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Beyond Probability GOD'S MESSAGE IN MATHEMATICS by Abdullah Arik
INTRODUCTION Mathematics is the language in which God wrote the universe. Galileo (1564-1642 AD) At some point in their lives everyone capable of thinking is bound to ponder about the creation of themselves, of everything they see around them, and the existence of a creator. It is natural for people to ponder upon their origins and the purpose of their existence. For some, explanations provided to them by the religion they were born into are sufficient, while others might be satisfied with the theory that life evolved on the planet because of its particular circumstances. However, many people, including those who believe in religious doctrines or scientific theories, are doubtful, perhaps subconsciously, of the explanations provided to them. Although they entertain many unanswered questions in their minds, the majority of these people follow the crowd - suppressing their doubts and questions. Only a minority actively searches for the truth and tries to find answers to these age-old questions. For many people the order, harmony and the perfect design of the things around them make it impossible to believe in the theory of evolution without a designer. Thus, they feel like Professor Edwin Conklin who once said "The probability of life originating from an accident is comparable to the probability of the Unabridged Dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing factory." Yet, when these people turn to religion, they realize that most of their questions are unanswered. Besides, there are so many different religious faiths, each preaching theirs to be the right way. This makes the choice extremely difficult. Today all religions are nothing but various sets of traditions, rather than facts since they have lost their original message with time. Such corruption in religion has been caused by human ego and inventions that eventually distorted the truth for political and economic gain. Because of this, people who want to turn to the basics of religion are considered out of line with society. Many of us feel that the questions in our minds about the existence of God would be resolved if we witnessed a miracle from God, similar to the ones performed by Moses or Jesus that we read about in the scriptures. We may also think that it is not really fair to our generation that God does not send down miracles any more. Yet, let us be serious. With all the scientific and technological advancements that we have today, who would believe in the ancient type of miracles such as healing the sick, or reviving the dead? It would be more logical for God to send down a miracle that is more compatible for the minds and the life styles of the people in this day and age. The lack of a modern miracle contradicts the idea that God is the Most Wise. It also gives the impression that God is not adaptable to our higher levels of thinking. Is God only capable of miracles for simpler, more ancient minds? Did God deliver His miracles to a few small generations, while our generation is greater in number, and there are not larger generations to come? We live in an age of science and computers. We consider ourselves intelligent beings who do not accept ideas which cannot be proven. On the other hand, we accept on faith many notions that defy common sense. We are proud of ourselves because we know more about science and technology than our parents and ancestors. We readily accept what is better and more advanced than what our parents have had. Yet, many of us do not hesitate to follow our parents blindly in religion, even if it means doing something we do not fully believe in. The objective of this book is to present to the reader a mathematical system imbedded in a scripture from God. This mathematical system is so interwoven, so interlaced, and so pervasive throughout this scripture that it is beyond the probability of coincidence or human manufacture, proving its divinity and therefore the existence of God. This built-in system has been recently unveiled through the computer analysis of the original text of the scripture. It is the perfect opportunity for people who want to reaffirm their belief in God, and do not want to accept anything on blind faith. With this scripture and the new physical evidence, a clearer picture emerges: There is only one God who is eternal, all knowing, and merciful. One God who is in complete control of every little detail in the universe, and who can make Himself manifest for all.
A UNIQUE BOOK There are many scriptures in existence today. The Torah of the Jews, the Bible of the Christians, the Gita of Hindus to name a few. A closer look at the scriptures brings to light very clearly the fact that all these scriptures are translations and the originals have been lost through time. The only scripture in existence which is still intact in its original language of revelation is the Quran. The Quran teaches the religion of Submission to God alone, and it also stipulates that it is the Final Testament; there will not be any other scripture from God. Perhaps more significantly though, the Quran comes with a built-in mathematical system that proves its divinity. BASIC INFORMATION The Quran consists of 114 chapters. Its original text is in Arabic. The shortest chapter in the Quran contains three verses, whereas the longest chapter has 286 verses. The early chapters are longer in length, with the exception of the opening chapter. The chapters get shorter towards the end of the book. Table 1 lists the names of the 114 chapters with the number of verses in them. The Quran is a unique book in that some of its chapters start with a letter, or a group of letters, instead of the usual text. These letters will be called initials, and the chapters that start with initials will be called the initialed chapters throughout this book. There are 29 initialed chapters in the Quran. These chapters are not found in any particular order. The first initialed chapter is Chapter 2, and the last one is Chapter 68. Some of these chapters contain the same initials, or a subset of the initials used in other chapters. There are a total of 14 different sets of initials which are made up of 14 different Arabic letters. Table 2 lists the 29 initialed chapters with the corresponding initials used. In this table, only the English equivalents of the Arabic letters are given. A cross reference table of Arabic letters versus their approximate English equivalents is provided in the next chapter.
Table 1. The 114 chapters of the Quran with the corresponding number of verses in them,
Note: All initials occur in the first verse of these chapters with the exception of chapter 42. In this chapter, the first two initials occur in the first verse, the last three initials occur in the second verse. Ever since the revelation of the Quran, many scholars studying the Quran tried in vain to understand the significance of the initials and the initialed chapters. However, their significance remained a mystery until recently. REMARKABLE DESIGN The entire text of the Quran is mathematically composed with remarkable intricacy. The basis of this mathematical system is the number 19. Virtually every element of the Quran contains 19 as the common denominator. The Quran's mathematical system has various levels of complexity. It includes numbers which are straightforward or simple to obtain. It also includes numbers that may require computer programming to verify that they are multiples of 19. Therefore, not only people with advanced mathematical capability, but also people who can only do simple calculations can appreciate the 19-based mathematical system embedded in the Quran. EXAMPLES One of the straightforward and visible aspects of the Quran's design is the number of its elements and the number of occurrences of the key words in it. Some examples include: 1. The number of chapters in the Quran is 114,
or 19 x 6. Another aspect of the design is the number of occurrences of initials within the initialed chapters. All the initials occur in their corresponding chapters in multiples of 19, when looked at as individual sets. For example, there are two chapters that are initialed with Q. The number of occurrence of the letter Q in each of these chapters is 57 or 19 x 3. There are also other aspects of the design that require more work because of the large numbers involved, even though the operation itself is nothing more than simple addition or division. For example, the sum of the number of verses in each of the 114 chapters of the Quran, plus the sum of every single verse number in all chapters is equal to 339,644 (= 19 x 17,876). A lot of numbers to add together to get the result! If you thought adding those thousands of numbers together is a difficult task, how about dividing them? This aspect of the design involves putting a string of numbers together and dividing them by 19. Going back to the previous example, if we take the same numbers used in that summation, and put them all side by side, from the first to the last chapter, we obtain a 12,692-digit number. The number 12,692 itself is 19 x 668. But more importantly, the entire 12,692-digit number is also a multiple of 19. This is where some computer programming becomes necessary, for such operations would be almost impossible to perform by hand.
GEMATRICAL VALUE Another aspect of the Quran's mathematical design is the use of the gematrical values of the Arabic letters. The gematrical value of a letter is the numerical value assigned to it. When the Quran was revealed, fourteen centuries ago, numbers as we know them today did not exist. Instead, there was a universally accepted numerical system where the letters of the Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek alphabets were used as numerals. The number assigned to each letter is considered to be its gematrical value. Table 4 gives the gematrical values of each letter in the Arabic alphabet, which is listed in its original order. The order of the letters in the modern day Arabic alphabet is slightly different. Also in the same table, the English equivalent letters are given in parentheses. The choice of the English letters used are based simply on the sounds of the Arabic letters. The bold fonts indicate stronger voiced letters. Table 4. The gematrical values of the Arabic alphabet
SIMILAR PHENOMENA IN PREVIOUS SCRIPTURES? Mathematical composition of a scripture may not be exclusive to the Quran. In a book entitled Studies in Jewish Mysticism (Dan, J. and Talmage, F., eds, 1982), there are indications that Rabbi Judah, the Pious, of the 12th century AD, recognized a 19-based numerical structure in the morning prayer. The following quote is taken from page 88 and 89 of this book: The people [Jews] in France made it a custom to add [in the morning prayer] the words: " 'Ashrei termimei derekh [blessed are those who walk on the righteous way],Ē and our Rabbi, the Pious, of blessed memory, wrote that they were completely and utterly wrong. It is all gross falsehood, because there are nineteen times that the Holy Name is mentioned [in that portion of the morning prayer] ... and similarly you find the word 'Elohim nineteen times in the pericope of Ve-'elleh shemot... Similarly, you find that Israil is called "sons" nineteen times, and there are many examples. All these sets of nineteen are intricately intertwined, and they contain many secrets and esoteric meanings ...
WHY 19 ? The mathematical coding of the scriptures with the number 19 makes one wander the divine reason for using the number 19 instead of some other number. Besides having unique mathematical properties, such as being a prime number, the number 19 is the gematrical value of the word "ONE" in all scriptural languages Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic. For example, in Arabic, the word for "ONE" is "WAHD" (pronounced Waahed). Based on Table 4, the gematrical values of the letters W, A, H, and D are 6, 1, 8, and 4, respectively. These numbers add up to 19 (6+1+8+4=19). Therefore, the number 19 can be looked at to signify the First Commandment in all scriptures that there is only ONE God.
CONCLUSIONS The discovery of the mathematical structures within the scriptures and the divinely instituted liturgies have resulted in a number of important conclusions. Some of these conclusions are stated in Studies in Jewish Mysticism (Ibid., p.92): (1) No change can be tolerated in the text of the prayers, not even a minute one, because every change-even of one letter-would destroy the numerical harmony inherent in the text... (2) The liturgy received new importance and new meaning within the framework of religious practice. A completely new dimension was added in this way to the daily prayer service; it stopped being just a reciting of requests and praises of God in ancient formulas, and became a vehicle for becoming a participant in a mystical, divine harmony. The prayers suddenly received a new depth of meaning and importance, which was undreamed of in the thousand years that had passed since they were formulated. The mathematically composed text in a scripture serves both as an authenticating tool and as a guard to protect and preserve the scripture. Obviously, finding original unaltered scripture such as the Quran is extremely important. This fact can indeed be realized and proven by the remarkable mathematical design of the Quran. In the following chapters of this book, the reader is presented with the physical facts, not opinions. Every attempt has been made to insure the accuracy of these physical facts. However, it is up to the reader to verify them whenever possible, as well as reflect on them. In fact, this strong advice is given in the Quran itself: "You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them." (17:36).
THE OPENING STATEMENT The first verse of the Quran is "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful." In Arabic, it is pronounced as Bism Allah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem, and is commonly known as the Basmalah. The Basmalah is so special and unique that it constitutes the foundation upon which the Quran's 19-based mathematical composition is built. It is the opening statement of the Quran, and is composed of exactly 19 Arabic letters. These letters are given below in Table 5 with the approximate English equivalents and their corresponding gematrical values.
MATHEMATICAL DESIGN OF THE BASMALAH The four words and the 19 letters of the Basmalah are put together according to a mathematical system which is humanly impossible to compose. This remarkable system is based on the number and the gematrical values of the letters that constitute the four words of the Basmalah. Let us first summarize the information we need to know about the Basmalah in Table 6 before we review this incredible mathematical system.
Using the data in Tables 5 and 6, we get the following 19-based mathematical facts: FACT 1. The Basmalah consists of 19 Arabic letters. FACT 2. The sequence number of each word in the Basmalah followed by the number of letters in it forms an 8-digit number which is a multiple of 19: 1 3 2 4 3 6 4 6 = 19 x 19 x 36686 FACT 3. Replace the number of letters in each word in Fact 2 by the total gematrical value of that word. Thus, the sequence number of each word is followed by its total gematrical value, to form a 15-digit number which is a multiple of 19: 1 102 2 66 3 329 4 289 = 19 x 5801401752331
FACT 4. Replace the total gematrical value of each word in Fact 3 by the gematrical value of every letter in that word. For instance, the total gematrical value of the first word, 102, is replaced by 2 60 40. Similarly, the total gematrical value of the second word, 66, is replaced by 1 30 30 5, and so on. The result is a 37-digit number which is a multiple of 19: 1 2 60 40 2 1 30 30 5 3 1 30 200 8 40 50 4 1 30 200 8 10 40 = 19 x 66336954226595422109686863843162160
FACT 5. Insert the sequence number of each letter in the word before its gematrical value in Fact 4. For example, the gematrical values of the letters in first word are 2 60 40. When we insert the sequence numbers of the letters, we get 1 2 2 60 3 40, where the sequence numbers are in italics, the gematrical values are in bold. Similarly, the gematrical values of the letters in the second word are 1 30 30 5. When we insert the sequence numbers of the letters, we get 1 1 2 30 3 30 4 5, and so on. When all the numbers are put together, the result is a 56-digit number which is a multiple of 19: 1 1 2 2 60 3 40 2 1 1 2 30 3 30 4 5 3 1 1 2 30 3 200 4 8 5 40 6 50 4 1 1 2 30 3 200 4 8 5 10 6 40 = 19 x 590843895848580686595 . . .
FACT 6. Replace the total gematrical value of each word in Fact 3 by the sum of the gematrical values of the first and the last letter in that word. For instance, the total gematrical value of the first word, 102, is replaced by 42. The number 42 is the sum of 2 and 40, which are the gematrical values of the first and the last letter in the first word. Similarly, the total gematrical value of the second word, 66, is replaced by 6, the sum of 1 and 5. Repeating this process for the four words of the Basmalah,we get an 11-digit number which is a multiple of 19: 1 42 2 6 3 51 4 41 = 19 x 748755339 (2+40) (1+5) (1+50) (1+40)
FACT 7. Consider the numbers used in Fact 2 and Fact 3. In Fact 2, the sequence number of each word is followed by the number of letters (3, 4, 6, and 6) in the word. In Fact 3, we replace the number letters by the gematrical values of the words (102, 66, 329, and 289). Now, for this case, the sequence number of each word will be followed by the sum of the number of letters and the gematrical value of the word. Therefore, the number we use for the first word will be 105 (3+102). It will be70 (4+66) for the second word, 335 (6+329) for the third word, and 295 (6+289) for the fourth word. Thus the sequence number of each word in the Basmalah is followed by the numbers 105, 70, 335, and 295 respectively to form a 15-digit number which is also a multiple of 19: 1 105 2 70 3 335 4 295 = 19 x 5817212281805 (3+102) (4+66) (6+329) (6+289)
FACT 8. Consider Fact 2, where the sequence number of each word in the Basmalah is followed by the number of letters in the word. In this case, the sequence number of each word will be followed by the total number of letters up to and including that word (cumulative total). For example, the number of letters in the Basmalah's four words are 3, 4, 6 and 6, respectively. Then the cumulative total number of letters will be 3 for the first word. It will be 7 (3+4) for the second word, 13 (3+4+6) for the third word, and finally 19 (3+4+6+6) for the last word. Therefore, we write down the sequence numbers of the words followed by the cumulative total number of letters corresponding to the word. The result is a 10-digit number which is also a multiple of 19: 1 3 2 7 3 13 4 19 = 19 x 69858601 (3+4) (3+4+6) (3+4+6+6)
FACT 9. This fact is very similar to Fact 8. In this fact, instead of using the cumulative total number of letters for each word, we use the cumulative total of the gematrical values of the letters corresponding to the word. For example, the gematrical value of the letters in the Basmalah's four words are 102, 66, 329 and 289, respectively. Then the cumulative total of the gematrical values of the letters will be 102 for the first word. It will be 168 (102+66) for the second word, 497 (102+66+329) for the third word, and finally 786 (102+66+329+289) for the last word. Therefore, we write down the sequence numbers of the words followed by the cumulative total of the gematrical values of the letters corresponding to the word. The resultant 16-digit number is a multiple of 19: 1 102 2 168 3 497 4 786 = 19 x 58011412367094 (102+66) (102+66+329) (102+66+329+289)
FACT 10. The gematrical value of each letter is followed by its sequence number (1 through 19) in the Basmalah to form a 62-digit number that is a multiple of 19. The sequence numbers are printed in bold: 2 1 60 2 40 3 1 4 30 5 30 6 5 7 1 8 30 9 200 10 8 11 40 12 50 13 1 14 30 15 200 16 8 17 10 18 40 19 = 19 x 113696858647647 . . . In this fact, each one of the four words of the Basmalah is underlined to show the numbers representing these words. This information will be helpful to understand the next fact.
FACT 11. Insert the sequence number of each word (1, 2, 3, and 4) at the end of the underlined numbers in Fact 10 while keeping all the numbers the same. The result is a 66-digit number that is a multiple of 19. The sequence numbers of the words are printed in italics: 2 1 60 2 40 3 1 1 4 30 5 30 6 5 7 2 1 8 30 9 200 10 8 11 40 12 50 13 3 1 14 30 15 200 16 8 17 10 18 40 19 4 = 19 x 1136968584963 . . .
FACT 12. Consider the numbers in Fact 11, and replace the sequence numbers of the words (1, 2, 3, and 4) with their gematrical values (102, 66, 329, and 289), while keeping all the other numbers the same. The result is a 73-digit number, also a multiple of 19: 2 1 60 2 40 3 102 1 4 30 5 30 6 5 7 66 1 8 30 9 200 10 8 11 40 12 50 13 329 1 14 30 15 200 16 8 17 10 18 40 19 289 = 19 x 113696858432 . . .
FACT 13. This time let us change the position of the gematrical values of the words (102, 66, 329, and 289) in Fact 12, and put them preceding the words, instead of following them. The resultant number, still 73 digits, is also a multiple of 19: 102 2 1 60 2 40 3 66 1 4 30 5 30 6 5 7 329 1 8 30 9 200 10 8 11 40 12 50 13 289 1 14 30 15 200 16 8 17 10 18 40 19 = 19 x 5379790738 . . .
FACT 14. For each word of the Basmalah, write down the following: a) Number of letters in the word, b) The total gematrical value of the word, c) The gematrical value of each letter in the word. For example, consider the first word of the Basmalah. It has three letters. The total gematrical value of these letters is 102. The individual gematrical values of each letter are 2, 60, and 40 respectively. Therefore, we write 3 102 2 60 40 for the first word, and so on. The entire number is 48 digits long, and is a multiple of 19. It is given below with the numbers for each word underlined. 3 102 2 60 40 4 66 1 30 30 5 6 329 1 30 200 8 40 50 6 289 1 30 200 8 10 40 = 19 x 16327686340 . . .
FACT 15. In Fact 14, the total gematrical values of the words are printed in bold. Now, we draw your attention to these bold numbers as we place them as the last item in each underlined word. The resultant number, still 48 digits long, is also a multiple of 19: 3 2 60 40 102 4 1 30 30 5 66 6 1 30 200 8 40 50 329 6 1 30 200 8 10 40 289 = 19 x 17160005390 . . .
FACT 16. Let us represent each one of the four words of the Basmalah by the sequence number of the letters in it. For example, the first word is represented by 123, since it has the first three letters of the Basmalah. The second word is represented by 4567 since it contains the letters 4, 5, 6, and 7. Similarly, the third word is represented by 8910111213, and the fourth word by 141516171819, since they contain the letters 8-13 and 14-19 respectively. If we add these four numbers representing the words of the Basmalah, the result is a 12-digit number which is a multiple of 19: 123 + 4567 + 8910111213 + 141516171819= 150426287722 = 19 x 7917173038
FACT 17. Consider the numbers that represented each word of the Basmalah in Fact 16. Instead of adding these numbers, we write each one down, followed by the sequence number of the word. For example, the first number, 123, which represents the first word, is followed by 1. The second number, 4567, which represents the second word, is followed by 2, and so on. The result is now a 33-digit number, also a multiple of 19: 1 2 3 1 4 5 6 7 2 8 9 10 11 12 13 3 14 15 16 17 18 19 4 = 19 x 64813512047900 . . .
FACT 18. This fact is based on three numbers only. We know that the Basmalah consists of 4 words, 19 letters with a total gematrical value of 786. Now, let us put these numbers together. The result is a 6-digit number, a multiple of 19: 4 19 786 = 19 x 22094
FACT 19. The Basmalah is Verse 1 of the Quran. It consists of 19 Arabic letters. These 19 letters constitute the four words with the number of letters in each word being 3, 4, 6, and 6 respectively. Based on this information, let us write down 1 for the verse number, followed by 19 for the number of letters, and followed by 3, 4, 6, and 6 for the letters in each word of the Basmalah. The result is a 7-digit number as follows: 1 19 3466 = 19 x 19 x 19 x 174 As we see, this number is not only once, or twice, but three times a multiple of 19. Is it feasible for such an intricate, interwoven, and absolutely awesome mathematical system to be nothing more than coincidence?
COINCIDENCE OR DIVINE DESIGN? It is very incredible for the four words and the 19 letters of the Basmalah to result in so many numerical combinations based on the number 19. These combinations do not seem to be haphazard either. They are very consistent. For instance, let us look at the numbers in Facts 2 through 9. As you may have noticed, the numbers in these facts are in the same format: 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 4 ? = n The numbers 1-4 represent the four words of the Basmalah. The question marks represent any integer number. The resultant number "n" is a multiple of 19. There are only two possible explanations for these numbers in Facts 2-9 being in this format. One explanation is that all this is coincidence. After all, miraculous things do occasionally occur that cannot be explained easily, if at all. The only other explanation is that the Basmalah has been deliberately structured in a certain way to result in this remarkable mathematical system. Let us try to figure out which explanation makes more sense based on probability theory. First, what is the probability (chances) for the Basmalah's mathematical composition to occur by coincidence? Can we compute this probability? If we can, how? Based on our assumption of coincidental occurrence, we can treat each number in Facts 2-9 as a random number. The probability of several random numbers being not only in a certain format, but also forming a number "n" that is a multiple of 19, can be difficult to compute unless we make some assumptions to simplify the problem. For example, the highest probability (the best chance) of obtaining "n" will be when we assume that the four numbers represented by the question marks above are all single digit numbers (0-9). In that case, the resultant number ŠnĒ will have 8 digits since we know that the other four numbers are also single digit (1-4). Then we can easily compute the probability of 8 random numbers resulting in the desired format. Let us see how we can do this. Imagine that we are playing a lottery. This lottery requires that we draw 8 numbers that are between 0 and 9. Anyone who satisfies the following conditions wins the jackpot: 1. The first number must be 1. 2. The third number must be 2. 3. The fifth number must be 3. 4. The seventh number must be 4. 5. All the numbers when put side by side must form a number that is a multiple of 19. The resultant 8-digit lottery numbers can vary anywhere from 00000000 to 99999999. This means there are 100 million possible outcomes or combinations. How many times will the above winning conditions be satisfied out of this many combinations? If we knew the answer, then we could determine the probability or the chances of winning the lottery. In order to answer this question, we wrote a computer program to go through every number from 0 to 99,999,999 and determine all the numbers that will satisfy the desired conditions. This program found only 527 such numbers which ranged from 10,203,247 (first possible combination) to 19,293,949 (last possible combination). Therefore, the chances of winning this lottery is 527 out of 100 million or 1 out of 189,753. Based on this information, we can say that the probability of the occurrence of the mathematical phenomenon described in Fact 2, is 189,753 to 1. The probability of the mathematical phenomenon in Fact 2 and Fact 3 occurring by coincidence is the same as winning our lottery twice. To determine the probability of winning the lottery twice, we multiply 189,753 by 189,753: 189,753 * 189,753 = 36,006,201,009 In other words, the probability of the mathematical phenomenon in Fact 2 and Fact 3 occurring by coincidence is less than 1 in 36 billion. In comparison, in the California state lottery where six numbers are drawn out of 51, someone has to buy about 18 million $1 tickets to cover every 6-number combination for the grand prize. Therefore, the chances of winning the California lottery, 1 in 18 million, is much better than the chances of the mathematical phenomenon in Fact 2 and Fact 3 occurring by coincidence. Now, let us try the same process once more, and pick another set of eight numbers that will also meet the winning conditions. To determine the probability of winning the lottery three times, or the probability of the mathematical phenomenon in Fact 2, Fact 3 and Fact 4 occurring by coincidence, we multiply 189,753 by itself three times: 189,753 * 189,753 * 189,753 = 6,832,284,660,060,777 The above number is close to seven quadrillion! If you are wondering what a quadrillion is, you are not alone. We had to look in the dictionary to find out what follows the trillions. Thus, there is an almost 1 in seven quadrillion probability that Fact 2, Fact 3, and Fact 4 will occur by coincidence. As you can see, by considering just three of several mathematical facts, we realize that the probability of such numerical combinations occurring by coincidence is extremely miniscule. It is very clear that this probability will approach zero as we take more and more mathematical facts into consideration. Therefore, one would be illogical to even suggest that the mathematical composition of the Basmalah is nothing more than a mere coincidence. If we rule out the possibility of coincidence, then we have to accept the other explanation that the Basmalah has been deliberately structured in a particular way to result in this remarkable mathematical system. Can we also rule out the possibility for such an intricate system being designed by any other than God? All this will be discussed in the following sections and chapters of this book. It is up to the individual to draw his or her own conclusions from these presentations.
THE MISSING BASMALAH The Basmalah occupies a special position in the Quran. It is the opening statement in every one of the 114 chapters in the Quran, except Chapter 9. The absence of the Basmalah from Chapter 9 had puzzled generations of people who had studied the Quran for the last 14 centuries. In fact, many theories were advanced to explain this phenomenon. As it turns out, this is also a part of the mathematical composition that has been intricately built into the Quran. Since the Quran consists of 114 (19 x 6) chapters, the Basmalah missing from Chapter 9 should result in a total of 113 Basmalahs in the Quran, a number that is not a multiple of 19. However, if we start counting from Chapter 9, we find that the missing Basmalah is compensated for, exactly 19 chapters later, in Chapter 27. This chapter contains two Basmalahs, one at the beginning and one in Verse 30. Thus, the total number of Basmalahs in the Quran is restored to 114, or 19 x 6, with the additional Basmalah in Chapter 27. Not only is the missing Basmalah found 19 chapters later, but the chapter and the verse number in which the extra Basmalah occurs also adds up to 57 (27 + 30), or 19 x 3. This is quite remarkable, and it shows us how the whole Quran is like a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces fit together in a 19-based mathematical system. The connection between the missing and the extra Basmalah leads us to deliberate further on the mathematical design of the Quran. If we add the chapter numbers starting from Chapter 9 (with the missing Basmalah) up to Chapter 27 (with the extra Basmalah), the total is 342 (9 + 10 + 11 + ... + 27 = 342). This total is a multiple of 19, as it should be, since the sum of any 19 consecutive numbers is a multiple of 19. However, what is remarkable is that if we count the number of Arabic words from the first Basmalah in Chapter 27 to the second one in verse 30 of the same chapter, we find that the total is exactly the same as the number above, 342, or 19 x 18. The summary of the mathematical facts reviewed in this section is given below: FACT 20. There are 114 (19 x 6) Basmalahs in the Quran. FACT 21. There are 19 chapters from the missing Basmalah in Chapter 9 to the extra one found in Chapter 27 (both chapters inclusive). FACT 22. The extra Basmalah is found in Chapter 27, verse 30. These two numbers add up to 57, or 19 x 3. FACT 23. The number of Arabic words from the first Basmalah in Chapter 27 to the second one in verse 30 of the same chapter is 342, or 19 x 18. This is the same number obtained if we add all the chapter numbers from Chapter 9 (with the missing Basmalah) through Chapter 27. A UNIQUE PHENOMENON As stated earlier, every chapter in the Quran starts with a Basmalah, except Chapter 9. However, none of these Basmalahs are assigned a verse number, except in Chapter 1 where the Basmalah is in Verse 1. Yet, the unnumbered Basmalahs are part of the Quran. The fact that they are unnumbered is also part of the mathematical composition of the Quran. To demonstrate this point, we assign a verse number of zero to each one of the unnumbered Basmalahs so that they can be included in our study. FACT 24. Let us combine (put together) the chapter number with the verse number where the Basmalah occurs, for each of the 114 Basmalahs in the Quran, and add up all the combined numbers. The concept of combined numbers will be explained below with the examples. The first Basmalah occurs in Chapter 1, Verse 1. The combined number for this Basmalah is 11 obtained by putting the two numbers (1 and 1) together. The second Basmalah occurs in Chapter 2, Verse 0. The combined number for this Basmalah is 20. If we add these two combined numbers, 11 and 20, we get 31. We continue this process for each chapter. We skip Chapter 9 since it does not have a Basmalah. On the other hand, we include Chapter 27 twice since there are two Basmalahs in this chapter; one in Verse 0, the other is in Verse 30. The combined numbers for this chapter are 270 and 2730, representing the two Basmalahs in this chapter. The last Basmalah occurs in Chapter 114, Verse 0. The combined number for this Basmalah is 1140. By adding up all of the 114 combined numbers, we get a total of 68,191 or 19 x 3,589. This process is demonstrated in Table 7.
What is remarkable about the above phenomenon is that the 19-based mathematical relationship holds true also when we repeat the same process using only the odd or even numbered chapters. The resultant total for the odd numbered chapters is 35,131 or 19 x 1,849. The total for the even numbered chapters is 33,060 or 19 x 1,740. THE FOUR WORDS OF THE BASMALAH The frequency of occurrence of every (Arabic) word of the Basmalah in the entire Quran (excluding the unnumbered Basmalahs) is consistently a multiple of 19. These words are ISM, ALLAH, AL-RAHMAN, and AL-RAHEEM. Their English meanings are NAME, GOD, MOST GRACIOUS, and MOST MERCIFUL, respectively. Note that we are using ISM (Name) as the first word of the Basmalah, instead of the word BISM (In the name). In other words, we are using the root word without the prefix B (In the) in this counting. Table 8 below summarizes the mathematical facts based on the number of occurrences of the Basmalah's words.
Now, let us itemize the facts summarized in Table 8 with the additional facts that make the mathematical system in the Quran even more incredible: FACT 25. The first word in the Basmalah, ISM (Name), occurs in the Quran exactly 19 times. The verses where this word is mentioned are given in Table 9. FACT 26. Using the information in Table 9, let us write down the chapter number followed by the verse number in which the word ISM (Name) occurs for each one of its 19 occurrences, without repeating the chapter number if there are more than one ISM in that chapter. The resultant number is 58 digits and a multiple of 19. This is shown below with the chapter numbers printed in bold: 5 4 6 118 119 121 138 22 28 34 36 40 49 11 55 78 56 74 96 69 52 73 8 76 25 87 1 15 96 1 = 19 x 2874305890111 ...
FACT 27. The word ISM (Name) with the prefix B (In the) makes the word BISM (In the name). This word occurs in the Quran in this particular spelling only 3 times; in Chapter 1, Verse 1; Chapter 11, Verse 41 and Chapter 27, Verse 30. If we add the number of occurrence of this word (3), to the numbers of the chapters and the verses where the word is found, the total equals exactly to the number of chapters in the Quran: 3 + 1 + 1 + 11 + 41 + 27 + 30 = 114 (19 x 6) FACT 28. The second word of the Basmalah, ALLAH (God), is mentioned in the Quran 2,698 (19 x 142) times. FACT 29. The numbers of the verses where the word ALLAH (God) occurs add up to 118,123, or 19 x 6,217. To determine this, we start from the beginning of the Quran, and check each verse for the occurrence of the word "God." If "God" is mentioned in that verse, whether once or more than once, then we add the number of the verse to our total. FACT 30. The third word of the Basmalah, AL-RAHMAN (Most Gracious), is mentioned in the Quran 57 (19 x 3) times. FACT 31. The fourth and the last word of the Basmalah, AL-RAHEEM (Most Merciful), is mentioned in the Quran 114 (19 x 6) times.
CORRELATION WITH THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD There are over 400 attributes (names) of God mentioned in the Quran. Professor Cesar Majul (1983) looked at the gematrical values of these attributes, and discovered that there are only four attributes of God whose gematrical values are a multiple of 19. This is summarized in Table 10 below.
We can see from Table 8 and Table 10 above that the ONLY attributes of God whose gematrical values are multiples of 19 correspond EXACTLY to the frequencies of occurrences of the Basmalah's four words. Let us summarize these mathematical facts: FACT 32. The first word of the Basmalah, ISM (Name), occurs in the Quran 19 times, and the number 19 represents God's attribute WAAHED (One). The gematrical values of the four Arabic letters in the word WAAHED are 6, 1, 8, and 4. These numbers add up to 19. Thus, 6 + 1 + 8 + 4 = 19 = WAAHED (One) FACT 33. The second word of the Basmalah, ALLAH (God), occurs in the Quran 2,698 or 19 x 142 times, and the number 2,698 represents God's attribute ZUL FADL AL-`AZIM (Possessor of Infinite Grace). The gematrical values of the 13 Arabic letters in this attribute of God are 700, 6 , 1, 30, 80, 800, 30, 1, 30, 70, 900, 10 and 40. These numbers add up to 2,698. Thus, 700 + 6 + 1 + 30 + 80 + 800 + 30 + 1 + 70 + 900 + 10 + 40= 2698 (19 x 142) = ZUL FADL AL-`AZIM (Possessor of Infinite Grace) FACT 34. The third word of the Basmalah, AL RAHMAN (Most Gracious), occurs in the Quran 57 or 19 x 3 times, and the number 57 represents God's attribute MAJID (Glorious). The gematrical values of the four Arabic letters in the word MAJID are 40, 3, 10 and 4. These numbers add up to 57. Thus, 40 + 3 + 10 + 4 = 57 (19 x 3) = MAJID (Glorious) FACT 35. The fourth and the last word of the Basmalah, AL RAHEEM (Most Merciful), occurs in the Quran 114 or 19 x 6 times, and the number 114 represents God's attribute JAAMI (Summoner, Gatherer, Editor). The gematrical values of the four Arabic letters in the word JAAMI are 3, 1, 40 and 70. These numbers add up to 114. Thus, 3 + 1 + 40 + 70 = 114 (19 x 6) = JAAMI (Summoner, Gatherer, Editor)
CONCLUSION: The third attribute of God, Majid or Glorious, given in Fact 34 also refers to the Quran (Quran 50:1). Based on this, we can deduce the following conclusion from the remarkable phenomenon summarized in Facts 30-35 and all the other mathematical facts presented in this chapter: The author of the Quran is One who is the Possessor of Infinite Grace, who gathered the Quran into 114 chapters. Thus, the Quran's intricate numerical code based on the number 19 starts at its very first verse with the opening statement, the Basmalah, indicating to the reader of the Quran at the outset that he is reading the word of God. However, what is presented to you so far is a small fraction of this indescribably vast, elaborate mathematical system which extends all the way to the end of the Quran. Next we will discuss this remarkable system in relation to the opening chapter of the Quran.
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