Distinctive
Ayats of
Surah 9

You know,

numerical patterns that can be found in the text

may or may not be welcome,

but finding patterns in a text that is almost but not quite

the one with which we are familiar

was always going to be controversial.

The Nuun and Saad letters

have a similar problem to each other,

in that the numerical pattern applies to the Qur'an,

but only in one way,

and the problem is easily solved

by a similar change of perspective.

Unfortunately the suggestion that the two ayats,

128 and 129, at the end of sura 9

should be removed from the Qur'an to perfect a number pattern

is a different issue entirely.

This is hubris of a different scale,

a much greater claim to knowledge of the Will of God.

And the numbers may be really neat,

but the justifications for changing the text are weak,

just guesswork

so perhaps the numbers may mean something else.

You see, the number of ayats in the Qur'an is 6348

and that doesn't fit a 19 pattern,

but like the letter counts for Nuun and Saad,

it comes tantalisingly close

just two ayats too many

Which brought about a search for two ayats

that might be 'disposable'

and ayats 128 and 129 seemed like a perfect fit.

Take them away and the 19 pattern gives another beautifully aesthetic result.

Patterns

made by adding or subtracting words or ayats

can be applied to anywhere, however

The pattern may fit beautifully,

but the choice of these ayats is almost arbitrary.

Their content is slightly unusual

but the main focus of their singularity

has always been the tradition surrounding

their collection and inclusion,

which suggests that the two ayats

are unique in not being vouched for by two people

but were included anyway.

Now opinions are divided on that tale about their gathering

but if for no other reason

than that it goes back so far in muslim history

the ayats have their own particular distinction.

And they are also conveniently

the right number to bring the ayat count of the Qur'an to 6346 19*334

which is another nice number for the pattern,

the sum of the digits also being 19.

Beautiful to see

but does that warrant

excising these two ayats from the Qur'an?

To extrapolate from seeing a number pattern

to claiming an understanding of God's purpose is quite a leap

and one which only the most blithely self-assured

would dream of taking,

but of course in that strangely human way

there are always lots of people

only too eager to speak on God's behalf.

Those who say the Qur'an needs 'correcting'

suggest that the text we have is imperfect

and corrupted

and that the people who collected it for Uthman

were themselves either corrupted or gullible fools.

But if the Qur'an text is corrupted

how much less reliable is the tradition

from which the whole story of the difference is drawn

and without the tradition there is no tale

of the uniqueness of the ayats.

There is no need to change history or the Qur'an

The numbers work however you want them to

Just look at the text that way

But there is no need to remove the ayats from the text

if we simply look for what their distinction might be there to teach us.

God alone truly knows what the Qur'an means and contains

but it is easy to see other reasons

that those ayats might be there other than by error.

Quite the opposite,

even if looked at from a different perspective.

The pattern only needs two ayats difference to work beautifully

so it is necessary to search for two distinctive ayats

which leads to the tradition relating to the end of sura 9

which seems to support the 19 pattern suggestion

but at the same time, the pattern could also be seen

as support for the tradition which suggests

a difference recognised during the collection

What we have here is a symbiotic relationship

with one side anchored in the Qur'an

and the other in the story of its collection and compilation into the text

the words of the Revelation

and the story of their written record

as they were preserved for history

As far as the numbers are concerned

the two ayats can be seen as a kind of checksum

an error correcting code

intrinsic to the Qur'an

giving numeric support to the story of its preservation

But God knows best

It would seem that those eager to reshape the Qur'an

may well be doing so with the best intentions

feeling that numbers are needed

to prove the existence of God

Unfortunately God's existence is not so easily proved

Miracles are not enough

That is the human situation

God parted the seas for Moses

and raised the dead for Jesus

and still people didn't believe

If you are evaluating the Qur'an

by numbers or science

in the hope of finding a proof to persuade yourself

you are getting things the wrong way round.

Science is so much less than the Qur'an

Science changes as understanding changes

but although understanding of the Qur'an also changes

the Qur'an doesn't change when we see it in a different way

We just understand more of it

in a way that is relevant to ourselves

To experience the Qur'an

you don't need scientific proof.

How misguided are those

who think reason takes primacy over faith

when reason can so easily be deceived,

tricked into believing we can tell what is rational

even in a post-Heisenberg world

Reason doesn't take the place of faith

any more than number and mathematics

can take the place of reason

Number requires reason

and both require faith