The Quran's mathematical system based on the number 19, and why 19: the abjad value of wahid (ONE), with Dr. Cesar Majul's 1984 finding that exactly 19 verses use wahid for God's Oneness. Lydia Kelley reflects on bird migration as a sign of God's plan and a lesson in worshiping God alone. Also a reader's letter from Australia and notice of the 1997 Tucson conference.
The Quran is characterized by a unique phenomenon
never found in any human authored book. Every element of the Quran is
mathematically composed—the suras, the verses, the words, the number
of certain letters, the number of words from the same root, the number
and variety of divine names, the unique spelling of certain words, and
many other elements of the Quran besides its content. There are two major
facets of the Quran’s mathematical system: (1) The mathematical
literary composition, and (2) The mathematical structure involving the
numbers of suras and verses.
The number nineteen is the common denominator throughout the Quran’s
mathematical system. For example, the first verse (1:1), known as Basmalah,
consists of 19 Arabic letters. The Quran consists of 114 (19x6) suras.
The total number of verses in the Quran (including the 112 un-numbered
Basmalahs) is 6346 or 19x334. Also 6+3+4+6 = 19. The
total occurrence of the word Allah (God) is
2698, or 19x142. The total sum of the verse numbers for all verses containing
the word Allah is 118123, or 19x6217. These are just a few examples and
should alone suffice as incontrovertible proof that the Quran is God’s
message to the world. However, the Quran’s mathematical system is
not limited to the word Allah (God), it is extremely vast, extremely intricate,
and totally comprehensive. For more information, please refer to Appendix
1 of the “Quran: The Final Testament, Authorized English Translation
by Rashad Khalifa, Ph.D.”
Why 19?
The “abjad” numerical system, assigning a numerical value
to each letter, has been widely practiced before the establishment of
the Roman or Arabic numerals as we know today. For example, in Arabic,
the letter Alif (A) has a numerical value of 1, and Bah (B) has a numerical
value of 2, and so on. If the people’s language were Hebrew, or
Aramaic,
they used the letters of that language for
numerals. We now understand that the mathematical coding of the Quran
with the number 19 is based on the fact that 19 is the numerical value
of the word “wahid” (ONE). The following is a study done by
Dr. Cesar Majul in 1984. It is reported again here as an answer to some
people’s question on 19.
The Word “One” Referring to God
In the
text of the Quran, there are 19 and only 19 verses where the word wahid
(واحد) is used to refer to or characterize
Allah (God) as ONE.
It is to be recalled that the most important or basic doctrine—the
central theme—of the Quran is that God is ONE. The Quran teaches
that God will forgive any sin of a repentant transgressor; but one offense
He will not forgive is that of ascribing partners to Him (39:53; 4:48;
4:116...).
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6+1+8+4=19=One
Applying the abjad numerical system (or gematrical values
of the letters) to the word wahid gives it the numerical
value of 19:
Arabic Letters of Wahid
Numerical Value
و
6
ا
1
ح
8
د
4
Total
19
The word wahid occurs 25 times in the total number of
Quranic verses. Of these, one verse refers to one kind of food.
Two verses use the word to refer to persons involved in inheritance
shares. One verse refers to a gate. One refers to watering, and
another one refers to each of a pair of adulterers. These account
for six verses. The balance of 19 verses refer to God’s quality
(sifat) as being ONE. Table 1 lists all the verses in which the
word wahid (ONE) is mentioned.
Thus there are 19 and only 19 Quranic verses which use the word
wahid as exclusively referring to God’s Oneness.
That this word also has the numerical value of 19 is significant.
This fact in the light of other considerations, like the researches
of Dr. Rashad Khalifa, cannot be another accident or coincidence.
Indeed, it is another instance of general pattern in the Quran.
Note: Incidentally, the word wahidan is also found in
the Quran to refer to “one.” It as such occurs five
times. In 25:14 it refers to one’s destruction. In 38:5 it
refers to some persons trying to make many gods into one. In 54:24
it refers to one alone among men. In 2:133 and 9:31, it refers to
worship of
Table 1. The 25 verses in which the
word wahid (one) is mentioned in the Quran, and the 19 cases where
it refers to the oneness of God