Hurūf-i-Muqatta‘āt: Farahi’s Theory

Qur'an
Dr. Shehzad Saleem

More than one-fourth of the Quranic Surahs begins with certain abbreviated letters called
Huroof-i-Muqatta'aat. These letters are actually the names of the respective surahs, as is
evident from the Quran. Many Ahaadith as well as the pre-Islamic Arabic literature endorse
this view. However, there remains the question of why the surahs are called so. Many scholars
have attempted to answer the question but what they have come up with is not very
satisfactory, Farahi (d:1930 AD) has presented an explanation which might hold the key to
the problem. We shall briefly discuss his theory.
Those who are aware of the history of the Arabic alphabet know that it has been derived
from the Hebrew alphabet, which itself has its roots in the alphabet used in ancient Arabia.
Farahi is of the view that the letters of this parent alphabet as English and Hindi do not
represent phonetic sounds only, but as the Chinese alphabet symbolize certain meanings and
objects and usually assume the shape of the objects and meanings they convey. He goes on
to assert that it was these letters which the early Egyptians adopted and after adapting them
according to their own concepts founded the hieroglyphic script from them. The remnants of
this script can be seen in the tables of the Egyptian Pyramids.
The science which deciphers the meanings of these letters is now extinct. However, there
are some letters whose meanings have persisted to this day, and the way they are written
also somewhat resembles their ancient forms. For example, it is known about the Arabic letter
Alif that it is used to mean a cow and was represented by a cow's head. The letter Bay in
Hebrew is called Bait and means Bait (house) as well. The Hebrew pronunciation of Jeem is
Jaimal which means Jamal (camel). Tuai stands for a serpent and is written in a serpent's
shape also. Meem represents a water wave and also has a similar configuration.
Farahi presents Surah Noon in support of his theory. The letter Noon still denotes its ancient
meaning of fish. In this Surah, the Prophet Jonah (sws) has been addressed as Saahib-ul-
Hoot that is he who is swallowed by a whale. Farahi opines that it is because of this reference
that the Surah is called Noon. He goes on to say that if one keeps in consideration the example
given above, it is quite likely that the abbreviated letters by which other Surahs commence
are placed at the beginning of the Surahs to symbolize a relation between the topics of a
particular Surah and their own ancient connotations.
Some other names of the Quranic Surahs reinforce Farahi's theory. Surah Taaha, for
example, begins with the letter Tuai which represents a serpent, as has been indicated before.
After a brief introduction the tale of Moses and his staff which is transformed into a snake has
been depicted in it. Other Surahs as Taaseen and Taaseen Meem, which begin with the letter
Tuai, also portray this miraculous episode.
Surah Baqarah, which begins with the letter alif, is another example which further
strengthens Farah's claims. It has been indicated before that the letter Alif had the meaning
of a cow associated with it and is represented by a cow's head. Surah Baqarah, as we all
know, contains the anecdote of a cow and its sacrifice.
Another aspect of the Surahs which begin with the same letter is a similarity in their topics
and even in their style and construction. For example, all Surahs which begin with
Alif basically deal with Tauheed (monotheism). It would be appropriate here to point out that
the letter alif also stood for Allah, the One and Alone.
We have presented here Farahi's theory only because it is substantiated to some extent
with sound arguments. It must be conceded that the theory needs to be developed and
verified still further if it is to be accepted as the only logical explanation of why the Quranic
Surahs are so named.

(Adapted from Islahi's Tadabbur-i-Quran)'