THE ABBREVIATED LETTERS (AL-MUQATTA'ĀT) OF THE GLORIOUS QUR-ĀN

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*THE ABBREVIATED LETTERS (AL-MUQATTA'ĀT) OF THE GLORIOUS QUR-ĀN*

Certainly Sūras have certain initials prefixed to them, which are called the "Abbreviated letters." A number of conjectures have been made as to their meaning. Opinions are divided as to the exact meaning of each particular letter or combination of letters, and it is agreed that only Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) knows their exact meaning.

Their presence is not inconsistent with the character of the Glorious Qur-ān as a "plain book." The book of nature is also a plain book, but how few can fully understand it? Every one can get out of the Qur-ān plain guidance for his life according to his capacity for spiritual understanding. As his capacity grows, so will his understanding grow. The whole Book is a Record for all time. It must necessarily contain that only gradually unfold themselves to humanity.

This is not a mystery of the same class as "mysterious" by which we are asked to believe against the dictates of reason. If we are asked to believe that one is three and three is one, we can give no intelligible meaning to the words. If we are asked to believe that certain initials have a meaning which will be understood in the fullness of time, we are asked to draw upon Faith, but we are not asked to do any violence to our reason.

I shall try discuss some of the probable meanings of any particular abbreviated letters or set of abbreviated letters on the first occasion on which it appears in the Glorious Qur-ān. But it may be desirable here to take a general view of the facts of their occurrence to help us in appreciating the various views which are held about them.

There are 29 letters in the Arabic alphabet (counting hamza and alif as two letters), and there are 29 Sūras which have abbreviated letters prefixed to them. One of these Sūras (S. xlii) has two sets of abbreviated letters, but we need not count this Sūras twice. If we take the half of the alphabet, omitting the fraction, we get 14, and this is the number of letters which actually occur in the Muqatta'āt (abbreviated letters).

The 14 letters, which occur in various combinations, are:

ا    ص    ك      ه

ح   ط      ل    ي 

ر     ع      م 

س    ق     ن

The science of phonetics tells us that our vocal sounds arise from the expulsion of the air from the lungs, and the sounds are determined by the way in which the breath passes through the various organs of speech, e.g, the throat (guttural), or the various positions of the tongue to the middle or front of the palate or to the teeth, or the play of the lips. Everyone of these kinds of sounds is represented in these letters.

Let us now examine the combinations.

A. Three of these letters occur alone, prefixed each to only one Sūra. The letters and Sūras are:

1. Surah Sad (chapter 38) ص 

2. Sūra Qaf (chapter 50) ق 

3. Sūra Al-Qalam (chapter 68)  ن 

B. The combinations of two letters occur in ten Sūras as shown below. Three of them occur only once each, but the fourth حم occurs in seven consecutive Sūras.

1. Sūra Taha (chapter 20)  طه

2. Sūra An-Naml (chapter 27)  طس 

3. Sūra Ya seen (chapter 36)  يس

4. Sūra Ghafir (chapter 40) حم

5. Sūra Fussilat (chapter 41) حم

6. Sūra Ash-Shura (chapter 42) حم

7. Sūra Az-Zukhruf (chapter 43) حم

8. Sūra Ad-Dukhan (chapter 44) حم

9. Sūra Al-Jathiya (chapter 45) حم

10. Sūra Al-Ahqaf (chapter 46) حم

Note that Sūra Ash-Shura (chapter 42) has a double combination of abbreviated , one of two followed by one of three. See under combinations five.

C. There are three combinations of three letters each, occuring as follows in 13 Sūras:

1. Sūra Al-Baqara (chapter 2) الم

2. Sūra Āl Imrān (chapter 3) الم

3. Sūra Al-Ankaboot (chapter 29) الم

4. Sūra Ar-Room (chapter 30) الم

5. Sūra Luqman (chapter 31) الم

6. Sūra As-Sajda (chapter 32) الم

7. Sūra Yūnus (chapter 10) الر

8. Sūra Hud (chapter 11) الر

9. Sūra Yusuf (chapter 12) الر

10. Sūra Ibrāhīm (chapter 14) الر

11. Sūra Al-Hijr (chapter 15) الر 

12. Sūra Ash-Shu'ara (chapter 26) طسم

13. Sūra Al-Qasas (chapter 28) طسم

D. Combinations of four letters occur twice, each only once:

1. Sūra Al-Araf (chapter 7) المص

2. Sūra Ar-Rad (chapter 13) المر

Note that the three proceeding and the two following Sūras have the triple letters الر.

E. Finally there remain the combinations of five letters, each of which occurs only once, as follows:

1. Sūra Maryam (chapter 19) كهيعص

2. Sūra Ash-Shura (chapter 42) حم عسق

In Sūra Ash-Shura (chapter 42), the حم and عسق are put in separate verses. From that point of view they may be considered two separate combinations. The first combination has already been listed by under the group of two-letter combinations.

This arithmetic analysis brings certain facts into prominence. I do not know how far they have a bearing on the inner meaning of the Muqatta'āt (abbreviated letters).

The combinations of abbreviated letters that run in series in consecutive Sūras is noticeable. For example حم occurs in seven consecutive Sūras from chapter 40 to 46. The combination الر occurs in six consecutive Sūras from chapter 10 to 15, but in one of them (chapter 13) it is modified to المر connecting it with the الم series. The الم covers covers six Sūras. It begins with chapter 2 and chapter 3, which are practically the beginning of the Qur-ān, and ends with the four consecutive Sūras chapter 29 to 32. I calls chapter 2 and chapter 3 practically the beginning of the Qur-ān, because chapter 1 is considered a general introduction to the Qur-ān, and the first Sīpārā is commonly known as الم , the first verse of chapter 2. The combination طسم is prefixed to chapter 26 and chapter 28, but the intervening chapter 27 has the combination طس , which may be considered a syncopated form, or the three-letter combination طسم may be considered an extended form of طس. Again the question arises: does the م in حم ,الم and طسم , stand for the the same signification, or does it mean a different thing in each case? We may generalise and say that there are three series of six, and one series of three, and the others occur all singly.

We should logically look for a common factor in the Sūras bearing the same initials, and this factor should be different for Sūras bearing other initials. In all cases where the abbreviated letters occur, there is some mention of the Qur-ān or the Book. The Itqān makes an exception in the case of three Sūras Ankabūt (chapter 29), Rūm (chapter 30), and Nūn (chapter 68). But a close perusal will show that these Sūras are no exceptions. In chapter 29, verse 27 we have a reference to the Book remaining in the family of Abraham, and later on we have a whole Section, devoted to the Book, with special reference to the continuity of revelation in the previous Books and the Qur-ān (chapter 29, verses 45-51). In chapter 30, verse 58 there is express mention of the Qur-ān, and the whole argument of the Sūra leads up to the intimate relation between Allāh's "signs" in nature (chapter 30, verse 20-27) and His revelation in the Qur-ān. In chapter 68, the very first verse begins the theme with the Pen as the instrument of writing, exhorts Al-Mustafā to stand forth boldly to proclaim the Message, and ends (chapter 68, verse 52) with the declaration that it is a Message for all the worlds.

There are general considerations, which I have thought it most convenient to present it to you.

May Allāh (Sub-haanahu wata'aala) increase our knowledge of the Glorious Qur-ān and may He grant us the ability to always practice what the Qur-ān says. Ameen