-There are 114 Suras (chapters) in the Quran, 114 = 19 x 6.
2-The total number of verses in the Quran is: 6234 numbered verses + 112 un-numbered basmalahs = 6346 (19334).
3- There are 30 unique numbers mentioned in the Quran (i.e. 1 God, 2 brothers, 7 heavens … etc.), If we add the
30 numbers we get a total of 162146 = 19 x 8534.
4-The very first verse in Quran, “In the name of God, the Almighty, the Merciful” consists of 19 Arabic letters. Known as the Basmalah, it prefaces every chapter except Chapter 9.
5-Though missing from Chapter 9, exactly 19 chapters later the Basmalah occurs twice. Chapter 27 has this statement at its beginning and also in verse 30. This makes the total number of Basmalahs in the Quran 114 = 19 x 6.
6-Since there are 19 chapters between the missing Basmalah and the extra one, the sum of those chapter numbers is a multiple of 19. (The sum of any 19 consecutive numbers is a multiple of 19.) But the total, 342, is also the exact number of words between the two occurrences of the Basmalah in Chapter 27. The number 342 = 19 x 18.
7-If we look at the four words of the Basmalah separately, which are 1- Ism 2- Allah 3- Al-Rahman 4- Al-Raheem, we find that each word occurs in the whole Quran in a number that is a multiple of 19.
8-The very first revelation given to Prophet Muhammed (the first 5 verses of sura 96) consisted of 19 words.
9-The total number of letters making up the 19 words of the first revelation is 76 = 19 x 4.
10-Chapter 96 (first to be revealed) consists of 304 Arabic letters = 19 x 16.
11-The last chapter revealed (Chapter 110) has 19 words, and its first verse is 19 letters.
12-The word Allah occurs in the Quran 2698 times = 19 x 142.
13-If we add the numbers of the verses where the word Allah occurs, we find that the total is 118123 = 19 x 6217.
14-The main message in the Quran is that there is only ‘One’ God. The number of times the word ‘One’ is used to refer to this concept of One God is 19.
15-The word Quran occurs in 38 different Suras = 19 x 2.
16-The word Quran occurs in the Quran 58 times, with one of them, in 10:15, referring to ‘another quran’. This particular occurrence, therefore, must be excluded. Thus, the frequency of the occurrence of God’s Quran is 57 = 19 x 3.
17- Within the 114 chapters of the Quran, 29 of them begin with Quranic initials. Intermixed between the first initialed chapter (Chapter 2) & the last initialed chapter (Chapter 68) are 38 non-initialed chapters = 19 x 2.
18- In this same group of chapters, from Chapter 2 to Chapter 68, there are 19 alternating sets of initialed and non-initialed chapters.
19- The total number of verses making up this group of chapters is 5263 = 19 x 277.
20- Within this group of chapters there are also 2641 occurrences of the word Allah = 19 x 139. Of course, that leaves 57 = 19 x 3, occurrences of that word outside of this group.
21- If we add the chapter and verse numbers of the 57 occurrences of the word Allah outside the initialed section, we find the total is 2432 = 19 x 128.
22-There has been a large number of discoveries related to the numbers of the chapters and verses. Many of them are very complex and interrelated. One of the simpler examples is: If we add the numbers assigned to all the chapters, plus the numbers assigned to all of the verses, plus the number of verses in the Quran, the total is 346199 = 19 x 19 x 959.
23- If we look at the initialed chapters separately and add the chapter numbers, verse numbers and number of verses, the total is 190133 = 19 x 10007. Of course it follows that the total for the uninitialed chapters, 156066, is also divisible by 19.
These are only a few features of the pattern of the Quran. As mentioned, there are a great many more features, most of them more complex than the ones presented above. Additional discoveries continue to be made as Dr. Khalifa’s work is continued by the believers.
The following extract is taken form Dr. Khalifa’s (Appendix 1) in his translation of the Quran:
Historical Background
In 1968, I realized that the existing English translations of the Quran did not present the truthful message of God’s Final Testament. For example, the two most popular translators, Yusuf Ali and Marmaduke Pickthall, could not overcome their corrupted religious traditions when it came to the Quran’s great criterion in 39:45.
When God alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter are filled with aversion, but when others are mentioned besides Him, they rejoice. 39:45
Yusuf Ali omitted the crucial word “alone” from his translation, and altered the rest of the verse by inserting the word (gods). Thus, he utterly destroyed this most important Quranic criterion. He translated 39:45 as follows:
“When God, the One and Only, is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter are filled with disgust and horror; but when (gods) other than He are mentioned, behold, they are filled with joy.” [39:45] (according to A. Yusuf Ali)
The expression “When God, the One and Only, is mentioned” is not the same as saying, “When God alone is mentioned.” One can mention “God, the One and Only,” and also mention Muhammad or Jesus, and no one will be upset. But if “God alone is mentioned” you cannot mention anyone else, and a lot of people – those who idolize Muhammad or Jesus – will be upset. Thus, Yusuf Ali could not bring himself to present the truth of the Quran, if it exposed his corrupted belief.
Marmaduke Pickthall translated “alone” correctly, but destroyed the criterion by inserting his personal belief in parentheses; he translated 39:45 as follows:
“And when Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter are repelled, and when those (whom they worship) beside Him are mentioned, behold! they are glad.” [39:45] (according to Marmaduke Pickthal)
When I saw the truth of God’s word thus distorted, I decided to translate the Quran, at least for the benefit of my own children. Since I was a chemist by profession, and despite my extensive religious background – my father was a renowned Sufi leader in Egypt – I vowed to God that I would not move from one verse to the next unless I fully understood it.
I purchased all the available books of Quranic translations and exegeses (Tafseer) I could find, placed them on a large table, and began my translation. The first sura, The Key, was completed in a few days. The first verse in Sura 2 is “A.L.M.” The translation of this verse took four years, and coincided with the divine unveiling of “the secret,” the great mathematical Miracle of the Quran.
The books of Quranic exegeses unanimously agreed that “no one knows the meaning or significance of the Quranic Initials A.L.M., or any other initials.” I decided to write the Quran into the computer, analyze the whole text, and see if there were any mathematical correlations among these Quranic initials.
I used a time-share terminal, connected by telephone to a giant computer. To test my hypothesis, I decided to look at the single – lettered Quranic Initials -“Q” (Qaaf) of Suras 42 and 50, “S” (Saad) of Suras 7, 19, and 38, and “N” (Noon) of Sura 68. As detailed in my first book “Miracle of the Quran: Significance of the mysterious alphabets” (Islamic Productions, 1973), many previous attempts to unravel the mystery had failed.
Quranic Initials
Even though in a number of Quranic verses the initials were followed by the words “These are the signs of the clear Book”, the secret remained hidden till the year 1974 when the discovery was made. Now, and looking back, it is plain to see that these initials contained some signs from God.
The first initial to be examined by Dr. Khlalifa was the letter ‘Q’ (Qaaf).
The Initial ‘Q’ (Qaaf)
The letter Q, being the first letter in the word Quran, stands for the Quran. There are two Q-initialed Suras, each with 57 (19 x 3) Q’s in them. They are Suras 42 and 50. The total number of Q’s in the two chapters is therefore 114 (19 x 6), which is also the number of Suras in the Quran.
Considering that Sura 42 is twice as long as Sura 50 (word count), yet they both contain the same number of Q’s. This provides us with the first sign that this is a deliberate arrangement.
The second sign lies in the sum of the number of each Sura with the number of verses in that Sura.
– Sura 42 has 53 verses; 42 plus 53 = 95 = 19 x 5.
– Sura 50 has 45 verses; 50 plus 45 = 95 = 19 x 5.
The Initial ‘N’ (Noon)
This initial prefixes only one Sura, number 68. The total number of occurrences of N in this Sura is 133 = 19 x 7.
The Initial ‘Š’ (Saad)
Š prefixes three different Suras, 7, 19 and 38. The total occurrences of Š in these three Suras is 152 = 19 x 8.
The Initials ‘Y.S.’ (Ya Seen)
These two initials are found at the beginning of Sura 36. The number of times that these two letters appear in this Sura is 285 = 19 x 15.
The Initials ‘H.M.’ (Haa Meem)
This set of initials is found initializing the seven consecutive Suras 40 through 46. The total occurrence of these two initials in the seven Suras is 2147 = 19 x 113.
The Initials ‘Á.S.Q.’ (Ayn Seen Qaf)
Sura 42 is the only Sura with a set of initials (H.M.) in the first verse and another (Á.S.Q.) in verse two. The number of times the letters of this second set of initials are in Sura 42 is 209 = 19 x 11.
The Initials ‘A.L.M.’ (Alef Lam Meem)
This set of initials is found in six Suras. The Sura numbers are 2-3-29-30-31-32. The total occurrances of the three initials in each of the six Suras is a multiple of 19.
Sura 2, total of A + L + M = 9899 (19×521)
Sura 3 = 5662 (19×298)
Sura 29 = 1672 (19×88)
Sura 30 = 1254 (19×66)
Sura 31 = 817 (19×43)
Sura 32 = 570 (19×30)
The Initials ‘A.L.R.’ (Alef Lam Ra)
This set of initials is found in five Suras. The Sura numbers are 10-11-12-14-15. The total occurrences of the three initials in each of the six Suras is a multiple of 19.
Sura 10, total of A + L + R = 2489 (19 x 131)
Sura 11 = 2489 (19 x 131)
Sura 12 = 2375 (19 x 125)
Sura 14 = 1197 (19 x 63)
Sura 15 = 912 (19 x 48)
From this short presentation, it is easy to see that the substitution or removal of any word containing one of the initials in an initialed chapter would break the code in that chapter. As the initials become more complex, the difficulty of writing readable and meaningful sentences increases. In the language of probability, it can be said that the only way that the code could have been written into the Quran was for the Arabic language to have been invented around it!
The patterns exhibited in the initialed Suras, in addition to the simpler parameters discussed earlier, make an awesome network of coding which pervades the very fabric of the Quran.
Why 19!
The number 19, which is the 8th prime number, possesses unique mathematical properties
[1] It encompasses the first numeral (1) and the last numeral (9), and thus proclaims God’s attribute in 57:3 as the “Alpha and the Omega.”
[2] It looks the same in all the languages of the Scripture. 1 and 9, are the only numerals that look the same in Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic.
[3] It possesses many peculiar mathematical properties. For example, 19 is the sum of the first powers of 9 and 10, and the difference between the second powers of 9 and 10.
[4] The gematric value of the word ‘One’ in all the Scriptural languages – Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic is 19.
The number 19, therefore, proclaims the First Commandment in all the Scriptures: that there is only One God.
Historical note
The momentous discovery of the code 19 in the Quran took place in January 1974. This coincided with Zul-Hijjah 1393 A.H. (Islamic Hijri Calendar).
The Quranic revelation started 13 years before the start of the Hijri Calendar, or the year -13. This makes the number of years from the first revelation of the Quran to the unveiling of its miracle 13 + 1393 = 1406.
Interestingly enough, 1406 = 19 x 74.
Not only was the miracle unveiled in the year 1974, but also the number 19 is mentioned only once in the Quran, and that is in Sura 74.
Dr. Rashad Khalifa from Cairo, Egypt.