Al-Muqatta’at Letters [disconnected letters] are the separated letters found at the beginning of twenty-nine surah of the Quran. The scholars differ about their meanings. Their opinions can be summarized as follows:
a) These letters have meanings; however, they differ about specifying their meanings whether they are names of Allah, names of the surahs, or that they refer to how long the nation of Muhammad [saw] will remain, and so on.
b) They are alphabetical letters and do not have meanings.
c) They have meanings, which only Allah knows.
d) Refraining from giving any opinion.
The most correct opinion is (b), i.e. they are alphabetical letters and do not have meanings. This opinion is based on the fact that the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, and its alphabetic letters do have meanings. Similarly, these separated letters at the beginning of some surahs of the Quran do not have meanings.
The wisdom behind these letters, according to those who say that they do not have meanings, is that separated letters demonstrate the inimitability of the Quran. That is because it has not brought words or letters that are beyond the reach of man. Rather, these letters are some of the letters used in people's speech. However, they cannot bring something like Quran.
No comments:
Post a Comment