NUMBERS

[HOPE]

Peace to All,

“Those that accept the veracity of the Quran as truth from God do not question the veracity of the two verses in question (9:128-129). They accept them as part of the Quran and vouch for the veracity of the Quran based on its powerful arguments as opposed to any inherent mathematical code. Furthermore, there is absolutely no evidence in any recitation or any ancient manuscript that there was ever an omission of verses 9:128-129. “

I concur with br. Joseph’s view on this issue regarding the Code 19 of the Quran as presented by Rashad Khalifa.

Numerology is a very interesting subject.  According to Numerology, everything is, in essence, one thing.  There is One whole in religious and mystical tradition representing Unity with Goodness and diversity with evil.  In all religions, the essence of the belief is that of One God; even in trinity, the eventual source is always One.  All numbers are made from one; 1+1+1+....  10 was seen as completion or perfection because it completes the series of essential numbers from one to nine and brings them all back to unity.
 10= 1 + 0 = 1

Prof. Annemarie Schimmel’s The Mystery of Numbers book is fascinating.  She asks why is the number seven lucky- or even holy in almost every culture; why do we speak of the four corners of the earth or why do cats have nine lives (except in Iran, where they have seven)  From literature to folklore to private superstitions, numbers play an obvious role in our daily lives.

Numbers have been filled with mystery and meaning since the earliest times, and across every society.  Pre-Roman Europeans, for example, may have had a number system based on twenty, not ten, as suggested by the French word  for 80 is four times twenty, while the Mayans had a system more sophisticated than our own.  But the heart of the book is a guide to the symbolism of numbers from the philosophy of the Pythagoreans and Platonists, to the religious mysticism of the Cabala and the Islamic Brethren of Purity, to Kepler's belief that the laws of planetary motion should be mathematically elegant, to the unlucky thirteen.

Schimmel examines individual numbers ranging from one to ten thousand, discussing the meanings they have had for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic traditions, with examples from Indian, Chinese, and Native American cultures as well. Two, for instance, has widely been seen as a number of contradiction and polarity, a number of discord and antithesis. And six, according to ancient and neo-platonic thinking, is the most perfect number because it is both the sum and the product of its parts (1+2+3=6 and 1x2x3=6). Using examples ranging from the Bible to the Mayans to Shakespeare, she shows how numbers have been considered feminine and masculine, holy and evil, lucky and unlucky.   In Islam, many acts are performed in odd numbers such as three or seven times.

Yet creation requires the existence of duality: of the Creator and the creation and God reveals Himself in the contrasting pair of jalal and jamal.  The Quran just like the Torah begins with the letter b, as in the bismi’llahi and the numerical  value of b as 2 points to the duality inherent in the creation.  Alif with its numerical value 1, is the code for the One and Unique God.

Trinitarian thinking is deeply rooted in human beings who live in a three-dimensional world.  We see number of concepts grouped in three.  There are many customs and rites performed thrice.  The Prophet is reported to repeat his words thrice.  The life of piety is divided into three: islam, iman, ihsan.  Quran offers three stages of the nafs: nafs ammara, nafs lawwama, nafs mutma’inna.  The way to God is seen as sharia leading to haqiqa or ma’rifa.  Three is the overarching principle.  The first number can be constructed into a geometrical shape of triangle where contrasts are solved by the introduction of the third element:  lover and beloved are united in Love.  The one who recollects is united with the recollected object in the very act of dhikr.  In Shia Islam, God, Muhammad and Ali are named together.

From ancient times, Four was the number of the orderly universe like the 4 directions and the 4 elements.  In the spiritual sphere, there are 4 hierarchy of saints, 4 archangels, the four books, Torah, Psalms, Gospel and Quran; 4 rightly guided caliphs, four madhhab; up to 4 legitimate wives permitted, 4 witnesses required for adultery cases, 4 awtad pillars the  Faith rests upon:  patience, certitude, justice and striving.  Patience rests on 4 pillars: longing, kindness, asceticism and watchfulness and so on.

Fivefold structures do not occur in crystalline forms, minerals, but occur in many vegetable forms.  It is connected with the 5 senses.  It is the numerical value of the letter h, the last and essential letter of Allah, 5 so-called pillars of islam; 5 ritual prayers; the ahl al-‘aba, 5 members of the prophet’s household under his cloak who are often called Panjtan; 5 law-giving prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad

God created the world in 6 days.  God inspiring the bee can be taken as pointing to the hexagonal shape of the beehive, symbol for the created world.  The hexagram is an old magic sign as  the six-pointed star, which combines the macrocosmic and microcosmic triangles.

7 gates of Hell; The 7 circumambulations of the Kaaba; 7 stonings of Satan repeated thrice are the central rites of Hajj.  7 was sacred both to Semites and to Iranians, also. Quran has a sevenfold meaning and there are 7 ways to recite it; each rak’a consists of 7 parts.  The Ismaili emphasis on Seven is symbolized in the heptagonal fountain in the Ismaili Center in London.  Seven is the numerological interpretation of an ideal combination of the spiritual Three and the material Four pillars, thus points to the perfect way through life.

Divine Throne carried by 8 angels, Paradise has 8 gates, one more than Hell because God’s Mercy is gtrater than His wrath.  8 blessings in the Sermon on the Mount; 8 teachings of the Buddha.

Nine is prominent among Turks and Turkic peoples, the concept of 9 spheres in Muslim astronomy.  Among Turkish dynasties, nine remains important in etiquette and official life- in Mughal India the custom of bringing ninefold gifts to a high ranking person transformed the word dokuz, ‘nine’ into a term for ‘gift’.

Ten has been from the days of Pythagoreans, the number of perfection and completeness and the Arabs and Muslims used the decimal system. ‘ashara al-mubashshara, the 10 companions of the Prophet who were promised Paradise.  For Shia, ten is usually a reminder of 10 Muharram.

12, the number of the zodiacal signs, 12 imams of the Shia

14 is a lunar number.  Age 14 was often compared to the full moon in radiant beauty. The 14 of the 28 Arabic letters have diacritical marks and are connected with mulk, the created worlds, while the other 14 are plain and are related to the malakut, the realm of angels and powers; again, 14 of them are called huruf shamsiyya- they assimilate with the l of the Arabic article al-, and 14 are qamariyya/moon letters.  The connection between the 28 lunar mansions and the 28 letters influenced the medieval astronomer al-Biruni to claim that the word of God as revealed in the letters and work of God as shown in the lunar mansions are intertwined.

19 is the numerical value of the word wahid, ‘One’; it is the sacred number of the Bahais.  Many interpreters connected it with the number of letters in the basmala while others counted only 18 letters in this formula. In Shia speculation it is the sum of the 12 zodiacal signs and the 7 planets which correspond to the seven prophets and 12 imams.

40 is exceptionally important.  It is the numerical value of the letter m, connected with Muhammad and in particular with his heavenly name ‘Ahmad’: Ahmad is distinguished from Ahad only by the m, meaning human beings have to reach God by means of 40 steps.  In traditions 40 is preparation and purification for a rite of passage: 40 years during the COI erred through the dessert symbolize the feats that humankind has to undertake.  Moses’ 40-day fast.  Sufi has to practice 40 days of seclusion.  The deluge lasted 40 days. Idris, Hud, Salih and Muhammad were called to act as prophets at age 40.  Some believe the Mahdi will appear after 40 caliphs have ruled and will reign for 40 years.  40 saints are an important group in the mystical hierarchy; the ahl as-suffa, the pious poor ‘of the veranda’ in Muhammad’s house in Medina were the prototypes of later Suffis, consisted of 40 people. Turkish folklore says to drink a cup of coffee with someone creates a relationship that will last for 40 years.  Ali Baba had to deal with 40 thieves.  40 days 40 nights celebrations in fairy tales.

72 sects of Islam one of which will be saved.

99 Divine Names of God

A brief example of the sacred aspects of nature and culture in human history symbolized by the NUMBERS