29 suras (chapters) of the Qur'an begin with letters taken from a restricted subset of the Arabic alphabet; these are the Muqatta`at (مقطعات), sometimes translated as "abbreviated letters", or Fawatih (فواتح), "initial letters", also called Hawamim (حواميم), after the common letter combination Ha Mim. For example, surat Yunus begins:

Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the wise Book.

and surat Ar-Raad :

Alif Lam Mim Ra. These are the verses of the Book; and that which is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, but most people do not believe. (Shakir translation)

In all but 3 of the 29 cases, these letters are almost immediately followed by mention of the Qur'anic revelation itself (the exceptions are suras 29 , 30 , and 68 ); and some argue that even these three cases should be included, since mention of the revelation is made later on in the sura. More specifically, one may note that in 8 cases the following verse begins "These are the verses...", and in another 5 it begins "The Revelation..."; another 3 begin "By the Qur'an...", and another 2 "By the Book..." Additionally, all but 3 of these suras are Makkan suras (the exceptions are suras 2, 3, 13 .)

While there has been some speculation on the meaning of these letters, the consensus of Muslim scholars is that these letters' full meaning is beyond our understanding (Ibn Kathir, for instance, describes them as "among those things whose knowledge Allah has kept only for Himself".) However, in light of their observed distribution, one traditional hypothesis suggests that these letters represent a challenge to the doubting reader: this book is made of ordinary letters, but can you produce anything like it? The rare combinations Ya Sin and Ta Ha are commonly interpreted in Muslim tradition as names of Muhammad, an interpretation which their context makes natural, though not certain.

Western scholars have occasionally attempted to explain them; one proposal, for instance, was that they were initials or monograms of the scribes that had originally written the sura down, an idea rejected by critics as implausible.

Rashad Khalifa, founder of a small Hadith-rejecting sect called "United Submitters International", proposed that they formed a key part of the numerical code he claimed to have found in the Qur'an.

The initial letter combinations themselves are restricted to combinations of 14 letters, taken from the first 20 letters of the Arabic alphabet in its old numerical order (that is, alif ba jim dal...). These are: أ ح ر س ص ط ع ق ك ل م ن ه ي (alif, ha, ra, sin, sad, ta, ain, qaf, kaf, lam, mim, nun, ha, ya.) Certain co-occurrence restriction s are observable; for instance, alif is invariably followed by lam. The substantial majority of the combinations begin either alif lam or ha mim. See the diagram for fuller information.

The suras that contain these letters are: sura 2, sura 3, sura 7 , sura 10 , sura 11 , sura 12 , sura 13 , sura 14 , sura 15 , sura 19 , sura 20 , sura 26 , sura 27 , sura 28 , sura 29 , sura 30 , sura 31 , sura 32 , sura 38 , sura 40 , sura 41 , sura 42 , sura 43 , sura 44 , sura 45 , sura 46 , sura 50 , sura 68 (one sura seems to be missing from this list.)

External links

• Al Huruful Muqatta'at http://www.netnavigate.com/hasan/studyquran/ch13.html , by Dr. Hasanuddin Ahmad
• Islamic Voice: Abbreviated letters http://www.islamicvoice.com/august.2000/religion.htm