THE BEAUTIFUL ARRANGEMENT OF “SEVEN” IN THE QUR’AN

The numerical miracle of the Qur’an continues to be a controversial topic, even for some Muslims, so let’s read further….

It is strongly argued that a shrewdly precise numerical arrangement rests within the verses of the Holy Qur’an, and that this arrangement proves that the Creator of the Heavens is also the one who sent us this Holy Book.

A Muslim friend once asked me about the numerical miracle in the Qur’an: “I want you to give me one advantage we can get out of what you call the numerical miracle! Islam teaches us how to worship God and have good morals to govern our behaviour in this world and bring us closer to God in the hereafter, so what are we gaining from the numbers of letters or verses or chapters in the Qur’an?”

My reply was this: “Do you think that God might have created anything in this universe in vain?” He replied: “Certainly not, because God created everything for a given purpose.” I then asked him: “How, then, could this great God of ours deposit anything in this book without purpose?” He replied: “So what is it he deposited?” I answered: “It is the number seven’s astounding numerical arrangement in the Qur’an.”

Finally, he told me: “It seems that you’re weaving numbers together out of your own imagination and presenting it to people as a miracle from God! Does the Qur’an really need such difficult calculations for people to believe it?”

I then told my friend that he was pardoned, because people like Dr. Rashad Khalifa had previously presented the numerical miracle with such inconsistency and falsehood, to the extent that people’s perceptions of the numerical miracle have now become extremely shaken. I promised my friend to prove to him that the Qur’an’s numerical miracle was innocent of any contradiction; that God Almighty used this miracle for a noble goal, namely to indicate the continuous relevance of the Qur’an – even in today’s era of technology, science and numbers.

The significance of the number 7 in every person’s life is notable; the Earth’s atmosphere has 7 layers, and so does the Earth’s crust. The days of the week are 7, the layers of an atom are 7, and the continents are 7. In other words, many of the basic building blocks of our everyday lives are related to ‘7’ in one way or another.

Particularly for Muslims, they prostrate on 7 body parts (feet, knees, hands and face), there are 7 gates to Hellfire, and the Muslims’ annual pilgrimage to Mecca to perform ‘Hajj’ includes 7 laps around the ‘Kaaba’. These are only a few examples of how this number is actively present in people’s lives.

That being said, we assume that this figure should also have a systematic arrangement in the Qur’an – the book which was sent down by the creator of this life – which distinguishes it from any other number. Therefore, in examining the Qur’an we find that the first number mentioned is the number 7. This suggests, perhaps, a particular arrangement or system, as if God Almighty is alerting us to the significance of this figure and the importance of researching its boundaries in the Qur’an.

After searching through the Qur’an, I noticed that the number 7 is used for the first time in the second Chapter, “Al-Baqarah” [The Cow], where God says: (It is He Who created for you all that is on earth. Then he turned towards the heaven and made them seven heavens. And He is the Knower of all things.) [The Cow: 29]. Furthermore, I found that the last time number 7 is mentioned is in Chapter 78, “Al-Naba’” [The Tidings], where God says: (And We have built above you seven strong (heavens)). [The Tidings: 12].

I then told myself that there must be some kind of arrangement based upon this central number, and this drove me to study the Qur’an further. But then a question arose: How can I study it further when the only numbers that exist in logical order are the numbers of the Chapters and the Verses? Therefore, I directed my attention to the numbers of the Chapters and looked for any relationship that may possibly exist between them and the number 7.

To my surprise, I found that when I counted the number of Chapters between “The Cow” and “The Tidings” (i.e. between the Chapter where ‘7’ was first mentioned and the Chapter where it was last mentioned), there were 77 Chapters, a multiple of 7! I reflected upon this: The number of Chapters between the place where the number 7 was first cited and last cited was exactly a multiple of this number:77! Finding this harmony truly astonishing, I discarded any possibility of coincidence.

At this point, however, my friend interrupted me: “But this could have happened by chance. Besides, coincidences do happen once or twice!”

Therefore, I suggested that we do the same calculation as before, but this time using the numbers of Verses (yes, Verses!). So he agreed.

And again, I counted the number of Verses between “The Cow” and “The Tidings” (i.e. between the Verse where ‘7’ is first mentioned and the Verse where it is last mentioned), and to my shock, I found the numbers of Verses precisely 5649, a multiple of 7 again [807 x 7]! I was convinced beyond doubt that this could not have come by chance. I reflected once more: Here is a case where the number of Verses between the point where the number 7 was first mentioned and last mentioned in the Qur’an is a number in the thousands, but still a multiple of 7! Had there between one more or one less verse in between, the arrangement would have been completely rejected! Not only that, but the same consistency has already been witnessed with the number of Chapters.

My friend began to concede, but still, he asked me: “But what’s the use of all these numbers?” This time, I continued: “Do you think there might be any more numerical consistency related to these two Verses? Why don’t we count the number of Verses before the first Verse where 7 is mentioned (i.e. The Cow: 29)?

Once again, the number of Verses before “The Cow: 29” were 28, a multiple of 7 [4 x 7]. This is obvious, of course, because the Verse where 7 is used for the first time is the 29th Verse of “The Cow”, meaning that exactly 28 Verses precede it.

But now I thought that since the Verses coming before the first Verse were a multiple of 7, then we would need the same result for the Verses coming after the last Verse where 7 is used to consider this arrangement truly symmetric.

And surely enough, to our pleasant surprise, when counting the Verses that followed “The Tidings: 12”, we found not only a multiple of 7, but exactly 28 Verses as the first case, because “The Tidings” is comprised of precisely 40 Verses!

What beauty! I could no longer comprehend how all this could have been a mere coincidence. I reflected: The number 7 is cited in “The Cow” for the first time and “The Tidings” for the last time. The number of Verses before “The Cow” (28) is a multiple of 7 and the number of Verses after “The Tidings” (28) is a multiple of 7. And in between them, both the number of Verses (5649) and the number of Chapters (77) are a multiple of 7!

This is perhaps best illustrated with the diagram in the above photo:

It must be noted at this point that, logically speaking, any human being attempting such uniformity would have a very difficult time doing so, because not only would he have to maintain this perfect system of numerical agreement, but at the same time, he would have to fully capture many elements such as meaning, context, utter flawlessness of word choice, and devastating literary genius that are so evident in the Holy Qur’an.

Finally, this example (and there are many, many more) convinced my friend who always had his doubts about the numerical miracle. Nevertheless, he could not help but ask: “What are we really learning from this numerical arrangement?” I told him the same thing I would tell anybody who is sceptical of the numerical miracle.

“God Almighty has created this whole universe we take for granted with such delicate order and precision – and which fits perfectly with our needs – in order for us human beings to realise with certainty that such perfect order is something we could not have created.

Similarly, it is only logical that even in His Holy Scripture, God Almighty maintained this perfect order in every way possible, be it in terms of language, historical accuracy, relevance to any time period, or numerical arrangement.

The purpose of all this, of course, is to demonstrate that, just like the universe, the Holy Qur’an is a miracle that no human can produce the like of. After all, the challenge of producing a book like the Qur’an is stated in the book itself: (Say: If the whole of mankind and the Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.) [Al-Isra’: 88].”

Regardless of the numerical miracle, Muslims, of course, sincerely believe that the Qur’an is the pure word of God, which was sent down in the original language of Arabic. Also, the fact that the Qur’an exists today in its original text strengthens the argument in favour of the numerical miracle. While the example illustrated above did not require specific Arabic words from the Qur’an, many numerical examples can only be fully comprehended by reference to what is cited in the Arabic text. After all, any version of the Qur’an in a language other than Arabic cannot be considered the pure word of God but merely a subjective translation, which is why, for instance, various versions of the English Qur’an exist. In this whole universe, however, only one Arabic Qur’an exists, and not even a letter, let alone a word can be changed from its 600 or so pages.

Still, however, Muslims cannot claim to be better than Abraham (pbuh), who, despite being a Messenger of God, wanted reassurance: (And (remember) when Abraham said, My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead. He (Allah) said: Do you not believe? He (Abraham) said: Yes (I believe), but to put my heart at ease. He said: Take four birds, then cause them to incline towards you (then slaughter them, cut them into pieces), and then put a portion of them on every hill, and call them, they will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.) [The Cow: 260].

If this is the case of Abraham, then it certainly holds true that we, as ordinary people, are in need of something to ease our hearts beyond question.

While the 20th century has seen Islam being placed under surveillance and bombarded with criticism, this has partly been to its advantage. Many people have begun to hear about the true side of Islam, and not its distorted image in the media. Unfortunately, not enough people have been able to see the beautiful, true face of Islam, and aspects of it such as the numerical miracle have not yet come to light.

Finally, it is our dearest hope to present this wonderful religion of Islam in a light-hearted manner for all people, Muslim or not. Although we may get carried away with excitement when explaining certain concepts such as the numerical miracle, our intention is to be as objective as possible, and on that note, nothing is really more objective than the language of numbers. The truth is that although it involves lots of detail, understanding the numerical miracle just makes our hearts sing! And lastly, all we ask is for readers to contemplate and ponder upon the information presented; we don’t and never intend to force anybody to believe in it, and our religion forbids us from doing so anyway: (There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.) [The Cow: 256].
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By: Abduldaem Al-Kaheel
Website: www.kaheel7.com/eng