Mind-blowing Facts About the Quran and Islam

Salaamun alaykum, dear readers!

We all know that Christianity and Islam are the two most dominant religions of the world. The primary reason why Christianity continues to endure is its unique message of salvation being a free gift from Jesus, rather than conditioned on good deeds.

But Islam, on the other hand, does not present any new or attractive message.

Sure, the Quran gets more specific than the past scriptures about social, political, spiritual, and environmental issues. This link helps to explain the Quran’s specific prohibitions on racism, sexism, bigotry, impoliteness, narrow-mindedness, aggression, environmental corruption, wealth inequalities, false testimony, unfair trade practices, non-democratic systems, compulsion in matters of religion, conspiracy, lying, backbiting/slandering, mocking/ridiculing, name-calling, spreading rumors, stinginess and greed, exploitation of others, persecution, forced expulsion from native lands, suspicion of others without conclusive evidence, and many other injustices specifically listed in the Quran.

But none of these things are brand new. Every single one of them is implied from the general and specific principles of other scriptures and even other religions. The Quran merely applies the general principles from the past scriptures into more specific areas of conduct and behavior.

Hence, the Quran repeatedly insists that it has the same core message as the past scriptures: worshipping God alone, prayers, fasting, recitation of scripture, doing good deeds, belief in a day of accountability, etc.

So unlike Christianity, the one thing about Islam that is unique, new, and attractive is not its message, but its book, the Quran.

Whether you’re Muslim or non-Muslim, there 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.

Even the verses were not compiled in the order of revelation. Within the same Surah, certain verses that are put later in the Surah came earlier than other verses. Since God was the one in charge of compilation, He revealed to the prophet specific instructions as to where each Surah and each verse would go.

• One example of this is verse 5:3, which is one of the last verses ever revealed. The day of this verse’s revelation was the day that Islam became complete, according to this verse. But this only the third verse of Surah 5, which has 120 total verses.

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: Frequently Responding to Critics

Compared to all other scriptures, the Quran stands out for most extensively quoting and responding to the arguments set forth by its critics.

For example, both in the past and today, people have dismissed the Quran and said something like, “Does anyone really believe this nonsense?” Or something like, “Only fools believe this rubbish.”

• [2:13] And when it was said to them, “Believe like how the people have believed,” they said, “Shall we believe like how the foolish ones have believed?” In fact, they are indeed the foolish ones, but instead they do not know.

• [9:124] And when a Surah was brought down, among them is whoever would then say, “Which of you has this increased in faith?” But for the ones who believed, it has thus increased them in faith, and they rejoice.

A common criticism, both back then and today, is that Muhammad was a false prophet.

• [13:43] But the ones who disbelieved say, “You are not a messenger.” Say, “God has sufficed as Witness between me and between you, as well as whoever the knowledge of the Book is with.”

Another is, “The Quran is nothing special, anyone could have made something like it if they really wanted.”

• [6:93] And who is more wrong than whoever fabricated a lie against God, or said, “It has been revealed to me,” while not a thing is revealed to him, as well as whoever said, “I will bring down something like what God has brought down.“…

• [8:31] And when Our verses are recited upon them, they said, “Certainly, we have heard. If we wanted, we definitely would have said the like of this. This is not but tales of the previous ones.”

Another is, “I won’t believe in the Quran, or in any God or higher power, until some crazy stuff happens that can’t in any way be explained by the laws of nature, such as all copies of the Quran suddenly glowing with a halo around it.“

• [17:90-93] And they said, “We will never believe you until you make a spring gush for us from the earth, or if you would have a garden of date-palms and grapes, in the midst of which you then would make rivers gush plentifully, or make the sky fall upon us in lumps like what you claimed, or bring God and the angels before us, or if you would have a house of ornaments, or ascend into the sky. But we will never believe your ascension until you bring down for us a book which we read.” Say, “The sublimity of my Lord! Am I but a human messenger?”

• [13:27] But the ones who disbelieved say, “Why was a sign not brought down upon him from his Lord!” Say, “God sends astray whomever He wills, and guides to Himself whoever has been penitent.”

Many people today (such as Richard Dawkins, known for being an atheist and a vocal critic of religion) believe that the concept of God is nothing but an ancient, outdated delusion. This is the central topic of his 2006 book, The God Delusion.

• [8:49] When the hypocrites and the ones in whose hearts is sickness said, “These have been deluded by their religion.” But whoever puts trust upon God, then indeed, God is Dignified, Wise.

• [33:12] And when the hypocrites and the ones with sickness in their hearts say, “God and His messenger have promised us not but delusion.“

• [46:11] But the ones who disbelieved said, regarding the ones who believed, “If it were any good, they would not have preceded us to it.” And when they do not accept its guidance, they thus say, “This is an ancient delusion.“

The Quran responds to the idea that persists even today, that the prophet simply got his inspiration material and ideas from other human beings such as Jews and Christians, or from traders or monks that met during his travels as a merchant.

• [16:103] But certainly, We know that they say, “Only a human teaches him!” The tongue of the one to whom they refer is foreign, while this is in clear Arabic tongue.

• [25:4] And the ones who disbelieved said, “This is not but a delusion which he fabricated, and other people helped him on it.” But certainly, they have come up with injustice and untruth.

The Quran also mentions the claim made even today that the prophet copied and plagiarized from the Bible to make his own religion, with others knowledgeable about tales from the past scriptures secretly dictating the Quran to him or giving him ideas.

• [25:5] And they said, “Tales of the previous ones which he wrote down, while they are dictated upon him morning and evening.”

• [16:24] But when it was said to them, “What has your Lord brought down?” They said, “Tales of the previous ones.“

Is the Quran the byproduct of a crazy, delusional man bewitched by the devil, and having hallucinations and nonsense dreams? Or did the prophet have exceptional poetry skills before he fabricated the Quran? The Quran says no.

• [17:47] We are most knowledgeable of how they listen when they listen to you. And when they are in private consultation, when the wrongdoers say, “You follow not but a bewitched man.”

• [21:5] Rather, they said, “A bundle of dreams! Rather, he fabricated it! Rather, he is a poet! So let him bring us a sign like those sent to the previous ones.”

• [26:210] And the devils have not brought it down.

• [23:70] Or do they say, “In him is madness”? Rather, he came to them with the truth, but most of them are dislikers of the truth.

• [68:51] And indeed, ones who disbelieved definitely almost make you slip with their sight when they hear the Reminder, and they say, “Indeed, he is definitely a madman!”

• [37:36] And they say, “Indeed, are we those who will definitely leave our gods for a crazy poet?”

• [36:69] And We neither taught him poetry, nor is it befitting for him. It is not but a Reminder, and a clear Quran.

The Quran also extensively quotes the criticism that the prophet completely fabricated and made up the Quran.

• [11:13] Or do they say, “He fabricated it”? Say, “Then come with ten fabricated Surahs like it, and call on whomever you have been able, aside from God, if you have been truthful.”

• [10:38] Or do they say, “He fabricated it”? Say, “Then come with a fabricated Surah like it, and call on whomever you have been able, aside from God, if you have been truthful.”

• [32:3] Or do they say, “He fabricated it”? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, for you may warn a people whom any warning has not come to before you, so that they accept guidance.

• [11:35] Or do they say, “He fabricated it”? Say, “If I fabricated it, then upon me is my crime, while I am innocent of how you commit crimes.”

• [42:24] Or do they say, “He fabricated a lie against God”? But if God wills, He will set a seal upon your heart; God erases the falsehood and validates the truth with His words. Indeed, He is Knowledgeable of what is in the chests.

• [46:8] Or do they say, “He fabricated it”? Say, “If I have fabricated it, then you do not own anything for me from God. He is most knowledgeable of what you spill concerning it. He has sufficed as Witness between me, and between you, and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”

The Quran even brings up the most common reason why people are non-Muslim even today: their beliefs are the byproducts of what their parents and ancestors taught them, thus they have a natural bias to see anything else as wrong. Only three verses are cited here, but it is actually the most frequently-occurring criticism quoted from the disbelievers in the Quran.

• [11:87] They said, “O Shu’aib, does your Salat command you that we leave what our fathers worship, or not do what we will concerning our wealth? You definitely are the forbearing, the rightly-guided.”

• [43:23] And like that, We have not sent any warning from before you in a town, except those of it who were given luxury said, “Indeed, we found our fathers following a community, and indeed, we are followers on their footsteps.“

• [2:170] And when it was said to them, “Follow what God has brought down,” they say, “Rather, we follow what we discovered our fathers upon.” Even if their fathers used to neither understand a thing, nor accept guidance?

Many people even today are not open-minded when it comes to religion. They are set in their ways, with their minds fully made up. Many believe there really is no objective truth and that people should simply do whatever they feel like doing. This is something the Quran mentions in verse 41:5.

• [41:5] And they said, “Our hearts are veiled from what you call on us towards, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and between you is a veil. So do as you please. Indeed, we will also do as we please.”

The Quran, in verse 45:24, mentions three ideologies at once: atheism, naturalism, and materialism. This verse mentions people who believe there is nothing beyond the worldly life (atheism, materialism), and nothing else but time destroys everything (naturalism).

• [45:24] And they said, “There is nothing but our worldly life. We die and we live, and nothing annihilates us but time.” But there is not any knowledge of that for them. They do not but guess.

The famous Richard Dawkins, and other like-minded people throughout history, have echoed a common belief that it is absolutely impossible for someone to be resurrected after they have decayed and fully decomposed. He said, “When your brain decays there is absolutely no reason to suppose your consciousness will continue. So the grounds of plausibility, the balance of plausibility is heavily in favor of there having been no survival after death.”

• [17:98] That is their requital, because they have disbelieved in Our signs, and said, “When we have become bones and crumbled particles, will we definitely be those who are resurrected as a new creation indeed?”

• [16:38] They swore by God their endeavoring oaths: “God will not resurrect whoever dies.” Rather, it is a promise upon Him in truth, but instead, most of the people do not know.

• [34:7] But the ones who disbelieved said, “Shall we direct you to a man who informs you that when you have disintegrated in total disintegration, you will definitely be a new creation indeed?“

• [23:35-36] “Does he promise you that when you have been put to death, and become dust and bones, that you will be brought out? Impossible, impossible is what you are promised!”

So this is one of the unique features of the Quran, that compared to other scriptures, it most frequently cites the main arguments made by its critics.

#7: 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.

So what are the odds that a book compiled totally out of its order of revelation would end up having such a complex mathematical composition? 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.