W-A-H-D in the Quran

In Arabic, every letter has a corresponding gematrical value, and each letter can be interpreted either as a letter or a number, similar to Roman numerals.

While there are many Quranic phenomena based on the gematrical value of the Arabic letters, the item that I want to discuss in this article is the Arabic word for “one” in the context of one of the names of God, One. In Arabic, the word “one” is واحد (w-a-h-d). If we take the gematrical value of this word, we see that its total equals 19, which is the foundation of the mathematical structure of the Quran.

Some people argue that واحد is actually written without an “ا” (alif) in the Quran. And therefore, the total gematrical value should be 18 as opposed to 19. While the word واحد can be written without an alif and is written in this style in many manuscripts, is this always the case, and is this even correct? In order to determine this, let’s look at a variety of verses where the word “one” is contained and see how it is written in some of the most ancient manuscripts of the Quran.

2:61 Recall that you said, “O Moses, we can no longer tolerate one kind of food. Call upon your Lord to produce for us such earthly crops as beans, cucumbers, garlic, lentils, and onions.” He said, “Do you wish to substitute that which is inferior for that which is good? Go down to Egypt, where you can find what you asked for.” They have incurred condemnation, humiliation, and disgrace, and brought upon themselves wrath from GOD. This is because they rejected GOD’s revelations, and killed the prophets unjustly. This is because they disobeyed and transgressed.