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Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān / Numbers and Enumeration

Words representing amounts and the designation of the number of objects. The Qurʾān makes full use of a range of Arabic words denoting numbers and counting. In doing so, it employs the number words both in terms of literal counting and of representative images and symbols (see symbolic imagery ), many with an ancient heritage. Words are employed for each of the cardinal unit numbers and occasional higher numbers, including 10, 11, 12, 19, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 99, 100, 200, 300, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, 50,000, and 100,000. The number words “one” and “two,” although numerically indicated through grammar in Arabic (along with the generic plural, of course), are used both for emphasis and counting purposes. Of the ordinal numbers, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th appear in the text. Fractions also figure significantly, primarily because of their legal usage in matters of inheritance (q.v.) as dealt with in q 4; 1/2, 1/3, 2/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, and 1/10 are all employed.

In terms of mathematical concepts, the Qurʾān makes use of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and ratios. “Addi-¶ tion” is conveyed by words related to zāda, which is, however, often best understood simply as “increase.” In a passage such as q 18:25, “And they tarried in the cave (q.v.) three hundred years, and they added nine more,” specific addition of numbers is suggested. A sense of subtraction is found in the word “less” as expressed through the use of the word illā as in q 29:14, “We sent Noah (q.v.) to his people, and he tarried among them a thousand years less fifty.” Mathematical multiplication may be conveyed by kaththara in q 7:86, “You were few and he multiplied you,” and by yadhraʾu in q 42:11, “He has appointed for you, of yourselves, pairs, and pairs also of the cattle, therein multiplying you,” although both of those may be taken in the sense of “reproduce” rather than mathematical multiplying. Doubling things specifically uses ḍāʿafa (and ḍiʿf for “a double”) but this is also often taken with a more generic sense of “multiply” as in q 64:17, “If you lend God a good loan (see contracts and alliances; debt), he will multiply it for you.” Division in the sense of separating things into parts is conveyed via words related to qasama, as in q 54:28, “And tell them that the water is to be divided between them, each drink for each in turn.” A sense of ratios emerges in passages having to do with odds in battle (see victory; fighting; war) such as q 8:66, “If there be a hundred of you, patient men, they will overcome two hundred; if there be of you, a thousand, they will overcome two thousand by the leave of God.” Note may also be taken of the idea of “odd,” watr, and “even,” shafʿ, employed in q 89:3, although these terms appear outside a mathematical context. “Pairs,” mathnā, is an elaboration of “two” and is used in counting sequences, for example, in q 4:3, “Marry such women (see marriage and divorce; women and the qurʾān) as seem good to you, in pairs, triples or ¶ quadruples” (also see q 35:1 for the wings on angels; see angel ).

Counting itself — that is, doing mathematical reckoning — is quite frequently conveyed through ʿadda, “to number,” and its derivatives, e.g. q 9:36, “the number of months (q.v.) with God is twelve,” and q 19:84, “We are only numbering them for a number” in reference to the unbelievers (see belief and unbelief ). The root is also used in the sense of an indefinite number (i.e. “many”) of items ( q 10:5, “the number of years”). The root aḥṣā is also used in a similar manner as in q 36:12, “Everything we have numbered in a clear register.” The use of both roots ( ʿ-d-d and ḥ-ṣ-w) in q 19:94 should be noted, “He has indeed counted (aḥṣā) them and he has numbered (ʿadda) them,” in reference to all those in “the heavens (see heaven and sky ) and the earth (q.v.).” Another word, ḥasiba, and its derivatives convey a more general sense of “calling to account” with God as the reckoner.

On several occasions things are enumerated in the Qurʾān, simply for the purposes of counting, as in the debate regarding how many sleepers there were in the cave ( q 18:22; see men of the cave ) or the presence of God being counted as one extra in groups who conspire secretly ( q 58:7).

The Qurʾān's vocabulary of numbers includes senses derived from the widespread Near Eastern symbolic value of numbers which undoubtedly permeated pre-Islamic culture as well as having been fully incorporated within the biblical tradition (see pre-islamic arabia and the qurʾān; scripture and the qurʾān). The social values, however, conveyed through number symbolism in the Qurʾān are less obvious than in other ranges of symbolism (e.g. as found in colors [q.v.]). For example, the symbolism of “seven” days in a week does not seem to convey a great deal about ¶ the social values of seventh century Arabia when it is employed in the Qurʾān. Rather, it speaks more significantly of the ancient heritage of such symbols whose actual social value has perhaps been lost but which provide a structuring to human experience nevertheless (see community and society in the qurʾān ).

“Three” ( thalātha) is a number of plurality, perhaps reflected in the fact that “two” can be indicated through the grammatical dual in Arabic whereas a separate word must be used for “three” (see grammar and the qurʾān; arabic language). Duality — whether expressed by the grammatical ending or by the word ithnān — is natural and perfect, whereas “three” indicates a collection of things (in common with the units up to ten), as is suggested by the use of the plural noun in grammatical construct case following the number word when enumerating things. The natural and perfect nature of “two” is reflected by the use of duality in the case of the animals going into Noah's ark ( q 11:40, “Embark on it two of every kind”; see animal life ) and in the description of creation (q.v.; q 13:3, “And of every fruit he placed there two kinds”; see agriculture and vegetation ). There is also the qurʾānic injunction to have two male witnesses for contracts (although note one man and two women; q 2:282; see witnessing and testifying; contracts and alliances). Duality is, at the same time, opposed to oneness — whether expressed in the word wāḥid or aḥad — quite clearly: “Take not to you two gods. He is only one God” ( q 16:51; see god and his attributes ). “Three,” on the other hand, may be a number of pain and grief (see joy and misery; suffering), especially as opposed to unity. q 77:30 speaks of the punishment of the judgment day (see eschatology; reward and punishment; last judgment) in saying, “Depart to a triple-massing ¶ shadow,” the three-ness of this shadow being an emphasis on its awfulness (see darkness ). “Three veils” encircle the child in the womb according to q 39:6 (see birth ). Fasting (q.v.) for three days overcomes legal problems ( q 2:196; 5:89). The people of Ṣāliḥ (q.v.) can enjoy their homes for three days before punishment comes ( q 11:65; see punishment stories ). And, of course, the idea of worshipping three gods is firmly condemned ( q 4:171; see christians and christianity; polytheism and atheism).

Attention has been drawn in scholarship to the symbolism of “four,” arbaʿ, and its multiples in Arab historical narratives and the resultant lack of precision in associated historical details. The grounding of those symbols is to be found in the Qurʾān. The role of “forty” is especially prominent but this is founded upon the widespread symbol of “four” as representing “perfection, completion and culmination.” “Forty” becomes a major chronological unit, building upon the formative one of Muḥammad as forty years old when he began to receive revelation (see revelation and inspiration ), an age likely selected as reflective of q 46:15 and its association of the age of forty with maturity (q.v.) and religious wisdom (q.v.). Of “four” and “forty,” it has been suggested that they are “the numbers which determine or express the extent to which certain deeds arouse divine approbation or ire or simply demonstrate the hand of God at work in the world” (Conrad, Abraha, 231). The qurʾānic material, however, adds an extra level of specification to the symbol of “four,” and, in doing so, stays within Near Eastern patterns. “Four” is the number of perfection, completion and culmination, specifically of the “material order,” as reflected in ideas of the four elements of existence, the four directions of the compass, the four corners of the earth (q.v.), the four phases of the ¶ moon (q.v.), the four seasons (q.v.), and so on. “Four” in the Qurʾān is the number used in the context of legal requirements (see law and the qurʾān ), certainly reflecting ideas of the wholeness and perfection of material culture but defining that material culture primarily in legal terms, as is appropriate to the Islamic social world (see material culture and the qurʾān ). A man may marry up to four wives ( q 4:3); four witnesses are required to the accusation of adultery ( q 4:15; see adultery and fornication ); if there are not four witnesses, then an oath uttered four times suffices ( q 24:4-9, with, note, the fifth oath to say that he is not a liar; see lie; oaths); there are four months that are sacred ( q 9:2, 36).

“Four” related to a period of time has legal status as well: four months of abstention from one's wife for divorce ( q 2:226; see abstinence ) and widows (see widow ) are to wait four months plus ten days before remarrying ( q 2:234) — the perfection of the number “ten” being added to the legal number “four.” No other number used in the Qurʾān predominates in its legal application in the way that “four” does. “Four” as the symbol of legality continues in later Islam with the four schools of law and the four righteous caliphs (see caliph ). Certainly, other instances of the use of “four” do not have a specific legal overtone: creation is separated out into two days plus four, and in the latter four, God “ordained therein its diverse sustenance” ( q 41:10) — that is, the creation of the material world.

“Five,” khamsa, on the other hand, is half a group — that is, half of “ten” — and despite its later significance in Islam in the ideas of the “five” daily prayers (see prayer ), the “five” ritual pillars, and the five “pillars” of the creed (see creeds; faith), it is not used in the Qurʾān with any such reference. The enumeration of ¶ rituals is not supported through a symbolic use of the number in the Qurʾān. “Five” is used in expressions of large numbers (5000 swooping angels in q 3:125; one day is 50,000 years in q 70:4; see days of god ), and overall the number simply appears to convey a significantly large quantity.

The number “six,” sitta, relates only to the number of days of creation in the Qurʾān; this is significant in that “six” is sometimes spoken of as a number symbolic of “incompleteness” because it is one less than the heavenly number of “seven.” The Qurʾān does not use “six” apart from the creation story, and it speaks of those six days without giving any importance to the seventh day that follows it which, in the biblical tradition, completes the process. “Six” seems to have lost its symbolic value in the Qurʾān and is entirely subsidiary to Near Eastern creation traditions. It is also polemically charged — that is, it is used with an emphasis on the rejection of the day of rest, as in q 50:38 and its “And no weariness touched us,” along with the insistence upon creation being associated with God being on his throne (see throne of god; sabbath).

“Seven,” sabʿa, like “three,” is a prominent number of plurality but it clearly has a symbolic value deeply imbedded in the notion of the seven stars or planets from ancient Babylonian times (see planets and stars ). Virtually all the uses of “seven” in the Qurʾān relate to cosmography in one way or another (see cosmology ). The seven heavens or firmaments ( q 17:44), seven gates to hell ( q 15:44; see hell and hellfire ), seven oceans ( q 31:27), and the motif of seven in the story of Joseph (q.v.) and the interpretation of the dreams ( q 12:43-8) all reflect this (see dreams and sleep ). “Seven” is the number of the supra-mundane world.

Such values continue in later Muslim¶ tradition. Ibn ʿAbbās, while still a youth, is reported to have said to ʿUmar (see companions of the prophet; ḥadīth and the qurʾān):

God is odd in number and he likes odd numbers. Days of the universe turn around seven, he created our sustenance out of seven, he created man out of seven, above us he created seven skies, below us he created seven layers of the earth, he gave us the seven oft-repeated (q.v.; mathānī ), he forbade marriage with seven relatives in scripture (see prohibited degrees ), and he divided the legacy into seven parts, he confined the numbers of bows of our bodies [in prayer] to seven (see bowing and prostration ), the messenger of God walked around the Kaʿba (q.v.) seven times and between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa (see ṣafā and marwa ) seven times, he threw seven stones [at Minā], and the night of glory (see night of power ) is one of the last seven nights of Ramaḍān (q.v.; Suyūṭī, Itqān, iv, 206-7).

“Seven” used in the form of “seventy” is generally interpreted simply as “a large number” (see Conrad, Seven, 46; and references including Ibn Khaldūn who says that “seventy” is used by the Bedouin [q.v.] to mean “many”).

“Eight,” thamāniya, is used five times, plus once as “the eighth” in a counting sequence ( q 18:22), once as “an eighth” in matters of inheritance ( q 4:12) and once as “eighty” for the number of lashes for bearing false witness ( q 24:4). There appears to be no unifying symbolic value in the qurʾānic use of “eight.”

“Nine,” tisʿa, being one less than “ten” is used with the sense of one remaining to be added or to bring completion. Moses (q.v.) received nine clear signs before Pharaoh (q.v.; q 17:101; 27:12); nine people did cor-¶ ruption (q.v.) in the city of Thamūd (q.v.) and conspired against the tenth person who was Ṣāliḥ. Also note the use of “ninety-nine” in q 38:23, the only time a combination of tens and units that equals more than the number nineteen is used in the Qurʾān; again, it is counted as one less than a hundred, suggesting that something is lacking, just as in the relationship between “nine” and “ten”.

Arabic uses a decimal numeration system, as reflected in digits that are multiples of ten and the existence of separate words for one hundred and one thousand. “Ten,” ʿashr, as a basic number of counting, seems a reasonable extrapolation from the physiological fact that humans have ten fingers upon which to count. The Qurʾān uses “ten” to reflect this, in that it is the number of counting and of transaction (see selling and buying ), and of dealing with gifts (see gift-giving ) and with people. “Ten” carries a good value. One good deed brings ten like it ( q 6:160; see good deeds ); feeding ten people expiates an oath ( q 5:89); the bringing of ten sūras like the Qurʾān is the challenge put forth ( q 11:13; see inimitability; provocation); ten is three plus seven for the days of a fast in lieu of an offering on the pilgrimage (q.v.) both major and minor ( q 2:196, ḥajj and ʿumra).

From eleven through nineteen, the singular noun is used following the counting number in Arabic. There is a sense of a “heap” here, a plurality of things becoming one undifferentiated group when eleven is reached. Eleven itself is used only once in the Qurʾān, in the eleven stars that bow down to Joseph ( q 12:4). “Twelve,” on the other hand, is used five times, in reference to fountains ( q 2:60; 7:160; see springs and fountains ), chieftains ( q 5:12), tribes ( q 7:160) and months ( q 9:36). It certainly conveys a sense of ¶ completion and perfection, suggesting that “twelve” is not always meant literally but sometimes signifies that a full complement is found in the group being counted. Most interesting is the assertion that God declares there to be twelve months. The resultant sense of a divine legitimatization for such an aspect of human culture is striking.

“Nineteen” is famous because of its use in expressing the number of angels in q 74:30 and may be understood as the sum of “seven” and “twelve,” two numbers of ancient symbolic value. While some have suggested that the number “nineteen” has been used merely for rhyme purposes in the verse (see language and style of the qurʾān; rhymed prose), the usage of this number drew attention early in Islam, and traditions emerged regarding, for example, the use of nineteen letters within the basmala (q.v.; also see Wensinck, Handbook, 12a, for the traditions on “nineteen” as the number of words in the call to prayer, adhān). The number continues to fascinate, especially because of the recent work of the late Rashid Khalifa in the United States and his attempt to prove the miraculous character of the Qurʾān via the numerical significance of “nineteen” (see mysterious letters ). The Internet has become the current forum for the discussion of his ideas through his mosque community in Tucson, Arizona, called the United Submitters International (see www.submission.org). As is common with such attempted numerical proofs, the results are based upon both the characteristics of numbers themselves and statistical analysis of dubious validity (see Gardner, The new age, 170-4: i.e. the “demonic” 666, etc.).

The Qurʾān, not unexpectedly, uses the symbolic language of the Near Eastern monotheist culture. The Arabic of the ¶ seventh century participates fully in those kinds of symbolic representations, although the values which they convey (for example, the auspiciousness of “seven” as reflected in its cosmographical usages in the very ancient world) are deeply embedded and not necessarily explicitly stated. The Qurʾān also uses these symbols with its own particular emphases, as in the legal character of the number “four” within the context of material culture. See also numerology .

Andrew Rippin

Bibliography

Primary

Suyūṭī, Itqān

Secondary

A. al-Baqarī, Dirāsāt naḥwiyya fī l-Qurʾān, Alexandria 1982 (a grammatical study on numbers in the Qurʾān)

L.I. Conrad, Abraha and Muḥammad.

Some observations apropos of chronology and literary topoi in the early Arabic historical tradition, in bsoas 50 (1987), 225-40 (on the number 40)

id., Seven and the tasbīʿ.

On the implications of numerical symbolism for the study of medieval Islamic history, in jesho 31 (1988), 42-73

M.S. Dāwūdī, Muʿjam al-arqām fī l-Qurʾān al-karīm, Cairo 1986

M. Gardner, The new age. Notes of a fringe watcher, Buffalo 1988

U. Hartmann-Schmitz, Die Zahl Sieben im sunnitischen Islam. Studien anhand von Koran und Ḥadīt, Frankfurt 1989

F. Rosenthal, Nineteen, in Analecta biblica 12 (1959), 304-18, repr. in his Muslim intellectual and social history. A collection of essays, Aldershot 1990, article 1

A. Schimmel, The mystery of numbers, Oxford 1993 (important overview of the symbolism of numbers with an extensive bibliography)

J.B. Segal, Numerals in the Old Testament, in jss 10 (1965), 2-20 (good source of comparative material)

Cite this page

Rippin, Andrew, “Numbers and Enumeration”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Consulted online on 07 January 2017 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQSIM_00302>