By:
Arafaque Malik
For
"The Straight Path" Magazine,
May/June 1999 issue.

The history of numerology, complex as it is, can be traced to the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Greece and India. This ancient art went hand in hand with the development of mathematics, geometry and trigonometry. One man who contributed most to this art was Pythagoras. In his view, all things can be expressed in numerical terms because all things are reducible to numbers. This gave birth to the science of Gematria. The Qabalist gematria is based on the combination of magic and philosophy which centered on twenty-two letters of the Hebrew scripture and its corresponding numbers to discover hidden meaning in the scripture of interchanging Hebrew words whose letters have the same numerical value when added.

The science of Gematria was borrowed by some Muslim theological adventurers who called it ABJAD. Thomas Patrick Hughes, in his Dictionary of Islam, explains ABJAD as "...the name of an arithmetical arrangement of the alphabet, the letters of which have different powers from one to one thousand. It is in the order of the alphabet as used by the Jews as far back as 400, then six remaining letters being added by the Arabians."

The author of the Arabic lexicon, Al Qamoos, is of the opinion that the first six words are the names of celebrated kings of madyan (Median) and the last two were added by the Arabians. Some scholars believe that they are the names of the eight sons of the inventor of the Arabic character, Muramir ibn Murra.

Having borrowed the Qabalist science of gematria, the Muslim theological adventurers, who had nothing else to do, got down to reducing the Qur'anic verses and eventually the Surahs to numbers. The most commonly used number is 786, which is normally found on letterheads, beginning of books, pamphlets, letters, (and now screen names and E-mail addresses - webmaster's note) etc. We are made to believe that 786 stands for "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" (in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), which is the very first verse of the Holy Qur'an. It is my contention that 786 does not mean "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" but merely seven hundred and eighty six. This may stand for 786 of anything: 786 bottles of pop, 786 boxes of chocolate, or anything else, legal or illegal, haram or halal. The number 786 does NOT represent "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" for it has no meaning other than seven hundered and eighty six units of anything.

Symbolic Numbers
The Qur'an is not a book of mathematics or symbolic numbers. The absurdity of ABJAD numbers becomes clear if we reflect upon the following numbers: 66, 92, 352, 296 and 62. They are the numerical values of Allah, Muhammad, Qur'an and Nabi. We all know that prisoners have numbers and they are normally called by their numbers, but can we dare to allocate similar numbers to Allah and the Messenger of Allah, sallalahu allahe wa salam? Those who use the number 786 as a substitute for "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" have the arrogance to do so, but a God-conscious Muslim will not ever dream of using such numbers.

Imagine if all the beautiful names like Muhammad, Mahmood, Mustafa, Abdullah, Zahid, Sajid, Rahman, Ahmad, Shahid, Zainab, Fatimah, Khadijah, and Ayesha are transformed into the numbers 92, 98, 199, 142, 17, 68, 299, 56, 305, 69, 135, 622, and 376 respectively. It does not require much imagination to see how ridiculous these numbers sound. Is it not an insult to call people by numbers? Is it not the height of arrogance to reduce the Qur'anic verses and Surahs to meaningless numbers?

"Bismillah irRahman irRaheem", the very first verse of the Holy Qur'an has a message and a meaning, but the number 786 has no significance. Strange as it may appear, the number 786 has no significance. Strange as it may appear, the numerical value of "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" is NOT 786, as is widely believed, but it is instead 787 as is apparent from the following:

Ba=2, Seen=60, Meem=40, Alif=1, Lam=30, Lam=30, Ha=5, Alif=1, Lam=30, Ra=200, Ha=8, Mem=40, Alif=1, Nun=50, Alif=1, Lam=30, Ra=200, Ha=8, Ya=10, Meem=40

The total is 787 and NOT 786, as we are made to believe. Someone from among the number-crazy theologians has goofed badly on his simple arithmetic!

It may interest readers that I have not taken into consideration the Alif in ism or the Alif in Allah. Nor have I taken into consideration the Shaddah on Allah, ArRahman or ArRaheem. With these the numerical value would be much greater then 786.

Even if I was to accept that the correct value of "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" is 786, the number 786 remains meaningless. It could stand for anything. With a little imagination, various alphabets can be grouped together to form a sensible or meaningless phrase containing a numerical value of 786. For example, the following grammatically incorrect words have a numerical value of 786:

Alif=1, Lam=30, Alif=1, Meem-40, Ya=10, Ra=200, Alif=1, Lam=30, Meem=40, Wa=6, Meem=40, Nun=50, Wa=10, Nun=50, Eiyn=70, Lam=30, Waw=10, Ha=5, Alif=1, Lam=30, Seen=60, Lam=30, Alif=1, Meem=40

The total value is 786. It is an examinable evidence. So what does it prove? This is but one example; many others can be found. Even if the numerical value of "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" was accurate (which is not the case), 786 is not exclusive for "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem". The above example should be sufficient for this purpose.

Arabic
Allah revealed the Qu'ran in Arabic. Let the Qur'an speak for itself for it requires no advocates:

"A book the verses of which are well expounded, a discourse in Arabic, for people who understand..." (41:3)

"We have revealed the Qur'an in Arabic so that you may understand." (43:3)

"The speech of a man they imply is alien, while this is purest Arabic." (16:103)

"And this [Qur'an] is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds...in plain Arabic." (26:192-195)

"We have revealed a discourse in Arabic so that you may understand." (12:2)

It is a matter of fact that Allah has revealed the Qur'an in Arabic, as stated in the above and many other verses. Why was the Qur'an not revealed in mathematical figures? Why are we, then, converting it into numbers? Did Allah perhaps commit an error which our scholars are trying to rectify? (No, Nauzubillah!). What message would mankind have received if the pages of the Qur'an had been filled with numbers and nothing else? It would have been unintelligible and a mystifying conundrum.

We are instructed to 'RECITE' the Qur'an as can be seen from the following verses:

"And (it is) a Qur'an that we have divided, that you may RECITE it unto mankind as intervals, and We have revealed it by (successive) revelation." (17:106)

"RECITE then, of the Qur'an that is easy for you..." (73: 20)

How would one recited the Holy Qur'an if it is reduced to numbers? As a example, we shall reduce the Surah Al-Fatihah (The Opening Chapter) to numerical figures for the benefit of our readers:

1. "Bismillah irRahman irRaheem" = 787
2. "Alhamdu lillaahi rabbil 'aalameen" = 632
3. "Ar Rahmanir raheem" = 618
4. "Maaliki yaumid deen" = 242
5. "Iyyaaka na'budu wa iyyaaka nasta'een" = 836
6. "Ihdinaas siraatal mustaqeem" = 1073
7. "Siraatal ladtheena an'amta 'alayhim" = 1807
8. "Ghayril maghduubi 'alayhim wa laad daalleen." = 4194

These 8 ayats (verses) add up to 10,189. Does this then mean that by merely reading the number 10,189 we have read the whole of Surah Al-Fatihah? How easy is it to gain reward by just repeating the numbers. For example, to recite Surah Al-Fatihah ten times, we only have to multiply the numerical value of the Surah by 10, i.e., 101, 890. Similarly, the whole of the Qur'an can be reduced to numbers. Meaningless and of no significance, the numbers will have no message to mankind.

Those who invented "786 " are guilty of tampering with the Holy Qur'an's text. Muslims are invented to give up this evil practise. It is, I repeat, EVIL and not sacred. It is a conspiracy against the Book of Allah!