9. What are Muqatta'at/Fawatih (مقطعات)/ (فواتح) in Quran?

Ans: These are isolated, Arabic, mysterious letters found in the beginning of some suwar (سور) of Quran. They are with Divine secret, that is, only Allah knows their meaning.

The word Muqatta’at is derived from the word ‘qata’a’meaning to cut (abbreviate). They are also called as "Fawatih" or "openers" as they form the opening verses of twenty-nine Suwar of Quran.

Before the use of printing machine, when the books were written by hand, the first letter of the first page was usually decorated or ornamented with gold plates. This letter is called as “illuminated letter.” Allah uses these Fawatih huroof to decorate and light up twenty-nine suwar of His Book.

These isolated (disjoined) letters are pronounced separately. Among the twenty-eight Arabic alphabets,14 singular letters form Muqatta'at. They are either a lone alphabet or in combinations of 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 letters.

Huroof Muqatta’at in Suwar of Quran are classified as follows:

 a. There are three suwar with only one letter:

       Surah Sadh (ص) - [38] “Sad. By the Quran, full of reminders!           This is the truth, yet the disbelievers are entrenched in                       arrogance and opposition.”

       Surah Qaf (ق) - [50] “Qaf. By the glorious Quran! All will be           resurrected, yet the deniers are astonished that a warner has             come to them from among themselves warning of                             resurrection. So the disbelievers say, “This is an astonishing             thing!”

       Surah Al Qalam (ن) - [60] “Nun. By the pen and what                       everyone writes! By the grace of your Lord, you O Prophet are         not insane.”

 b. Nine suwar with two letters:

       Ta Haa - (طه) - [20] “Ta – Ha. We have not revealed the Quran         to you O Prophet! to cause you distress, but as a reminder to             those in awe of Allah.”

       An Naml - (طس) - [27] “Ta Seen. These are the verses of the             Quran; the clear Book. It is a guide and good news for the                 believers:

       Ya Seen - (يس) - [36] “Ya Seen. By the Quran, rich in wisdom!         You O Prophet! are truly one of the messengers”.

      Six Suwar with (حم):     

        Al - Ghafir [40] “Ha-Meem. The revelation of this Book is                from Allah—the Almighty, All-Knowing”

        Al-Fussilat [41] “Ha-Meem. This is a revelation from the                  Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.”

        Az- Zukhruf [43] “Ha-Meem. By the clear Book! Certainly,              We  have made it a Quran in Arabic so perhaps you will                    understand.”

        Ad- Dhukhan [44] “Ha-Meem. By the clear Book! Indeed, We          sent it down on a blessed night, for We always warn against              evil.”

       Al-Jathiya [45] “Ha-Meem.  The revelation of this Book is               from Allah—the Almighty, All-Wise.”

       Al- Ahqaf [46] “Ha-Meem. The revelation of this Book is                 from  Allah—the Almighty, All-Wise.”

 c. Thirteen suwar with three letters:

       1. Six Suwar with (الم):

       Al-Baqara - [2] “Alif-Lam-Meem. This is the Book! There is           no doubt about it—a guide for those mindful of Allah.”

        Al-Imran - [3] “Alif-Lam-Meem. Allah! There is no god                  worthy of worship except Him—the Ever-Living, All-                      Sustaining.”

        Al-Ankabut - [29] “Alif-Lam-Meem. Do people think once              they say, “We believe,” that they will be left without being put          to the test?”

        Al-Rum - [30] “Alif-Lam-Meem. The Romans have been                  defeatedn a nearby land. Yet following their defeat, they will            triumph.”

        Luqman - [31] “Alif-Lam-Meem. These are the verses of the            Book, rich in wisdom. It is a guide and mercy for the good-              doers.”

         Al-Sajda - [32] “Alif-Lam-Meem. The revelation of this                   Book is—beyond doubt—from the Lord of all worlds. Or do           they say, “He has fabricated it?”

        2. Five Suwar with (الر)

          Yunus - [10] “Alif-Lam-Ra. These are the verses of the                    Book, rich in wisdom.”

          Hud - [11] “Alif-Lam-Ra. This is a Book whose verses are                well perfected and then fully explained. It is from the One                Who is All-Wise, All-Aware.”

          Yusuf - [12] “Alif-Lam-Ra. These are the verses of the clear            Book. Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Quran so              that you may understand.”

          Ibraheem - [14] “Alif-Lam-Ra. This is a Book which We                  have revealed to you O Prophet so that you may lead people            out of darkness and into light, by the Will of their Lord, to                the Path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy.”

          Al-Hijr - [15] “Alif-Lam-Ra. These are the verses of the                    Book; the clear Quran. The day will come when the                          disbelievers will certainly wish they had submitted to Allah.”

Four of these suwar in this class are the names of Prophets.

        3. Two suwar begins with: (طسم)

          Ash Shu’ara - [26] “Ta-Seen-Meem. These are the verses of              the clear Book. Perhaps you O Prophet will grieve yourself              to death over their disbelief.”

         Al Qasas - [28] “Ta-Seen-Meem. These are the verses of the             clear Book. We narrate to you O part of the story of Musa                 and Pharaoh in truth for people who believe.”

d. Two suwar with four letters:

        Al-A’raf - [7] (المص) “Alif-Lam-Meem-Sad. This is a Book              sent down to you O Prophet—do not let anxiety into your                heart regarding it—so with it you may warn the disbelievers,            and as a reminder to the believers.”

        Al-Ra’ad - [13] (المر) “Alif-Lam-Meem-Ra. These are the                verses of the Book. What has been revealed to you O Prophet          from your Lord is the truth, but most people do not believe.”

e.  Two suwar with five letters:

         Maryam - [19] (كهيعص) Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ain-Sad.This is a                       reminder of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah,”

         Ash Shura [42] (حمعسق) Ha-Meem. Ain-Seen-Qaf. And so                 you O Prophet are sent revelation, just like those before you,           by Allah—the Almighty, All-Wise.”

Opinions about Huroof Muqatta’at:

Abu Bakr (RA) said: "For every book there is a secret and all of its secrets are in the Quran in the opening letters of the chapters." Ibn Abbas (RA) said, “The scholars are unable to grasp its meanings.” Ash-Shabi said, “It is the secret of Allah, so don’t seek it." There are variety of different views about the meaning of these letters:

    ★ They may indicate the names of Allah.

    ★They may be the condensed signs to His attributes.

    ★ They may indicate the symbolic meaning of surahs.

    ★ They relate to the text of each surah.

    ★ They may be the signs and symbols   between Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ)

    ★ They were considered as the Mutashabihat (not clear or ambiguous) verses of the Quran

    ★These may be the letters by which Allah swears. Or may be letters of oath.

    ★ May be the alerting devices to make the more profound effect of the following verses.

    ★ Or to draw attention of the one who is listening or reading.

    ★ They may be the divine passwords or codes which are not able to be solved by human comprehension.

    ★ These letters may be openly challenging the Divine Book/revelation that has been send down to both the Arabs of that time and all future generations.

    ★ They are the indication of the Quran’s uniqueness - a proof of the divine authorship.

    ★ May be they are with numerical values (abjad numerals) that can be used in computations or

              recording. For example:

               *      Alif is one,

               *      Lam is thirty 30 and

               *      Meem is forty 40 and this is 71 for (الم). Similarly, "Bismillah Irrahaman Nirraheem" is represented as 786.

                                  Allah knows best.