The Four Great Suras of Salat (Prayer)

(Note: New Improved Post, removed the excess for a different post.) The four suras (like chapters/sections) of the Quran most frequently recited in the canonical Islamic prayer called salat are the first sura, Al-Fatiha “The Opening” (1), the quintessential prayer of salat, and the final 3 suras, Al-Ikhlas “Sincerity” (112), Al-Falaq “Daybreak/ Breaking-open” (113), and An-Nass “The People” (114). They are all short suras, making them easy to recite. Allah the All-Merciful wants this prayer to be easy for us, and at the same time a powerful and effective “connection” to Him, to His all-encompassing power and mercy. These four suras form a {2,3,4} set, with three (3) together at the end, and the fourth (4) in the very beginning, and two of these suras form a pair (2) in the “middle.” Thus the end of the Quran re-connects us to the beginning, analogous to how Resurrection and Judgment Day reconnect us to Allah in paradise where Adam was created at the beginning of humanity – if we had faith in Allah, and made a genuine effort in Allah’s path of justice and compassion.

Gold Discovered in Gaza!

And it’s something the Israelis will never be able to find.

How to Deal with the Genocide in Palestine

The horrors of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and also wherever Palestinians live are unimaginably traumatic. My heart is really there daily, and it can be difficult because we are limited in what we can do, but we can and should do something. First, we can make du’as for the Palestinians who are suffering, and some suggested du’as are here. If there’s any problem accessing it, try this link, from which you should be able to download.

Second, we may need to understand how to handle the aggressive Israeli Propaganda Machine, where lobbyists and pro-genocide activists may threaten and try to either divert attention or even resort to character assassination or threats. We can go on social media to express our views, call and write to our congressmen or representatives wherever we live, as well as participate in protests. But we should be aware of how active the Israeli lobby is in the US and UK, as well as elsewhere, yet be brave enough to speak out. It helps to know how to handle arguments one may face in this situation. Professor Hatem Bazian, who has faced this propaganda head-on successfully, helps us prepare ourselves.

Al-Raheem and Raheem in the Quran – Structural Interpretation

The name Al-Raheem – The All-Merciful – is commonly counted and “combined” with the adjective raheem – merciful, without the al- prefix. But considering the two separately has yielded interesting results. The name Al-Raheem “The All-Merciful” is mentioned 34 times, whereas the adjective raheem “merciful” is mentioned 81 times, or 3⁴, and thus these two different ways of mentioning raheem are themselves “paired” as a {3,4} set. A unique characteristic of both expressions of Allah’s mercy is that they are almost always paired: the name Al-Raheem is always paired with another name, and the adjective raheem is usually paired with another adjective – plus in the case of raheem, this pair (or simply raheem in a few cases) is almost always preceded by either the name Allah, Lord, “I,” or Him (referring to Allah or Lord), the one exception being in 9:128 referring to prophet Mohammad as “kind, merciful” to the believers. This shows that kindness/caring is the form of mercy we are encouraged and indeed enabled to exemplify. And these unique stylistic traits teach us about what mercy itself means, in our relationship to Allah, each other, and to all life.

Interpretation of Quranic Numbers 9.5 and 19

The number 19 is, for a number, relatively famous (or perhaps infamous) as a Quranic number, but is mentioned in the Quran (74:30) and is a factor of the number of suras in the Quran, 114 = 6 x 19. The number 9.5 is not known to be significant, but revealed a significance while studying the metaphor of the chambered nautilus and its significance in the Quran. That is explained elsewhere on this blog, but I will flesh it out separately here. The numbers 9.5 and 19 are formative elements in the design of Quranic Architecture as discussed on this blog. In its calendric architecture, the Quran is divided into 12 months for each “year,” or each complete turn of the spiral. For 114 suras, there are 9.5 years, expressed by an equation: 114 ➗ 12 = 9.5. Then when we multiply 9.5 x 2 = 19, we can ask the question “is there any significance to this equation in terms of the meaning of the Quran?” And the answer is a resounding YES! Explained below: