Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

In an attempt to prove the divine origins of [[Islam]], there are many Islamic websites promoting "word count miracles" in the Qur'an. The basic claim here is that certain words in the Qur'an are repeated a specific number of times, and for some reasons, that number is meaningful or rather miraculous. Hence Muslim apologists assert that the Qur'an is the word of God.

* 4:82 "''Will they not ponder the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah, they would have found many inconsistencies in it.''"

===Ignoring the Meanings of some Arabic Words===

====Including words with other meanings====

* "From among the jinn and the men."

Or in other cases, when the word count is not interesting, they start excluding the words with other meanings to get a more interesting number.

* 8) Verse 71:15 "''Do you not see how Allah has created the '''seven heavens''' (سَبْعَ سَمَٰوَٰتٍ), one above another,''"

* 9) Verse 78:12 "''And We made above you '''seven strong ones''' (سَبْعًا شِدَادًا),''"

Notice that in the verses 17:44 and 23:86 the order of the Arabic words is different. They literally say "heavens seven".

We can get 7 occurrences of the phrase "seven heavens" if we count only the occurrences where the seven heavens are explicitly called seven "heavens" (samawat, سَمَٰوَٰتٍ) and not "paths" or "strong ones". Also we have to include 2 cases, where the phrase is in backwards order, literally "heavens seven".

Let's see what other miracles with the number 7 the Qur'an offers, so that we can be sure that the one with "seven heavens" mentioned 7 times wasn't just a coincidence:

{{Core Miracles}}

==Other miracles==

** The order of the suras is man-made. If we used the original (Allah's) revelation order, the verses from the 3rd sura would have a higher number than 7, because it is a Medinan sura. Also they probably wouldn't be equal, because the historical revelation order and the order used today are totally different.

* The words "tree" (شجرة, ''shajarah'') and "plant" (نبات, ''nabat'') both occur 26 times.

** When we search for all occurrences of words derived from the root شجر (sh-j-r), we find 27 occurrences.<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=%24jr</ref> When we exclude the words "arises", "vegetation" and "plant", we get '''24 occurrences'''.

** When we search for the root نبت (''n-b-t''), we get 26 occurrences.<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=nbt</ref> Most of them are verbs and the rest of the words are questionable whether to count them or not. If we count only the singular word "plant" then we get '''0 occurences'''.

* The words "hardship" (ٱلْعُسْرِ, ''al-'usri'') and "patience" (صَبْرًا, ''sabran'') both occur 114 times.

** The word ''sabran'' is derived from the root صبر (s-b-r). There are only 103 words derived from this root in the Qur'an,<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Sbr</ref> most of them being verbs. ''al-'usri'' is derived from the root عسر. There are only 12 occurrences of words derived from this root in the Qur'an.<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Esr</ref> Apologists probably meant the word "severe" (شَدِيدٌ, ''shadidun''), but there are only 102 words derived from its root (شدد) in the Qur'an.<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=%24dd</ref>

* The words "calamity" (المصيبة) and "thanks" (الشكر) are both mentioned 75 times.

** A meaningless connection.

* The words "people who are misled" (الضالون) and "dead people" (الموتى) both mentioned 17 times.

** A meaningless connection. "People who are misled" are not dead. They die, but Muslims die as well.

*** If we count the word "earth" (الْأَرْضَ, ''al-ard''), do we get 365 occurrences as the Earth orbits 365 days around the Sun?

**** We don't.<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=ArD</ref>

** Jihad is derived from the root جهد. There are 41 words derived from this root in the Qur'an. Some of them are verbs, some of them are nouns like "strong", or "mujahideen".<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=jhd</ref> So it is not very logical to count them together. And claiming that the actual word "jihad" appears 41 times is a lie.

** Muslim apologists must think twice about the ramifications of claiming a miracle like this one. Every time the Qur'an and Muhammad talk about jihad, it is in the context of a war against non-Muslims to establish the rule of Islam. Instead of refuting the doctrine of jihad, are the apologists endorsing it as a duty for Muslims via this miracle?

** If this was true, than every verse mentioning Iblees would have talk about seeking refuge from him. But for example, the verse 2:34 mentions Iblees and doesn't talk about seeking refuge from him.

* "Magic" (السحر, ''as-sihr'') and "fitnah" (الفتنه) both mentioned 60 times

** Magic is derived from the root سحر. There are 63 words derived from this root in the Qur'an. The word ''siḥ'r'' (magic) appears only 28 times.<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=sHr</ref>

* "Human being" (إنسان, ''insaan'') is used 65 times as well as references to the stages of human creation (تُرَابٍ , نُّطْفَةٍ , عَلَقَةٍ , مُضْغَةً , عِظَٰمًا , لَحْمًا)

** There are many other words for "human being" besides "insaan", like "naas" or "bashar".

** Human species evolved through evolution, not by the stages described in the Qur'an.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution</ref>

* The word "say" (قل, ''qul'') and "they said" (قالوا) both occur 332 times.

* The words "love" (المحبة, ''al-mahabbah'') and "obedience" (الطاعة, ''al-ta'ah'') both occur 83 times.

** "Love" is derived form the root h-b-b. There are 95 words derived from this root in the Qur'an. 68 of them are verbs.<ref>http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=Hbb</ref> So this word count mixes verbs and nouns together.

* The words "spending" (صدق, ''sadaqa''. ِِِِِِAcually الْإِنْفَاقِ, ''al-infaq'') and "satisfaction" (رضو) both occur 73 times.

** Meaningless connection.

==See Also==

* [[Arabic letters and diacritics]]

* [[Arabic pronouns and the Quran|Arabic pronouns and the Qur'an]]