Mathematical patterns in the Qur’an according to the scholars

 Ibn Abbas (ra) is authentically reported to have discussed mathematical patterns in the Qur'an with Umar bin al-Khattab (ra). Major Ahlus Sunnah scholars have also discussed them. Here are some of the scholars:

1)     Ibn Kathir authenticated Ibn Abbas’ narration where he used numerical patterns of 7 in the Qur’an to argue for Laylat ul-Qadr being on the 27^th. Tafsir al-Mawardi also reports Ibn Abbas as noting 30 words in Surah al-Qadr and the 27^th word referring to Laylat ul-Qadr. Ibn Abbas was the expert mufassir amongst the Sahaba and the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) did du’a for him to be given a deep understanding of the religion and ta’wil. Umar also praised his deep understanding of the Qur’an. 

The following are the major scholars (they need no introduction) that mentioned numerical/mathematical patterns in the Qur’an based on the above Ibn Abbas narrations or quoted it:

a)      Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani, the famous Maliki muhaddith: https://al-maktaba.org/book/33977/763

b)     Ibn Yunus, the famous Maliki scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/33207/1229

c)      Al-Sarakhsi, the famous Hanafi scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/33240/594

d)     Al-Sakhawi, the famous Qur’an specialist: https://al-maktaba.org/book/32372/152

e)     al-Mawardi, the famous mufassir and Shafi’i scholar: https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=12&tSoraNo=97&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1

f)       Yahya Ibn Abi Khayr Umrani, a major Shafi’I scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/21721/1682  

g)      Ibn Qudama, the famous Hanbali scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/33211/3715

h)     Ibn Rajab, the famous Hanbali scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/11363/203

i)       Ibn Kathir, the famous mufassir (he declared its isnad qawi, jayyid): https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=7&tSoraNo=97&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=yes&Page=8&Size=1&LanguageId=1

j)       Ibn Rushd al-Jadd, the famous Maliki scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/33228/259

k)      Ibn Atiyya, the famous mufassir: https://al-maktaba.org/book/23632/2754

l)       al-Biqa’I, the famous mufassir: https://al-maktaba.org/book/9098/11478

m)    Ibn Jawzi, the famous muhaddith: https://al-maktaba.org/book/23619/2235

n)     Al-Buhuti, the famous Hanbali scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/33245/338

o)     Al-Safarrini, the famous Hanbali scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/32944/1930

p)     al-Qarafi, the famous Maliki scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/1717/933

q)     al-Baji, the famous Maliki scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/6684/451

r)      Ibn Mulaqqin, the famous Shafi’i scholar and Muhaddith: https://al-maktaba.org/book/32862/8078

s)      Isma’il Haqqi, the famous Ottoman mufassir: https://al-maktaba.org/book/23612/5040

t)      Ibn Ajiba, the famous mufassir: https://al-maktaba.org/book/10273/3374 

u)     Wahbah al-Zuhayli, the famous modern scholar: https://al-maktaba.org/book/33954/1612

2)     The famous early Mufassir from the Salaf, Muqatil bin Sulayman, who wrote one of the earliest tafsirs in the early 2^nd century, held the Huruf Muqatta’at (الحروف المقطعات) to refer to a numerical system. See Tafsir Muqatil in https://al-maktaba.org/book/23614/2363#p1

3)     The founder of the Maturidi school, Imam al-Maturidi, also considered it possible that the Huruf Muqatta’at (الحروف المقطعات) refer to a numerical system and are part of the Qur’an’s miracle (in terms of its brevity). See Tafsir of al-Maturidi in https://al-maktaba.org/book/32658/371

4)     The famous Sufi Abu Bakr al-Warraq counted words to represent the number of nights as mentioned by al-Tha’labi in https://al-maktaba.org/book/23578/3288

5)     The famous Mufassir Ibn Barrajan (450-536 AH) who used the Qur'an to famously predict the conquest of Jerusalem (583 CE). This was reported by Abu Shama al-Maqdisi, Majd al-Din al-Halabi, Qadi Muhyi al-Din al-Zaki, Ibn Khallikan, Ibn Arabi and al-Zarkashi. See Ibn Barrajan’s tafsir for the details as translated in “Bellver, José, “Ibn Barraǧān and Ibn ʿArabī on the prediction of the capture of Jerusalem in 583/1187 by Saladin,” Arabica, 61/3–4 (2014), pp. 252–286”.

6)     The famous Sufi and Hanbali master, sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, who mentioned patterns of 7 and the number of words in https://al-maktaba.org/book/33369/357

7)     The famous Sufi Ibn Arabi utilised mathematical patterns on the Qur'an through Abjad on the Huruf Muqatta'at. See al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, Cairo, Dār al-kitāb al-ʿarabiyya l-kubrā, volume 1, pages 59-60, as translated in “Bellver, José, “Ibn Barraǧān and Ibn ʿArabī on the prediction of the capture of Jerusalem in 583/1187 by Saladin,” Arabica, 61/3–4 (2014), pp. 252–286”.

8)     The famous Muhaddith, Hafiz Abdullah Sirajuddin mentioned the mathematical pattern of months in the Qur'an in his book "Sayyiduna Muhammad Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)”.

9)     The famous Muhaddith Muhammad al-Ya'qoubi mentioned that the date of death of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was extracted from the Qur'an in 5:3. Al-Suyuti, in his Itqan , gives an example of a verse from surah 63 predicting the age of death of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) whilst Al-Zarkashi in his Burhan also mentioned that the age of Prophet Isa/Jesus (as) was extracted from 33 words in the Qur’an. Both al-Suyuti and al-Zarkashi are famous authorities and reference points in Ulum ul-Qur’an. See Al-Suyuti’s Itqan https://al-maktaba.org/book/11728/1188   and Al-Zarkashi’s Burhan https://al-maktaba.org/book/11436/692#p1

10)  Emir Muhammad Kwassau wrote work on the Qur'an called "Ma'unat al-Tullab fi marifat...", which had statistics of the Qur'an, such as the count of individual letters.

A triangular method can be used to test such patterns for deliberate intent (i.e. remove the chances of randomness) and reduce bias. This means that a mathematical/numerical procedure should be established in various parts of the Surah (or the Qur’an) or through various mathematical procedures leading to patterns within the same verse or group of verses. The mathematical patterns are expected to be applicable within a Surah because each Surah is separated from the others and the order of the Surahs does not impact the meanings of each Surah (so are “independent” and “stand-alone” in that sense). However, it can also be that a mathematical pattern is replicated in multiple Surahs, especially if they are connected.

To put it in another way, when one numerical pattern is identified, it is tested to see whether it occurs elsewhere in the Surah (or the Qur’an). If it does, then it increases the assurance that it was not random. I don't expect the same numerical pattern to be found in every verse or Surah, just like I don't expect each verse or Surah to have the same rhetorical devices or wujuh of i'jaz. For example, Ta-Sin's (طس from the the Huruf Muqatta’at) numerical pattern was supported through a triangular approach:

1)     Surah an-Naml (27) starts with the Huruf Muqatta’at (sometimes translated as the “Disjointed letters”) as طس

2)     If you count the number of ط  appearing in the Surah, it is 27

3)     If you count the number of س  appearing in the Surah, it is 93

4)     The above gives 27:93, in the same order and number as the Surah number and total number of Ayats (verses) in the Surah i.e. Surah an-Naml is position 27^th in the whole Qur’an and has 93 Ayats.

5)     If the above wasn’t enough, then if you total 27+93, you get 120, which is the Abjad number of Naml (the key story in Surah al-Naml and not mentioned in any other Surah).

6)     Sticking to the letter ط   from the Huruf Muqatta’at, it first occurs in them at 20:1 and is exactly mid-way between the total number of times ط  occurs in the Qur’an (i.e. total is 1273 and there are 636 ط before it and 636 after it).

Various other mathematical/numerical patterns have been confirmed for other Huruf Muqatta’at. In sha Allah the above is sufficient to dispel the myth that searching for mathematical/numerical patterns in the Qur’an is a modern invention. Instead, it is clearly established from the Sahaba and the generations since them, amongst major Imams.

For general mathematical/numerical patterns in the Qur’an see Ustadh Marwan Ghannam’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xix7QDXJN0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ4sh-FQnaY

Is the Qur'an a book of science? Part of the "Scientific miracles in Islam" series

 

بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The phrase “the Qur’an is not a book of science but is a book of guidance” is often used to argue against understanding certain Qur’anic verses as including scientific miracles. This statement should be critically analysed as part of the discussion about “scientific miracles in the Qur’an”.

Whilst the statement is true, it can be argued that “the Qur’an is not a book of law” because it rarely gives detailed legal rulings (e.g. it doesn’t mention 5 prayers or the amount of raka’ats or the details of the Azan etc), and therefore the legal scholars (fuqaha) have been incorrect in deducing fiqh (through simple and complex interpretations) per such an proponent. According to some scholars, the Qur’an only has around 500 verses that include legal matters, which is less than the 700+ verses that include matters of nature (i.e. science). I have never come across anyone who has been consistent in the implications of this claim and this shows how irrational and emotional the discussion about “scientific miracles in the Qur’an” has become. For example, one academic even condemned a tafsir scholar for simply mentioning that there are 700+ verses relating to nature!

The Qur’an is a book of guidance but is a miracle and from the Lord of the worlds, Allah Most High. He can mention whatever He wants in His Books. It is natural to expect that He would describe His creation in order for people to ponder over them, realise that the Qur’an is miraculous and from Allah Most High, and to accept Islam (i.e. be guided). One also expects that since He created and sustains the universe, then the universe would not contradict the Qur’an i.e. the “Work of Allah Most High” and the “Words of Allah Most High” agree with each other. None of the major mufassirs (tafsir scholars) argued that Allah Most High cannot or does not talk about the natural world. It is a modern bid’a (innovation) to argue that He cannot or does not and amounts to trespassing over the limits of Allah Most High by arrogating oneself to judge over what Allah Most High “can or cannot do”. In fact, there are numerous clear verses in the Qur’an that talk about nature (hence science).

New evidences- arrangement of Surahs history

بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

When discussing aspects of the history of the Qur’an, it is important that a scholar incorporates not just the previous discussions on the topic but also any new, relevant evidences that have come to light. This brief article aims to bring additional new evidence to support the Tawqifi view of the arrangement of the surahs. But first, a brief overview follows.

As is well known, the words of the Qur’an are split into Ayats (often translated as “verses”) various Surahs (often translated as “chapters”). The various Surahs were revealed at different points of the life of the Prophet (ﷺ) and the order of revelation of the Surahs is different to the order of the Surahs found in current Mushafs (which agrees to the order in the Mushafs of the Caliph Uthman bin Affan (1)). Each Surah is, in a sense, standalone and doesn’t depend in meaning upon a particular order of Surahs in the Qur’an, unlike what is common in chapters in Western books. Thus, the Surah order doesn’t affect the preservation of the Qur’an or its message, although you can find extra “ benefits” from the current arrangement according to the “coherence” school.

To summarise the above, there are two ways to look at the orders/arrangement:

1)     Order/arrangement of the descent of revelation;

2)     Order/arrangement in which the Caliph Uthman compiled the Qur’an and which the Mushafs after him followed until now. The term “Uthmanic Mushafs” refers to the Mushafs compiled by the Caliph Uthman.

Before the Uthmanic Mushafs, some of the Sahaba had personal Mushafs with a different order of Surahs and that can be due to them:

1)     Basing the order/arrangement on the order/arrangement of the descent of revelation;

2)     Basing the order on the order in which they learnt the Surahs;

3)     Basing the order on their needs for teaching or learning

4)     Not knowing the order dictated by the Prophet (ﷺ) after the Qur’an was finalised in the final presentation with the Archangel Jibril (as);

5)     Not compiling all the Surahs but only some of them for their own personal needs of learning;

6)     Some other reason.

There are three broad views of Muslim scholars in terms of the order of the Surahs found in the Uthmanic Mushafs:

1)     The order/arrangement of the Surahs was dictated (verbally or through practice) by the Prophet (ﷺ), especially after the Qur’an was finalised in the final presentation with the Archangel Jibril (as). This view is called “Tawqifi” here and is the dominant/majority view currently amongst the scholars;

2)     The order of the Surahs was mostly dictated by the Prophet (ﷺ) but the order of some was based on the ijtihad of the Sahaba (companions of the Prophet (ﷺ)). This view is called “semi-ijtihadi” here;

3)     The order of the Surahs was the ijtihad of the Sahaba (companions of the Prophet (ﷺ)). This view is called “ijtihadi” here.

 

Each group claims historical reports to support itself, whilst the “coherence” school has claimed that the miraculous structure of the Qur’an proves that the order is Tawqifi. There is no need to go through the classical evidences of the various sides here as that is discussed by Dr Nur al-Din al-‘Itr in his “Ulum ul-Qur’an”, Zarqani’s “Manahil al-‘Irfan” and al-Suyuti in his “Itqan”.

The strongest evidence of the semi-ijtihadi and ijtihadi groups is the narration about Surah al-Tawba/Bara’a and Uthman i.e. they argue that the placement of that Surah was based on ijtihad during the Uthmanic compilation project. However, this evidence is weak in isnad (see al-Itr’s discussion) and is decisively refuted by the findings of the San’a lower-text. This lower-text is from before the Uthmanic Mushafs and is a window into the views of some people before the Uthmanic Mushafs.

The San’a lower-text has Surah al-Tawba/Bara’a in the same order as found in the Uthmanic Mushafs and conclusively refutes the evidence of the semi-ijtihadi and ijtihadi groups (2).

Furthermore, contrary to the orientalist false claim that only one person (Khuzayma) knew the last two verses of Surah al-Tawba/Bara’a and that it was added by the Caliph Uthman, the San’a lower-text contains those verses (no Companion Mushaf missed them), hence disproving the orientalist belief.

However, the strongest evidence to settle the debate on Surah numbering and verse numbers is the clear logic of the below:

Allah Most High takes an oath by the “even” and the “odd” in 89:3. The words “even” and “odd” have been kept general in the Qur’an and can refer to many things (see the tafsir al-Bahr al-Madid of Ibn ‘Ajiba for more). In mathematics, the following can be seen in a logical manner:

1)     List all the Surah/chapter numbers of the Qur'an.             

2)     Sum the 1st step. You get 6555.

3)     List the number of Ayats/verses for each corresponding Surah/chapter.  

4)     Sum the 3rd step. You get 6236.

5)     Add each Surah/chapter number with the corresponding number of Ayats/verses to get the term “SA”.          

6)     Put the even results of 5th step in one column and the odd in another. They are 57 each.    

7)     Sum each column of 6th. You get 6236 and 6555, which equals steps 2 and 4.

For the visual folk or for those unclear about how simple and logical the calculations are, it is shown in the last 5 minutes of Ustadh Marwan Ghannam’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ4sh-FQnaY

I think the above proof is sufficient for anyone trained as an auditor or accountant but there are various other Surah-order related mathematical patterns in the Qur’an. Another simple one is the following:

1)     Surah an-Naml (27) starts with the Huruf Muqatta’at (sometimes translated as the “Disjointed letters”) as طس

2)     If you count the number of ط  appearing in the Surah, it is 27

3)     If you count the number of س  appearing in the Surah, it is 93

4)     The above gives 27:93, in the same order and number as the Surah number and total number of Ayats in the Surah i.e. Surah an-Naml is position 27^th in the whole Qur’an and has 93 Ayats. The chance that this is at random is 0.0025.

5)     If the above wasn’t enough, then if you total 27+93, you get 120, which is the Abjad number of Naml. You can see it for yourself at https://www.abjadcalc.com/

6)     Sticking to the letter ط   from the Huruf Muqatta’at, it first occurs in them at 20:1 and is exactly mid-way between the total number of times ط  occurs in the Qur’an (i.e. total is 1273 and there are 636 ط before it and 636 after it).

 

The chance of the above being due to chance is very very very slim. I can provide other examples but I don’t think there is a need. The above provide additional evidence for the Tawqifi view.

In conclusion, Islam encourages the following of clear evidence, regardless of which time it has arisen. One can find all sorts of opinions held amongst scholars from the past but it does not mean that every single opinion remains correct or followable in all times. Where new evidence arises, one or a group of opinions can change in strength, allowing a preponderation of one or a group of opinions. The semi-ijtihadi and ijtihadi groups not only need to explain away all the Hadiths and manuscripts supporting the Tawqifi view, but they have to refute the views about the miraculous coherent structure of the Qur’an and the clear mathematical patterns. That is a large mountain for them to climb. Unfortunately, some people are not numerically skilled and do not have the expertise of a financial auditor so they do not understand the qat'i (definitive) nature of such numerical evidences. The traditional method is to defer to the experts of the field.  

Allah Most High knows best.

Footnotes:

1)     The Caliph Uthman was not the first compiler of the Qur’an. Qur’anic Mushafs existed before his time. I recommend Mustafa A’zami’s work “History of the Qur’anic Text” for more details.

2)     Someone may counter that the order of some other surahs differs in the San’a lower text. However, that is not relevant because the San’a manuscript is not a complete Mushaf and wasn’t intending to follow the final order of the Prophet (ﷺ) but may have arranged it according to other criteria that I mentioned earlier. Thus, this manuscript cannot falsify the Tawqifi view but can only confirm it.

Does science change? Part of the "Scientific miracles in Islam" series

بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Unfortunately the discourse around “scientific miracles in the Qur’an” lacks intellectual rigour. In sha Allah, I will critically analyse various arguments on the topic in different short articles. During discussions on the topic, one often hears the phrase “science changes”, a phrase betraying a Eurocentric, high-school understanding of science. It is so broad that it is like saying “philosophy or history changes” to discount the use of reason or history in religion. How many philosophical ideas and historical “facts” have changed as a result of new perspectives and new evidences? One only needs to ask a few simple questions and the “science changes” phrase breaks down:

1)     What is science?

2)     Is all science the same?

3)     Does all science change?

Science has many different definitions and they differ according to its history (e.g. pre-modern vs modern), the philosophy adopted (e.g. Popperian vs Kuhnian views), practitioners (e.g. ID theorists vs materialists), location (e.g. Europe vs China), its fields (e.g. physics vs economics), and theory vs practice. Often the practitioners of the “hard sciences” have very mythical definitions of science. A short course in the history and philosophy of science can clarify this matter. The debates over whether certain social sciences are “science” show how there are different definitions of science. Therefore, whose definition is adopted impacts the discussion in terms of “Islam and science” and “scientific miracles”. For example, one definition would include Hadith science within the definition of science but does that mean that Hadiths cannot be used in tafsir because it is science? (1)

Furthermore, science is not a monolithic group but there are many fields within it and not all knowledge is the same within science. There is some scientific knowledge that is epistemically certain, and there are others that have lower epistemic values. Also, scientific knowledge obtained through one type of science can be of a different epistemic value compared to another.

The above implies that there is some scientific knowledge that will not change, thus refuting the myth that “science changes”. For example, the scientific knowledge that the “earth is not flat”, or that “at least some tectonic plates can move”, or that “humans have DNA” will not change and is epistemically certain. In fact, there are many scientific facts that have not changed over the centuries, and will not change. For example, the scientific knowledge that “blood circulates around the body” has not changed for many centuries and will not change. On the other hand, scientific ideas about “multiverse universes” are low in epistemic value, can change, and are arguably unfalsifiable.

The myth of “science changing” may have arisen because its holders have confused the process of science with the results of science. The process of science allows its results to theoretically change, even if it will practically not change. For example, if we get observations about the earth being flat, then our scientific knowledge of that will change. However, we will not actually get any observations that show that the earth is flat because we have epistemic certainty on the matter. The myth is also propagated by those who devalue scientific knowledge in order to advance illogical beliefs.

An additional point of history (which is well known) is that, in tafsir, many Muslim scholars have used reports from the Isra’iliyyat and other nations in order to provide explanations for natural phenomena or historical events in the Qur’an, and often such scholars deemed those to be the true interpretations, not caveating their interpretations with phrases like “this is one possible interpretation”. Many of these reports have turned out to be false but no one argues that the “Qur’an is disproven”. Thus, the use of fields that may change is not unknown in tafsir and Islamic history. Even if scientific knowledge that can change is used in tafsir, it is not something without precedence in scholarship and amongst the Sahaba. In fact, many major tafsirs, such as those of al-Baydawi and al-Razi, have famously used the sciences of their times to explain the Qur’an.

Whilst explaining certain Qur’anic verses through science is not the same as claiming “scientific miracles”, precautions should be taken in tafsir in general because the reader can take any tafsir (such as relating to science or history etc) as the “one true view” and have their faith shaken if that interpretation is refuted by someone else or other knowledge. How many times have tafsirs included weak historical reports (such as gross anthropomorphism) and not distinguished them from the sound, causing people to doubt Islam!

I have seen the myth of “science changing” propagated from normally clever Muslims who have PhDs in order to tirade against the notion of “scientific miracles”. I have not found a single one of such people apply their principles consistently e.g. to criticise the use of history in tafsir. If someone insists on the myth that “science changes” and “something that changes cannot be applied to the Qur’an”, then that person should abandon using science in explaining any natural phenomena mentioned in the Qur’an (even if they are not “scientific miracles”) or using historical reports. I hope that this short article will stop Muslims from repeating the essentialising myth that “science changes”. I may go into more details in the future if there is a need.

Footnotes:

1)     See the series “The Cambridge History of Science” for more about the changing definitions of science.

Coherence of the Qur'an

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

This blog post discusses the concept of tadabbur (contemplation on the Qur’an) at one level of application by looking at the relationship between Surah Fatiha and Surah al-Nas. The Qur’an is a linguistic miracle and this includes many aspects.  One of these is the coherence of the Qur’an, which is a theory that argues that there are connections between each verse to the one before and after it, as well as the between each surah to the one before and after it.

This miracle is reinforced by the historical fact that the order of revelation was different to the order in which the Qur’an is currently compiled. It is very hard to have coherence in a book when each verse or group of verses have been revealed in response to different situations and context. Nevertheless, there comes a point when the coherence is so vast and in so many different aspects that no human is able to create such a literary piece. Various classical and authoritative scholars in the field of Qur’anic sciences such as Zarkashi, Suyuti and Razi argued in support of the view of coherence, which is evidenced through deep reflection upon the Qur’an.

Surah Fatiha (1) is the first surah of the Qur’an whilst surah al-Nas (114) is the last surah of the Qur’an, in the compiled order. Yet when the two surahs are considered side by side, they reveal fascinating links and lessons. I reveal some of them below, not all, because the ocean of the Qur’an is vast.

Surah Fatiha	Surah al-Nas	Commentary
Surah Fatiha starts off as praise of Allah Most High and then linguistically (through a rhetorical method called iltifat) shifts to du’a in verse 5.	Surah al-Nas starts off with a command (in the first word “say!”) and then proceeds to a du’a in verse 1.	This teaches us the adab of starting off with the praise of Allah Most High Both surahs contain du’a.
Verse 2 describes Allah as the Rabb of the worlds, thus giving a “macro” level to Allah’s power.	Verse 1 describes Allah as the Rabb of mankind, thus giving a “micro” level to Allah’s power.	The two surahs give contrasting yet illuminating displays of how Allah Most High cares for both the small and large things, not neglecting anything. Both surahs contain the word “Rabb”.
Surah Fatiha mentions the word “Allah” in reference to God.	Surah al-Nas mentions the word “Ilah” in reference to God.	Both terms are used to refer to God. There is also a scholarly opinion that the word “Allah” is linguistically derived from the word “al-Ilah”.
Surah Fatiha mentions the phrase “King (Malik) of the Day of Judgement”.	Surah al-Nas mentions the phrase “King (Malik) of mankind”.	Day of Judgement is the day that mankind is judged. It is the day that all of mankind is moving towards. Both surahs contain the word “Malik”.
Surah Fatiha has the du’a of seeking Allah’s aid and to be guided to the straight path.	Surah al-Nas has the du’a of seeking refuge in Allah Most High from Shaytan, the accursed.	Shaytan is the one who whispers in the hearts of mankind and jinn to swerve from the straight path. It is only through seeking Allah’s aid that we can be saved from Shaytan.

As one can see from the above, there are clear examples of coherence in the Qur’an. Those who deny such coherence from modern times do so because of their lack of sufficient reflection upon the Qur’an, as well as in some cases their anti-intellectual attitudes.

Hadith about satellites

The Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) said about one of the signs of the end of times is that " The dishes (atbaq) will communicate continuously and people will sever their family ties. " (Tabarani, in the chapter Kitab al Fitan). This saying is originally in Arabic.

Commentary on the miracle in this hadith is based on shaykh Hamza Yusuf:

In Algeria and North Africa in Africa, in Arabic, the satellite dish is called "Tabaq" (singular), "Atbaq (plural). The tabaq is a concaved dish and so it makes sense that the Arabs used this word for the satellite. The Prophet used the same word Atbaq for predicting satellites. He also used the modern Arabic word for satellite communications, he said "tuwasal al-atbaq. Thus he said "The dishes will communicate continuously and people will sever their family ties." In other words people will stay at home to watch tv and not visit their relatives or neighbours.

Notes:
1) Shaykh Hamza Yusuf's comments can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLjqXHu2jRI

2) The other word for satellites used in the east is "Sahn". This is an incorrect word for the satellite because a Sahn is a flat dish, and so doesn't apply to satellites.

Challenge to all atheists, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus

This post is a challenge to all who reject Islam.
Muslims claim that Islam has many proofs that show that Islam is from God. I will just bring one proof, and I challenge anyone on it. If the challenge can't be met, then they should realise that Islam is from God.
If you go back 15 centuries and are in a desert, where there's no communication technology, no phones etc. And the Prophet Muhammed (1) claims to be sent from God and says that " “The Hour will not come until the time when a man will leave his home, and his shoes or whip or stick will tell what is happening to his family.” (Ahmad).
Who would've thought that inanimate things like shoes will talk? How can anyone even think of such a thing when there's nothing to compare to? They had already accused him of being mad and crazy. Why would he say such a thing when people would laugh at him more and again accuse him of being mad?
And now, 15 centuries, later, Nike and Google have made talking shoes. Here's the Nike one shown at the end of this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj2Rokz99U8
Another business (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21443206) made shoes that act as mobiles too.
Show me any other person more than 10 centuries ago who made a prophecy as clear and accurate as this.

1) Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam (means "peace be upon him")

Telecommunications in hadith

Abū Sa'id (RA) related a long hadith, in part of which the Holy Prophet Muhammed (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:

"By Him in Whose hand is my soul, the Hour will not come until wild creatures talk to men, and a man speaks to the end of his whip and the straps of his sandals (shoes), and his thigh will tell him about what happened to his family after he left".[ Aħmad, Musnad (3:84 and 85). Ħākim, Mustadrak (4:467).)

“A man speaks to the end of his whip,” could indicate that people will speak into something with a cord like speaking into a telephone. Students of physics experiment by oscillating a string to see the resultant waveforms. Also, when one shakes a whip it creates a waveform down the length of the whip. The Prophet could be showing through the motion of the whip that people in the Last Days will discover a technology using waveforms by which they will speak. This transmission using wavelengths includes all kinds of communications whether radio, television, or satellite. One’s cellular telephone in his pocket next to “his thigh will tell him about what happened to his family after he left.”

.

In fact Nike has made shoes that speak to people. (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE7D7123FF932A35752C1A9609C8B63)

Travelling to space and the Qur'an

"[I swear by] the moon when it is full, you will mount up stage by stage! What is the matter with them, that they have no faith?" (Qur'an, 84:18-20)

So I asked Mufti Muhammed Sajaad about this verse, and whether it predicts space travel, and he said:

"Regarding whether it is possible to take the meaning of the verse in al-Inshiqaq for space-travel, I believe you can, because one of the classical interpretations of this verse is that is referring to the (Holy) Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) ascending but the meaning of it applying to humans generally seems stronger because the sura starts explicitly addressing all humans (al-Insan).
 
Ibn Kathir says:
وقال ابن أبي حاتم: حدثنا أبو سعيد الأشج، حدثنا أبو أسامة عن إسماعيل عن الشعبي: { لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقاً عَن طَبقٍ } قال: لتركبن يا محمد سماء بعد سماء. وهكذا روي عن ابن مسعود ومسروق وأبي العالية: { طَبَقاً عَن طَبقٍ }: سماء بعد سماء (قلت): يعنون: ليلة الإسراء؟ "

Hadith on Genetics Dominance

There is an excellent analysis of genetics hadiths that I found elsewhere and I confirmed with a hadith scholar who agreed with it. The word "dominant" (and similar meanings), is precisely the word used by geneticists.


The main point to notice, is that the correct translation of the hadith is that the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said
"...When they get together, if the semen of the man is dominant over the semen of the woman, the child is male, by the permission of Allah, and if the semen of the woman is dominant over the semen of the woman, the child is a female by the permission of Allah."

Hadeeths touched the topic under discussion:
1-- وَإِذَا سَبَقَ مَاءُ الرَّجُلِ مَاءَ الْمَرْأَةِ نَزَعَ الْوَلَدَ، وَإِذَا سَبَقَ مَاءُ الْمَرْأَةِ نَزَعَتْ
http://sunnah.com/urn/41620
This talks about the resemblance due to father/mother.

 2- وَأَمَّا الشَّبَهُ فِي الْوَلَدِ فَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ إِذَا غَشِيَ الْمَرْأَةَ فَسَبَقَهَا مَاؤُهُ كَانَ الشَّبَهُ لَهُ، وَإِذَا سَبَقَ مَاؤُهَا كَانَ الشَّبَهُ لَهَا ‏"
http://sunnah.com/urn/31100

3-  وَهَلْ يَكُونُ الشَّبَهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ قِبَلِ ذَلِكِ إِذَا عَلاَ مَاؤُهَا مَاءَ الرَّجُلِ أَشْبَهَ الْوَلَدُ أَخْوَالَهُ وَإِذَا عَلاَ مَاءُ الرَّجُلِ مَاءَهَا أَشْبَهَ أَعْمَامَهُ ‏ ‏
http://sunnah.com/muslim/4#37

In the first 2 hadeeths the word is "Sabaqa" سبق which means
1- precede -outrun.
2- win - defeat - overpower (which also means to "dominate").
In the third hadeeth the word is "alaa" علا which means:
overpower/take over/be superior (which also means to "dominate")..
e.g:
http://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=%2823:91:17%29
Translation:
the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Let her ask, for i resemblance happens because of it. when her water/discharge is dominant, the born child resembles his maternal family but if water/discharge of the man was dominant, the born child should resemble his paternal family."

The content of this narration is reported in other narrations as well and despite the slight difference of words, all narrations include the highlighted words.
They key words of this hadeeth are:
a- water [i.e. liquid] of women
b-water of men(semen)
c- dominance
d- resemblance
The topic of this hadeeth is about resemblance.

This narration goes along with the genetic science that resemblance of children is explained through the theory of dominance where only superior genes appear on the child. [This can be one of the interpretations and understanding...]
Water/discharge of women !

One major point that may cause all this confusion about this hadeeth and hence some people find it problemtic is because they tend to immeditaly understand the word "water of women" to mean ejaculated fluid that happens due to intimicay or arousing.

If we pay attention to the words used in this hadeeth we will find outstanding findings i.e. He صلى الله عليه وسلم used the word "water" in reference to the liquid of women and he did not specify it any further.
Well, there is no one better to explain one narration except the one who said it.

For this reason, let's know first what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم meant with "water of women" since he did not specify it. Well, true that he did not specify it but he actually described it when he said in another narration " the water" of women is yellow and thin. So, what is that fluid that has such description?Simple, it is known that ejaculated discharges due to arousing or intimiacy are white.

The only liquid that is yellow is actually called "Follicuar Fluid" that is discharged at ovulation without being related to copulation or being aroused and it is directly related to preganacy. It comes out with a thin layer called follicle of which inside there is a small egg that supposed to combine with the men sperm during fertilization in order for a child to be created.

Finally, I would like you to understand that these narrations came in response to questions about why? and not to answer a question of how? In other words neither the questioner nor answerer [i.e. the Prophet] intended to explain the howness of this process. Rather, he wanted to explain why children sometimes resemble their fathers and some other times resemble their mothers.

This is proven and well explained in the other hadeeth when the Prophet clearly state that resemblence is a pure genetic when a woman delivered a black boy and the man doubted that his wife may have slept with another man as none of the family was black. When he explained it to the man he told him that a genetics of great grandfather may effect grand children. From this you know that it is obvious that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) acknowledged that determining the howness was left for us to discover but the hadeeth only provided us with the key, which is the answer to why this happen.
Allah knows the best !

"The Main Principles:
a- Quran and Sunnah must be understood according to Arabic langauge after gathering all narrations together as one narration may explain another.
b- In case a hadeeth or an Ayah is proven authentic then we find it contradicting a fact or a sensible event that is agreed on, we reconsider our understanding of the text because an authentic text cannot contradict a fact or agreed on truth.
Scientific Facts:
a. The egg is always the carrier of the X chromosome (X).
b. The spermcell of a man is the carrier of X and Y chromosomes. [i.e. It carries man and women chromosome].
c. a. Determining the gender of children depends solely on the chromosome of the spermcell of the man.
d. The combination of the "X" chromosome of the woman with the chromosome "Y" of the man creates a boy(xy). However, if the "X" chromosome of the woman combine with the chromosome "X" of the man creates a girl (xx).
e. "Y" is manly while X is womanly.

The other hadeeth
" ماء الرجل أبيض وماء المرأة أصفر . فإذا اجتمعا، فعلا مني الرجل مني المرأة ، أذكرا بإذن الله . وإذا علا مني المرأة مني الرجل ، آنثا بإذن الله
قَالَ الْيَهُودِيُّ لَقَدْ صَدَقْتَ وَإِنَّكَ لَنَبِيٌّ ثُمَّ انْصَرَفَ فَذَهَبَ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ لَقَدْ سَأَلَنِي هَذَا عَنِ الَّذِي سَأَلَنِي عَنْهُ وَمَا لِي عِلْمٌ بِشَىْءٍ مِنْهُ حَتَّى أَتَانِيَ اللَّهُ بِهِ ‏"‏ 
http://sunnah.com/muslim/4#38

The True Translation:
The Prophet said "The water of the man is white and the water of the woman is yellow. When they get together, if the semen of the man is dominant over the semen of the woman, the child is male, by the permission of Allah, and if the semen of the woman is dominant over (the link above translates it as "prevails", which means the same as "dominating", see http://thesaurus.com/browse/dominate?s=t) the semen of the woman, the child is a female by the permission of Allah.
The Jew said: What you have said is true; verily you are an Apostle. He then returned and went away. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: He asked me about such and such things of which I have had no knowledge till Allah gave me that."

Study of the Hadeeth:
a. As we know that women has no role in deciding the gender of the child when fertilization takes place and the text appears to state something that seem to contradict this fact, we need to resort to laid down principles in order to guideline our understanding. This principle state that in such case, we reconsider our understanding to the texts. How? I will explain it in the following point.

b. It is important to pay attention to the used words in the hadeeth. The key words we would like to highlight (I will translate the words of the text litterally to explain it further).
Notes:
a- The word above here means "dominant"/"dominates" as this is one of the known meaning of the word "above" ('Ala) and has been used in Quran to mean "dominant and controlled".

b. The first half of the hadeeth referred to the man and woman liquids as "water" while in the second half he became more specific as referred to it as "semen".

c. We already know that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned in other hadeeths that the "water" of women is involved in process of fertilization. Then we realized that this water has a description that does not befit ejaculated fuilds since ejaculated fluids are white in color whereas he described the color as yellow and thin.

d. The sound understanding of this text is that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was referring in this hadeeth to the male and female chromosome of the spermcell of the man (X as the female chromosome and Y as the male chromosome). Based on this, the Prophet meant that when the male factor is dominant then it is a boy but when the female factor is domionant then it is a girl. This is what science states and this is the sound understanding that one should have beacuse the text can be understood in various ways and we know that authentic texts must be in agreement with agreed on facts.

e- He didn't know about that except what Allah told him.
what may be the cause of misunderstanding is that it is because when people "understood" it, they assumed that the word "semen " used in this hadeeth refer to man and woman' water mentioned earlier while as a matter of fact, he صلى الله عليه وسلم was referring to the semen of the man only which is always a carrier of male and female chromosomes. This is supported by the fact that the word "semen" is always exclusively for men while women liquid is always called water only.

In short, it seems according to the words and structure of what was stated, that the issue of "dominance" is purely in targeting the dominance of x chromosome (female) and y chromosomes (male), particularly because women are scientifically not classified as having "sperm"
And Allah knows the best !