Letter count: totals

A

number of Dr. Khalifa’s “physical facts” are based on the total number of letters in a verse, group of verses or a soorah (chapter) being a total of 19 or a multiple of nineteen. For example, he claims that:

i) the opening statement[40] of the Qur’aan consists of 19 letters

ii) the first five verses of revelation consisted of 76 letters (19x4)

iii) the first chapter revealed consists of 304 letters (19x16)

iv) the first of the last revelation consists of 19 letters[41]

Such counts would only be valid if the Qur’aan were divinely revealed in the written form, which is not the case. The Qur’aan is essentially an oral revelation written down according to the Arabic script known to the Prophet’s (r) companions.[42] Even the peculiarities of the scribes responsible for transcribing copies of the Qur’aan made during Caliph ‘Uthmaan’s reign (644-56 C.E.) have been preserved to this day since Muslim scholars, down through the ages, have unanimously agreed to follow the basic structure of the ‘Uthmaanic transcription when making new copies of the Qur’aan.[43] Consequently, among the peculiarities of the Qur’aanic script existing to this day are Alifs (ا), Yaas (ي) and Waaws (و) written but not read as well as some which are read but not written.[44] For example, the pronounced Alif in the word Kitaab is sometimes written (كتاب) and at other times not (كتب).[45] Similarly the unpronounced Alif” in the phrase “Bismi” is written in some cases (باسم) and not in others (بسم). Thus, in the opening statement of the Qur’aan, بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Bismilaahi-Ra h maani-Ra h eem (In the name of Allaah, the Beneficient, The Merciful), there are 3 deleted Alifs, one which is unpronounced in the phrase (بسم) and the other two pronounced in the words (الله) and (الرحمن), which make the actual total of letters 22 and not 19. The same may be said of most of the other “facts” resulting from letter counts, all of whose totals would become indivisible by 19 if their deleted Alifs were counted.

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