Numerology & the Qur'an

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>NANCY

>My source for the following is Martin Gardner (Notes Of a Fringe-Watcher,

>"The Numerology of Dr. Rashad Khalifa," _Skeptical Inquirer_, Sep/Oct 1997,

>p. 16)



Adnan:
Martin Gardner's article is also being discussed on SRI, since Gardner used
Lomax's material (or ideas) in his article. Lomax does not believe in any
such mathematical claim. He posts on SRI, and is well known Muslim
apologist on the newsgroups (the slavery article I quoted was by him). 

I am sure all these claims about mathematical probabilities in the Quran
and Bible are not difficult to refute.


**************************
Ron Hopkins-Lutz wrote:

>> AbdulraHman Lomax, whose thoughtful comments enlarge all of us here on

SRI, >>is featured in an article in The Skeptical Inquirer magazine. In the
current

>>issue, Sept/Oct, v21 n5, Martin gardner has a column on "The Numerology

of >>Dr. Rashad Khalifa" and mentions our brother's comments on this.


Lomax:
I wrote separately to Br. Lutz for calling my attention to this
article. It is a fair article, though it does have some minor errors,
to be expected when one writes about a subject (the Arabic language,
in this case, and Qur'anic text) which one does not fully understand.
But Martin Gardner happens to be a man whom I have read with pleasure
for years, and his general approach to the subject was sound.


Rapido:

>So, instead of Dr. Khalifa's work and sincere analysis of that work by

>some dedicated muslims, "The Skeptical Inquirerer magazine" and its Martin

>Gardner, as well as Ron Hopkins-Lutz and Lomax, give their own versions and

>stories to the readers, so that the work of one dedicated muslim can be

>defamed.



Lomax
Typical for Gardner, he provided references so that people can judge
for themselves. He gave the address of the International Community of
Submitters in Tucson, included a biography of Khalifa which does not
read like any kind of hatchet job -- and which omits the seamy details
that might discolor Khalifa's reputation -- and also gave the address
to order Running With Zebras from Edip Yuksel, which is the debate
between Yuksel and myself which Yuksel has published, giving himself
the last word, of course.

Gardner correctly identifies both the basis of Khalifa's claim and the
flaw.

"It is, of course, no surprise that many 19s would show up in a book
as long as the Koran, but Khalifa's 19s exceed the bounds of chance.
The most plausible explanation is that he deceived himself by
unconscious fudging. The best account known to me of how easily he
could do this is in Running Like Zebras, a 1995 book edited by Edip
Yuksel, the nation's top Khalifite."

And then Gardner describes several of the problems, in particular the
lack of any fixed definition of "word" which allows Khalifa to alter
the definition as needed to produce the desired word counts. I have
described this at length in s.r.i., but I will here note one example:

It is claimed that each word in the bismillah is found in the Qur'an
an exact multiple of 19 times. Gardner cites this, in fact, as one of
the examples, and he cites it uncritically, as he cites many of
Khalifa's other claims, only later making a general comment on how
these "miracles" could have been manufactered.

In fact, when Gardner cites this, he says that the word "Bism" occurs
in the Qur'an 19 times. But the word "bism" occurs in the Qur'an only
three times, and, in fact, when Khalifa counted, he counted, not
"bism," but "ism." (And there are other problems with his count which
I will not go into at this time.) Essentially, counting the words in
the bismillah, Khalifa elected *not* to count the very form of the
word which is the one found in the bismillah itself, something which
he did *not* do with the other words.

I am not holding my breath expecting Rapido to understand this and its
significance. But perhaps he will, someday.

Rapido:

>But, that shall not work.  The truth is stronger that defamation. Martin

>Gardner, Ron Hopkins, Lomax, ... and such western media darlings and

>fans can enjoy their moment in the spotlight as much as they wish ...

>God has His own plans, and the plan of God is to tell muslims that they

>should study Mathematics and Sciences ... as Dr. Khalifa pointed out

>in his lifetime of dedicated and inspirational work.


Lomax:
Absolutely, study science and mathematics. I wish Khalifa had studied
math, in particular. It might have saved his life. *Khalifa did not
use the science of mathematics in analysing the significance of his
findings.*

Rapido

>So, do not trust the western media and their darlings.  Trust in

>God ONLY and Quran ONLY. 


Lomax
I'll trust in God ONLY. Is that enough? Do I have to add something to
it?


AbdulraHman Lomax
abdulrahman@worldnet.att.net
P.O. Box 10316
San Rafael, CA 94912

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