The Beautiful Arrangement of “Seven” in the Holy Qur’an –

Between Coincidence and Symmetry [MUST READ!!]

It is strongly argued that a shrewdly precise numerical arrangement

rests within the verses of the Holy Qur’an, and that this
arrangement proves that the Creator of the Heavens is also the one
who sent us this Holy Book.

The numerical miracle of the Qur’an continues to be a controversial

topic, even for some Muslims, so let’s read further…

A Muslim friend once asked me about the numerical miracle in the

Qur’an: “I want you to give me one advantage we can get out of
what you call the numerical miracle! Islam teaches us how to
worship God and have good morals to govern our behaviour in this
world and bring us closer to God in the hereafter, so what are we
gaining from the numbers of letters or verses or chapters in the
Qur’an?”

My reply was this: “Do you think that God might have created
anything in this universe in vain?” He replied: “Certainly not,
because God created everything for a given purpose.” I then asked
him: “How, then, could this great God of ours deposit anything in
this book without purpose?” He replied: “So what is it he
deposited?” I answered: “It is the number seven’s astounding
numerical arrangement in the Qur’an.”

Finally, he told me: “It seems that you’re weaving numbers together
out of your own imagination and presenting it to people as a miracle
from God! Does the Qur’an really need such difficult calculations for
people to believe it?”

I then told my friend that he was pardoned, because people like Dr.
Rashad Khalifa had previously presented the numerical miracle with
such inconsistency and falsehood, to the extent that people’s
perceptions of the numerical miracle have now become extremely
shaken. I promised my friend to prove to him that the Qur’an’s
numerical miracle was innocent of any contradiction; that God
Almighty used this miracle for a noble goal, namely to indicate the
continuous relevance of the Qur’an - even in today’s era of
technology, science and numbers.

The significance of the number 7 in every person’s life is notable;

the Earth’s atmosphere has 7 layers, and so does the Earth’s crust.
The days of the week are 7, the layers of an atom are 7, and the
continents are 7. In other words, many of the basic building blocks
of our everyday lives are related to ‘7’ in one way or another.
Particularly for Muslims, they prostrate on 7 body parts (feet, knees,
hands and face), there are 7 gates to Hellfire, and the Muslims’
annual pilgrimage to Mecca to perform ‘Hajj’ includes 7 laps around
the ‘Kaaba’. These are only a few examples of how this number is
actively present in people’s lives.

That being said, we assume that this figure should also have a
systematic arrangement in the Qur’an – the book which was sent
down by the creator of this life - which distinguishes it from any
other number. Therefore, in examining the Qur’an we find that the
first number mentioned is the number 7. This suggests, perhaps, a
particular arrangement or system, as if God Almighty is alerting us
to the significance of this figure and the importance of researching
its boundaries in the Qur’an.

After searching through the Qur’an, I noticed that the number 7 is

used for the first time in the second Chapter, “Al-Baqarah” [The
Cow], where God says: (It is He Who created for you all that is on
earth. Then he turned towards the heaven and made them seven
heavens. And He is the Knower of all things.) [The Cow: 29].
Furthermore, I found that the last time number 7 is mentioned is in
Chapter 78, “Al-Naba’” [The Tidings], where God says: (And We
have built above you seven strong (heavens)). [The Tidings: 12].

I then told myself that there must be some kind of arrangement

based upon this central number, and this drove me to study the
Qur’an further. But then a question arose: How can I study it
further when the only numbers that exist in logical order are the
numbers of the Chapters and the Verses? Therefore, I directed my
attention to the numbers of the Chapters and looked for any
relationship that may possibly exist between them and the number
7.

To my surprise, I found that when I counted the number of Chapters

between “The Cow” and “The Tidings” (i.e. between the Chapter
where ‘7’ was first mentioned and the Chapter where it was last
mentioned), there were 77 Chapters, a multiple of 7! I reflected
upon this: The number of Chapters between the place where the
number 7 was first cited and last cited was exactly a multiple of this
number:77! Finding this harmony truly astonishing, I discarded any
possibility of coincidence.

At this point, however, my friend interrupted me: “But this could

have happened by chance. Besides, coincidences do happen once
or twice!”

Therefore, I suggested that we do the same calculation as before,

but this time using the numbers of Verses (yes, Verses!). So he
agreed.
And again, I counted the number of Verses between “The Cow” and
“The Tidings” (i.e. between the Verse where ‘7’ is first mentioned
and the Verse where it is last mentioned), and to my shock, I found
the numbers of Verses precisely 5649, a multiple of 7 again [807 x
7]! I was convinced beyond doubt that this could not have come by
chance. I reflected once more: Here is a case where the number of
Verses between the point where the number 7 was first mentioned
and last mentioned in the Qur’an is a number in the thousands, but
still a multiple of 7! Had there between one more or one less verse
in between, the arrangement would have been completely rejected!
Not only that, but the same consistency has already been witnessed
with the number of Chapters.

My friend began to concede, but still, he asked me: “But what’s the
use of all these numbers?” This time, I continued: “Do you think
there might be any more numerical consistency related to these two
Verses? Why don’t we count the number of Verses before the first
Verse where 7 is mentioned (i.e. The Cow: 29)?

Once again, the number of Verses before “The Cow: 29” were 28, a
multiple of 7 [4 x 7]. This is obvious, of course, because the Verse
where 7 is used for the first time is the 29th Verse of “The Cow”,
meaning that exactly 28 Verses precede it.

But now I thought that since the Verses coming before the first
Verse were a multiple of 7, then we would need the same result for
the Verses coming after the last Verse where 7 is used to consider
this arrangement truly symmetric.

And surely enough, to our pleasant surprise, when counting the

Verses that followed “The Tidings: 12”, we found not only a multiple
of 7, but exactly 28 Verses as the first case, because “The Tidings”
is comprised of precisely 40 Verses!

What beauty! I could no longer comprehend how all this could have
been a mere coincidence. I reflected: The number 7 is cited in “The
Cow” for the first time and “The Tidings” for the last time. The
number of Verses before “The Cow” (28) is a multiple of 7 and the
number of Verses after “The Tidings” (28) is a multiple of 7. And in
between them, both the number of Verses (5649) and the number
of Chapters (77) are a multiple of 7!

It must be noted at this point that, logically speaking, any human

being attempting such uniformity would have a very difficult time
doing so, because not only would he have to maintain this perfect
system of numerical agreement, but at the same time, he would
have to fully capture many elements such as meaning, context,
utter flawlessness of word choice, and devastating literary genius
that are so evident in the Holy Qur’an.

Finally, this example (and there are many, many more) convinced
my friend who always had his doubts about the numerical miracle.
Nevertheless, he could not help but ask: “What are we really
learning from this numerical arrangement?” I told him the same
thing I would tell anybody who is sceptical of the numerical miracle.

“God Almighty has created this whole universe we take for granted
with such delicate order and precision - and which fits perfectly with
our needs - in order for us human beings to realise with certainty
that such perfect order is something we could not have created.

Similarly, it is only logical that even in His Holy Scripture, God

Almighty maintained this perfect order in every way possible, be it
in terms of language, historical accuracy, relevance to any time
period, or numerical arrangement.

The purpose of all this, of course, is to demonstrate that, just like

the universe, the Holy Qur’an is a miracle that no human can
produce the like of. After all, the challenge of producing a book like
the Qur’an is stated in the book itself: (Say: If the whole of mankind
and the Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this
Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed
up each other with help and support.) [Al-Isra’: 88].”

Regardless of the numerical miracle, Muslims, of course, sincerely

believe that the Qur’an is the pure word of God, which was sent
down in the original language of Arabic. Also, the fact that the
Qur’an exists today in its original text strengthens the argument in
favour of the numerical miracle. While the example illustrated
above did not require specific Arabic words from the Qur’an, many
numerical examples can only be fully comprehended by reference to
what is cited in the Arabic text. After all, any version of the Qur’an
in a language other than Arabic cannot be considered the pure word
of God but merely a subjective translation, which is why, for
instance, various versions of the English Qur’an exist. In this whole
universe, however, only one Arabic Qur’an exists, and not even a
letter, let alone a word can be changed from its 600 or so pages.

Still, however, Muslims cannot claim to be better than Abraham

(pbuh), who, despite being a Messenger of God, wanted
reassurance: (And (remember) when Abraham said, My Lord! Show
me how You give life to the dead. He (Allah) said: Do you not
believe? He (Abraham) said: Yes (I believe), but to put my heart
at ease. He said: Take four birds, then cause them to incline
towards you (then slaughter them, cut them into pieces), and then
put a portion of them on every hill, and call them, they will come to
you in haste. And know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.) [The Cow:
260].

If this is the case of Abraham, then it certainly holds true that we, as
ordinary people, are in need of something to ease our hearts
beyond question.

While the 20th century has seen Islam being placed under
surveillance and bombarded with criticism, this has partly been to
its advantage. Many people have begun to hear about the true side
of Islam, and not its distorted image in the media. Unfortunately,
not enough people have been able to see the beautiful, true face of
Islam, and aspects of it such as the numerical miracle have not yet
come to light.

Finally, it is our dearest hope to present this wonderful religion of

Islam in a light-hearted manner for all people, Muslim or not.
Although we may get carried away with excitement when explaining
certain concepts such as the numerical miracle, our intention is to
be as objective as possible, and on that note, nothing is really more
objective than the language of numbers. The truth is that although
it involves lots of detail, understanding the numerical miracle just
makes our hearts sing! And lastly, all we ask is for readers to
contemplate and ponder upon the information presented; we don’t
and never intend to force anybody to believe in it, and our religion
forbids us from doing so anyway: (There is no compulsion in religion.
Verily, the right path has become distinct from the wrong path.
Whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the
most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-
Hearer, All-Knower.) [The Cow: 256].