Numbers In The Qur'an

THE NUMBER 3

Appears a total of 12 times

… when ye are in peaceful conditions again), if any one wishes to continue the 'umra on to the hajj, He must make an offering, such as he can afford, but if he cannot afford it, He should fast three days during the hajj and seven days on his return, Making ten days in all. This is for those whose household is not in (the precincts of) the Sacred Mosque. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is strict in punishment. (Surat al-Baqara, 196)

He (Zakariyya) said, 'My Lord, appoint a Sign for me.' He said, 'Your Sign is that you will not speak to people for three days, except by gesture. Remember your Lord much and glorify Him in the evening and after dawn.' (Surat al 'Imran, 41)

People of the Book! do not go to excess in your religion. Say nothing but the truth about Allah. The Messiah, 'Isa son of Maryam, was only the Messenger of Allah and His Word, which He cast into Maryam, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His Messengers. Do not say, 'Three.' It is better that you stop. Allah is only One God. He is too Glorious to have a son! Everything in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Him. Allah suffices as a Guardian. (Surat an-Nisa', 171)

Allah does not take you to task for your inadvertent oaths, but He will take you to task for oaths you make intentionally. The expiation in that case is to feed ten poor people with the average amount you feed your family, or clothe them, or free a slave. Anyone without the means to do so should fast three days. That is the expiation for breaking oaths when you have sworn them. Keep your oaths. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will be thankful. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 89)

... So he (Salih) said, 'Enjoy yourselves in your land for three more days. That is a promise which will not be belied.' (Surah Hud, 65)

He (Zakariyya) said, 'My Lord, give me a Sign.' He said, 'Your Sign is not to speak to people for three nights despite the fact that you are perfectly able to.' (Surah Maryam, 10)

You who believe! those you own as slaves and those of you who have not yet reached puberty should ask your permission to enter at three times: before the Dawn Prayer, when you have undressed at noon, and after the Prayer of Night – three times of privacy for you... (Surat an-Nur, 58)

He created you from a single self, then produced its mate from it, and sent down livestock to you – eight kinds in pairs. He creates you stage by stage in your mothers' wombs in a threefold darkness. That is Allah, your Lord. Sovereignty is His. There is no god but Him. So what has made you deviate? (Surat az-Zumar, 6)

(On the day of judgment) And you will be classed into three: (Surat al-Waqi'a, 7)

When We sent them two and they denied them both, so We reinforced them with a third. They said, 'Truly We have been sent to you as Messengers.' (Surah Ya-Sin, 14)

In the case of those of your wives who are past the age of menstruation, if you have any doubt, their prescribed time should be three months, and that also applies to those who have not yet menstruated. The time for women who are pregnant is when they give birth. Whoever has fear of Allah – He will make matters easy for him. (Surat at-Talaq, 4)

Proceed to a shadow which forks into three. (Surat al-Mursalat, 30)

THE NUMBER 4

Appears a total of 10 times

When Ibrahim said, 'My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.' He asked, 'Do you not then believe?' He replied, 'Indeed I do! But so that my heart may be at peace.' He said, 'Take four birds and train them to yourself. Then put a part of them on each mountain and call to them; they will come rushing to you. Know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.' (Surat al-Baqara, 260)

'You may travel about in the land for four months and know that you cannot thwart Allah and that Allah will humiliate the disbelievers.' (Surat at-Tawba, 2)

There have been twelve months with Allah in the Book of Allah, from the day He first created the heavens and earth. Four of them are forbidden. That is the True Religion. So do not wrong one another during them. However, fight the idolaters totally just as they fight you totally, and know that Allah is with those who guard against evil. (Surat at-Tawba, 36)

He placed firmly embedded mountains on it, towering over it, and blessed it and measured out its nourishment in it, laid out for those who seek it – all in four days. (Surah Fussilat, 10)

Those who swear to abstain from sexual relations with their wives can wait for a period of up to four months. If they then retract their oath, Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat al-Baqara, 226)

Those of you who die leaving wives behind: they should wait by themselves for four months and ten nights. When their prescribed time comes to an end, you are not to blame for anything they do with themselves with correctness and courtesy. Allah is aware of what you do. (Surat al-Baqara, 234)

If any of your women commit fornication, four of you must be witnesses against them. If they bear witness, detain them in their homes until death releases them or Allah ordains another procedure for their case. (Surat an-Nisa', 15)

But those who make accusations against chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses: flog them with eighty lashes and never again accept them as witnesses. Such people are deviators – (Surat an-Nur, 4)

And the punishment is removed from her if she testifies four times by Allah that he is lying. (Surat an-Nur, 8)

Why did they not produce four witnesses to it? Since they did not bring four witnesses, in Allah's sight, they are liars. (Surat an-Nur, 13)

THE NUMBER 7

Appears a total of 15 times

The expression "7 skies and 7 seas" appears a total of seven times.

It is He Who created everything on the earth for you and then directed His attention up to heaven and arranged it into seven regular heavens. He has knowledge of all things. (Surat al-Baqara, 29)

Say: 'Who is the Lord of the Seven Heavens and the Lord of the Mighty Throne?' (Surat al-Muminun, 86)

If all the trees on earth were pens and all the sea, with seven more seas besides, was ink Allah's words still would not run dry. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. (Surah Luqman, 27)

It is Allah Who created the seven heavens and of the earth the same number, the Command descending down through all of them, so that you might know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Surat al-Talaq, 12)

He Who created the seven heavens in layers. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again – do you see any gaps? (Surat al-Mulk, 3)

We built seven firm layers above you. (Surat an-Naba', 12)

In two days He determined them as seven heavens and revealed, in every heaven, its own mandate. We adorned the lowest heaven with lamps and guarded it. That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. (Surah Fussilat, 12)

The metaphor of those who spend their wealth in the Way of Allah is that of a grain which produces seven ears; in every ear there are a hundred grains. Allah gives such multiplied increase to whoever He wills. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Baqara, 261)

The King declared, 'I dreamt of seven fat cows which seven thin ones ate and seven green ears of wheat and some others which were dry. O counsellors! Explain my dream to me if you are those who can interpret visions!' (Surah Yusuf, 43)

He said, 'Sow for seven years in the normal way and leave that which you harvest in the ear except for a small amount from which you eat. (Surah Yusuf, 47)

Then after that seven hard years will arrive in which you can eat from what you set aside for them, except for a little which you store. (Surah Yusuf, 48)

It has seven gates and each gate has its allotted share. (Surat al-Hijr, 44)

We have given you the Seven Oft-repeated and the Magnificent Qur'an. (Surat al-Hijr, 87)

We created above you seven levels and We were not unaware of the creation. (Surat al-Muminun, 17)

Allah subjected them to it for seven whole nights and eight whole days without a break. You could see the people flattened in their homes just like the hollow stumps of uprooted palms. (Surat al-Haqqa, 7)

THE NUMBER 12

Appears a total of 4 times

And when Musa was looking for water for his people, We said, 'Strike the rock with your staff.' Then twelve fountains gushed out from it and all the people knew their drinking place. 'Eat and drink of Allah's provision and do not go about the earth corrupting it.' (Surat al-Baqara, 60)

We divided them up into twelve tribes – communities. We revealed to Musa, when his people asked him for water: 'Strike the rock with your staff.' Twelve fountains flowed out from it and all the people knew their drinking place... (Surat al-A'raf, 160)

Allah made a covenant with the tribe of Israel and We raised up twelve leaders from among them. Allah said, 'I am with you. If you perform prayer and pay the welfare tax, and believe in My Messengers and respect and support them, and make a generous loan to Allah, I will erase your wrong actions from you and admit you into Gardens with rivers flowing under them. Any of you who disbelieve after that have gone astray from the right way.' (Surat al-Ma'ida, 12)

MULTIPLES OF 1,000

Appear a total of 11 times

And you will most certainly find them the greediest of men for life (greedier) than even those who are polytheists; every one of them loves that he should be granted a life of a thousand years, and his being granted a long life will in no way remove him further off from the chastisement, and Allah sees what they do. (Surat al-Baqara, 96)

And when you said to the believers, 'Is it not enough for you that your Lord reinforced you with three thousand angels, sent down?' Yes indeed! But if you are steadfast and guard against evil and they come upon you suddenly, your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels, clearly identified. (Surat al 'Imran, 124-125)

Remember when you called on your Lord for help and He responded to you: 'I will reinforce you with a thousand angels riding rank after rank.' (Surat al-Anfal, 9)

They ask you to hasten the punishment. Allah will not break His promise. A day with your Lord is equivalent to a thousand years in the way you count. (Surat al-Hajj, 47)

He directs the whole affair from heaven to earth. Then it will again ascend to Him on a Day whose length is a thousand years by the way you measure. (Surat as-Sajda, 5)

The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose length is fifty thousand years. (Surat al-Ma'arij, 4)

The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. (Surat al-Qadr, 3)

What do you think about those who left their homes in thousands in fear of death? Allah said to them, 'Die!' and then brought them back to life. Allah shows great favour to mankind, but most people are not grateful. (Surat al-Baqara, 243)

And We sent him (on a mission) to a hundred thousand (men) or more. (Surat as-Saffat, 147)

We sent Nuh to his people and he remained among them for fifty short of a thousand years; yet the Flood engulfed them while they were wrongdoers. (Surat al-Ankabut, 14)

PLACES WHERE THE NUMBER 40 IS REPEATED

A total of 4 appearances

And when We allotted to Musa forty nights. Then you adopted the Calf when he had gone and you were wrongdoers. (Surat al-Baqara, 51)

He said, 'The land will be forbidden to them for forty years during which they will wander aimlessly about the earth. Do not waste grief on this deviant people.' (Surat al-Ma'ida, 26)

We set aside thirty nights for Musa and then completed them with ten, so the appointed time of his Lord was forty nights in all. Musa said to his brother Harun, 'Rule my people in my stead. Keep order and do not follow the way of the corrupters.' (Surat al-A'raf, 142)

We have instructed man to be good to his parents. His mother bore him with difficulty and with difficulty gave birth to him; and his bearing and weaning take thirty months. Then when he achieves his full strength and reaches forty, he says, 'My Lord, keep me thankful for the blessing You bestowed on me and on my parents, and keep me acting rightly, pleasing You. And make my descendants righteous. I have repented to You and I am truly one of the Muslims.' (Surat al-Ahqaf, 15)

PLACES WHERE THE NUMBER 100 IS REPEATED

A total of 3 appearances

Or the one who passed by a town which had fallen into ruin? He asked, 'How can Allah restore this to life when it has died?' Allah caused him to die a hundred years then brought him back to life. Then He asked, 'How long have you been here?' He replied, 'I have been here a day or part of a day.' He said, 'Not so! You have been here a hundred years. Look at your food and drink – it has not gone bad – and look at your donkey so We can make you a Sign for all mankind. Look at the bones – how We raise them up and clothe them in flesh.' When it had become clear to him, he said, 'Now I know that Allah has power over all things.' (Surat al-Baqara, 259)

A woman and a man who commit fornication: flog both of them with one hundred lashes and do not let compassion for either of them possess you where Allah's religion is concerned, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. A number of believers should witness their punishment. (Surat an-Nur, 2)

PLACES WHERE THE NUMBER 11 IS REPEATED

Only one appearance

When Yusuf told his father, 'Father! I saw eleven bright stars, and the sun and moon as well. I saw them all prostrate in front of me.' (Surah Yusuf, 4)

PLACES WHERE THE NUMBER 9 IS REPEATED

A total of 3 appearances5

We gave Musa nine Clear Signs. Ask the tribe of Israel about when he came to them and Pharaoh said to him, 'Musa, I think you are bewitched.' (Surat al-Isra', 101)

Put your hand inside your shirt front. It will emerge pure white, yet quite unharmed – one of nine Signs to Pharaoh and his people. They are a people of deviators.' (Surat an-Naml, 12)

There was a group of nine men in the city causing corruption in the land and not putting things right. (Surat an-Naml, 48)