Alif Laam Meem Meaning

[Brook Mithani]

The mysterious letters[1] (muqaṭṭaʿāt, Arabic: حُرُوف مُقَطَّعَات ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt, "disjoined letters" or "disconnected letters"[2]) are combinations of between one and five Arabic letters that appear at the beginning of 29 out of the 114 chapters (surahs) of the Quran just after the Bismillāh Islamic phrase.[3] The letters are also known as fawātiḥ (فَوَاتِح) or "openers" as they form the opening verse of their respective surahs.[4]

The original significance of the letters is unknown. Tafsir (exegesis) has interpreted them as abbreviations for either names or qualities of God or for the names or content of the respective surahs. The general belief of most Muslims is that their meaning is known only to Allah.

Lām and Mīm are conjoined and both are written with prolongation mark.One letter is written in two styles.[8][9] Letter 20:01 is used only in the beginning and middle of a word and that in 19:01 is not used as such. Alif Lām Mīm (الم) is also the first verse of Surah Al-Baqara,[10] Surah Al-Imran,[11] Surah Al-Ankabut,[12] Surah Ar-Rum,[13] Surah Luqman,[14] and Surah As-Sajda.[15]

Abd Allah ibn Abbas and Abdullah ibn Masud, as cited by Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati in his Bahr al-Muhit, are said to have favored the view that these letters stand for words or phrases related to God and His Attributes.

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, a classical commentator of the Qur'an, has noted some twenty opinions regarding these letters and mentions multiple opinions that these letters present the names of the Surahs as appointed by God. In addition, he mentions that Arabs would name things after such letters (for example, 'eye' as 'ع', clouds as 'غ', and whale as 'ن').[16][17] Amin Ahsan Islahi[year needed] supported al-Razi's opinion, arguing that since these letters are names for Surahs, they are proper nouns. Hamiduddin Farahi similarly attaches symbolic meanings to the letters, e.g. Nun (ن) symbolizing "fish" identifying the sura dedicated to Jonah, or Ta (ط) representing "serpent" introducing suras that mention the story of Prophet Moses and serpents.[18]

Theodor Nldeke (1860) advanced the theory that the letters were marks of possession, belonging to the owners of Qur'anic copies used in the first collection by Zayd ibn Thābit during the reign of the Caliph 'Uthmān. According to Nldeke, the letters ultimately entered the final version of the Qur'an due to carelessness. It was also possible that the letters were monograms of the owners. Nldeke later revised this theory, responding to Otto Loth's (1881) suggestion that the letters had a distinct connection with the mystic figures and symbols of the Jewish Kabbalah. Nldeke in turn concluded that the letters were a mystical reference to the archetypal text in heaven that was the basis for the revelation of the Qur'an.[20] However, persuaded by Nldeke's original theory, Hartwig Hirschfeld (1902) offered a list of likely names corresponding to the letters.[21] Keith Massey (1996), noting the apparent set ranking of the letters and mathematical improbability that they were either random or referred to words or phrases, argued for some form of the Nldeke-Hirschfeld theory that the "Mystery Letters" were the initials or monograms of the scribes who originally transcribed the sūras. Though, Massey explains that "the letters, which appear alone (qaf, nun), may not have the same purpose as the collection themselves", he furthermore admits that the "Mystery Letters" in Surah 42 violate his proposed ranking-theory,[22] thus offering 2 possible scenarios for his theory.[22]

The Hebrew Theory[23] assumes that the letters represent an import from Biblical Hebrew. Specifically, the combination Alif-Lam would correspond to Hebrew El "god".Abbreviations from Aramaic or Greek have also been suggested.

Christoph Luxenberg in The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran (2000)proposed that substantial portions of the text of the Qur'an were directly taken from Syriac liturgy. His explanation of the disjoined letters is that they are remnants of indications for the liturgical recitation for the Syriac hymns that ended up being copied into the Arabic text.[26]

There have been attempts to give numerological interpretations. Loth (1888) suggested a connection to Gematria.[27] Rashad Khalifa (1974) claimed to have discovered a mathematical code in the Qur'an based on these initials and the number 19, namely the Quran code or known as Code 19. According to his claims, these initials occur throughout their respective chapters in multiples of nineteen.[28] The number 19 is directly mentioned in the 30th verse of Surah Al-Muddaththir to refer to the 19 keeper angels of Hell.[29]

The Bb used the muqaṭṭaʿāt in his Qayymu'l-Asmʼ.[30][31] He writes in an early commentary and in his Dal'il-i-Sab'ih (Seven Proofs) about a hadith from Muhammad al-Baqir, the fifth Shiʻi Imam, where it is stated that the first seven surat's muqaṭṭaʿāt have a numerical value of 1267, from which the year 1844 (the year of the Bb's declaration) can be derived.[32][33]

Sufism has a tradition of attributing mystical significance to the letters. The details differ between schools of Sufism; Sufi tradition generally regards the letters as an extension to the ninety-nine names of God, with some authors offering specific "hidden" meanings for the individual letters.[34]

By removing the duplicate letters (leaving only one of each of the 14 initials) and rearranging them, one can create the sentence "نص حكيم قاطع له سر " which could translate to: "A wise and conclusive text has a secret".[citation needed]

One Western mystical interpretation of the muqattaʿat is given by Rudolf von Sebottendorf in his work Die Praxis der alten trkischen Freimauerei; von Sebottendorf interprets them as mantra-like formulas (Formel) to be meditated upon (in association with certain gestures) during a set of elaborate meditation exercises. He claims that these exercises are the basis of Freemasonry and alchemy, and that they are practiced by a secret society of Sufis; Muhammad is said to have learned these exercises from a hermit named "Ben Khasi", taught them to the innermost circle of his successors, and incorporated them into the text of the Qur'an in order to preserve them unchanged in perpetuity. Commentators, however, note that the practices recommended by von Sebottendorf "bear little resemblance to either Sufism or Masonry".[37]

Devin J. Stewart argues the letters are integral to the text and establish a rhyme and a rhythm, similarly to rhyming chants such as, intended to introduce spells, charms or something connected to the supernatural.[38]

I know there are numerous opinions on the Muqatta'at, and there is another question already asked here on that topic. But there is a particular theory which occurred to me, and I wanted to know if there is any history of this theory in Islamic scholarship, and whether it makes any sense.

The theory is that the Muqatta'at are actually roots (triliteral or otherwise), or else as words derived from those roots. Considering for example Sura 2:1 there is alif-lam-meem. Is that a valid triliteral root in Arabic? I know in Hebrew it is a valid root, with a root meaning of "bind", and derived meanings of "silenced", "mute", etc. Doesn't الم mean pain, trouble, distress, etc in Arabic?

He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: in it are verses basic orfundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of theBook: others are not of well-established meaning. But those in whosehearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is not ofwell-established meaning. Seeking discord, and searching for itsinterpretation, but no one knows its true meanings except Allah, andthose who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in it; thewhole of it is from our Lord"; and none will grasp the Message exceptmen of understanding. (7)

From this Ayah it is clear that whoever has perversity in their hearts, they are the ones seeking interpretation of these Ayahs, Alif lam meem, Noon, Ha Meem and the others. It is also clear from this Ayah that only Allah knows the true interpretation of these Ayahs. So it does not matter how many theories there are, no matter what theories are chosen as logical or something, we would never know if it is true or not. Only Allah knows the true meaning. It is also clear from the Ayah that only those who are grounded in knowledge, are the ones who say: "We believe in it; the whole of it is from our Lord".

I found a website by a guy who uses this theory of Hamidudin Farahi, that the Huruf al-Muqattat are actually a sort of table of contents for the entire Sura they precede. He bases it on the fact that Arabic letters eventually lost their individual meaning. For example, Ya in Arabic means nothing. Arabic word Yadd means hand. Interestingly, the Hebrew letter Yodd means the same thing. This Semitic similarity is the basis for his interpretative. Check it out.

This is indeed an interesting post. There is a theory around according to which Holy Quran is a translation of Jewish or Christian documents. For instance it says for the "Alif Lam Ra'" that it is an acronym of "amer li rabbi" = my rabbi (or sheikh) has told me (in Hebrew).

2) Their argument has a huge flaw: if a word exists in Hebrew or Aramaic (Syriac) it does not mean that it is not Arabic It just means that it is merely a cognate. Semitic languages share +90% of roots when it comes to verbs and nouns.

This is not a direct answer to your question but I wanted to make the point given the fact that I am familiar with aplogestic works in Christianity and Judaism that aims at refuting the Islamic faith.

not exactly roots. It's paleo-hebrew, the signature of Allah-Elohim or Father in heavens, whatever you like to call Him.Arabs have made a mistake, because this is not classical arabic. This is old hijaz (it's ancient arabic) and a pure form of arabic. When we talk about purity in semitic languages, we do not mean a refined version of the language used for poetry, but an abjad without vowels. (the Quran itself did not have vowels). Neither Quran nor the Torah had vowels and people had to add them in order to understand how to pronounce it.So, you take the signature of God in pure semitic abjad where every letter has a meaning, alif=the ox=the strong=God. Lam=lamed= ox goad (the symbol of power-authority)=throne. Mim=mem=water. And you make a sentence: alif-lam-mim: God makes the throne on the water.

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