The All-Wise God, though He revealed the Quran to Muhammed about 14 centuries ago, kept its mathematical miracle as a gift to our times.

Rashad Khalifa, an Egyptian biochemist living in the USA, did not have any knowledge that his curiosity regarding the meaning of the alphabet letters that initialize 29 chapters of the Quran would end up with the discovery of its mathematical system. His computerized study that started in 1969 gave its fruits in early 1974 by the discovery of the 14-century-old SECRET. The discovery of this code opened a new era that has been changing the paradigm of those who do not turn off the circuits of their brains in matters related to God. This discovery provided very powerful verifiable and falsifiable evidence for God's existence, His communication with us, and the fulfillment of a great prophecy. Besides, it saved monotheists from the contradiction of trusting past generations regarding the Quran, knowing that they have fabricated, narrated and followed volumes of man-made teachings, demonstrated ignorance, distorted the meaning of the Quranic words, and glorified gullibility and sheepish adherence to the fatwas of clerics.

If the Code 19 was going to provide strong evidence for the existence of God and for the authenticity of the Quran, then it is reasonable to expect that the identity of the discoverer and the time of the discovery would not be coincidental. Indeed, the events have demonstrated a prophetic design in the timing of this miraculous mathematical design.

The number 19 is mentioned only in a chapter known as "The Hidden," the 74th chapter of the Quran. Juxtaposing these two numbers yields 1974, exactly the year in which the code was deciphered. (Calendar based on the birth of Jesus and the solar year are accepted by the Quran as units of calculating time. See, 19:33; 43:61; 18:24. Besides, this is the most commonly used calendar in the world.) If we multiply these two numbers, 19x74, we end up with 1406, the exact number of lunar years between the revelation of the Quran and the discovery of the code.

In January 31, 1990, Rashad Khalifa was assassinated in Tucson, Arizona, by a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaida. Ironically, soon after his departure, ignorant people started idolizing him and created a cult distorting his message of strict monotheism. Also See 27:82; 40:28; 72:19. For further information on this historical discovery, see the Appendix On it is Nineteen.

What could the metaphorical message of this verse be?

The Quran does not want us to rush into defining the meaning of the word saqar, since it introduced it with a question followed up by an explanation. Past generations understood it as another word for Hell. After the discovery of the role of 19 in the Quran and fulfillment of the prophecies in this chapter and in other verses of the Quran, now we know that Saqar refers to an intellectual punishment. The extreme allergy and aversion demonstrated by Sunni and Shiite mushriks against the number 19 is part of the prophetic fulfillment of these verses.

This verse, like many of the verses and words in this chapter, before 1974 had multiple meanings (mutashabih) and commentators were aware of them. Though all commentators knew the primary meaning of this verse to be "manifest to all the people," few of them mentioned it in their commentaries, and most of them chose the alternative meaning, "scorching the skin." Some, picked a mixture and preferred "scorching humans." Commentators who lived in pre-1974 had an excuse to use ‘scorch’ and ‘burn,’ but after the discovery of the secret, after the prophecy of this chapter was unveiled, translators and commentators have no excuse for repeating the misunderstanding of previous generations.

We translate the word bashar as "humans" while many classic commentaries rendered it as "skin." The Quran uses it invariably for humans. For instance, it used for humans just two verses down, at the end of verse 31. The word we render as "manifest" or "succeeding tablets/screens," is lawaha and the Quran never use it to mean "scorching," "burning" or "shriveling." See 7:145; 54:13; 75:22.

After learning the discovery of the mathematical system based on the number 19, it takes a blindness and bigotry in the magnitude of miracle to not see the obvious meaning and implication of this verse. Those who assert that the only response the Lord of the Universe could give to a skeptic who challenged the authenticity of His word is to tell such a skeptic, "I will throw you in fire and scorch you!", do not appreciate God as He should be appreciated. These people can accept a God who can produce the best literary work, but they cannot accept Him as the ultimate mathematician and advocate. They see hell, fire and smoke in verses where an amazing intellectual piece of evidence is prophesied. See 6:91; 22:74; 39:67. For a comparative discussion of this verse, see the Sample Comparisons section in the Introduction.

I have presented and discussed the many details of this physical, verifiable and falsifiable miracle in a Turkish book titled Üzerinde 19 Var (On it is Nineteen) and its improved English version is published under the title, NINETEEN: God's Signature in Nature and Scripture. In fact, you do not need to read that book to witness the great miracle for yourself. All you need is to hear that the literal and numeral units of the Quran are designed according to a mathematical system based on code 19. If you do your research objectively, with a critical mind, you will discover many features that already have been discovered and witnessed by many. You should also be informed about two extreme reactions and groups. The majority of the followers of hadith and sunna have a great allergy and aversion against this number. Their blood pressure goes up when they hear the number 19. They are quick in repeating excuses, or false claims made by their scholars. Another group, however, entails the manipulators and innumerates who are too gullible and too eager to discover even more examples. They are somehow impressed by the pattern of 19 in the Quran, but because of their lack of comprehension of the laws of probability and solid base in mathematics, they juggle with numbers in an arbitrary and anecdotal fashion and come up with many so-called miracles.

A careful and objective reader will notice that short verses build and prepare the reader to verse 74:30 and the verses afterwards describe the function of the number 19 and the reaction of people to it. Verse 74:30 is the longest verse in the Quran in proportion to the average length of verses in the chapters they belong. The reader, at the start, encounters "the hidden one" and is informed about a typical profile of an arrogant and ignorant antagonist with a fast paced series of short descriptions that lead to a question and an enigmatic answer in 74:30. The enigma is described in cryptic, yet prophetic words of in 74:31. Later, following a powerful emphasis on the importance of the prophecy, verse 74:37 describes those who would witness the prophetic fulfillment of these verses as "progressive" and depicts those who deprive themselves from such a blessing as "regressive" people. The rest of the chapter elaborates on the characteristics of two groups and connects them to their reaction to the prophetic message (ZiKRa).

Many verses of the Quran implicitly or explicitly refer to this prophetic event that will be witnessed only by those who are appreciative. For instance, see 1:1; 2:2; 2:118; 6:4; 6:25; 6:67; 6:104; 6:158; 7:146; 10:1; 10:20; 12:1; 13:1; 13:38; 15:1; 15:9; 17:88; 20:133; 25:4; 26:1; 27:1; 27:82; 27:93; 28:1; 29:1; 29:50; 31:1; 38:1; 38:29; 38:87; 40:44; 40:78; 41:53; 46:10; 54:1; 59:21; 72:28; 78:27; 83:7; 98:4. Also, see 4:82 and 13:38. We highly recommend Rashad's book, Quran: Visual Presentation of the Miracle, which is available at amazon.com. For the details of this extraordinary and intricate mathematical design, new discoveries, and refutations of major criticism see: NINETEEN: God's Signature in Nature and Scripture, Edip Yuksel, Brainbow Press, 2009.

Also, see 2:1; 2:6 and 7:180.

For the meaning and function of the Quranic oaths, see 89:5.

Statements starting from this verse describe both the religious and nonreligious unappreciative opponents. The word we translated as "we were not of those who offered support (or observe contact prayer)" reflects both meanings within the context. See 2:157; 9:99; 33:43; 75:31.

The majority of Jews, Christians, Sunnis and Shiites do not acknowledge the Day of Judgment. According to the definition of the Quran, the ruler and judge of that day is God alone (1:4) and none can help or harm the other (82:19). Those who believe in intercession, by their very belief, have denied the Day of Judgment as defined by God. Atheists, on the other hand, deny the Day of Judgment explicitly.

For the prophetic use of the word ZKR (reminder), see 15:9; 21:2; 21:24; 26:5; 29:51; 38:1; 41:41; 44:13; 72:17; 74:31.