A1L30M40. The meaning of 14 different combinations of alphabet letters/numbers initializing 29 chapters of the Quran remained a secret for centuries until 1974. Many scholars attempted to understand the meaning of these initial letters with no results. A computerized study that started in 1969 revealed in 1974 a 19-based mathematical design that was prophesied in Chapter 74. The frequency of the 14 alphabet letters in 14 different combinations that initialize 29 chapters are an integral part of this mathematical structure.

Arabs, during the time of revelation, did not use what we now know as Arabic Numerals. A notable book, The Universal History of Numbers by George Ifrah, dedicates Chapters 17-19 to ancient numerical systems, titled: Letters and Numbers, The Invention of Alphabetic Numerals and Other Alphabetic Number-Systems. The book provides extensive information on the Hebrew, Armenian, Phoenician, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopian Alphabetic Numerals. According to historical evidence, during the era of Muhammed, Arabs were using their alphabet as their numbering system. The Arabic alphabet then was arranged differently and was named after its first four letters, ABJaD. Each of the 28 letters of the alphabet corresponded to a different number starting from 1 to 9, from 10 to 90, and then from 100 to 1000. When Arabs started adopting Hindu numerals in 760 AC, long after the revelation of the Quran, they abandoned their alphabet/numeral system in favor of a pedagogically arranged alphabet, which is currently in use. Below is the list of the 28 Arabic letters/numbers. When they are put next to each other, their numerical values are added to each other to attain a total number. For instance, the numerical value of ALLaH (God) is 1+30+30+5=66, of ShaHYD (Witness) is 300+5+10+4=319, and of WAHiD (One) is 6+1+8+4=19. (The word WAHiD is missepelled as WaHiD in modern manuscripts. But the oldest available manuscripts and numerous oldest fragments uses the word with Alif, as WAHiD)

Thus, the Quran is not only a literary book, but also a book made of numbers. The numerical structure of the Quran has two features: intertwined patterns among the physical frequency of its literary units, such as letters, words, phrases, verses, and chapters AND intertwined patterns among the numerical values (ABJaD) of these literary units. Considering the relevancy of the common meaning of words and letters during the time of revelation, we cannot ignore the fact that the combinations of letters that initialize 29 chapters are primarily numbers. After Arabs commonly adopted the Indian numerals in the 9th century, unfortunately, the numerical system prevalent during the revelation became an antique abused by charlatan psychics, and astrologists. It is ironic that an innovation (today's Arabic numerals) replaced the original (ABJaD), but through the passage of time people started considering the original to be the innovation! The allergy of Muslim scholars to ABJaD and its use in the Quran, does not allow them to open their eyes to marvels of the numerically structured book (83:7).

To verify and witness the mathematical system of the Quran, one does not need to know Arabic, though the knowledge of Arabic might increase the magnitude of its appreciation. Though there are hundreds of examples of the 19-based mathematical system, there are surely many still out there yet to be discovered. Meanwhile, there are also some issues that need to be resolved; for instance, the count of the letter Alif still remains to be settled. We know the mathematical structure of the Quran verifies both the extraordinary nature of the text and its miraculous preservation from tampering. However, the system still involves the entire Quran and we have yet to discover a miraculous system verifying the divinity and authenticity of each chapter, independently.

Observers reacting to this prophetic feature fall into three main groups: 1) unappreciative skeptics or fanatic religionists who reject its existence without sufficient investigation; 2) appreciative seekers of truth who witness it and experience a paradigm change; and 3) gullible people who are impressed by it without fully appreciating the statistical facts and consequently indulge in "discovering" their own "miracles" through arbitrary numerical manipulations and jugglery. Ironically, the third group’s exaggerated claims serve as justification for the first group’s beliefs. For more information on this issue, please visit, 19.org.

See 74:1.

We translated the word yuminun as "they acknowledge." The verbs and adjectives generated from the root AMaNa have been translated with different forms of the word “believe.” However, ”believe” does not accurately describe the positive meaning ascribed to the root AMaNa by the Quran. According to the Quran, guesswork, wishful thinking, following the majority, and believing without investigation and evidence, are not acts of AMaNa. The majority of people, according to the Quran, do not YuMiNun (11:17; 12:103; 13:1; 40:59). Knowing that the majority of people do "believe in God" or believe in some form of religious teachings, choosing to translate the appropriate Quranic phrase, say in 12:103, as "the majority of people do not believe" creates a contradiction. Belief in something, according to its common usage, may not need reasoning or acknowledgement of truth, but acknowledgement implies an intellectual process to search for and find the truth. Muminun are rational monotheists. No wonder the Quran repeats all the derivatives of the word AMN (acknowledge) 811 times, while repeating all the derivatives of ALM (know) 782 times and of ARF (recognize) 29 times, totaling the same amount of times AMN (acknowledge) is mentioned, that is, 811.

This verse, evaluated within the context of the Quranic precepts, does not mean that we should believe without evidence. The Quran categorically rejects blind faith or credulity (17:36). Unfortunately, the word belief or faith is commonly used as a euphemism for wishful thinking or joining the closest, the most crowded, the laudest bandwagon. Those who cannot justify their faith through deductive or inductive arguments, and those who cannot provide compelling reasons for why they believe certain dogmas and disbelieve others, are not considered muminun according to the definition of the word as used in the Quran. If the author of the scripture is also the creator of nature, and if it is He who is rewarding us with scientific knowledge and technology when we rationally and empirically investigate its laws, then why would He discourage us from using our mind and senses to investigate claims about Him and words attributed to Him? Otherwise, schizophrenia or inconsistency become divine attributes. God is not at the end of a dark tunnel of blind faith; but we can discover and get in touch with Him by tuning our minds and hearts to receive His message broadcast in the frequency of wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, according to the contextual semantics of the Quran, faith or belief denote conviction as a result of reason and compelling evidence. Thus, to distinguish the Quranic terminology of belief and faith from its common usage, we preferred the word "acknowledge."

A philosophical argument regarding the attributes of God is worth discussing. Plotinus, Moses Maimonides, and later Liebniz asserted that as imperfect beings we could not know God. How can limited creatures like us comprehend divine attributes? This is a fair question. Indeed, knowing or comprehending God is far beyond our capabilities. Do we really comprehend the meaning of Infinity, Perfection, Omnipotence, or Omniscience? Do we really understand existence of a First Cause beyond time and space? It is no easier to describe and comprehend God than to describe and comprehend the Singularity of the Big Bang or multiple universes, or quantum physics. As the Catholic philosopher, St. Augustine, cleverly argued, when we claim we do not comprehend perfection, we show that we understand the meaning of the word, for if we did not understand its meaning and implication, we would not be able to claim that we do not comprehend it. Understanding the meaning of a word or attribute without fully comprehending it is interesting. It might simply mean that we mentally distinguish a set from other sets without knowing all its members.

However, we can get a limited idea about Singularity through its offspring or effects; similarly, we can get an idea about God through His creation. Thus, all the attributes of God that we use are related and limited to our environment and to us. To water molecules, the most important attribute of God might be COHA, the Combiner of Oxygen and Hydrogen Atoms, or the Evaporator. To a whale, it might be the Creator of Planktons. To the stars in the galaxies, it is the Designer of Fission, Creator of Gravity, or Gravity itself. Not only are we limited in comprehending attributes that are related to us, but we are also unable to comprehend an infinite number of attributes, in relation to other creatures, possible universes, or God Himself. Our language is limited to our common experiences through the five senses and by the knowledge we gather through deductive and inductive inferences. Obviously, concepts, beings, and events beyond our experience and inferences cannot be communicated via human language; it would be akin to attempting to describe the colors of the rainbow to a group of congenitally blind people.

Nevertheless, possibility does not mean probability, let alone reality. Just as lack of direct evidence does not prove the existence of an asserted event or being, similarly not all proofs depend on direct evidence. The verse refers to the events and things whose existence and nature can be accepted through indirect evidence or inferences. These evidences and inferences are substantiated by a combination of verifiable and falsifiable objective hypotheses as well as personal experiences in harmony with their objective counterparts (41:53). Furthermore, the Quran acknowledges the maxim that extraordinary claims needs extraordinary evidence and it thus informs us that all of God's prophets and messengers were supported by ayat, that is, signs, evidences, or miracles (2:211; 6:4; 11:64; 13:38; 29:50; 79:20). Though the Quran criticizes the dogmatic and prejudiced challenge of unappreciative people against a messenger to demonstrate miracles, it approves of the requests by the sincere seekers of the truth to witness miracles to remove doubts from their hearts. Moreover, the Quran deems appreciation of miracles as a sign of intelligence and objective thinking (2:118; 7:146).

Not only do our five senses have limited capacity, their numbers too are most likely limited; we could have sixth, seventh, or more senses. A person blind from birth can never imagine the nature of color. If all humans were blind, the stars and galaxies, and almost the entire universe would disappear. The rare sighted person would not be able to prove the existence of stars to the blind majority; the entire universe would thus be considered a metaphysical concept by the all-blind scientific community. In an island inhabited by deaf people, a hearing person might be able to prove his extraordinary ability to detect sound, but he would never be able to make the deaf experience a similar auditory effect. It is possible there are, perhaps, beings that can only be detected by sixth, seventh, or Nth senses.

The Arabic word ghayb means things, events, and facts that are beyond the reach of our five senses or beyond our access in time and space (31:34). There are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Hundreds of years ago, bacteria, viruses, radio waves, genes, the sex of a child before birth, black holes, and subatomic particles were beyond our perception and knowledge. Our five senses and our brain have a limited ability to perceive the external world, which we presume to exist; for instance, we cannot hear all sound waves and even dogs have a more acute hearing sense than us. We cannot see most of the spectrum of light; many animals or modern technological devices, such as radio and TV, are much better in their reception. Similarly, our nose cannot detect all the odor molecules; some insects are much better in smelling. Our knowledge of the world helps us invent and improve devices that increase the domain and range of our five senses and these new horizons, in turn, increase our knowledge further and help us invent newer devices. This perpetual process, as a byproduct, rewards us with technology, which we might use for good or bad ends.

A reminder to English-speaking readers: In Arabic, the pronoun "he" or "she" does not necessarily mean male or female, though the use of "she" is more restricted (for instance, see 16:97). Like in French, all Arabic words are grammatically feminine or masculine. Though God is referred by Arabic pronoun HU (He or It), God is never considered male. Christendom, greatly influenced by St. Paul's story of an incarnated god, has a propensity to envision God as a sort of Superman. No wonder Christian cartoonists depict God as a bearded old man. According to the Quran, God is beyond anything that we can imagine (42:11; 6:103). We entertained the idea of using the pronoun IT rather than HE for God, but we abandoned it since we thought it would create confusion.

All the necessary details of the Sala prayer are provided by the Quran. See, the Appendix titled Sala Prayer According to the Quran. You may visit www.islamicreform.org, www.19.org, or www.free-minds.org to read articles or to participate in forum discussions on this issue.

Previous scriptures still contain the divine message even though they were intentionally or unintentionally tampered by humans during the process of oral transmission, collection, writing, duplication, translations, translations of translations, revisions and re-revisions of the translations. Both the Torah (the Old Testament) and Injeel (Gospels) promote monotheism (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 , Mark 12:29-30 ). Theological distortions can be easily identified the light of the Quran or via modern textual criticism, such as the work of Bart Ehrman and Bruce Metzger. See 2:59, 79; 5:13; 7:162.

Those who decide to reject God and/or His message will be able to do so in accordance to God's system designed to test the result of one’s free will to choose good or evil, to choose freedom by submitting to the Truth or slavery by submitting to falsehood (2:37; 57:22). As long as individuals follow the religion of their parents or societies on faith, without critical evaluation, they will not be able to witness the divine evidence nor will they be guided to the truth (6:110). For a brief discussion on the freedom of choice, please see our discussion on 57:22.

The Quran delineates three categories of people in the context of their reaction to the truth: Acknowledgers, Rejecters, and Hypocrites. The first and second groups are associated to each other because they are opposites while the third group is associated with the first two since it resembles both. The actions of acknowledgers associate them with paradise according to cause and effect. According to the cause-and-effect rule of association, the actions of unappreciative rejecters and hypocrites lead them to hell.

We translated the word KaFeRun as "ingrates." The word KaFaRa means "became unappreciative" of God's blessings, such as reasoning, senses, revelation, messengers, life, health, friends, relatives, trust, liberty, provisions, etc. In only one verse, the word KaFaRa is used to describe a positive rejection (14:22). Mostly in early revelations during Meccan years, the verb KaFaRa with its various derivatives was used to literally mean “unappreciative.” Later, its semantic evolves, transforming to a more specific and a more serious attitude; it becomes a defining characteristics of those who oppose the message of the Quran (2:152; 27:40; 31:12; 76:3).

The skeptical philosopher David Hume came up with an ingenious thesis claiming that there are only three ways of making associations between concepts: resemblance; congruity in space or time; and cause-effect. For instance, bees and ants may be associated with each other because of their resemblance of being insects working in a social structure. Bees and flowers may be associated with each other because of their congruity in space. Bees and honey may be associated because of cause and effect since bees make honey. Resemblance may include lack of resemblance or resemblance in quantity. We associate the decimal system with our ten fingers both because of their resemblance in quantity and assumed cause and effect relationship between them.

The Quran, while using the already established associations or relationships in our language, also emphasizes those relationships or creates new ones between concepts by either juxtaposing or contrasting them within a particular context. Furthermore, the Quran is unique in creating a new semantic relationship (we call it nusemantic from numerical semantic) between concepts through their frequencies, verse numbers or numerical values of their letters. For instance, Jesus and Adam resemble each other because they both lacked two parents. It turns out their names are both mentioned exactly 25 times in the Quran, thereby numerically strengthening their relationship. Another example of nusemantics: the Quran creates a special relationship between the word ALLAH and the attribute "The One with Great Bounties" by making the frequency of the word ALLAH equal to the numerical value (not frequency) of the letters comprising that attribute, that is, 2698. Extensive evidence of the numerical structure of the Quran provides many nusemantic relationships. For instance, the frequency of the word YaWM (day) in its singular form in the Quran is exactly 365 times, thereby creating a nusemantic relationship between the word DAY and SOLAR YEAR rather than DAY and LUNAR YEAR, thus rejecting the claim of those who wish impose the knowledge of medieval Arabic culture, complete with the use of a lunar year, onto the Quran. However, the plural word of day aYyAM (days) occurring 27 times and the dual form YaWMayn (two days) occurring 3 times, relate to the approximate number of days both in a lunar and solar month. Similar nusemantic relationships are extensive and were first observed by an Egyptian scholar Abdurazzaq al-Nawfal in the 1960's and was published in Al-ijaz ul-Adady fil-Quran il-Karym (The Numeric Miracle/Challenge in the Quran). For the prophecy regarding the mathematical structure of the Quran, see 74:30.

These verses primarily refer to the mathematical system of the Quran. The most popular position among Muslim scholars is that the miracle of the Quran is its literary excellence. This is, however, an imaginary or false claim, since there is no objective or universal criteria for comparing literary texts and thereby preferring one over the other. The miraculous nature of the Quran or the Quran's claim of divine authorship and its universal appeal cannot be relegated merely to the literary taste of those who know Arabic, which may change subjectively. It is impossible to argue that the Quran is divine by comparing its literary aspects to those of Al-Mutanabbi, Taha Hussain or any other Arabic literary work. Bukhari and Ibn Hanbal, the two so-called authentic hadith collections of Sunnism, tacitly confess the impossibility of distinguishing the Quranic statements from man-made literary works since they narrate a text, which is still uttered by millions of Sunni mushriks in “bonus” prayers called nawafil. According to their report, Ibn Masud, one of the most prominent comrades of prophet Muhammed, and allegedly one of the most prolific sources of hadith, had included that prayer to his Quran as an independent chapter while expunging the last two chapters. The claim of medieval Sunni and Shiite sources regarding the requirement for two witnesses for each verse to authenticate their divine nature, regardless of the truth-value of the claim, is another acknowledgment of their inability to distinguish a Quranic revelation from fabricated statements via the so-called literary excellence criterion. See 4:82; 10:20; 74:30, and the Appendix titled On it Nineteen.

The descriptions of Hell and Paradise are allegorical. See 13:35; 17:60; 47:15; 76:16. The language of 2:25 is similar to 74:31 and may consequently imply a miraculous prophecy that might cause a great controversy in the future. The fact that the verse follows 2:23, which challenges unappreciative people regarding the miraculous nature of the Quran, supports our expectation.

The Bible contains numerous verses referring to Hell. For instance: "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind, which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away. So will it be in the end of the world. The controllers will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:47-50 )

After creation, we were put to death. Through birth we were given life on this planet; we will die again and we will be resurrected for the Day of Judgment. Death is simply the stage of unconsciousness that is required by God's system where our mind is forced to travel between universes.

We may infer that Adam was the name of the new species created by God through evolution and he became the successor of a violent primate dominating the earth.

The verse reminds us of one of the most important divine gifts: the capacity of creating abstract ideas, categorization, and discrimination. Through Adam, our common ancestor, our genetic program is made able to recognize and distinguish numerous animals, plants, devices, chemical compounds, emotions, ideas, etc.

The Old Testament has a parallel account: "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found any help meet for him" (Genesis 2:19-20 ).

Jeffrey Lang, professor of Mathematics at Kansas University, in his remarkable book Losing My Religion: A Call for Help, (Amana Publications, 2004), notes the following about this verse, "If I had any doubt about the Qur'an's position is that the human character is potentially greater than the angelic one, this verse removed it. When Adam succeeds intellectually where the angels failed, God tells them, "Bow down to Adam." They then bow down, demonstrating their acknowledgement of his superiority. Bowing is also a symbol of subservience and thus the Qur'an seems to be indicating that the angels/controllers will serve mankind in its development on earth. (p.32).

Serving God is living according the nature and reason. Human nature requires enjoyment of God's blessings within the limitations put by the Creator. By choosing to act against the advice of our own Creator we acted unreasonably. See: 51:56.

Though the Quran holds both Adam and his spouse equally responsible for their sinful act, the Old Testament's related verses have been distorted by all-male Jewish clerics, and this misogynistic distortion was later exploited further by St. Paul to promote male hegemony.

The dubious St. Paul justifies his misogynistic ideas with the following rationale: "Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety" (1 Timothy 2:7-15 ). "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also says the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church" (1 Corinthians 14:34-35 ). "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered" (1 Peter 3:7 ).

Ironically, the Old Testament contradicts St. Paul's attempt to deprive women from freedom of expression: The Old Testament mentions several women as prophets: Miriam (Exodus 15:20 ), Deborah (Judges 4:4-5 ), Huldah (2Kings 22:14 ), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14 ). For the Old Testament account of this event, see Genesis 3:1-24 . See the Quran 4:1; 4:34; 49:13; 60:12. Also see 7:19; 20:115.

The Quran mentions Jews frequently; sometimes for their good deeds and accomplishments, and sometimes for their blunders and failures. God knew that the followers of Muhammed would fall for the same trap centuries later. The Quran narrates the history so that we do not repeat the same errors. Unfortunately, those who followed the hearsay stories about prophet Muhammed committed the same sins. For instance, compare these verses with the beliefs and actions of today's Sunni and Shiite mushriks: 2:48; 2:67; 2:80; 3:24; 9:31. The Quran was not revealed to dead people, but to the living (36:70). Thus, we should be warned and enlightened by the divine criticisms levied to the previous generations. Some people have problem with the expression "do not purchase with my signs a cheap gain" or "do not trade it with a cheap price" since they commit the fallacy called "accent." The accent should not be on "cheap gain" or "cheap price" rather should be on "do not purchase…" or "do not trade it…"

For zaka (purification/betterment through sharing the blessings) see 7:146.

Belief in intercession is a mythology common in many religions. Satan, via religious clergymen, infected the faith of many people with the virus called intercession. Intercession generates false hope that promotes human-worship. The living religious leaders distinctly discover the power of intercession for their political and economic exploitation: if their followers believe that "holy dead humans" could bestow them eternal salvation and save them from God's justice, then they would be more susceptible to follow their semi-holy leaders blindly.

None has the power of saving criminals from God's judgment. The Quran considers the faith in intercession to be shirk or polytheism. If there is any intercession, it will be in the form of testimony for the truth (2:48; 6:70; 7:53; 10:3; 20:109; 34:23; 39:44; 43:86; 74:48; 78:38). Ironically, the Quran informs us that Muhammed will complain about his people deserting the Quran, not "his sunna" as they claim (25:30). If there were any intercession by Muhammed, this would be the one. Muhammedans are so ignorant and arrogant, like their ancestors, that they too are in denial of their associating partnership with God through attributing the power of intercession, or other false powers, to God's servants (6:23; 16:35; 17:57; 39:3, 38; 19:81). Those who acknowledge the Quran do not favor one messenger over another (2:285), since all the messengers belong to the same community (21:92; 23:51).

The Quran gives examples of many idolized concepts and objects. For instance, children (7:90), religious leaders and scholars (9:31), money and wealth (18:42), angels/controllers, dead saints, messengers and prophets (16:20, 21; 35:14; 46:5, 6; 53:23), and ego/wishful thinking (25:43, 45:23) all can be idolized.

In order to infect the human mind with the most dangerous disease called shirk (associating partners with God, or polytheism), Satan infects the unappreciative minds with a virus that destroys the faculty of recognition and self-criticism. As a result, the faulty and defective recognition program hands the mind over to the Satan’s control. Therefore, most of those who associate partners with God in various ways do not recognize their polytheism (6:23). Polytheists show all the symptoms of hypnosis; their master hypnotist is Satan.

We are instructed to glorify and praise God (3:41; 3:191; 33:42; 73:8; 76:25; 4:103), not His messengers, who are only human beings like us. We are instructed by the Gracious and Loving God to utter the name of messengers by their first names, without glorifying them, and Muhammed is no different from other messengers (2:136; 2:285; 3:144). Muhammed was a human being like us (18:110; 41:6), and his name is mentioned in the Quran as Muhammed, similar to how other people are mentioned in the Quran (3:144; 33:40; 47:2; 48:29).

Uttering expressions containing salli ala after Muhammed's name, as is commonly done by Sunni and Shiites alike, is based on a distortion of the meaning of a verb demanding action of support and encouragement of a living messenger, rather than utterance of praise for a dead messenger (compare 33:56 to 33:43; 9:103; and 2:157). Despite these verses clarifying the meaning of the word; despite the fact that the Quran does not instruct us to say something, but to do something; despite the fact that the third person pronoun in the phrase indicates that it was an innovation after Muhammed's departure; despite these and many other facts, Sunni and Shiite clerics try hard to find an excuse to continue this form of Muhammed worship. Contradicting the intention and practice of the masses, some clerics even claim this phrase to be a prayer for Muhammed rather than a phrase for his praise. Muhammed, especially the Muhammed of their imaginations, should be the last person who would need the constant prayers of millions. According to them, Muhammed already received the highest rank in paradise, and again according to them he did not commit any sins. Therefore, the addressee of their prayers is wrong. They should pray for themselves, and for each other, not for Muhammed. It is akin to homeless people donating their dimes, several times a day, to the richest person in the world. It is just as absurd.

A great majority of Sunni and Shiite mushriks declare their peaceful surrender to God alone while standing in their prayers, but immediately nullify that declaration twice while sitting down. They first tell God, "You alone we worship; you alone we ask for help" and then forget what they just promised God by greeting "the prophet" in the SECOND person, "Peace be on YOU o prophet!" (as salamu alayKA ayyuhan nabiyyu), as if he was another omnipotent and omniscient god. They give lip service to monotheism while standing, and they revert to confessing their idolatry when sitting. Those who betray the meaning of "the ruler of the day of judgment" which they utter numerous times in their prayers (1:4; 82:17), those who contradict the purpose of the prayer (20:15), are obviously those who are oblivious to their own prayers (107:4; 8:35). In defiance of the Quran, many sects and mystic orders competed with each other to put Muhammed in a position that Muhammed unequivocally rejected (39:30 and 16:20, 21). Also see, 2:123; 3:80; 5:109; 6:51; 6:70; 7:53; 9:80; 10:3; 13:14; 19:87; 21:28; 33:64; 34:23; 39:3; 43:86; 53:19; 74:48; 83:11.

After the departure of Jesus, the Pharisee Paul turned Jesus into a divine sacrifice and a middle man between his flock and God: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6). The Catholic Church went even further and added Mary and numerous saints to the ranks of the holy power brokers.

The followers of Sunni and Shiite sects follow a similar doctrine. They replace one idol with another, and consider Muhammed to be "the mediator" between God and men; they assert that without accepting Muhammed, none can attain salvation! Following the tradition of Paul, and then the tradition of Catholic Church, they too produced their own saints, thereby creating a Pyramid scheme of mediators. Interestingly, some later idols have surpassed the main idol in popularity. For instance, in Iran, people worship the second-generation idol, Ali, more than they worship Muhammed. They invoke Ali's name on almost every occasion. In Syria, a third-generation idol, Hussain, is more popular than both Ali and Muhammed. The long list of idols varies from country to country, from town to town, from order to order, and even includes the names of living local idols as well.

This event reflects social and psychological weaknesses that may cloud human reasoning. Despite witnessing profound miracles, the Children of Israel turned back to the religion of their oppressors (20:83).

Ego, the self-exaggerating or self-worshiping self, should be avoided while the realist or appreciative self should be nourished. It is astonishing to see that many translations of the Quran render the phrase uqtulu anfusakum as "fight/kill each other." How could they not notice thirty verses down, that is, the 84th and 85th verses of this very chapter? The Arabic word nafs is a multiple-meaning word and its intended meaning can be inferred by considering its proximate context consistent with the entire text of the scripture. The multiple meanings ascribed to the word nafs (person) suggest that our personhood is a complex program with multiple layers and one part of it, the ego, needs to be controlled with reason and submission to God alone.

However, there is another way. We should be open to read the text of the scripture without being restricted to the traditionally codified readings. We should be able to read the oldest texts that do not contain dots or vowels, in all possible readings, with the condition that they fit the context well and do not create internal or external contradictions within the ayat (signs) of the scripture or the ayat of nature. There is a divine blessing and purpose in such flexibility. For instance, we might read the following verses differently. If the alternative readings change the meaning dramatically, they are exclusive. However, sometimes both alternative readings can co-exist at the same time. One of the following, however, is a linguistic marvel; with its four alternative combinations, it excludes and includes at the same time, depending on the reference of the key word (3:7)! The following is a sample list:

2:243 Kharaju or Khuriju (inclusive)

3:7 Putting full stop after the word God and/or not stopping after the word God (both exclusive and inclusive!)

5:43; 5:6 Arjulakum or Arjulikum (exclusive)

11:46 Amalun or Amila (inclusive)

21:112 Qala or Qul (exclusive)

30:1 Yaglibun or Yughlabun (exclusive)

42:52 Nashau or Yashau (inclusive)

54:3 Kullu or Kulla (inclusive)

74:24 Yuthir or Yuthar (inclusive)

Kitab or Kutub (inclusive or exclusive) in numerous verses

3:146 Qatala or Qutila (both inclusive and exclusive)

7:57 Bushra or Nushra (iclusive)

Let's now discuss the alternative reading we are suggesting for 2:54.

The expression faqtulu anfusakum is traditionally mistranslated as "fight/kill yourselves" or "fight/kill each other" and it contradicts a proximate verse (2:84); thus, we may choose to translate the word nafs as "ego." If we prefer consistency in using "person/self" for translation of nafs, then we may follow the following alternative reading: Faqbilu anfusakum, that is, "turn to yourselves," or "accept yourselves," or "face yourselves." To discover other examples of different yet consistent and meaningful readings, we are hoping to systematically study the entire Quran in the future.

See 4:66; 7:40. For multiple-meaning verses, see 3:7.

Intriguingly, the verse about people asking for physical evidence for God's existence contains the 19th occurrence of the word Allah (God) from the beginning of the Quran. As we know, the number 19 as the prophesied code of the Quran's miraculous mathematical structure, presents us with verifiable and falsifiable physical evidence regarding its divine authorship. See 82:19.

Lightning was not a punishment but was a lesson: if they could not withstand the energy of a lightning bolt, surely they could not withstand God's physical presence. The following verse supports our inference.