Question: Is it true that the Qur’ân is mathematically coded with the number 19?
There are numerous claims to “numerical miracles” in the Qur’ân. Some focus on the number 19, others on the number 7 or the number 11. These are hoaxes based on statistical probabilities and can be duplicated for other books.
This is why we find similar attempts being made for the Christian Bible and other works. For instance, a Russian named Ivan Panin demonstrated mathematical patterns in the Old and New Testaments.
Some people have used the number 19 code to verify the authenticity of verses in the Qur’ân and have dismissed as unauthentic verses that did not conform to the code as they construed it.
There is no validity to any of these claims. The dangers of toying with the sacred texts in this manner are clear.
We must also be wary of word games being played with the Qur’ân to reveal predictions about the world. These are also statistical tricks that can be duplicated for other books.
For example, a Christian named Michael Drosnin claimed that he had found a “Bible code” that he could use to predict future events. He was rightly accused of capitalizing on coincidences. To this, he replied: “When my critics find a message about the assassination of a prime minister encrypted in Moby Dick, I'll believe them.” (Newsweek, Jun 9, 1997)
Brendon D. Mckay, a combinatorics expert from Australia rose to his challenge and did exactly that. He derived from the text of Moby Dick the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and others. He did not do this to claim that these events were encrypted in the book. He did this to prove that such claims are worthless and can be demonstrated for any large book on the basis of pure, random chance.
Many Muslim charlatans mislead the unsuspecting and credulous with these number and word games. This is not the way we as Muslims are supposed to approach the book of Allah. We need to approach the Qur’ân in the same way that the Companions and the pious predecessors did.
