“It is He Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. But none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord, and none do mind except those having understanding.” (Qur’an 3:7)
Now it may escape many of us who are not familiar with either the Arabic text or the various English translations of this; however, there are two very different ways to translate a very key element of this text.
Notice this very mystic influenced, Shi’a influenced, translation here:
“It is He Who has sent down the Book upon thee; therein are signs determined; they are the Mother of the Book, and others symbolic. As for those whose hearts are given to swerving, they follow that of it which is symbolic, seeking temptation and seeking its interpretation. And none know its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say, “We believe in it; all is from our Lord.” And none remember, save those who possess intellect.” –The Study Qur’an.
Another translation favoured by people who want human beings (that are not Prophets) to have a very heavy influence over the Qur’an here:
“He is the One who sent down to you the Scripture, from which there are firm verses; they are the essence of the Scripture; and others which are similar to each other. As for those who have a disease in their hearts, they will follow what is similar from it seeking to confuse, and seeking to derive an interpretation. But none know its interpretation except God and those who are well-founded in knowledge, They Say: “We believe in it, all is from our Lord.” And none will remember except the people of understanding.” –The Monotheist group.
Now let us pause for a moment and ponder the theology behind this.
Why do you suppose a translation which is heavily influenced by Shi’a and mystical traditions would translate the Arabic text as “And none know its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge.”?
Think about it. You would favour such a translation of the text if you had a concept of esoteric knowledge being passed to a secret inner circle and/or if you had a belief in infallible interpreters.
You would also want to favour such a translation if you use it as a key element of your polemic to claim the totality of the Qur’an is clear in all matters; and hence you would have a very strained translation that reads: “others which are similar to each other.”
So we can see how the bulk of translators from disparate backgrounds have translated the verse here:
https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/3/7/
Now Rashad Khalafa is the first person that I know of whom using numerology, plucked a verse out of the Qur’an, and showing utter disdain for its context began to employ a numerological pattern based upon the number 19 throughout the Qur’an.
In the process of doing so, he cast doubt about the Qur’an, taking two verses out himself. He declared himself a prophet. Declared the multitudes of Muslims as mushriks -those who worship other than or alongside Allah [swt].
This is what the world looked like 30 years after the death of the last and final Messenger [saw].
30 years after the death of Rashad Khalafa what do we have?
Dozens of competing Quraniyoon groups. Scattered chat groups in online forums pitching any number of sectarian Quranist ideology to new converts and/or isolated Muslims. Most of them coalesce around one personality. This personality becomes their hermeneutic guide. That is until they find fault with him and someone splits away to form another Quranist group.
So let us look at the verse in question. Let us see if what this numerologist claims pans out.
“Soon will I cast him into Hell–Fire.”
“And what will explain to you what Hell–Fire is?
“Naught does it permit to endure, and naught does it leave alone!”
“Darkening and changing the colour of man!”
“Over it are Nineteen.”
“And We have set none but angels as guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, “What symbol does Allah intend by this?” Thus does Allah leave to stray whom He pleases, and guide whom He pleases: and none can know the forces of your Lord, except He. And this is no other than a warning to mankind.”
(Qur’an 74:27-31)
Now we show the difference between those of us who love the Qur’an and those who follow the Quraniyoon religion.
The first major difference is that those of us who love the Qur’an is that we have a deep love and respect for the Qur’an as a revelation from Allah [swt]. We are not dismissive of what Allah [swt] says. We do not try and superimpose meanings from our nafs -ego upon the Qur’an.
We do our level best not to ignore the context of the Qur’an.
Whereas those who follow the Quraniyoon religion many of them follow a man named Rashad Khalifa and it is his self imposed numerological interpretation that is followed as though it is what Allah [swt] says.
Authubillah minash shaitain ir rajim.
“Over it are Nineteen.” This is the verse that many Quraniyoon have a strong aversion and disdain for.
It reminds us of what Allah [swt] says here:
“He said, “O my people have you considered: if I should be upon clear evidence from my Lord while He has given me mercy from Himself but it has been made unapparent to you, should we force it upon you while you are averse to it?” (Qur’an 11:28)
Those who follow the Quraniyoon religion will go on and on about how they claim they believe that the Qur’an is clear and that it is ‘highly detailed‘ yet when it comes to that verse above they are averse to it.
“And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidence, those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, “Bring us a Qur’an other than this or change it.” Say, [O Muhammad], “It is not for me to change it on my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. Indeed I fear if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day.” (Qur’an 10:15)
“Over it are Nineteen.” – Where in this text does it say that the ‘It’ is a reference to the Qur’an?
“Over it are Nineteen.”-Where does this text say that the “It’ is a reference to surah Al Fatiha?
“Over it are Nineteen.”- Where in this text does it say that the ‘Nineteen’ is a reference to letters?
“Over it are Nineteen.”- Where in this text does it say that ‘Nineteen’ is a reference to the basmallah?
“Over it are Nineteen.”- Where does this text say that the ‘basmallah’ is a confirmed verse of Al fatiha?
But these people who follow the Quraniyoon religion who follow their own whims and desires they love it when you say:
Qala Rashad -Says Rashad
Qala Edip -Says Edip
But when you say Qala Allah-Says Allah, they will be averse.
They do not like when Allah [swt] says to them:
“So when you recite the Qur’an, seek refuge in Allah from Satan the rejected.” (Qur’an 16:98)
Now when we allow the context of the Qur’an to speak what do we find?
“Soon will I cast him into Hell–Fire.”
“And what will explain to you what Hell–Fire is?
“Naught does it permit to endure, and naught does it leave alone!”
“Darkening and changing the colour of man!”
“Over it are Nineteen.”
“And We have set none but angels as guardians of the Fire……”
Comments:
The ‘It‘ does not depend on some human beings to come 1400 years later and give it clarity. This verse of the Qur’an didn’t wait until a human being came along and made it clear or gave it a ‘detailed explanation‘.
It becomes clear to all whose eyes are open and whose hearts are not averse to the manifest truth in front of them that the ‘It‘ is a reference to the hellfire.
“Over it are Nineteen.”
So what does the nineteen reference?
The following verse tells us:
“And We have set none but angels as guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed THEIR NUMBER only as a trial for Unbelievers in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, “What symbol does Allah intend by this?” Thus does Allah leave to stray whom He pleases, and guide whom He pleases: and none can know the forces of your Lord, except He. And this is no other than a warning to mankind.” (Qur’an 74:31)
“Over it[hellfire] are Nineteen.”
Allah [swt] informs us:
“O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are angels, harsh, and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.” (Qur’an 66:6)
“Angels as Guardians of the Fire.”
“We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers.” – You could translate this as “We have made their waiting period as a trial for unbelievers.”
“None can know the forces of your Lord, except He.”
Comments:
It is evidently clear that nineteen is a reference to angels.
However, those who averse to the book of Allah [swt] and prefer the revelations of men will tell us this refers to simply the static number 19.
The very big problems with this are as follows:
We know that that they can’t pin this number 19 on ‘it‘ because they have no internal reference from the Qur’an as to what the ‘it’ is a reference for it. For the Muslims, it is obvious for the Quraniyoon Allah [swt] left them in confusion.
They want to connect 19 to ‘their number‘ which produces the inescapable fact of Arabic grammar. Facts that they hide from their followers.
The Arabic text: iddatahum is:
N-accusative feminine noun
Prounoun-3rd person masculine plural possessive prounoun.
That is a definitive reference to the angels not numbers.
The next point of evidence is also something of which puts a cherry on top of the sealed deal.
“and none can know the forces of your Lord, except He” – What do you think Allah [swt] is talking about here in the context of 74:31?
forces–junuda– it is never talking about number 19. Junuda is always used in reference to soldiers, forces, host, army.
Again not an impersonal number but to the angels.
Now let us entertain the machinations of the Quraniyoon-in reality Qur’an rejecters:
Let us say that this junuda-forces means number 19. This would be self-defeating as it would mean that Allah [swt] is not the only one who knows the number because human beings know the number as well!
Next points:
Let us remember what Allah [swt] says:
and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation (Qur’an 3:7)
and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, “What symbol does Allah intend by this? (Qur’an 74:31)
Notice something here? The people who are asking, ‘well what is meant by 19?‘ We can stop right then and there and know that they are people with diseased hearts, hearts filled with perversity and are among the ranks of the ungrateful disbelievers.
We know this because Allah [swt] told us clearly that these people would be the ones who are pursuing it.
Now an objection from those who follow the Quraniyoon religion, who do not believe in what Allah [swt] says is as follows:
“How does telling people there are 19 angels guarding the hellfire increase them in faith or convince them about Islam?“
It’s as if they don’t even bother to look at what Allah [swt] said his objectives were.
Let’s recap:
Trial for unbelievers-Fitnatan
That people of the book arrive at certainty–liyastayqina
believers increase in faith–imanan
no doubt left for the people of the book and the believers-yartaba
Those are the objectives:
So how are all these objectives met? Well, we can clearly see that this whole text is a fitna for those whose hearts is a disease and the unbelievers. In fact, it is such people who pursue it.
As regards the other three categories:
“But if he is one of those who denied the truth and went astray.” –alddalleena (Qur’an 56:92)
“The path of those You have blessed; not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.”- (Qur’an 1:7)
“Then for him is the accommodation of scalding water and burning Hellfire Indeed, this is the true certainty.” (Qur’an 56:92)
All three objectives are met:
If the people of the book arrive at hell there will be no doubting it’s certainty.
The believers will increase in faith.
There will be no doubt for either the believers or the people of the book.
The icing on the cake will be to see that hellfire is indeed guarded by 19 something that only Allah [swt] would know: “none can know the forces of your Lord, except He” will be evident to all.
“Surely those who receive our revelations with denial and arrogance, the gates of heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel passes through the eye of a needle. This is how We reward the wicked. Hell will be their bed; flames will be their cover. This is how We reward the wrongdoers. As for those who believe and do good—We never require any soul more than what it can afford—it is they who will be the residents of Paradise. They will be there forever. We will remove whatever bitterness they had in their hearts. Rivers will flow under their feet. And they will say, “Praise be to Allah for guiding us to this. We would have never been guided if Allah had not guided us. The messengers of our Lord had certainly come with the truth.” It will be announced to them, “This is Paradise awarded to you for what you used to do.” The residents of Paradise will call out to the residents of the Fire, “We have certainly found our Lord’s promise to be true. Have you too found your Lord’s promise to be true?” They will reply, “Yes, we have!” Then a caller will announce to both, “May Allah’s condemnation be upon the wrongdoers, those who hindered ˹others˺ from Allah’s Way, strived to make it ˹appear˺ crooked, and disbelieved in the Hereafter.” There will be a barrier between Paradise and Hell. And on the heights ˹of, that barrier˺ will be people who will recognize ˹the residents of˺ both by their appearance. They will call out to the residents of Paradise, “Peace be upon you!” They will have not yet entered Paradise, but eagerly hope to. When their eyes will turn towards the residents of Hell, they will pray, “Our Lord! Do not join us with the wrongdoing people.” Those on the heights will call out to some ˹tyrants in the Fire˺, who they will recognize by their appearance, saying, “Your large numbers and arrogance are of no use ˹today˺! Are these ˹humble believers˺ the ones you swore would never be shown Allah’s mercy?” ˹Finally, those on the heights will be told:˺ “Enter Paradise! There is no fear for you, nor will you grieve.” The residents of the Fire will then cry out to the residents of Paradise, “Aid us with some water or any provision Allah has granted you.” They will reply, “Allah has forbidden both to the disbelievers, those who took this faith ˹of Islam˺ as mere amusement and play and were deluded by ˹their˺ worldly life.” ˹Allah will say,˺ “Today We will ignore them just as they ignored the coming of this Day of theirs and for rejecting Our revelations.” We have certainly brought them a Book which We explained with knowledge—a guide and mercy for those who believe. Do they just wait for the final fulfillment of the event? On the day the event is finally fulfilled, those who disregarded it before will say: “The apostles of our Lord did indeed bring true (tidings). Have we no intercessors now to intercede on our behalf? Or could we be sent back? then should we behave differently from our behavior in the past.” In fact, they will have lost their souls, and the things they invented will leave them in the lurch.”
(Qur’an 7:40-54)
The absurdity of the interpretation by the Quraniyoon religion.
Imagine that for 1400 years this text had no meaning that was clear and cogent to the Blessed Messenger (saw) or his companions. Instead rather than the guidance of Allah (swt) humanity had to wait for guidance from a man who used numerology to deduce his conclusions.
In what way was the mentioning of this number producing certainty for the ahl kitab for 1400 years? How does it produce certainty for the over 1 billion Christians who haven’t even heard of this?
Rather, for 1400 years people from all walks of life have been coming to Islam without numerology. Al hamdulillah.
Obviously, none of the so-called numerology patterns of 19 was known at the time of the Blessed Messenger [saw]. In fact when this verse was revealed a great portion of the Qur’an was not even revealed.
Not only that but you would think that Rashad Khalifa with such a find would be able to inspire his own children to carry on with his mission.
However, they are quite uninspired.
“Those who reject Faith will not cease to be in doubt concerning revelation until the Hour comes suddenly upon them, or there comes to them the Penalty of a Day of Disaster.” (Qur’an 22:55)
For a further excellent refutation of the claims of the quraniyoon religion I would recommend the following:
Prima Quran 