DAY
- (of Assembling),
ad-Dukhan 44:10
- (of Judgement),
al-Fatihah 1:3; Âl 'Imran 3:30,106; al-An`am 6:22,74; Ibrahim 14:44; al-Hijr 15:35; an-Nahl 16:84; bani Isra'il 17:52; al-Kahf 18:48; al-Anbiya' 21:103; al-Hajj 22:1; al-Furqan 25:22; Luqman 31:33; al-Mu'min 40:15; al-Hujurat 49:20; adh-Dhariyat 51:12; at-Tur 52:9; an-Naba' 78:17; at-Takwir 81:1; al-Infitar 82:15; al-Inshiqaq 84:1; al-Zilzal 99:1,
see also LAST DAY
- the Last ~, see LAST DAY
- of creation,
al-Ma'idah 5:54; Yunus 10:4; Hud 11:7; al-Hajj 22:47; as-Sajdah 32:4; Ha Mim Sajdah 41:9; Qaf 50:38; al-Hadid 57:4; al-Ma`arij 70:4
Some Muslims, claiming mathematical miracles of the Qur'an, said
that in the Qur'an, there are 365 occurrences of
yawm and al yawm
(day and the day). Another learned Muslim, however, has pointed
out, that
``Different concordances are differently organized. And some
concordances have errors. In any case, it should be made explicit
that to get the count of 365, one must make the following arbitrary
inclusions and exclusions:
included:
all singular forms with the definite article:
all indefinite singular forms, including the accusative, which
has a suffixed alif.
all definite singular forms which lack the definite article
because they are followed by the genitive (like yawma
l-qiyama in Hud 11:98)
excluded:
all singular forms with a suffixed personal pronoun: 10.
the dual form (indefinite): 3.
plural forms with the definite article: 2.
plural forms, indefinite: 22.
plural forms, definite followed by genitive: 3
the form "yawma'idhin" (the day when): 70.
The most arbitary of exclusions is the exclusion of singular forms
that would have the definite article except that they are followed
by a personal pronoun or a modifier in the genitive. In English,
we would translate all of these by "the day", though in the case of
the personal pronoun, like in Arabic, we omit the definite article.
i.e., definite: the day; indefinite: a day; definite without
the definite article: your day, the day of resurrection. In English,
we omit the definite article with affixed pronouns, as do the
Arabs, but we keep it with other modifiers; the Arabs do not.
"baytu malik" means "the house of the king." If the Arabs want
to say "a house of the king," they use a roundabout construction
like "a house from among the houses of the king." (baytun min
buyuti malik).
My point about these collections of amazing numerical facts
regarding the Qur'an is that they have generally been amplified
by making arbitrary choices. They can sound very impressive; the
reality is more mundane. I have never seen any evidence that there
is any pattern in the word counts or letter counts in the Qur'an
that is outside what one might expect from normal statistical
variation.
It is simply not true that all singular forms of the word "day"
in the Qur'an total 365. But if it were, coincidences on this
level are quite common.
(AbdulraHman Lomax)
* Moreover, the solar calendar has never been a prominent feature
of Islam. The Lunar Calendar has an important presence. So, why is
365 (more accurately, it should be about 365.25), the solar year
appearing in the Qur'an instead of the Lunar year?
Go Back to Main Index