Firo maanaaji Aaya 1 Simoore Simoore nagge - Firo Anngaliiwo - D. Waliid Beleyhes al-umriy - Mawsuuwa al-quraan tedduɗo oo

Al-Baqarah

Aaya: 1

الٓمٓ

(1) Alif, Lām, Mīm^[12].

[12] Twenty nine suras in the Qur’an begin with these disjointed letters of the Arabic alphabet (known as al-ḥurūf al-muqaṭṭaʿah). Exegetes, over time, have speculated on their meaning, however, two opinions prevail. Firstly, that they indicate the inimitable nature of the Qur’an, as it is made up of letters from the Arabic alphabet. The Arabs at the time of revelation were the unrivalled masters of the Arabic language and yet when challenged were totally unable to create anything like the Qur’an. This, despite the fact that it heralded a complete overhaul of their socio-religious system, one that threatened their very own way of existence. This challenge to author something like it was delivered by the Qur’an in more than one place (cf. 10: 38, 11: 13, 17: 88). This bears testimony to the inimitable, Divine source of the Qur’an (cf. Ibn Kathīr, Ibn ʿĀshūr). Secondly, a significant number of the Prophet’s Companions (ﷺ), including the rightly-guided Caliphs, the Followers and their followers refrained from interpreting them, and since nothing has been reported from the Prophet (ﷺ) as to their meaning, we should also follow suit and say: “God knows best”.