The Quranic Initials or Muqatta’at

The Muqatta’at or “Quranic Initials” – which can be abbreviated as “QIs” – are 14 unique Arabic letters arranged in various groupings which do not form words, hence the Arabic name meaning “cut off” or separated. They form 14 unique “sets” of letters containing from 1 to 5 letters each. Counting repeats, they comprise 30 sets in 30 ayat in 29 suras – sura 42 (Al-Shura) contains two sets of QIs, each in a separate aya (42:1-2). With this one exception, these initials occur in the first aya/verse of a sura, some comprising the entire aya, and others followed by words in the same aya. Many scholars throughout history have studied these, with varying results and ideas, some concluding that we cannot know their meaning, dubbing them “mystic/mysterious” letters. You may have heard of them as part of a “code,” claimed to be protecting the Quran from adulteration (most famously Code 19). But would the Almighty even need such a code? These letters are at least presented to make us think. So we’ve thought about them and their meaning in the Quran, bearing in mind that this is a book by the Almighty Omniscient, and nothing He does is “meaningless.” Clue: Allah’s words are decrees but these are letters that don’t form words – thus an opening where fate is not sealed.

The Quran’s Words for Thinking and States of Mind

In Surah 55 (Al-Rahman), Allah the Exalted refers to both humans and jinn (a species of creature created from fire) as thaqalān, which means “heavy/weighty” in the dual form used when addressing two. The “heavyweight” here refers to that both humans and jinn have free will plus intellect. Humans identify themselves as thinking creatures, and that faculty is indeed “heavy,” especially when combined with free will, as intellect must have autonomy, hence choice, in order to develop higher/heavier powers. And with weightier powers comes heavier responsibility.

These powers of intellect are described in the Quran as different ways of thinking and gaining knowledge, and the way in which one uses these ways of thinking results in different states of mind/heart. In the Quran, what we call “the mind” is in the heart, as described in a previous post. So what we call a state of mind is really a state of heart, with all the qualitative meanings associated with it. But studying the Quran more closely, we find that there are many ways of thinking, and these produce different states of mind.

The Meaningful Universe 3 – Dhikr and Memory as Connection

Mentioned in the Quran far more frequently than any form of “thinking,” dhikr (which I also spelled as thikr, which seems closer to how to pronounce it, like the “th” sound in “the” or “this” but dhikr is “standard” transliteration) means “to remember” and also “to invoke,” which can be expressed as “to bring to mind.” To get an idea of how far-reaching memory can be, some “ultraconserved” words have survived 15,000 years pointing to a “deep language ancestry across Eurasia;” ancient oral histories have preserved information later confirmed by science and in a larger scale (showing ancient sea rise, for example) as well; and scientists are aware of memory’s key role in thought processes, described as “an integral part of human cognition, since it allows individuals to recall and draw upon past events to frame their understanding of and behavior within the present…and future.” Memory plays a role across all time-scales, from short-term to long-term within individuals, to untold millennia in “collective memory” which is often preserved through oral tradition. The Quran itself, self-described as Dhikr al-hakeem or “wisdom-remembrance,” is a Divine revelation given to us as both an oral tradition as well as a written book/manuscript. 

The Meaningful Universe, Part 2 – Thinking from the Heart

To think is given great emphasis and importance in the Quran; of course, in a meaningful universe, this is how we can understand both the fact that it is full of meaning, and what it means for us. In fact, in a meaningful universe, it’s impossible for us to access that meaning without using our minds. The nautilus as a symbol for humans uses the metaphor of cephalopod or “head-foot.” We truly are guided on our path through life in pursuit of its meaning for us by our minds/“heads.” In the Quran, the “heart,” which is described by several terms (a really excellent presentation of the words for heart/mind in the Quran), as the locus of our souls/selves, is where various thought processes take place, whereas what we think of as the “brain” is not what does the thinking, rather we do as conscious selves/souls using the heart/brain. One could say we are the nautilus but our “feet” – that which truly moves us forward – are our ways of thinking/intellect, refined and actively used in the heart. First we need to distinguish between presumption and reason; between being guided by whatever we assume to be true without thinking, and being guided by what actually makes sense when we think about it, by logic and “common sense,” and of course, conscience. Which, again, is associated in the Quran with the heart, in a more profound and comprehensive way.