Mind-blowing Facts About the Quran and Islam

Salamun alaykum, dear readers!

Whether you’re Muslim or non-Muslim, here are some FUN facts about Islam and the Quran that are guaranteed to blow your mind…figuratively speaking, of course.

We all know about the impact of the Quran on the Arabic language as a whole.

The Quran is widely regarded as one of the finest works of Arabic literature, having an impact on Arabic that is more pronounced than even the effect that Shakespeare had in the English language.

Its unique style not only set the gold standard for Classical Arabic, but also played a central role in standardizing and unifying the language. There were different grammar rules among Arabic dialects before the Quran, and the Quran provided a good reference point for that.

Beyond standardization, the Quran effectively ‘froze’ Classical Arabic in time, preserving it across centuries even as different Arabic dialects developed. Today, modern standard Arabic (which is today’s version of Classical Arabic) has little difference from the original despite more than 1000 years of time passage.

• Whereas today’s English, for example, is hardly the same English from 1000 years ago.

The Quran also contributed to Arabic diglossia, because modern standard Arabic (which is very similar to classical Arabic) used primarily in formal, written/literary, official, and public contexts while informal dialects are spoken at home or amongst friends. Without the Quran, classical Arabic would have just remained one dialect amongst many, if it even managed to survive.

So we may think you’ve seen or heard it all when it comes to the Quran, but for some odd reason, there’s always something new or intriguing that we can learn about this fascinating book that has forever altered the course of human history.

So, without further ado:

#1: The Definition of Islam

The term “Islam” is Arabic for “submission”.

Therefore, the term Muslim is Arabic for “one who does the submission” or “submitter”.

If you think about it, islam (submission) and muslim (submitter) technically exists in any situation where there is a power imbalance, such as: government and citizen, student and teacher, parent and child, employee and boss, servant and master, and last but not least, worshipper and deity.

So technically, if an employee is submitting to the will of the boss for example, the state of submission is a kind of “islam”, and the employee is a “muslim” (submitter) relative to the boss.

The same applies across all religions, as the worshipper is a submitter (muslim) to whatever deity they worship, and that state of submission is “islam”.

So the fun fact is that rather than rejecting the label of “Islam” or “Muslim”, all religions should be fighting over which of their religions is the “real Islam” and which group of worshippers are the “real Muslims”.

Interesting, right?

#2: The Most Memorized Book

Another fun fact: It is estimated that the Quran has tens of millions of memorizers around the world and throughout time, making it the unofficial record holder for the most memorized book in the world, possibly even in history!

Now how did this book become so widely memorized?

To start, the Quran has a lot of rhymed prose. This, combined with repeated themes/concepts, the melodious and beautiful recitation method (known as tarteel), frequent recitation and exposure, use in daily Salat prayers, and a spiritual drive to commit the book into memory, is the perfect recipe for mass-memorization.

#3: Islam Has the Only Divinely-Decreed Name Out of All Religions

Another fun fact is that out of all religions in the planet, Islam is the only one in which the name of the religion is considered a divinely-appointed name by a deity or god.

The Quran in multiple verses (3:85, 22:78) shows God naming the religion Islam, and its followers as Muslim.

Whereas in all other religions (Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Mormonism) the name of those religions and its adherents are man-made names.

#4: The Quran’s Unusual Compilation

If any book has set the world record for the most unusual method of compilation ever, it would probably be the Quran.

As we all know, the Quran has 114 chapters that it calls “Surahs”, with each of them being composed of a number of verses.

But how were all these Surahs and chapters compiled?

Order of Compilation

A quick look through historical records and even the Quran itself shows that the Quran’s Surahs are not in the chronological order of revelation.

The Quran tells us in verses 75:17-19 that God is in charge of the Quran’s compilation, and in verse 17:106 that it was revealed little by little, over a period of time.

That means the prophet was told which verses go in which Surahs.

That also means the prophet was receiving each Surah, he was assigned different placement numbers by God to give each Surah. The first-revealed Surah was assigned the number 96 (so it would become the 96th Surah), the second was assigned the number 68, the third was assigned the number 73, and so on until the last few revealed Surahs were Surahs 62, 48, 5, 9, and 110, in that order.

• Not only that, but verses from other Surahs were likely revealed before previous Surahs were completed.

So imagine this scenario: Verses from Surah C are revealed to you, then verses from Surah T are revealed, verses from Surah X are revealed, then more verses from Surah T are revealed, then you get new verses from Surah E which was revealed years ago, and so on.

Such a randomized compilation process, like that of the Quran, is remarkably unusual for any book.

Quranic Initials

But it doesn’t end there! There are 29 Surahs in the Quran that have “Quranic Initials”.

Imagine a chapter of a book that is composed of a number of verses, and the first verse is simply the letters E G K S.

You’d be left wondering what on earth does EGKS mean, are they acronyms for something? Are they someone’s initials? What are they?

Imagine that you ask the author of the book what those mysterious letters could mean, and he tells you, “I don’t know.” He’s the author of that book, and he doesn’t know? Is the math adding up?

Likewise, the Quran has 29 such chapters, with the first verse of those chapters being a group of Arabic letters that don’t make any known Arabic word. Examples include:

• Alif Lam Meem
• Alif Lam Ra
• Alif Lam Meem Ra
• Ha Meem
• Kaaf Ha Ya Ayn Saad
• Saad
• Ta Ha
• Ya Seen
• Ayn Seen Qaf

The Bismillah

The Bismillah in the Quran is a phrase that says “Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem” (translating to “In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful”).

In most Surahs, this phrase is at the very beginning of all Surahs and is often considered a prefix or unnumbered verse in the Quran, or “verse zero” of each Surah.

All Surahs have the Bismillah as a verse zero…except for two Surahs.

One of them is Surah 9, in which for some reason, the Bismillah is totally absent. This Surah has no verse 0 at all.

The other one is Surah 1, in which the Bismillah is actually verse 1 of this Surah, rather than a verse 0. This Surah also has no verse 0.

Even more interestingly, Surah 27 is the only Surah in the Quran in which the Bismillah is found in “verse 0” AND in verse 30. So this is the only Surah in which the Bismillah exists as both a numbered and an unnumbered verse.

It’s quite a coincidence in the Quran that one Surah (Surah 9) has a missing Bismillah, and another one (Surah 27) has an extra Bismillah.

So the question is:

• Why does Surah 9 break the pattern and not have a “verse 0”?

• Why does Surah 1 break the pattern and its Bismillah is verse 1 rather than verse 0?

• Why does Surah 27 break the pattern and contain both a “verse 0” Bismillah AND a Bismillah in a numbered verse (27:30)?

The only thing that’s certain is that since God in the Quran stated that He is responsible for the Quran’s compilation (verse 75:17), the common belief is that He has his mysterious reasons for deliberately doing this. Even the prophet wasn’t aware of why either.

#5: The Quran Self-Defines Its Own Qualities

Some religions (like Hinduism and Buddhism) are non-scriptural, in that scripture is neither the source of the religion, nor is it essential to the religion.

Scripturalism is when religions like Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Sikhism, and Islam derive their authority or origin primarily from sacred texts.

Islam is like scripturalism on steroids. It is most dependent on its scripture compared to other religions, because the Quran is the only scripture that self-defines all of its qualities and the qualities of its religion, in the first-person point of view of a deity (God).

Here is a list of all the characteristics of the Quran and Islam as defined by God in the Quran itself:

The QUran’s name, Author, language, and transmitter

The name is defined to be the Quran, the author is defined to be God, and the language is defined to be Arabic.

The Quran defines its official transmitter as Muhammad, and defines the role of Muhammad as a messenger and prophet.

• [12:2] Indeed, We have brought down as an Arabic Quran, so that you may reason.
• [10:37] And this Quran has not been fabricated from other than God. But instead, it is the confirmation of the ones which were before it, as well as the detailing of the Book in which there is no no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds.
• [33:40] Muhammad was not the father of anyone of your men. But instead, he is the messenger of God, and the seal of the prophets; God is Knowledgeable of everything.
• [47:2] But the ones who believed, did righteous deeds, and believed in what was brought down upon Muhammad—and it is the truth from their Lord—He wiped out from them their evils, and improved their condition.

What Exactly is the Quran?

The Quran defines itself as a Book, states it was sent down during Ramadan, and says it was not brought down on the prophet in paper format.

The Quran also calls itself a “transmission” (tanzil) from God, and says it was separated into various parts (which the Quran defines in 24:1 and others as Surah and Ayah), and brought down to the people over a long interval of time rather than all at once.

• [2:2] That is the Book in which is no doubt, a guidance for the reverent.
• [2:185] The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Quran was brought down—a guidance for the people, as well as a clear proof of the guidance—and the Criterion…
• [6:7] But if We brought down upon you a book in paper, then they touched it with their hands, the ones who disbelieved definitely would have said, “This is not but clear magic.”
• [17:106] As well as a Quran which We have separated, for you may read it upon the people over an interval, and We brought it down as a transmission.

The method for reciting the Quran

The Quran states to recite it with a kind of “tarteel” which is a melodious, measured form of recitation. Current Quran recitation rules are an example of tarteel.

• [73:4] Or add upon it, and recite the Quran with Tarteel.

The Quran’s components

The Quran defines each chapter as “Surah” and defines each verse as “”Ayah” (which means sign in Arabic). The plural for ayah is ayaat (sign)

• [24:1] This is a Surah which We have brought down and obligated; We have brought down therein clear Ayaat (signs/verses), so that you may remember.

God is in charge of compilation

The Quran states God is the one ultimately responsible for compiling the Quran.

That means the length of every verse and Surah, and the numbers assigned to each Surah, and all other parts of the Quran were dictated by God to Muhammad as per verse 75:17.

• [75:17] Indeed, upon Us is its compilation and its recitation.

The Quran names its religion Islam, and its followers Muslim

As was mentioned in fun fact # 1:

• [5:3] …Today, I have completed your religion for you, completed upon you My goodwill, and approved Islam as a religion for you…
• [22:78] … He has named you Muslims before, and in this, for the messenger may be a witness over you, and you may be witnesses over the people…

Thus, every defining aspect of the Quran and the religion of Islam (its name, its author, what it is, how and when it was revealed and compiled, its composition, its language, how it should be recited, the name of its religion, the name of its followers, the identity of its deliverer (Muhammad), and the role of its deliverer (prophet/messenger) has been defined in the book, thus providing a kind of clarity that is quite unparalleled amongst religions.

Also, if Islam is the only religion where its all of its defining characteristics were explicitly defined by a deity in a book, does this render Islam the least likely of all religions to be “man-made”? That’s for you to decide!

#6: Extremely Complex Mathematical Composition

A book with such a randomized compilation process would be one of the least-likely books to have a vast, intricate, and intentional mathematical composition.

And you would think that after the previous five fun facts, the Quran’s peculiarities can’t get any crazier (in a good way, of course).

But as it turns out, beneath the Quran is a hidden 19-based mathematical system that governs every single parameter, small or large.

The Quran in verse 74:30 states that there are 19 angels appointed to watch over the affairs of Hell.

Then in verse 74:31, God in the Quran says that He appointed “their number” (the number 19) to carry out five distinct functions some time in the future.

[74:30] Over it is nineteen.

[74:31] We have made not but angels as custodians of the Fire, and We have not assigned “iddatahum” (their number, i.e. the number 19) except as a trial for those who have disbelieved, for those who were given the Book may attain certainty, and that those who believed may increase in faith, and that those given the Book—as well as the believers—may not doubt, and that the ones who have sickness within their hearts—as well as the disbelievers—may say, “What did God intend with this example?” Like that, God sends astray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills; none knows the soldiers of your Lord except He. It is but a reminder for humanity.

The five distinct functions of the number 19 as foretold in verse 74:31 are:

1. To be a trial for the disbelievers,
2. To help the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) achieve certainty,
3. To help increase the faith of the believers,
4. To remove doubt from the hearts of the believers and People of the Book,
5. To let doubters question what God meant by the number 19.

So the verse prophesized that the number 19 in the future will somehow be a sign that confirms the Quran as the truth beyond all doubt for Muslims, Jews, and Christians, while at the same time serving as a test for the disbelievers.

This prophecy ended up being fulfilled in 1974, when it was discovered that there was an enormous 19-based mathematical system inside the Quran, such that even minor alterations (like the deletion or addition of a verse, or certain words and letters) can send ripple effects that destroy the entire system.

As you saw earlier, there are some highly unusual aspects about the Quran’s compilation that was mentioned in this article (including the absent Bismillah in Surah 9, the extra one in Surah 27, the Quranic initials, the randomized revelation process, etc.) Believe it or not, all of these things are directly related to the Quran’s 19-based composition in different ways.

You can read more about this mind-blowing phenomenon here:

The Quran’s Enormous 19-based Mathematical Composition – Masjid at-Tajdeed

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, the Quran is unlike any other book in history.

From being the most memorized book on Earth, to its unusual method of compilation, the mysterious initials, its unique self-defining qualities, and even a hidden mathematical structure—the Quran continues to surprise and fascinate believers and skeptics alike.

Whether you view it through the lens of faith, history, linguistics, or mathematics, the Quran stands as a phenomenon that has shaped humanity for over 1,400 years and continues to do so today.

Perhaps the biggest “fun fact” of all is that no matter how much we study the Quran, there always seems to be something new waiting to be discovered.