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Qur’anic Prophesies

And the Baha’i Dispensation

Flushing, New York

11 March 2012

17 Rabi Al-Thani 1433

9 ‘Alá 168

Qur’anic prophesies regarding the situation for Muslims and followers of Islam in the Day of God.

Introduction: the division of the following Qur’anic references; the reliance on the Kitab-Al-Iqan for the true meaning of all what is in the Qur’an and every other holy Book.

1. Confirmations that this is the Day of God

a. Jews returned to their Homeland 17:104

b. The Day that shall not be followed by night 22:55

c. The Great Announcement.

i. 6:130, 6:134, 7:35, 10:47, 22:7, 41:41, 43:66

2. That Muslims will now be judged by their own Book, according to the teachings of that Book, just as that Book judged the people of the past.

a. With the appearance of Allah’s new Messenger and the Day of God all the prophesies concerning the peoples of the past in the Qur’an now pertain to the Muslims.

i. 7:94, 7:101, 9:16, 10:13, 10:74, 14:44, 16:113, 18:55, 57:16, 64:5-6

b. The Muslims have “turned away” from the Qur’an and began blindly following their forefathers.

i. 25:30, 2:233 (taking children for the sins of an uncle, Afghanistan),

ii. 2:275, 4:150-151, 5:104, 6:21, 6:110, 6:159, 7:40, 7:45, 15:90-93, 26:5

c. The replacing of the Muslims as the true followers for another people.

i. 4:133, 5:54, 13:32, 24:55, 28:5, 45:34

d. The loss of Muslim-controlled territory.

i. 13:41, 15:4, 21:44

e. The testing of Muslims in exactly the same way that the peoples of other faiths were tested when a Messenger came to them.

i. 2:214, 3:11, 3:179, 6:65, 7:146, 17:94, 23:44, 23:81, 43:36, 44:5-6, 45:7-9

f. Destruction of Muslim communities worldwide.

i. 2:213, 3:103, 3:105, 28:59, 29:55

g. The shaming of Islam before the eyes of the world.

i. 4:173, 5:13, 6:42, 13:25, 14:28, 40:11-12

h. The misdeeds of the Islamists toward the new Messenger being the re-enactment of what was done to the Muslims in former times.

i. 2:59, 2:79, 2:84-85, 2:89-91, 2:101, 2:170, 3:21, 3:78, 3:86, 3:119, 4:115, 4:167, 7:51, 7:162, 25:77, 26:208, 31:7, 33:67, 34:43, 37:69-71, 45:35, 50:22

i. That Islamists will do exactly what the Jews did toward HH Jesus and what they and others did toward HH Mohammed.

i. 5:70, 6:25, 40:34, 56:50

The difficulty for any religious people is to understand that with the coming of another Messenger from Allah they are now as those people who they used to criticize before. The same pattern is repeated.

The Great Separation is when the Word goes forth, then, those who accept are immediately of the Light; and those who deny are now gathered among the people of darkness.

The Word must go out sufficiently, and then that country or people will receive all that was promised to the people of denial as recorded in their own recognized Book of God.

Group Discussion of Qur’anic References to the holy Messenger working “Magic” on the people.

Dalton Garis, Discussion leader.

Bismi’llah’ul-Bahiyy’ul-Abha!

Bismi’llah’ir-Amna’ul-Aqdas

Introduction

This, the second exploration of Qur’anic Verses convened in Flushing for Baha’is and others to deepen on the content of the divine Qur’an, centers on Verses in the Qur’an accusing the divine Messenger of working magic on the people, to discredit His Message, but also some truly believing that the convincing arguments of the Messenger were casting a spell on those hearers who were inclined toward the new Message from God.

We will argue that this “magic” the people in every age accused the Messenger of practicing was none other than logic and rational analysis, which, to the pre-rational and pre-scientific adult mind, appeared as having magical powers due to its capacity to destroy the “mountains” of superstitions and dogma, to “roll up the heavens” of superstitions, and to make of the earth of human understanding “but His handful.” The nature of the false god of ideology that opposes true religion (and true science) is discussed, followed by a brief scientifically structured representation, as revealed to us by the divine Kitáb-Al-Íqán of how the Cause of God is renewed from age to age.

List of references used in Discussion

1. “And even if We had sent down unto You a message written on paper so they could touch it with their hands, the disbelievers would have said, ‘This is nothing but plain magic.’ ” (6:7).

2. “With their hearts preoccupied; those who do wrong conceal their private counsels, (saying) ‘Is this more than a human being like yourselves? Will you submit to magic while you see it?’ ” (21:3).

3. “They said, ‘You are only of those bewitched.’” (26:153).

4. “They said, ‘You are only of those bewitched.’” (26:185).

5. “But when the truth has come to them from Us, they say, ’Why is He not given the like of what Moses was given?’ Did they not disbelieve in that which was given to Moses of old? They say, ‘Two kinds of magic, each helping the other!’ And they say, ‘Verily, in both we are disbelievers.’ ” (28:48).

6. “And when Our clear Verses are recited to them, they say, ‘This is naught but a man who wishes to hinder you from that which your fathers used to worship.’ And they say, ‘This is nothing but an invented lie.’ And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them, ‘This is nothing but evident magic.’ ” (34:43).

7. “And they say, ‘This is nothing but evident magic.’” (37:15).

8. “And they wonder that a Warner has come to them from among themselves, and they say, ’This is a sorcerer, a liar.’ ” (38:4).

9. “And when Our clear Verses are recited to them the disbelievers say of the truth when it reaches them, ‘This is plain magic!’” (46:7).

10. “Likewise, no Messenger came to those before them but they said, ‘A sorcerer or a madman.’” (51:52).

With respect to each of these above references, a careful reading, and with some knowledge of the context in which they were revealed, will show that the divine Messenger was not at the time engaged in anything more than giving verbal explanations of the divine Verses of God to the people gathered to listen to His Words. No magic, as we think of it, was taking place—no rabbits being pulled from hats, no flying around above the people’s heads, no smoke and mirrors—not anything but providing rational evidence and logical explanations of the Cause of God and its workings amongst them from age to age. But this logic and rational analysis, given the ill-informed and darkened mind-set of the people, was more than they could bear. They had heard nothing like it from their fathers or religious leaders, who were all engaged with mythologizing the religions of the past and wrapping them, as Alain Besançon has described, in “magic, mystery and ritual.”

There being no actual magic taking place, but rather, just the revelation of truth in the form of rational and logical arguments, was in itself Their best evidence of the claims to Messengership They were asserting. And once it had established some amount of earthly sovereignty and dominion under the canopy of which new colleges and universities could be set up, the vast outpouring of science and technology originating from the followers of the new Message was another demonstration that the Messengers of God had taught the people rational analysis by using it as the best evidence for Their own claims to be Prophets and Apostles of the one true God. The world became amazed by the technical and material advancement and of the new civilizations, especially when they remembered those same people being amongst the least developed and most backward using any measure of being a member of the civilized tribes of mankind. All this information is most magnificently given in the divine book, The Secret of Divine Civilization, by Abdu’l-Baha.

We present here an encapsulation of that part of The Secret of Divine Civilization examining the increase in signs of material and political advancement of a people after a new revelation from God has come to them, as quoted from “Divine Origins of Rational Analysis: An Exploration,” a research paper appearing in Australian Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1 (June/July) 2009 by the present author.

Brief historical examples of material development after the appearance of a divine revelation

That such renewal of the religious cause and purpose induces vastly expanded scientific research and discoveries is shown by historical developments arising after the appearance of a new divine Messenger. Consider the degraded state of Peninsular Arabia in the “days of ignorance” just prior to the advent of Islam, its level of commerce, statecraft, arts and literature, jurisprudence, science and technology, education, medicine, agriculture, etc., and what obtained in the centuries following. There is simply no other plausible explanation for the dramatic improvements in all these attributes of civilization among a people previously regarded as practically subhuman by its neighboring states, in the absence of the appearance of Islam. The growth path Arabia followed in those days was basically flat, becoming positively sloped only after the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad.

Those areas of the world not directly receiving a revelation from Allah nonetheless experienced its influence, as reflected light, so to speak. Ancient Greece is an example. The Athenian, Socrates, is known to have visited the kingdom of Israel during the time of Solomon, and was influenced by its monotheistic teachings. Pythagoras followed a similar path, as did Herodotus. Ancient Rome built up its own jurisprudence on the bedrock provided by Greece in many respects, which in turn was influenced by previous developments in Israel.

The Reformation in Northern and Central Europe is largely credited with giving a new impulse to its material development, in scientific, technological, economic and political realms. At one time it was Northern Europe that borrowed from Southern Europe and Andalusia (Moorish Spain), but the borrowings were often reversed in latter centuries. A similar story could be told for the development of Central and South America and the Indian subcontinent.

In what would become Central America evidence exists that the Aztecs religion was learned from the Toltecs, who claimed divine teachings were sent down from Allah through the holy prophet Quetzalcoatl. In the development that followed the Aztecs became the Roman Empire of Central America, advancing in building and civil engineering, mathematics and other sciences. According to the Spanish conquistadors led by Cortez, when they came to the palace of Montezuma they saw the vast wealth and development this civilization had reached, the material equal to what existed in most of Europe in that age.

There is no evidence that the causality of religion onto national development runs in reverse: that a nation’s development is responsible for the appearance of a divine Prophet. In fact the Messengers of Allah have always seemed to appear to a people or nation in the nadir of its history, when its fortunes have been reversed, its past glories forgotten and its life force spent.

It is possible to assert that, from what has been examined, in each case of a nation or region becoming dominant from successful endogenous strivings it has been preceded by the appearance of a divine Prophet, either addressing it directly, as in the case of Israel, or indirectly, as in the case of Rome, Europe or Central America. In those indirect cases, where a nation, by virtue of judicious borrowings, equals or exceeds levels of past glories of the previous state, the reason is its adoption of spiritual or philosophical teachings previously unknown to it, and which offer renewal of long-dormant capacities, such as shown in Europe and its regions, as just discussed. Thus, the dependence on religious and religiously derived philosophies of secular and material development, with science as its most potent tool, is shown.

The case of religious influence in China is interesting: Due to its philosophical and religious teachings, primarily associated with Buddhism, China became one of the most powerful nations in history, making contributions in every branch of knowledge, philosophy, culture, economics, exploration and statecraft. But Buddhism, with its intellectual and philosophical richness, turned ever inward and ceased to offer useful guidance in statecraft and secular spheres. After the revival of statecraft from Confucianism had spent its force, China fell prey to internal schisms and warfare. Finally, it was possible in the 19^th century for a small number of Britons to take over its capital; and again in the 20^th, for a much smaller Japan to conquer, sack and pillage it. With the rise Maoism, with its unique mix of native Confucianism, Hegelian and Marxist dialectics and reconstituted Leninism—and with its neighbors weaker or following international norms of peace—it again became its own master. With a measured and rising adoption of Western capitalism in economic production and marketing, labor management and financial institutions, and a weeding out of those aspects of socialistic ideologies hindering growth over time, it now is fast becoming a true world economic super state. The credit for this turn of events could be in its willingness to shift philosophical alignments according to what is most pragmatic, even if after an episode of ruinous ideological adherence upon which millions might have lost their lives during its recent past. This pragmatism, rather than any overt association with one of the world's established religious teachings, seems to dominate China's development. However, just as the existence of the Roman Empire facilitated the spread of Christianity and Judaism, so might China play a similar role in future.

Having demonstrated the dependence of material development and advancement on the sequential appearance of religious teachers and divine Prophets through the use of historical examples, the dependent relationship of science on religion is now clear: Religious teachings precede scientific advancement: (1) Science receives its moral compass and initial impetus from religion. (2) Religion is supported and validated by science, just as material and political engineering validates scientific research results.

But how could mere words and arguments actually cause hearers to shout, ”Magic!” It was because the Words of the holy Prophet and Messenger blasted to bits the structure of their long-held and dearly revered beliefs about reality, namely ideology.

Ideology is a special structure of understanding the world that is purely a belief in itself, with no independent source of verification. Due to the importance of this subject, we take some time now to investigate the ideology in detail. Once it is understood, it will be clear why the people yelled, “Magic!” to the Verses of the divine Messengers, how the Verses, based on truth, reality and verification were able to defeat reality, and how these very verses, containing within them the germs of the scientific method, were capable of founding a new civilization of science and technology. The following is partially and somewhat paraphrased material taken from the book, Manna from Heaven (George Ronald 2007).

The Character of Ideology

What do we mean by ideology, and why is it so dangerous to rational thought? The answer is in ideology’s demand for complete and unquestioning acceptance of its tenants without recourse to independent verification of those tenants or validation of the efficacy of its decrees. As is now argued, it goes to objectives: the object of reason is the attainment of truth, scientific or religious, material or spiritual, while the object of ideology is the acquisition of power. If the ideology attains political and temporal power there will obviously be a huge gap between reality as perceived by everyone, and the pronouncements and adducements of the theorizing power elite. But this will not result in defeat of the ideology and victory for reality because the struggle itself will be given as proof of the truth of the false deity of the ideology. Besançon:

But this gap did not stop the Bolsheviks staying in power. On the contrary, they stayed in power because of it. This enormous complex of false analyses, these imaginary struggles between ghostly adversaries, these inconsistent notions of imperialism, this fabulous interpretation of events, none of this did any harm. (p. 281).

The Government [or political elite] could only act on reality [therefore] in a destructive way, since it was that real [reality itself] which had to be destroyed before the reality of which the [communist] party was the repository could manifest itself. . . . The duplication of realities, the yawning gulf between the party and society, between the world as seen by the party and the world which society knows, is a constant threat to the legitimacy of the government’s power which rests on the verification of the theory. (p. 282).

Ideology is a falsehood, therefore, although having elements of truth co-opted to lend credence to its explanations and construction of its worldview. The ideology is therefore intellectually sterile and impotent, and cannot beget anything of itself, and exists only in the minds of its believers. That is why reality represents a continuous threat to its existence, and must be opposed by the combined forces of all available social institutions which can be enlisted into the service of the ideology’s defense. Reality and real analysis must be destroyed as it refutes the ideology in power. This explains the fierceness of the status quo religious structure’s opposition to the new revelation from God. The divine Qur’an explains that falsehood can create nothing; that only truth can create, by permission of God. We accept these words on a superficial level; now we can understand them on a technical-specific level.

And what is more real than the Messenger of Allah? That is the Tree beyond which there is no passing, the Sadratu’l Muntaha, or, in this dispensation, the Sadratu’l Baha. It is reality itself, and all else is but a derivative of it. According to Baha’u’llah, the history of every divinely revealed religion brought down to mankind gives a full accounting of how the Messenger and His followers fell victim to the relentless hatred, the vilification and calumny, abuse and denunciation of the clerics, the wealthy and the powerful of the day. “Fein would they put out Allah’s Light with their mouths, but Allah hath willed to perfect His Light, albeit the infidels abhor it.” (9:32). The falseness is the false idol of the clergy’s imaginations, their belief that they held power over the religion of the Lord, and not Allah, the Lord Himself, their rejection that “Verily, God will do whatsoever pleases Him,” and that “He chooses and none can object to His choice.” The records of all the holy Books bear witness to this.

Follow the deeper meaning of this Verse, “Fein would they put out God’s light with their mouths,” now accessible to us through the revelation of the divine Kitáb-Al-Íqán, and from our understanding of ideology. It is saying that the people would put out Allah’s light with their mouths if they could—in other words, their words of denial, their false speech—darkness vaunting itself before the Light of truth. But false speech cannot create anything, while Allah’s Truth begets all that is, and the truth has the capacity to create. “Allah hath willed to perfect His Light,” that is, perfect the truth, make it perfect, on earth, as it is in the heavens of His knowledge and in His other worlds.

Truth creates. In classical mechanics, F = ma is the truth, and has the capacity to create technologies in service to the peoples of the earth. It also can “defend” itself against falsehood by independent and free investigation and demonstration of its results independent of whatever people may themselves believe. F ≠ ma is false, and can create nothing. Anything based upon it is bound to fail. That “There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right path has become distinct from the wrong path,” (2:256) is also true, no matter what religious militants may think about it. Or, that patience draws the blessings of Allah; or that He will reduce from its outward boundaries the territory of those who have rejected His teachings, etc. All true. Those who attempt to convert persons to their religion by terrorism and shedding the blood of the innocent, therefore, achieve nothing but to break the hearts of the innocent and to make disturbances in the land after it had been well ordered.

The Messengers return to mankind to restore the primacy of intellectual inquiry and to re-establish the truth that only rational analysis survives and is true, and that divine revelations, in their utilization of irrefutable logic, reason and truth, are the first-best weapon against the false deities of ideology. “Say: the Truth has come and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.” (34:38). That verse is in itself irrefutable evidence in support of our argument.

Is there any question, then, that the return of a divinely appointed Messenger of Allah would be marked for elimination by the power structures using any means at their disposal? The record of events as recounted in the mighty Qur’an testify to this.

An insight into the thought process of such a power elite prepared to go to any lengths, employ any means to destroy the newly revealed Truth from the Lord, has been suggested by the 19^th century novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in his unfinished work, The Brothers Karamazov (Modern Library edition Random House 1950 and later, Constance Garnett translation). In the chapter ‘Pro and Contra,’ one of the principals, Ivan, is relating to his younger brother Pyotr, a poem he is working on about the return of Christ and His subsequent arrest and interrogation by the Grand Inquisitor of the land. The polemic of this Grand Inquisitor is so powerful and evocative of modern totalitarian credos that his dialogue has taken on mythical dimensions over the years. These lines capture the thinking of an ideology’s will to power and control, one that is foreign to both science and religion. The quote is long; but more than anything else, it relates the character and identity of ideology, and that its goal to supplant the true reality it cannot fashion and remake, and to replace it with its own vision of reality. As you read this, try to imagine which religious movements today share these goals and this thinking.

Canst Thou [Jesus] have simply come to the elect and for the elect? But if so, it is a mystery, and we too have a right to preach mystery, and to teach them that it’s not the free judgment of their hearts, not love that matters, but a mystery which they must follow blindly, even against their conscience. So we have done. We have corrected Thy work and have founded it upon miracle, mystery, and authority. . . .

. . . Oh, we shall persuade them at last not to be proud, for Thou didst lift them up and thereby taught them to be proud. We shall show them that they are weak, that they are only pitiful children, but that childlike happiness is the sweetest of all. They will become timid and will look to us and huddle close to us in fear, as chicks to a hen. They will marvel at us and will be awe-stricken before us, and will be proud at our being so powerful and clever, that we have been able to subdue such a turbulent flock of thousands of millions . . . .

. . . Yes, we shall set them to work, but in their leisure hours we shall make their life like a child’s game, with children’s songs and innocent dance. Oh, we shall allow them even sin, they are weak and helpless, and they will love us like children because we allow them to sin. We shall tell them that every sin can be expiated if it is done with our permission, that we allow them to sin because we love them, and the punishment for these sins we take upon ourselves. And we shall take it upon ourselves, and they will adore us as their saviors who have taken on themselves their sins before God. . . . The most painful secrets of their conscience, all, all they will bring to us, and we shall have an answer for all. And they will be glad to believe our answer, for it will save them from the great anxiety and terrible agony they endure at present in making a free decision for themselves. And all will be happy, all the millions of creatures except the hundred thousand who rule over them. For only we, who guard the mystery, shall be unhappy. . . .

. . . What I say to Thee shall come to pass, and our dominion will be built up. I repeat, tomorrow Thou shalt see that obedient flock who at a sign from me will hasten to heap up hot cinders about the pile on which I shall burn Thee for coming to hinder us, for if anyone has ever deserved our fires it is Thou. Tomorrow I shall burn Thee. Dixi. (pp. 305-9).

The ideas in this extended quote capture the thinking of much of orthodox religious structures, and religious terrorism, as they are presented to us today. When these words were written in the late 19^th century, they presaged in their essence the mass movements of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, fascism and communism, followed by a triumphalist capitalism and consumerism; and the recent emerging radical reactionary religious movements of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and most notably, Islam. These thoughts are offered here to act as a characterizing capstone to our analysis of the ideology, so that its potency to wield power in the political and religious sphere and its goal to completely subvert science and religion to its own ends is not underestimated, and the continuing necessity of sending to mankind a fresh revelation to rub out the ideological gods mankind has come to worship, as retold in the divinely revealed surahs of the holy Qur’an, is established.

Ends and Means

Nothing quite shows the contrast of science and religion on one side and ideology on the other than an analysis of their respective goals, and whether means determine their ends or are justified by them. Both science and religious teachings hold that the means determine the end result. In science this means that good scientific methodology validates research results while a bad scientific methodology will invalidate results. Religion acts identically in that it teaches by example, by rational argument, and not by recourse to extraordinary events such as miracles to convince.

History (and sadly, current events) details many episodes of religiously inspired persons committing acts so atrocious that only if they believe that the end justifies those means could they have countenanced them. Yet, in the revealed verses of the Messengers of Allah no statements can be found which declare that the end justifies the means. Quite to the contrary: divine revelation declares first and foremost that the means determine the end pursued. ‘There is no compulsion in religion . . .’^{^[1]}. In fact, the verses of Allah inform us that we become exactly what we do, that the ends we employ determine who we become. It is now clear and evident that the extent to which ideologies root themselves in religion is the extent to which means-justifying acts of inhumanity are carried out, and thereby the extent to which religion is subverted for political ends.

Ideologies also exist in science, of course, in the form of deep-rooted biases, which subvert and nullify its explanatory value. Science generally refuses to analyze the verses of the Qur’án for their rationality and falsifiability or to independently verify the social states under various scenarios predicted by spiritual principles and laws. It has relegated all divinely revealed verses to the position of a special discourse and has followed the religionist doctors in declaring that science stands apart from it and can have little useful to say about it.

At the highest levels scientists may themselves act as priests, enforcing traditions in a guild of dedicants. Observe a commencement of college graduates, their attire, caps and gowns, etc., and see how closely they resemble the medieval attire of scholastic monks. Not only is this evidence of the religious antecedents of modern science in the encyclopaedic scholasticism of the religion in its earliest centuries, but also illustrative of how any paradigm becomes, over time, a kind of received wisdom, accepted dogma, opposing independent examination of its tenants rather than championing such investigations. This is well explained and developed by Kuhn.^{^[2]}

At this point the meaning of the deniers’ use of the term “magic” against the holy Verses revealed by the Messengers by permission of God should be clear. Furthermore, that these Verses were enough to demolish 1,000 years of religious ideology and structure under the teachings of which millions of persons were educated and trained, is as staged by Baha’u’llah, greater in significance than the physical cleaving of the skies, or the literal fulfillment of the other symbolic terms and expressions utilized in the divine Qur’an and the other holy Books of God.

Finally, to complete the circle, below is a discussion about religion’s capacity, as God’s Cause, is able to defend itself from manmade ideologies infesting and corroding its fair name by a native process of rebirth, renewal, resurrection and return. This discussion is also taken from the paper cited earlier. We Baha’is are blessed with knowledge of this already, especially those of us blessed to have studied the divine Kitáb-Al-Íqán. However, it is added here for the sake of completeness, and in case it presents an argument some readers might find worthy of use.

While generally acknowledged that science is capable of correction by way of its own processes, the belief exists that religion is not thus capable of endogenous reformation, and can exist only as tautological constructions within the human mind. It must therefore be demonstrated that religion is also revised and updated through an internally generated process that maintains its relevance and verifies its propositions[3].

In order to do this it is first necessary to carefully define the process of religious renewal. We are not talking about how Judaism can be renewed or reformed, or Christianity, or Catholicism or Shi’a or Sunni Islam, can be revised and corrected, which assumes that the world's religions stand independently from one another, a position rejected by the divine Qur'anic verses themselves: “And verily, this your religion is one religion . . .” (Qur’an 23:52); “Then We sent Our Messengers in succession. Every time there came to a nation their messenger, they denied Him; so We made them follow one another, and we made them as ahadith . . .” (Qur’an 23:44).

What is meant by renewal and continuous criticism and validation of religion is how the Cause of Allah itself is revised and renewed from age to age according to the changing needs of a developing humanity by the appearance of a succession of divinely appointed Messengers, Who Themselves, according to the dictates of Allah, renew the divine Purpose for mankind. By means of increasingly investing spiritual power and authority in the new Dispensation, thereby validating it in the eyes of a skeptical population, while causing the opponents of the message to lose spiritual and moral authority, the new Dispensation is securely established in the fullness of time. Refer for verification of this assertion to Surah 21, al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets).

This process of withdrawal and investment of spiritual authority is centered on the actions of the leading exponents of the status quo belief structure—outworn and ideologically burdened—in the face of the growing strength and unassailable moral power of the new Message from Allah, is best understood by examining the nature of the objections to the new Messenger and His Cause by its opponents. It becomes clear that with whatever criticism they level against the new Cause is equally true, if not more so, when applied to the previous one. “Whatever verse do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring a better one or similar to it. Know you not that Allah is able to do all things?" (Qur'an 2:106). "Verily, those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers, and wish to make a distinction between Allah and His Messengers, saying, 'We believe in some but reject others, and wish to adopt a way in between,' They are in truth disbelievers. . . ." (Qur'an 4:150-151). The Cause of God is a continuous revelatory process where it is impossible to accept one Messenger but reject others. Whatever proves the validity of one proves the validity of all; and whatever argument can be used to reject any individual divinely appointed Messenger is equally applicable to all the others. The verse, "O Children of Adam! If there come to you Messengers from amongst you reciting to you My verses, then whoever becomes pious and righteous, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" (Qur'an 7:35), is an evidence of this theme; as is 26:5: “And never comes to them a Reminder as a recent revelation from the Most Gracious but they turn away therefrom.”

For example, according to the Surah Al-A'raf (Qur’an Surah 7), the Prophets of God have appeared successively, each inviting the people to abandon what had become for them a ritual preservation of an ideological creed, without any true spiritual life, which holds that once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a magical period when a Messenger of God appeared, worked many miracles and signs, left us with a Book and departed. Now we all await the destruction of the world, as promised by a literal interpretation of the verses in the Book the Messenger left with us. But instead of the end of the world they expect, a Messenger appears inviting the people to a new faith, confirming the core truths of their current religion, comprehensively explaining the true meaning of the verses of the Divine Book in their possession, providing a new set of laws and ordinances that promotes economic, spiritual, social and material advancement and revitalizing the Cause of God. "And there came to them indeed their Messengers with clear proofs. But they were not such as to believe in that which they had rejected before. Thus, Allah seals up the hearts of the disbelievers." (Qur'an 7:101). Note that this verse also indicates that the denials of the people living during the appearance of the previous Prophet are repeated in subsequent revelations.

Rather than fulfilling what the people expected of them, the Prophets and Messengers propounded new teachings, annulled laws laid down by the previous divine , rejected as invalid many of the current religious practices, and using alliterative speech established the signs and portents that would herald the advent of yet another Reminder from Allah, who would in turn repeat the process; that is, reject existing religious practices that had been perverted by ideologies and condemn their exponents, restate the divine Purpose, establish new ordinances and laws as He saw fit, lay down the requirements of a true seeker after truth, and propound the appearance of signs signaling the advent of yet another dispensation from God to follow.

Thus, the divinely appointed Revealers of religious teachings Themselves act to cleanse the Cause of God of accumulated dogmas, bigotries, ideologies and nonessential and debasing rituals, so that mankind may have at hand a useful tool of critical moral analysis and spiritual enlightenment.

As can be observed, this is exactly the same process as is exercised in science. According to Kuhn (1962) new scientific developments follow a process of initial rejection; followed by serious investigation; followed by becoming the established structure; and finally being set aside as an ever larger body of external evidence shows that the structure is outworn and needs renewal—that rather than fostering intellectual growth it has become an insuperable barrier to its further attainment, and is then overtaken by superior models and explanations.

Just as we observe that new scientific discoveries stimulate further research on older lines that had seemed unpromising before—for example, after a new discovery into cancer cures from the Japanese Yew tree, Amazonian vegetable species being sought to investigate their purported curative properties—the advent of a religious revelation also has the effect of reviving the older, established faiths in its midst. Judaism was spread throughout the world by Christians, who taught the Old and New Testaments together, and claimed that the Christ was the fulfillment of Mosaic prophesies. Islam also spread the word of Jesus and Moses in the process of disseminating the teaching of the Qur’an. Buddhism in the same way comprehended many of the teachings of Hinduism; and Hinduism spread and grew as a direct result of propagating the new teachings of Buddha which claimed to be its direct fulfillment.

These examples provide evidence that religion, like science, is capable of internal revision by a native process, and transformation into an ever more useful analytical tool of reality. While divine revelations are by nature revelatory rather than humanly accretive, it is sequential, comprehensive and progressive, as a comparison of the Pentateuch with the Holy Qur’an will show.

What couldn’t be discussed in the paper just quoted is anything about Baha’u’llah and the Baha’i Faith, since it appeared an Islamic research publication. We can see, however, that the argument above is just a poor representation of the arguments and doctrine revealed to us by God directly in the Kitáb-I-Íqán and are entirely dependent upon it. No need, therefore, for anything else.

Dalton Garis

[1] Qur’an 2:256

[2] Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press, 1962.

[3] In doing so it is not asserted that only endogenous processes are at work, since both science and religion utilize the entire plane of existence for evidence and modeling, which is, by definition, exogenous at least in part to any defined set of postulations.

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The Number 19 in the Qur'an:

A Critical Evaluation

This is gathered from many sources, both on Baha'i websites and Islamic websites, under the terms, "mathematical miracle of the Qur'an", "the number 19 in the Qur'an" or "code-19."

One of the most convincing proofs demonstrating striking evidence of the divine inspiration of the Qur'an is also the most recent. Using a computer Dr. Rashad Khalifa presents evidence which demonstrates that the number 19 occurs too frequently in the Qur'an to be there by chance. A simple application of the laws of probability is sufficient to interest and astonish even the most reserved skeptic.

Dr. Khalifa, an Egyptian, received a doctorate in biochemistry in the United States and taught there for awhile. He published a 60 page booklet privately in English in the United States in 1972 which was called Number 19: A Numerical Miracle in the Koran.^[43] In the January 13, 1980 and January 20, 1980 issues of the weekly Gulf Times, published in Doha the capital city of Qatar, articles appeared describing this extraordinary marvel. There are 114 surihs in the Qur'an. 114 is 19 x 6, a multiple of 19,^[44] The formula, "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful" is found over every surih of the Qur'an except the ninth. In this formula there are 19 Arabic letters.^[45] This heading has been repeated 113 times at the beginning of the surihs plus one extra time in the Surih of Naml or the Ants XXVII which adds up to 114 times. 114 is a multiple of 19 (6 x 19). If this heading had not been repeated one extra time in the Surih of Naml it would not have become a multiple of 19.^[46] From where the heading is missing in surih IX and where it is repeated in surih XXVII there are 19 surihs.^[47] The sacred formula Bismi'llahi'r Rahmani'r-Rahim, which means "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful," has words in it which are repeated each a multiple of 19. Its first word, Ism, which means name, is found 19 times

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throughout the Qur'an. The second word, Allah, meaning God, is found 2698 times which is 142 x 19. The third word, al-Rahman meaning most gracious, appears 57 times which is 19 x 3. The fourth word, al-Rahim meaning most merciful, is found 114 times or 6 x 19.^[48] The very first surih (XCVI) revealed to Muhammad is called Iqraa or Read! or Proclaim! It is also called 'Alaq or The Clot of Congealed Blood. This first surih has 19 'yihs or verses. The number of letters in surih XCVI adds up to 285 or 19 x 15.^[49] Regarding the statements in the Qur'an where it says that man was created from a clot of congealed blood, Maurice Bucaille, the French surgeon, says this has always been mistranslated. Man has never passed through a stage of being a blood clot. Maurice Bucaille tells us:

"Something which clings" is the translation of the word 'alaq. It is the original meaning of the word. A meaning derived from it, "blood clot", often figures in translation; it is a mistake against which one should guard: man has never passed through the stage of being a "blood clot". The same is true for another translation of this term, "adhesion" which is equally inappropriate. The original sense of "something which clings" corresponds exactly to today's firmly established reality.^[50]

When the egg is implanted in the uterus the development of villosities result. These, like roots, draw nourishment from within the wall of the uterus. "These formations make the egg literally cling to the uterus. This is a discovery of modern times."^[51] Five times the Qur'an describes the act of clinging. This is the way Bucaille translates the following verses:

Read! In the name of thy Lord Who fashioned,
Who fashioned man from something which clings.
Qur'an 96:1-2.

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We have fashioned you from...something which clings.
Qur'an 22:5.

We have fashioned the small quantity (of sperm) into something which clings.
Qur'an 23:14.

(God) fashioned you from a small quantity (of sperm), from
something which clings.
Qur'an 40:67.

Was (man) not a small quantity of sperm which has been poured out?
After that he was something which clings; then God fashioned him in due proportion.
Qur'an 75: 37-38.

The last four of the above five verses describe progressive changes from the small quantity of sperm to his development as an adult. The description of these stages is in complete harmony with what we now know about it and doesn't have a single statement that is not in agreement with science. There is a statement in the Qur'an that tells us "that the embryo passes through the stage of 'chewed flesh', then osseous tissue appears and is clad in flesh (defined by a different word from the preceding which signifies 'intact flesh)."^[52]

We fashioned the thing which clings into a chewed lump of flesh and
We fashioned the chewed flesh into bones and We clothed the bones with intact flesh.
Qur'an 23:14.

Maurice Bucaille explains, "'Chewed flesh' is the translation of the word mudga; 'intact flesh' is lahm. This distinction needs to be stressed. The embryo is initially a small mass. At a certain stage in its development, it looks to the naked eye like chewed flesh. The bone structure develops inside this mass in what is called the mesenchyma. The bones that are formed are covered in muscle; the word lahm applies to them."^[53]

Verses 1 to 5 of Surih XCVI were the first words of revelation to Muhammad. All accounts agree that a long interval followed these words where there was no

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further revelation. How long this interval was is a matter of speculation. Some say it was as long as three years while others put it as low as ten days. The first three years of Muhammad's ministry is very obscure. There was no public declaration of His mission during this time and only a handful of followers. The people of Mecca were unaware that God had chosen someone amongst them to be His Prophet and that He was well known to them. There was a general feeling of expectancy. "...a prophet was expected, and women were anxiously hoping for male children, so they might mother the Apostle of God; and the more thoughtful minds, tinged with traditions of Judaism, were seeking for what they called the 'religion of Abraham,' These men were 'Hanifs,' or 'incliners'...."^[54] When the Angel Gabriel, the vehicle of Revelation, appeared to Muhammad on Mount Hirra" , three times the Angel held up a Tablet and told Him to read. Each time He pleaded He could not read. When the words of revelation came upon Him He was so overcome He thought He was going mad. At that moment a clear voice rang out again in the quiet of the mountainside saying to tell Muhammad that God had chosen Him to be His Messenger to mankind. He was aware and terrified of the awesome mission to proclaim that God is One. The first words of the revelation, "Read, in the name of your Lord" are known to every Muslim. These first words of revelation contain 76 letters or 19 x 4.^[55] The words of the first revelation (verses 1 to 5 in surih 96) number 19 which is 19 x 1.^[56] The words of the second revelation (the first 9 verses of surih 68) number 38 which is 19 x 2.^[57]

The words of the third revelation (the first 10 verses of surih 73) number 57 which is 19 x 3.^[58]

Surih Muddaththir or One Wrapped Up (LXXIV) mentions nineteen appointed angels and says the choosing of the number 19 is to test unbelievers. It is in this surih that several reasons are stated for the use of the number 19. Among

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these reasons are: So that the People of the Book (i.e. Jews, Christians, Sabians, Zoroastrians) may know for certain that the Qur'an is a divinely inspired Book, that the believers increase in faith, to remove doubts and to show that faith is a gift from God which God puts into the heart of whomsoever He pleaseth and will "leave to stray whom He pleaseth." Nineteen as a number by itself is mentioned only once in the Qur'an (Qur'an 74:30). The Qur'an explains the meaning for other numbers such a seven, twelve, forty, etc., but the number 19 is not defined. The last of the surihs, the Surih of Nasr or Help CX, which dates to only a few months before the passing of Muhammad, has a total of 19 words.^[59] Twenty nine surihs in the Qur'an begin with the mysterious disconnected letters. 14 different letters from the alphabet are used and there are 14 various combinations of these disconnected letters in the beginning of the surihs (see Appendix 1 and Appendix 2). All these numbers add up to 57 (29 + 14 + 14 = 57). 57 is 3 x 19, a multiple of 19.^[60] Up to this point the proofs advanced could possibly have been discovered without the aid of a computer. Now we will examine some very complex proofs. The Qur'an contains 77,974 words. There are 329,156 letters in the Qur'an. There has been no change since it was revealed fourteen centuries ago. Not one letter has been added to the original and not one letter has been taken away. It has been kept in a state of purity obviously by divine forces. 329,156 is a multiple of 19 (17,324 x 19).^[61] The Surih of Qaf (surih 50) begins with the disconnected letter "Q" or "Qaf" from which the surih is named. The letter Q is found in this surih 57 times or 3 x 19. The people who rejected Lut^[62] are mentioned twelve times throughout the Qur'an. They are always referred to as "the people of Lut" (eleven times) except in the fiftieth surih where they are called "the brethren of Lut."

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People is an Arabic word that has a Q in it. If this change had not been made Q would have occurred 58 times and the mathematical basis of the Qur'an would have been destroyed.^[63] One of the disconnected letters at the beginning of surih 42 is "Q". There are 57 of these letters in surih 42 which is the same as in surih 50. Together they total 114 which is a multiple of 19 (19 x 6). Since there are 114 surihs in the Qur'an, "Q" seems to mean Qur'an.^[64]

The Surih of Qalam or the Pen (LXVIII) which begins with the disconnected letter "N", or Nun has 133 "N's" in it. 133 is 7 x 19, a multiple of 19.^[65] The surih of Sad (XXXVIII) begins with the disconnected letter "Sad" or "S" and this letter is found 29 times in this surih. This is not a multiple of 19 but when it is added to the S which is one of the disconnected letters at the beginning of the surih of Maryam (Mary) (XIX) where the total times it is found is 26 (also not a multiple of 19) and add the total of times S appears in the Surih of Araf or the Heights (VII) where the total is 97 (also not a multiple of 19) you get a total of 152 (29 + 26 + + 97 = 152 which is a multiple of 19 or 19 x 8). There are only three times where this letter is used as a disconnected letter in the Qur'an. Separately, in the individual surihs where they appear the letters do not total a multiple of 19. It is only when they are taken together that a multiple of 19 is formed.^[66] There are several other cases of this complex phenomenon. The Surih of Ya. Sin. is the 36th surih of the Qur'an and is named from the disconnected letters which are found at its opening verse (Y and S). Y is found in this surih 237 times and S is found 48 times. Neither 237 or 48 are multiples of 19 but together they add up to 285 which is 19 x 15.^[67] Seven surihs 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46 begin with the disconnected

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letters H.M. The number of times H appears in these seven surihs is 292 and the number of times M appears is 1855. Added together they total 2147 which is 19 x 113. 292 and 1855 are not multiples of 19 but added together they become a multiple.^[68] The same is true for the disconnected letters which appear at the beginning of the other surihs.

It is true in all 29 surihs which begin with the mysterious disconnected letters. All of these letters fit precisely this mathematical pattern. Unknown to millions who have spent endless hours reading, memorizing and studying the Qur'an is that this revealed Book has a mathematical precision which has remained unpenetrated for a full millennium and that this exactitude has not been corrupted by time. In view of the changes everything experiences, especially language, even over the space of a few years, it is obvious that this sacred writing has been divinely protected. Dr. Khalifa tells us that the Qur'an, according to the original, was written into a General Electric Time-sharing terminal which was connected to a central computer. It was programmed to count the frequency of occurrence of each letter in each chapter. Each Arabic letter was given an English equivalent. An important point to keep in mind is that the original Qur'anic Arabic was strictly adhered to. Some printings of the Qur'an use the conventional Arabic which is not identical. This is one of the most unusual and important discoveries of this century. We have been given a key that will unlock the door to the understanding of the mysteries hidden in the Qur'an. It would be an error to think that these discoveries are an end in themselves. They seem to be a beginning which will yield explanations to mysteries we are not even aware of at the present time.

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Why Nineteen?

First and foremost, the reason for the attention Muhammad calls to the number 19 is part of His fulfillment of the covenant He made concerning the Bab, the Promised One who would appear after Him. Every Prophet has made a covenant with His people that they accept and follow the next Manifestation who would be the reappearance of His own reality. Muhammad left signs and evidences everywhere to make it easier for the sincere seeker to recognize the Bab. In no way has Muhammad fallen short of His duty but the people have been found to have closed hearts and blind eyes. There is no evidence that the number 19 has ever been used or figured prominently or even significantly in any religious system or social order until the coming of Islam. In Islam it appears as a mysterious number which has been a source of wonderment to scholars and a cause of speculation to the mystics. All have failed to come up with convincing arguments for its appearance in the Qur'an. Not until the coming of the Babi Faith and the Bahá'í Faith has convincing reasons for its use in Islam been brought forward. Its use in the Qur'an is an indisputable proof of the validity of Islam, the Cause of the Bab and the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. Such a powerful proof should remove doubts from any true seeker and bring greater heights of certitude to the confirmed soul. Its use in the Qur'an is none other than to point the way to the Promised One. The historical and practical use in the Babi Faith and the Bahá'í Faith and its application as one of the basic mathematical components for the structure of the coming world civilization is dazzling as one contemplates the far-reaching transformation that this usage alone will have on human society. This is true even though we feel its effects only slightly at the present time.

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The Number Nineteen Becomes Manifest in the Bahá'í Faith

Besides being a number which both the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh have employed to use for practical reasons, the number has been used to help searchers and believers alike to recognize the Messenger of God for this day. It has been used in prophecy. It has been used in many ways to conceal meanings and to reveal extended meanings in certain words and phrases. The use of the number nineteen in the Bahá'í Faith is so extensive and obvious as to leave the investigator in awe and astonishment, yet the mysteries contained within that number are inexhaustible. Some of the ways in which this number has been and is now in common practical usage in the Faith are:

1. The Bayan (Exposition), the Book of Laws^[69] of the Babi Dispensation, consists of nine Vahids (Unities) of nineteen chapters each, except the last which has only ten chapters.^[70]

2. Bismi'llahi'r-Rahmani'r-Rahim is the sacred formula placed before every surih of the Qur'an except the ninth.^[71] Some translate this "In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful" while others translate it," In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." There are nineteen Arabic letters in this formula. The Bab has changed this formula to Bismi'llahi'l-Amna'i'l-Aqdas which when translated is, "In the Name of God, the Inaccessible, the Sanctified," however the number of letters has remained unchanged. These are symbolic of the nineteen Letters of the Living--eighteen disciples surrounding the nineteenth, the Bab Himself.^[72] For a period of forty days only Mulla Husayn believed in the Bab. Gradually other Letters were generated from the Primal Point as the Bab Himself describes:

Understand in the same way the beginning of the manifestation of the Bayan: during forty days no one but the letter Sin believed in B. It was only, little by little, that the Bismi'llahu'l-Amna'u'l-Aqdas

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clothed themselves with the garment of faith until finally the Primal Unity was completed. Witness then how it has increased until our day.^[73]

Shoghi Effendi confirms this when he writes, "Not until forty days had elapsed, however, did the enrollment of the seventeen remaining Letters of the Living commence."^[74] Note that the word for unity ln both Arabic and Persian is vahid and that the numerical values of the letters of this word add up to 19. The letter Sin is the first letter to follow the B in Bismi'llah (remembering that short vowels are not written). The Bab indicates that, "All that is in the Bayan is synthesized in one of the verses of the Bayan."^[75] He explains that this is the first verse^[76] Bismi'llahi'l-Amna'i'l-Aqdas and says, "All that is in the Bayan is synthesized in one of the verses, and it is He the B of Bismi'llah and this B is a proof in itself."^[77] The Bab is referring to the point which is beneath the B. Without that diacritical mark the letter would not exist. In both Arabic and Persian the B is a straight line with a point under it. The Bab reminds us of some interesting mathematical facts when He states, All material letters exist and flow from a point--a line is nothing but a succession of points;--therefore, the reality of the letters does not exist nor develop except through the point of Truth. This Point, in the Qur'an, is Muhammad, in the Bayan, the master of the Seven Letters^[78] and in the manifestation of 'Him whom God Shall Make Manifest,' it is Divine Truth, the Divine being...it is the sun of truth."^[79] He also says that, "The Point is like the sun, and the other letters are like mirrors placed before the resplendent star." Each letter is like a mirror, several mirrors or in the case of Quddus, mirrors to the number of eight Vahids revolve."^[80] Each mirror reflects the Source of Light and if you look into any of those mirrors you see the Bab Himself. The First Vahid is the Primal Unity. These eighteen lesser luminaries, together with the Bab, are the First Vahid

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(Unity) of the Dispensation of the Bayan. The Bab is the Primal Point from which have been generated this Primal Unity and,"... from which have been generated all created things."^[81] Expanding on this truth He says, "Therefore, as words and letters are only made real through the Nuqtih (Point) also, through Him the realities of human beings will manifest and multiply."^[82] This is not the first time that this truth has been revealed to man. It has been known among some of the mystics, the wise and the learned of Islam. In a well-known tradition, which has been attributed to 'Ali, it is said that the essence of all religious and spiritual truth of all past revealed religions is to be found in the Qur'an and that the Qur'an itself is contained in the first chapter, that this chapter is contained in the first verse, that this verse is contained in its first letter (B) and that all that is contained in the B is contained in the point beneath the B. 'Ali has said, "I am that Point."^[83]

3. There are nineteen invocations in a very special and beautiful prayer usually said by Muslims of Shi'ah Islam during the period of fasting in the month of Ramadan. These invoke God through His names. The first of these invocations revolves around Baha which means Glory. The Badi'' Calendar, which is the one in use in the Bahá'í Faith, uses these names in the same order. The Bab has given them to the nineteen months of His calendar.^[84] Each month has nineteen days in it. Bahá'u'lláh gave formal sanction to this calendar indicating that it should begin in the year of the Bab's Declaration and since the position of the intercalary days were not specified He stated where they were to be. One of the traditions of Islam says that the "Greatest Name of God" is among these nineteen names. The Asma'u'l-Husna or "Most Beauteous Names" of God are phrases found in several places in the Qur'an.^[85] In hadith literature there is a statement attributed to Muhammad, "Verily there are 99 names of God, and whoever recites them shall enter Paradise."^[86] Some Islamic scholars have made a list of these

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99 names^[87] from extensive research in hadith literature. These traditions also say that God has a hundredth name, the "Most Great Name", and whoever calls on God by that Name shall obtain all his desires. Many of the mystics, the wise and the learned have tried and failed to unravel this mystery. Some have even claimed to possess the Greatest Name but lacking authority they failed to give the certainty required for such a claim. Only a Manifestation of God could speak with such authority and solve such an issue as this. It becomes obvious that this Name could only truly be known when the Mihdi was made manifest.

One of the most interesting stories is that of a perceptive and widely known scholar who claimed that the "Most Great Name" was Baha and he even adopted the name Shaykh Bahá'í. He was from Lebanon, born in 953 A.H. (1547 A.D.) and went to Persia when he was a young boy. He became the most highly regarded scholar at the court of Shah 'Abbas.^[88] Bahá'u'lláh confirmed that the "Greatest Name" is Baha. The Bab sent Bahá'u'lláh a scroll with three hundred and sixty derivatives of the word Baha' written in the form of a pentacle. The various derivatives of the word Baha in Arabic are also regarded as the "Greatest Name." The "Greatest Name" is referred to as Ism-i-A'zam.

4. The Badi'' Calendar, which is used by Bahá'ís throughout the world, consists of 19 months of 19 days each with four additional intercalary days (Ayyam-i-Ha) in ordinary and five in leap years. The Bab described this calendar in the Kitab-i-Asma'', revealed in Arabic, and stated that this system was dependent upon the acceptance and good-pleasure of "Him Whom God shall make manifest."^[89] It is based on the solar year. 19 months multiplied by 19 days plus Ayyam-i-Ha equals oneness (361 + 5 = 1 year). The Bab has also divided the years following His Revelation into cycles of nineteen years. Each cycle of nineteen years is called a vahid. He gave each

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of these a name which is different from the names He gave to the months. Nineteen cycles make 361 years which is called a Kull-i-Shay'. As mentioned before the numerical value of the word vahid is nineteen. Kull-i-Shay' is an Arabic word whose numerical value is 361 (19 x 19) according to the abjad system of number value (K = 20, 1 = 30, Sh = 300, a = 1, y = 10). Kull-i-Shay' means "all things". We are living in the eighth vahid of the first kull-i-Shay'.

5. "...it behooveth man, upon reaching the age of nineteen, to render thanksgiving for the day of his conception as an embryo. For had the embryo not existed, how could he have reached his present state?"^[90] The Bab teaches man to be grateful for this gift from God while also, in the text of the same paragraph, He teaches man to be grateful for former Revelations. For, "...had the religion taught by Adam not existed, this Faith would not have attained its present state."^[91]

6. The Bab, on pilgrimage to Mecca, purchased and sacrificed nineteen lambs of the choicest breed. He performed this according to ancient custom. Nine of these were in His own name, seven in the name of Quddus and three for His Ethiopian servant. He didn't take any of the meat Himself but gave it to the poor and needy of the neighborhood.^[92]

7. The Bab said that Quddus, "... is the one round whom revolve eight Vahids...."^[93] Shoghi Effendi said Quddus is the one "...whom the Persian Bayan extolled as that fellow-pilgrim round whom mirrors to the number of eight Vahids revolve...."^[94] Eight Vahids is 152 (8 x 19) a multiple of nineteen.

8. "The incarceration of Quddus [in Sari]... lasted five and ninety days," (5 x 19).^[95]

9. After the first sortie from the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi"...Quddus bade his companions dig a moat around the fort as a safeguard against a renewed attack. Nineteen days elapsed during which they exerted themselves to the

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utmost for the completion of the task they had been charged to perform."^[96]

10. After the death of Mulla Husayn, Quddus ordered Mirza Muhammad-Baqir to lead the fourth sortie: "Sally out and, with the aid of eighteen men marching at your side, administer a befitting chastisement upon the aggressor and his host. Let him realize that though Mulla Husayn be no more, God's invincible power still continues to sustain his companions and enable them to triumph over the forces of their enemies."^[97]

11. At the command of Quddus, "Mirza Muhammad-Baqir again ordered eighteen of his companions to hurry to their steeds and follow him" (18 + 1 = 19). This was the fifth sortie in the defense of the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi.^[98]

12. During the period of some of the heaviest defensive action of the Zanjan conflagration Hujjat gave instructions that the guards of the barricades were "...to carry out the Bab's injunction to His followers and to repeat nineteen times, each night, each of the following invocations: 'Allah-u-Akbar,'^[99] 'Allah-u-A'zam,'^[100] 'Allah-u-Ajmal,'^[101] 'Allah-u-Abha,'^[102] and 'Allah-u-Athar.'^[103][104]

13. The siege at Zanjan was a long and heroic struggle. After the capture of the fort by the enemy, the soldiers were bent upon the extermination of the Babi defenders. The rest of the companions continued their defensive actions from houses. "They were divided into five companies, each consisting of nineteen times nineteen companions. From each of these companies, nineteen would rush forth together and, raising with one voice the cry of 'Ya' Sahibu'z- Zaman!'^[105] would fling themselves into the midst of the enemy and would succeed in scattering its forces. The uplifted voices of these ninety-five companions would alone prove sufficient to paralyse the efforts, and crush the spirit, of their assailants."^[106] 5 companies times 19 companions equals 95. Note that the number 5 is a reference to the Bab. The numerical values of the letters in His name is equivalent to 5 in the abjad system of reckoning (b = 2, a = 1, b = 2).

14. Hujjat had endured severe pain, caused by a wound, for nineteen days

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before he suddenly passed away in the act of prayer invoking the name of the Bab.^[107]

15. The Bab revealed the Lawh-i-Huru'fat (Tablet of the Letters) which unravelled the mystery of the Mustaghath and alluded "... to the nineteen years which must needs elapse between the Declaration of the Bab and that of Bahá'u'lláh."^[108]

16. The Bab had made the command to His followers that once every nineteen days the eighth Chapter of the sixth Vahid of the Bayan should be read. This was done so they would not fail to recognize"... the revelation of Him Whom God shall make manifest...."^[109]

17. "Be attentive," warns the Bab, "from the inception of the Revelation till the number of Vahid (19)."^[110] Again and even more precisely He says, "The Lord of the Day of Reckoning will be manifested at the end of Vahid (19)...."^[111] These are unmistakable references to the nineteen years that must elapse between the public Declaration of the Bab and the public Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh. It is a reference to the year nineteen of the Badi Calendar.

18. The time between the Declaration of the Bab and the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh was nineteen years.

19. The "hour" mentioned several times by the Author of the Apocalypse is nineteen years. There are many meanings to this word. Mirza Asadu'llah-i-Nur explains that it means the Manifestation Himself, the Declaration of His Mission, the "time of the end," and the amount of time between the Declaration of the Bab and the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh.^[112]

20. The Bab in a warning to Vahid states, "Beware, beware, lest in the days of His Revelation the Vahid of the Bayan (eighteen Letters of the Living and the Bab) shut thee out as by a veil from Him, inasmuch as this Vahid is but a creature in His sight."^[113]

21. Regarding the disconnected letters which appear before many of the

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surihs of the Qur'an Bahá'u'lláh says, "In the disconnected letters of the Qur'an the mysteries of the divine Essence are enshrined, and within their shells the pearls of His Unity are treasured."^[114] Pay close attention to the word unity in this statement for in it is disclosed the number 19.^[115] The word vahid means unity in Arabic and Persian and the numerical values of the letters of this word (v = 6, a = 1, h = 8, d = 4) add up to 19 according to the abjad system of reckoning. Bahá'u'lláh provided the first clue to a mystery that had remained unsolved for over thirteen centuries. The word itself signifys unity and symbolizes the unity of God. It is the name of the number one. When an Arabic speaking person counts he starts out with vahid which means one.

22. The "Greatest Name" has within it all of the numbers with mystical significance. Taken as a whole it symbolizes the Glory of God and the Unity of God. Of the many mysteries surrounding the "Greatest Name" the number nineteen appears among them, especially with the twin stars as it is used on the Bahá'í ringstone. Some of these, from the personal view of this writer are:

7 + 7 + 5 which equal nineteen. Seven being the number of letters in the name 'Ali Muhammad when written in Arabic and Persian and seven being the number of letters in the name Husayn-'Ali. The five is derived from the pentacle formed from three hundred and sixty derivatives of the word "Baha" which the Bab had written in His own handwriting, a fine shikastih script, on a scroll of blue paper and had it delivered to Bahá'u'lláh in Tihran.^[116] The number 5 in this case is the symbol of the Bahá'í Faith which may, in time, become the dominant symbol of the Faith.

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That it will become dominant is, of course, the personal opinion of this writer. The five pointed star is the symbol of our Faith as state in a letter dated 28 October 1949 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, "Strictly speaking the 5-pointed star is the symbol of our Faith as used by the Bab and explained by Him. But the Guardian does not feel it is wise or necessary to complicate our explanations of the Temple by adding this."^[117] It does seem inappropriate and confusing in our explanation of the Temple but very helpful in understanding other aspects of the Faith.

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The twin stars (5 + 5) and the word "Baha," the numerical values of which add up to 9, equal 19. This would fit a personal explanation given by Hand of the Cause of God Abu'l-Qasim Faizi who asks:

may I venture to suggest another approach to the meaning of the two stars This approach is merely a personal one therefore not authoritative. Could we not visualize God as manifested in His most resplendent glory in the majestic figure of Bahá'u'lláh, and standing on either side of Him, two towering personalities of unsurpassed beauty: the Bab the Herald, the incarnation of sacrifice and of self effacement and the highest expression of true love ever possible in this contingent life; and 'Abdu'l-Bahá', the Center of the Covenant, the true Exemplar of the teachings and the highest embodiment of servitude.These two exemplify the mysteries of sacrifice and servitude, calling on all men to hasten and offer their potentialities as humble gifts for the establishment of God's redeeming Order, the very reflection of His Kingdom on earth.^[118]

The calculation of the word "Bab" is 5 and "Baha" is 9. Add these together with the 5 in the star which is the symbol of the Bahá'í Faith and you get 19.

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The "Greatest Name" taken as a whole also has the value of one which stands for unity. Vahid (19) - 1 + 9 = 10 = 1. One has always symbolized the unity of God.

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'Abdu'l-Bahá comments upon the significance of the inscription on the Bahá'í ring. He sheds much light upon the meanings of the Greatest Name but some are very profound. He says, "The inscription is composed of two 'Ba' and four 'Ha'"^[119] and suggests that you refer to the commentary upon "Bismi'llah, Errahman. Errahin" for a detailed explanation of "Ha". His explanations touch upon many subjects which will require much study and research and should be richly rewarding. After overwhelming your imagination He says, "Briefly, such are the least of the mysteries of the composition of the Greatest Name upon the stone of the Divine ring."^[120]

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Wearing the Bahá'í ring is for ornamentation and for purposes of identifying oneself as a Bahá'í. This is the most general and simplest reason for its use but there are many other reasons for its use. Wearing of the "Greatest Name" usually on a pendant or a ringstone or placing it upon the wall of where one has his home is an outward sign of one's firm bond with the covenant Bahá'u'lláh has established with the believers. It is a pledge of one's loyalty.

It is a sign of from whence he draws his strength. It is a reminder, a source of protection, a source of spirituality, a visible badge of one's honor. An announcement that his conduct and deeds are intimately linked to the One he champions as his Liegelord. It is a declaration of the One to Whom he bears allegiance and the One to Whom he swears fealty.

23. The triumph of Bahá'u'lláh over the beast and the false prophet begins in the l9th chapter of the Apocalypse. There are 22 chapters in the Apocalypse which is also the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. That a book had 22 chapters was a Hebrew practice meaning a book is complete.^[121]

24. Seven has always been looked upon as a mystic number and symbol. It is made up of many but yet forms an indivisible integer. It is the highest indivisible integer of one digit. Seven is used in the Qur'an to some extent. There are seven heavens, seven gates of hell, and so on:

God is He Who Created seven Firmaments and of
the earth a similar number.
Qur'an 65:12

'Abdu'l-Bahá quotes an Islamic source possibly the Qur'an or the Hadith when He writes, "The seven heavens and the seven earths weep over the mighty when he is brought low."^[122]

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Five is the mystic symbol representing man who stands at the center of the four elements, the four directions and the four seasons of the year, which characterize the earthly state. Five, the pentad is the sum of 2 and 3, the first even and odd compound. One is the Creator. One is unity, God alone without creation. Two is diversity, and three, the sum of 1 and 2, is the bringing together of unity and diversity which are the two principles in operation in the universe and which represents the combined powers of nature. Five represents man and the symbol used is often the star or pentacle which represents the body of man, with the head, the two arms and the two legs.^[123] Five also represents the five senses through which man perceives existence. As there are seven heavens and seven earths, man's external world has fourteen planes. Since he relates to these levels with five senses the number of stages governing his development and controlling his conduct may be said to be nineteen. Man can acquire the "seven virtues" of faith, hope, charity, justice, fortitude, prudence and temperance or he can fall into the grip of the "seven deadly" or "capital sins" of pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, avarice and sloth. We are aware that the virtues and sins are endless, without number, but there is a profound reason why they have been termed seven in number. Seven signifies rest or repose in the divine center, "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all his work." In one sense it is the symbol of attainment. Seven is the stamp of the divine seal upon things of the earth. Six, among other things, is the symbol of man in that state on the sixth day when he was created. Beyond six (seven) is that from which all existence comes from and to which it returns. Man in the process of acquiring virtues follows the spiritual path which the manifestation for the day in which he is living points out to him. Man must learn to desire, even yearn, for this love. He opens his heart and receives the

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gift of love and faith. There are risks taken on the path and he could break laws and fall prey to all manner of sin. Some say it is better not to set out at all than to awaken the soul, go a certain distance and then abandon the path because the greater the virtue the greater the danger in becoming the very embodiment of one or more of the deadly sins. Man in this state can be described as corruption optimi pessima or the best when corrupted becomes the worst. This is reminiscent of Alexander Pope's statement, "The worst of madmen is a saint run mad."

25. There are six verses in the Prayer for the Dead which are to be repeated nineteen times.^[124]

26. Each believer is to repeat the "Greatest Name" "Allah-u-Abha'" ninety-five times a day (19 x 5).^[125]

27. There is an exemption from offering the Obligatory Prayers granted to women in their courses provided they perform their ablutions and repeat "Glorified be God, the Lord of Splendour and Beauty" 95 times a day (19 x 5).^[126]

28. Every nineteen days, usually on the first day of the Bahá'í month, the Bahá'ís gather for prayers, consultation and fellowship. These meetings are called Nineteen Day Feasts because they are held once every nineteen days. The Nineteen Day Feast, established by Bahá'u'lláh,^[127] is the most sacred of Bahá'í institutions and has been described by the Guardian as the foundation of the new World Order."^[128] "The Nineteen Day Feast was inaugurated by the Bab and ratified by Bahá'u'lláh...."^[129]

29. The period of fasting is for 19 days. There is an exemption from fasting granted to travellers who break their journey for less than 19 days. If a traveller breaks his journey at a place where they will stay 19 days, he is exempt from fasting only for the first three days. There is an exemption for women in their courses if they perform their ablutions and repeat the verse "Glorified be God, the Lord of Splendour and Beauty" 95 times a day (19 x 5).^[130]

30. The Bahá'í period of engagement must not exceed 95 days (5 x 19).

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31. The marriage dowry is fixed at 19 mithqals^[131] of pure gold for city-dwellers and 19 mithqals of silver for village-dwellers.^[132] You are forbidden to pay more than 95 (5 x 19) mithqals.^[133] Bahá'u'lláh states that He wants the man to content himself with the payment of 19 mithqals of silver.^[134]

32. During a year of patience, which all Bahá'ís must observe if they wish to divorce, sexual intercourse with one's mate voids the period of waiting. Intercourse with anyone else is forbidden and "whoever breaks this law must repent and pay the House of Justice 19 mithqals of gold."^[135]

33. "If a person has possessions equal in value to at least 19 mithqals in gold, it is a spiritual obligation for him to pay 19% of the total amount, once only, as Huququ'llah (The Right of God)... Thereafter, whenever his income, after all expenses have been paid, increases the value of his possessions by the amount of at least 19 mithqals of gold, he is to pay 19% of this increase, and so on for each further increase."^[136]

34. If one is able to do so there is a law requiring the renewal of the furnishing of one's house after nineteen years.^[137]

35. The National Assemblies are elected, "...annually by delegates whose number has been fixed, according to national requirements, at 9, 19, 95, or 171 (9 times 19)..."^[138]

36. The number nineteen is found within the architecture of the Bahá'í House of Worship in America along with other numbers significant to the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. "There are 18 steps at each of the nine entrances of the Temple, which with the completing doorway make 19- -and each door (a 19) becomes a recurring symbol of the Bab himself, because as we remember, Bab is a title meaning a door between heaven and earth."^[139]

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The number eight had a significant part in the building of the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land. In explaining the meaning for the use of eight in the architecture of the Shrine. Shoghi Effendi recited a verse of the Qur'an, "...on that day eight shall bear up the throne of thy Lord."^[140] Shoghi Effendi, "...always referred to the Shrine as the 'Throne of the Lord,' and to the Casket of the Bab as the 'Throne.' Even the Holy Dust was called by Him by the 'Throne.'"^[141] Ugo Giachery, Hand of the Cause of God says, "The eight pinnacles, one at each corner of the octagon...are indeed original in conception.... Speaking one evening of the importance of the minarets in Islamic architecture,

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Shoghi Effendi said: 'The mosque of Medina has seven minarets, the one of Sultan Ahmad in Constantinople has six, but the Qur'an mentions eight.'[142a] Furthermore, the eight slender minaret-like spires symbolize the bearers of the 'throne of God.'"[142b] "'Also the Bab is the eighth Manifestation of those religions whose followers still exist.'"^[143] The use of the number eight is evident in many other details of the Shrine and in the grounds around it such as the eight doors, the flowerbeds shaped as eight-pointed stars, etc. Might not the "Angels...on its sides^[144] be the ones for whom the doors of the Shrine of the Bab were named?

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37. Shoghi Effendi selected nineteen from amongst the foremost followers of Bahá'u'lláh who had passed away and grouped their photographs in an illustration published in The Bahá'í World, Volume 3. Under the illustration they have been named, "The Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh" and "Pillars of the Faith".^[145]

38. Shoghi Effendi selected nineteen from amongst the foremost servants of the Faith who had passed away and grouped their photographs in an illustration published in The Bahá'í World, Volume 3. Under the illustration they have been named, "The Disciples of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and "Heralds of the Covenant".^[146]

39. It was 'Abdu'l-Bahá who conceived the great plan for the development of Bahá'í properties on Mount Carmel. Using the Shrine of the Bab as the axis, "The plan called for nine terraces with stairways from the foot of the mountain to the Shrine, and nine above the Shrine to the mountain-top, with the Shrine area constituting the nineteenth terrace."^[147]

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The list is not exhaustive. It would be more proper to say the list is inexhaustible.

Time, prayer and effort will obviously reveal a wider knowledge and understanding of the total pattern of all numerical significances and deeper penetration into the concealed meanings that are yet to astonish the mind of man.

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The evidence presented here should indicate that every letter of the Qur'an has been preserved exactly as it was revealed and should leave no doubt that the Qur'an is a divinely inspired Book which, in turn, should increase the faith of every believer and enable him to look upon that Book with a new reverential awareness. It also confirm that the statements in the Qur'an are in agreement with precise scientific concepts which have only been discovered in recent times. In addition to this, it shows in an unsuspecting and ingenuous way that the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh were the Ones promised by Muhammad.

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Appendix 1

29 letters are found in the Arabic alphabet (hamza and alif are counted as two letters). 29 surihs have disconnected letters. Surih XLII has two sets of disconnected letters and is not counted twice. 14 different letters from the Arabic alphabet have been used prefixed to 29 surihs. 15 letters have not been used.

These 14 letters are:

A., Alif.
A., 'Ain.
H., Ha.
H., H.
L., Lam.
M., Mim.
N., Nun.
Q., Qaf.
R., Ra.
S., Sin.
S., Sad.
T., Ta.
Y., Ya.

These 14 letters have been used in 14 combinations.

The 14 various combinations are:

Three surihs have one letter by itself.

N. Surih 68.
Q. Surih 50.
S. Surih 38.

Ten surihs have two letter combinations.

H.M. Surih 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46.
T.H. Surih 20.
T.S. Surih 27.
Y.S. Surih 36.

Thirteen surihs have three letter combinations.

A.L.M.Surih 2, 3, 29, 30, 31, 32.
A.L.M.Surih 10, 11, 12, 14, 15.
T.S.M.Surih 26, 28.

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Two surihs have four letter combinations.

A.L.M.R. Surih 13.
A.L.M.S. Surih 7.

Two surihs have five letter combinations.

K.H.'A.S. Surih 19.
H.M. and 'A.S.Q. Surih 42

The twenty-nine surihs which have disconnected letters are:

2.	A.L.M.	Alif. Lam. Mim.
3.	A.L.M.	Alif. Lam. Mim. Sad.
7.	A.L.M.S.	Alif. Lam. Mim.
10.	A.L.R.	Alif. Lam. Ra.
11.	A.L.R..	Alif. Lam. Ra.
12.	A.L.R.	Alif. Lam. Ra.
13.	A.L.R	Alif. Lam. Mim. Ra.
14.	A.L.R.	Alif. Lam. Ra.
15.	A.L.R.	Alif. Lam. Ra.
19.	K.H.Y.'A.S.	Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ain. Sad.
20.	T.H.	Ta. Ha.
26.	T.S.M.	Ta. Sin. Mim.
27.	T.S.	Ta. Sin.
28.	T.S.M.	Ta. Sin. Mim.
29.	A.L.M.	Alif. Lam. Mim.
30.	A.L.M.	Alif. Lam. Mim.
31.	A.L.M	Alif. Lam. Mim.
32.	A.L.M.	Alif. Lam. Mim.
36.	Y.S.	Ya. Sin.
38.	S.	Sad.
40.	H.M.	Ha. Mim.
41.	H.M.	Ha. Mim.
42.	H.M. and Ha. Mim. and 'A.S.Q.	'Ain. Sin. Qaf.
43.	H.M.	Ha. Mim.
44.	H.M.	Ha. Mim.
45.	H.M.	Ha. Mim.
46.	H.M.	Ha. Mim.
50.	Q.	Qaf.
68.	N.	Nun.

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The twenty-nine surihs, their disconnected letters and their numerical values:

2.	A.L.M.	1 + 30 + 40
3.	A.L.M.	1 + 30 + 40
7.	A.L.M.S.	1 + 30 + 40 + 90
10.	A.L.R.	1 + 30 + 200
11.	A.L.R.	1 + 30 + 200
12.	A.L.R.	1 + 30 + 200
13.	A.L.M.R.	1 + 30 + 40 + 200
14.	A.L.R.	1 + 30 + 200
15.	A.L.R.	1 + 30 + 200
19.	K.H.Y.'A.S.	20 + 5 + 10 + 70 + 90
20.	T.H.	9 + 5
26.	T.S.M.	9 + 60 + 40
27.	T.S.	9 + 60
28.	T.S.M.	9 + 60 + 40
29.	A.L.M.	1 + 30 + 40
30.	A.L.M.	1 + 30 + 40
31.	A.L.M.	1 + 30 + 40
32.	A.L.M.	1 + 30 + 40
36.	Y.S.	10 + 60
38.	S.	90
40.	H.M.	8 + 40
41.	H.M.	8 + 40
42.	H.M.	and 8 + 40 'A.S.Q. 70 + 60 + 100
43.	H.M.	8 + 40
44.	H.M.	8 + 40
45.	H.M.	8 + 40
46.	H.M.	8 + 40
50.	Q.	100
68.	N.	50
________	Total	3385

The abjad or numerical values of all the disconnected letters in all the twenty-nine surihs where they appear total 3385. This number [3385] added, using either the abjad system or the literary device called the gematria, equals 1. (3385 = 19 = 9 + 1 = 10 = 1). 3385 is also a multiple of five (677 X 5).

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Notes

* Muslims would strongly disagree with the statement that the Qur'an was the "work of one man." Rather, they would explain it as the voice of God, delivered to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. -J.W., 2012.

1. Translation taken from Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Scriptures (New York: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1923), p. 567. See also Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan: The Book of Certitude (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1931), p. 140 where the translation is, "We noted all things and wrote them down."

2. The spelling of the Oriental words and proper names used in this article is according to the system of transliteration established at one of the International Oriental Congresses.

3. Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan: The Book of Certitude, trans. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1931), p. 210.

4. Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, trans. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1941), p. 82.

5. Bahá'u'lláh, EPistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 112.

6. Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1971), p. 41.

7. Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1955), p. 106.

8. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, trans. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 101.

9. Maurice Bucaille' The Bible. The Qur'an and Science: "La Bible, le Coran et la Science', trans. Alastair D. Pannell and the Author (Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1978), p. 148. This work has also been translated into Arabic.

10. Bucaille, p. 125.

11. Bucaille, p. 120.

12. Bucaille, p. 167.

13. Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ( New York: The Modern Library, n.d.), III, 85. This is a most beautiful and poetic story which helps man in his comprehension and is compatible with Bahá'í teaching. We are aware that paper, silk or anything that decomposes and is perishable does not exist in worlds beyond the material world and that the angel Gabriel is the personification of the Holy Spirit. In Christianity it is symbolized by a dove and in the Bahá'í faith the Holy Spirit is personified by a Maiden. It is a well known concept in Islam that God speaks through the mouth of His Prophet. It should be a well known concept in Christianity on the basis of such clear statements of Christ such as: 'For I spake not from myself but the Father that hath sent me, He hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak "(John 12:49). The power of the Qur'an in the development of man and the creation of a new civilization can best be understood by the words of Bahá'u'lláh in what He says about a single letter from God: "Every single letter proceeding from Our mouth is endowed with such regenerative power as to

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enable it to bring into existence a new creation--a creation the magnitude of which is inscrutable to all save God. He verily hath knowledge of all things. It is in Our power, should We wish it, to enable a speck of floating dust to generate, in less than the twinkling of an eye, suns of infinite, of unimaginable splendor, to cause a dewdrop to develop into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages (Bahá'u'lláh quoted in Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1938

14. Sir William Muir, Life of Mohammed (Edinburgh, 1912), p. 24.

15. Professor Hamidullah quoted by Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, The Qur'an and Science: La Bible. le Coran et la Science, trans. by Alastair D. Pannell and the Author (Indianapolis, Indiana: American Trust Publications, 1978), pp. 129-30.

16. H. M. Balyuzi, Muhammad and the Course of Islam (Oxford: George Ronald, 1976), p. 221.

17. Marzieh Gail, Six Lessons on Islam (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, ), p. 29.

18. Gail, Six Lessons on Islam, p. 29.

19. Gail, Six Lessons on Islam, p. 29.

20. Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, The Prince of Martyrs: A Brief Account of the Imam Husayn (Oxford: George Ronald, 1977), p. 10-11.

21. Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, p. 11.

22. Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, p. 11.

23. They are called the disconnected letters of the Qur'an, the letters prefixed to the surihs of the Qur'an, the abbreviated letters, and sometimes just the broken letters. They are often called isolated letters by Bahá'í translators.

24. Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 202.

25. Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 203.

26. Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 203.

27. Colonel Anaitullah Sohrab, Lessons of Teaching, p. 54. This book contains lessons from the Bahá'í Summer School in the year 106 B.E. (1950 A.D.) in Isfahan and was published by the Institute of National Bahá'í Prints in 117 B.E. (1961 A.D.). This book was given to this writer by Parviz Mohebali. It is written in Persian and was translated into English with the help of Parviz Mohebali and Shoaullah Motamedi.

28. Sohrab, p. 52.

29. Sohrab, p. 52.

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30. Sohrab, p. 52. Each lunar year is approximately eleven days shorter than a solar year. About every 33 years you lose almost a full year. To be specific one solar year is 365.242 days while one lunar year is 354.367 days. One solar year is 1.03069 lunar years. To convert a date in the Christian solar calendar to the Muslim lunar equivalent you multiply by 1.03069. Remember the beginning of the Muslim calendar was in 622 A.D. To convert the year 1844 A.D. to its approximate equivalent you compute (1844-622) x 1. 03069 - 1259.5 A. H. To convert the year 680 A.D. in the Christian solar calendar to its approximate Muslim lunar equivalent you compute:

680 - 622 X 1.03069 = 58 X 1.03069 = 59.78002

To 59.78002 you must add 12 lunar years because this was the span of time between the beginning of the Muslim calendar (622 A.D.) and the Divine Summons of Muhammad (610 A.D.).

59.78002 + 12 = 71.78002 years

To convert the year 750 A.D. in the Christian solar calendar to its approximate Muslim lunar equivalent you compute:

750 - 622 X 1.03069 = 128 X 1.03069 = 131.92832

To 131.92832 you must add 12 lunar years because this was the span of time between the Divine Summons of Muhammad (610 A.D.) and the beginning of the Muslim calendar (622 A.D.)

131.92832 + 12 = 143.92832 years

Considering the subtraction of the months in the beginning year and those of the ending year of each event, the loss of days in 12 lunar years (about 132 days) and the fact that the exact month and day of Muhammad's Divine Summons is not known and cannot be stated with certainty[,] the computation is likely to equal 142 years. Also it is not possible to get exact equivalent dates for the earliest years of the Muslim calendar with the Christian calendar because there seems to have been some discrepancy between the calendar that was in use in Medina and the one in Mecca, and because up to 632 A.D. the calendar was roughly luni-solar. When Muhammad adopted a purely lunar calendar the confusion ended. Every date after 10 A.H. can be converted to a corresponding date in any other accurate calendar. Before that time there are problems to consider and caution is necessary.

31. Sohrab, p. 52.

32. Sohrab, p. 54.

33. Sohrab, p. 52.

34. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1970), p. 96.

35. Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh: Baghdad 1853-63 (Oxford: George Ronald, 1974), pp. 125-26.

36. A prime number is a number that is not divisible, without remainder, by any number except itself and unity (the number one).

37. Franklyn M. Branley, The Moon: Earth's Natural Satellite, revised ed. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1960), p. 108.

38. Richard Cavendish, Mysteries of the Universe (New York: Galahad Books, 1981), p. 28.

39. Branley, p. 108.

40. Branley, pp. 88-89.

41. David Bergamini and the Editors of Life, Mathematics: Life Science Library (New York: Time Incorporated, 1963), p. 63.

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42. Jeffrey J. W. Baker and Garland E. Allen, A Course in Biology (Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1979), pp. 95-96. For example the pattern of nine is very common, probably universal, in all cell structure. This was discovered in the 1960's when detailed electron microscope investigations confirmed the existence of microtubules in the cytoplasm of cells. The cytoplasm surrounding the nuclear membrane of a cell is like oil floating on water. It doesn't separate because the microtubules in the cytoplasm is made of protein which is very tough. Microtubules seem to be part of the structure of many, perhaps most, cells. They are like a building frame-work of structural girders. They are found in simple and complex cell life from one-celled protozoan to human brain cells. Microtubules are long, straight

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minute cylindrical structures and are made up of longitudinal fibrils. They are more numerous next to the plasma membrane. The cross section of the Naegleria flagellum of the one-celled protozoan shows a characteristic 9 + 2 pattern of microtubules.

In a cross section of sperm flagellum of the rat we observe the 9 + 2 pattern of microtubules. The dense outer coarse fibers number 7.

Sometimes the microtubules in cross section have this pattern of nine.

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43. Martin Gardner, "Mathematical Games," Scientific American, September 1980, Volume 243, Number 3, pages 22 and 24. This biographical information has been taken from this magazine along with some of the computer information. The first time the computer discoveries were brought to the attention of the writer of this article, was when he was shown a brief feature in the Persian section of the French Bahá'í Journal when he was in Holland. Later, when casually mentioning this to Dr. Gerald Hanks of Winnipeg, Dr. Hanks called attention to this article in Scientific American. From correspondence with Martin Gardner regarding some mathematical problems the writer was able to get Dr. Khalifa's address and eventually his books so the computer findings could be reviewed and examined.

Dr. Khalifa has since published his translation of the Qur'an called, Quran: The Final Scripture (Tucson, Arizona: Islamic Productions, 1981).

He has also written and published, The Computer Speaks: God's Message to the World (Tucson, Arizona: Renaissance Productions, 1981).

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44. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer Speaks: God's Message to the World (Tucson, Arizona: Renaissance Productions, 1981), p. 9.

45. The Bab calls attention to this in His Persian Bayan. The Bab changed this sacred formula but did not change the number of letters it contains. This change will be discussed later.

46. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, pp. 94-95.

47. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 96.

48. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, pp. 17-18 and pp. 87-90.

49. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 15.

50. Bucaille, p. 204.

51. Bucaille, p. 204.

52. Bucaille, p. 205.

53. Bucaille, pp. 205-06.

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54. Stanley Lane-Poole, Speeches and Table-Talks of the Prophet Mohammad (London, 1882), pp. 24-25.

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55. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, pp. 14.

56. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, pp. 13.

57. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 97.

58. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 98.

59. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 8.

60. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, pp. 199.

61. Rashad Khalifa, Let the World Know: Mathematical Miracle of Quran (Tucson, Arizona: n.p., n.d.), p. 10.

62. Lut is the Lot of the English Bible.

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63. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 109.

64. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 111.

65. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 115.

66. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 117.

67. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 122.

68. Rashad Khalifa, The Computer, p. 125.

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69. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 28.

70. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 25.

71. It is also used by Muslims at the beginning of many acts such as at the beginning of meals, undertaking a journey, putting on new garments.

72. Wanden Mathews, La Farge, "The Relation of the Bab to the Traditions of Islam," in The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, Volume III, 1928-1930, comp. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í of the United States and Canada (New York: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1930), pp. 293-99.

73. The Bab, Le Bayan Persan, Vol. 4, p. 119, trans. (into French) A.L.M. Nicolas, quoted in Emily McBride Perigord', Translation of French Foot-Notes of the Dawn-Breakers (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1970, p. 8.

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74. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 7.

75. The Bab, quoted in La Farge, "The Relation of the Bab to the Traditions of Islam," p. 296. La Farge translates from A.L.M. Nicolas, Seyyed 'Ali Mohammed dit le Bab (1905). Nicolas was a distinguished orientalist and longtime first interpreter of the French legation in Persia. His book is very rare.

76. La Farge, p. 296.

77. The Bab, quoted in La Farge, p. 296.

78. 'Ali Muhammad has seven letters when written in Arabic and Persian.

79. The Bab, quoted in La Farge, p. 297.

80. The Bab, Selections From the Writings of the Bab, trans. Habib Taherzadeh (Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1976), p. 90.

81. The Bab, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 8 and 57.

82. The Bab, quoted by La Farge, p. 296.

83. Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh: Baghdad 1853-63, p. 34. See also La Farge, p. 296. The quotation from Nicolas is as follows: "'Ali said: 'All that is in the Qur'an is contained in the first Surah, all that is in the first Surah is contained in Bismi'llahi'r-Rahmani'r - Rahim, all that is in Bismi'llahi'r-Rahmani'r - Rahimthe is contained in the B of Bismi'llah, all that is contained in the B of Bismi'llah is contained in the point which is beneath the B -- and I am that Point.'" The Shi'ahs transfer this station to 'Ali after the Prophet's death and to each succeeding Imam.

84. Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh: Baghdad 1853-63, p. 116.

85. Qur'an 17:110.

86. Marzieh Gail, Bahá'í Glossary (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1955), p. 9.

87. In this day Bahá'u'lláh has said that the names and attributes of God are inexhaustible. Man has now reached the stage where he can comprehend this knowledge far greater than at any time in the past. It is a time when large masses of humanity are familiar with elementary mathematical concepts such as infinity in such problems as:

3.3333 __________ 3 :10.0000 9 __________ 10 9 __________ 10 9 __________ 10

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Some people find it difficult to imagine anything that does not have limits while others find it difficult to think of anything in terms of limitations. The reality of inexhaustible names and attributes is an example of an agreement between science and religion. This knowledge is one of the most important safeguards Bahá'u'lláh has given to humanity. No longer will man have to live in fear of his life because he has a different degree of understanding from another.

Bahá'u'lláh has promised to remove from religion anything which has been or will be a source of disunity. This will bring to an end the fearsome injustices of the past.

88. Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh: Baghdad 1853-63, p. 117.

89. Nabil-i-A'zam (Muhammad-i-Zarandi), "Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II), Regarding the Bahá'í Calendar,' The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, Volume VII, 1936-1938, comp. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1939 ), p. 448-51.

90. The Bab, Selections, trans. Habib Taherzadeh, p. 89.

91. The Bab, Selections, trans. Habib Taherzadeh, p. 89.

92. Nabil-i-A'zam (Muhammad-i-Zarandi), The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation, trans. and ed. Shoghi Effendi (New York: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1932), p. 132.

93. The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, trans. by Habib Taherzadeh, p.90.

94. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 49.

95. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 350-51.

96. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 363.

97. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 386-87.

98. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, p.394.

99. "God the Great."

100. "God the Most Great."

101. "God the Most Beauteous."

102. "God the Most Glorious."

103. "God the Most Pure."

104. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 552.

105. "Lord of the Age," One of the titles of the promised Qa'im. Qa'im meaning "He who shall arise "is a title designating the Promised One of Islam.

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106. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 570.

107. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 573.

108. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 27.

109. The Bab quoted by Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 158.

110. The Bab quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 29.

111. The Bab quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 29.

112. Mirza Asadu'llah-i-Nur, Sacred Mysteries (Chicago: Bahá'í Supply and Publishing Board, 1902) pp. 16-17.

113. The Bab quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 29.

114. Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 202.

115. Shoghi Effendi indicates that the numerical values of this word total 19 in God Passes By, pp. 25 and 29. Marzieh Gail mentions this in Bahá'í Glossary (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha' Publishing Trust, 1955), p. 53. See also Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 153.

116. Nabil-i-A'zam, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 505. See also 'Abdu'l-Bahá, A Traveler's Narrative: Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Bab, trans. Edward G. Browne, new and corrected edition (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1980), p. 26. Bahá'u'lláh ordered the most important of His tablets which were addressed to individual sovereigns to be written in the form of a pentacle. This symbolized the temple of man. See Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, revised ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1980), p. 47.

117. Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian (New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, n.d.), p. 48. The quotation originally appeared in Bahá'í News, Feb. 1950, p. 4.

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118. Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, Explanation of the Symbol of the Greatest Name (New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, n.d.), p. 20.

119. Abdu'l-Bahá, in Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Scriptures, p. 478.

120. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Scriptures, p. 479.

121. Robert F. Riggs, The Apocalypse Unsealed (New York: Philosophical Library, 1981), pp. 14 and 224.

122. The Secret of Divine Civilization, trans. Marzieh Gail (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1957), p. 9.

123. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Scriptures, p. 479.

124. Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh, trans. Shoghi Effendi (New York: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1938), CLXVII, pp. 260-61.

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125. Bahá'u'lláh, A Synopsis and Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book of Bahá'u'lláh, trans. and outlined in English with notes in Persian by Shoghi Effendi and completed by the Universal House of Justice (Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1973), p. 46 and 63.

126. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, pp. 36 and 37.

127. The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States quoted in Bahá'í Meetings: The Nineteen Day Feast, comp. The Universal House of Justice (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976), pp. 23-24.

128. Shoghi Effendi quoted in Bahá'í Meetings: The Nineteen Day Feast, p. 24.

129. Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in Bahá'í Meetings: The Nineteen Day Feast, p. 21. 130. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, pp. 38-9 and p. 57.

131. 3 1/2 grams. A mithqal is a weight which was designated by the Bab.

132. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 40.

133. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 40.

134. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 40.

135. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 42.

136. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 60.

137. Bahá'u'lláh, Synopsis and Codification Kitab-i-Aqdas, pp. 51 and 65. 138. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 333.

139. Mary Hanford Ford quoted in "The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar: 'The Dawning Place of God's Praise'", Bahá'í Year Book, Volume I, 1925-1926, comp. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1926), p. 62.

140. Surih 69, The Inevitable, verse 17, of Rodwell's translation quoted in Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections by Ugo Giachery (Oxford: George Ronald, 1973), p. 83.

141. Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections by Ugo Giachery (Oxford: George Ronald, 1973, p. 83.

142a. Ugo Giachery, Recollections, p. 96.

142b. Ugo Giachery, Recollections, p. 83.

143. Shoghi Effendi quoted in Ugo Giachery, Recollections, p. 84.

144. Qur'an 69:17.

Agent Behind the Change

Qur'an for Baha'i Studies: Single Topic Pages

Brief historical examples of material development after the appearance of a divine revelation

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