In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
The count of the Alif in all its forms including the Hamza
as done by Rashad Khalifa, Ph.D.
by Atef Khalifa
The best way to know the system Rashad used in counting the alifs and the hamzas when he counted the initilas of the Quranic suras, is to study which Hamza Rashad counted and which one he did not. This is simple and easy to do.
This simple demonstration will show the system that Rashad used to count and help the sincere devoted submitters understand and apply that system.
Remember that neither the system nor the text can be difficult to find or figure out, or the whole miracle would lose its meaning and value. The miracle was destined for all the generations alive during the time of its discovery and the generations coming after them and to the end of time.
The letter Alif in Arabic is easy to spot and easy to count. There are few other languages that use the same Arabic Alphabets and for those who speak and read these languages, e.g. Farsi or Urdu, they will have no problem counting. The letter alif (or alef) can be seen in these four shapes 
The alif that looks like this,
, is not used in the original Qurans, but only in the more recent editions of the Quran. As for the "Tashkeel" which is the small marks written on top of or under the 28 Arabic alphabets, they are explained at the bottom of this page.
Here are the different forms of Hamza and how Rashad counted them. Of all the seven forms mentioned below, Rashad counted only the first three types as alif. Notice that number 3 is actually a standing free hamza as it is a hamza written between the lam and the alif.
When we experimented by including some or all of the forms of Hamzas in different combinations, in the count of the alif, we never got even close to Rashad's count. Only when we counted the first three kinds of hamzas did we get very close to or almost Rashad's count. All the errors we spotted in Rashad's count were due to the fact that Rashad did not systematically use the same system of counting the hamzas in different suras and sometimes in the same sura or same verse.
Here are the different forms of Hamzas:
- Standing free hamzas: Rashad counted these as alifs. examples; standing free Hamzas like:
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See for example these verses where Rashad's count and our count agrees on the total number of alifs, which means his way of counting the hamza and the way we used after him is correct. Check the correct count of the alifs in either books, "Visual Presentation" or " Computer speaks" 2:6 (9 alifs), 2:8 (11 alifs), 2:9 (10 alifs), 2:13 (26 alifs), 2:14 (23 alifs), 2:20 (20 alifs), 2:29 (11 alifs), 3:5 (10 alifs), 3:6 (12 alifs), 3:11 (13), 29:2 (11 alifs), 29:4 (10 alifs), 29:31 (18 alifs), 30:5 (5 alifs), 30:15 (8 alifs), 30:29 (9 alifs), 31:7 (13 alifs), 32:8 (2 alifs)......and many many others.........etc.
- hamzas written on an extension (Madda): are counted as alifs. examples;
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See for example these verses where Rashad's count and our count agrees on the total number of alifs, which means his way of counting the hamza and the way we used after him is correct. Check the correct count of the alifs in either books, "Visual Presentation" or " Computer speaks" 2:35 (15 alifs), 2:39 (11 alifs) 2:41 (19 alifs), 2:61 (42 alifs), 2:71 (20 alifs), 2:119 (10 alifs), 2:134 (9 alifs), 2:189 (21 alifs), 3:4 (14 alifs), 3:10 (12 alifs), 3:11 (13 alifs), 3:14 (22 alifs), 29:4 (10 alifs), 29:7 (12 alifs), 29:26 (9 alifs), 30:10 (16 alifs)...and many many others.......etc
- hamzas written on a Lam- Alif, in between the Lam and the Alif:
Hamzas written on a Lam Alif, in words where the alif is actually a hamza and an alif, is the most deceiving as it looks like two alifs but actually it is three alifs (two alifs and a hamza) for example
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. If you look carefully at these words you will notice the insistence of the scribes to write the Hamza in these words between the Lam and the alif . Compare these words with other words that only has lam alif as in 
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where there is only one lam and one alif , the hamza is specially positioned on top of the alif. See for example these verses where Rashad's count and our count agrees on the total number of alifs; 2:4 (9 alifs), 2:8 (11 alifs), 2:22 (24 alifs), 2:25 (25 alifs), 2:86 (14 alifs), 2:118 (17 alifs), 2:155 (9 alifs), 2:164 (40 alifs), 2:179 (5 alifs), 2:200 (24 alifs), 2:201 (13 alifs), 3:56 (14 alifs), 3:58 (5 alifs), 3:114 (11 alifs), ...............and many many others........etc.
- hamzas written on top of a stem (Nabra): is counted as a yaa NOT as an alif. For example:
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See for example these verses where Rashad's count and our count agrees on the total number of alifs, which means his way of counting the hamza and the way we used after him is correct. Check the correct count of the alifs in either books, "Visual Presentation" or " Computer speaks" See how Rashad did not count these hamzas in 2:33 (22 alifs), 2:35 (15 alifs), 2:58 (15 alifs), 2:71 (20 alifs), 2:90 (10 alifs), 3:12 (4 alifs), 3:13 (17 alifs), 3:50 (11 alifs), 7:106 (8 alifs), 7:105 (10 alifs), 7:70 (17 alifs), 10:81(12 alifs), 10:78 (20 alifs), 12:73 (9 alifs), 12:88 (19 alifs), 14:29 (3 alifs), 15:51 (1 alif)...and many many others...etc. Surprisingly, Rashad counted some of these similar words like in 3:49,7:129 and 11:53, breaking his own system.
- hamzas written under a stem (Nabra): is counted as a yaa, not as an alif. For example:
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see how Rashad did NOT count the same hamza in similar words as in, 2:120 (17 alifs), 30:51 (6 alifs), 31:25 (8 alifs), 10:22 (25 alifs), 11:7 (21 alifs), 11:8 (16 alifs), 11:10 (9 alifs), 14:7 (5 alifs), 7:189 (19 alifs), 13:37 (15 alifs), 2:5 (3 alifs), 2:16 (18 alifs), 2:30 (19 alifs), 2:34 (14 alifs), 3:10 (12 alifs), 3:18 (19 alifs), 7:7 (3 alifs), 7:8 (4 alifs), 7:17 (7 alifs)........and many many others........etc.
- hamzas written on a yaa: is counted as a yaa, NOT as an alif, whether the hamza is written above or below the yaa, as in
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. For example, 2:15 (1 alif), 13:12 (8 alifs), 13:32 (6 alifs), 12:53 (12 alifs), 15:49 (6 alifs), 29:20 (16 alifs), 30:8 (19 alifs), 30:16 (15 alifs)................and many many others........etc.. - hamzas written on a Waw: is counted as a waw , not as an alif, as in:
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. For example, 2:3 (4 alifs), 2:4 (9 alifs), 2:6 (9 alifs), 3:73 (19 alifs), 3:75 (24 alifs), 3:79 (16 alifs), 3:81 (25 alifs), 3:110 (16 alifs), 3:114 (11 alifs), 3:166 (8 alifs), 3:171 (6 alifs), ........and many many others........etc.
Arabic Alphabets and how they look in different locations in a word.
initial form means how the alphabet appears in the beginning of the word or in the middle of a word if it follows some Arabic alphabets that do not connect with it, e.g. alif, Dal , Thal, Reh, zen, waw....
Medial form means how the alphabet appears when written in the middle of a word, when it connects with the surrounding alphabets.
Final form means when the alphabet appears at the end of a word, unless it follows some Arabic alphabets that do not connect with it, e.g. alif, Dal , Thal, Reh, zen, waw.....
Isolated form means when the alphabet is free standing.
The Arabic Tashkeel (Diacritics)
Many of those who are not familiar with reading the Quran or seeing it written in Arabic may not recognize that the text of the Arabic Quran after being written in Arabic alphabets, has some additions that goes above, below or at the end of a word to help the reader pronounce the word correctly and sometime they carry certain instructions, like not to stop the sentence at that particular word or to continue. These additions are called tashkeel. Some scribes over use them as a way of decoration of the actual words. NONE of these tashkeel symbols should be counted as part of the word.
Here is an image that has some of these tashkeels, I left them written as they are usually used, to allow you to compare their size with the regular size of a word to realize how small these symbols (tashkeel) appear around a normal word. I need to warn you however that some scribes write these tashkeels larger to decorate the words of the Quran, but these are still tashkeel. Most of the regular editions of the Quran have the same size (small) tashkeel symbols, while few of the art decorated editions of the Quran may have them bigger.
In this image there are 22 symbols that are used for tashkeel and at the bottom is a regular Arabic word in its normal size font compared to the tashkeel.
Most important of all the tashkeel symbols, is the short alif (alef) , sometimes called dagger alif, that is used above certain words in the Quran. This short (dagger) alif only helps in the pronunciation and is NOT counted as an extra alif. Examples of these dagger , tashkeel alifs, are; the dagger alif is marked by a red dot on top of it.
this word has five tashkeels used around the word,
this word has five tashkeels used around the word,
this word has six tashkeels used around the word,
this word has five tashkeels used around the word.
How the "Alif" and the “Lam” look like in different locations of the word
I recommend that you pay close attention to the letter alif (Alef) and the letter Lam as they may look very similar in the the middle of a word for those who are not familiar with the Arabic language. Please study them carefully. You will notice that while the letter Alif only connects to another Arabic Alphabet on its right side only, whether this happened at the end of the word or in the middle, the letter Lam can connect with other Arabic alphabets either from the right or left side or both sides.
Initial form means how the alphabet appears in the beginning of the word or in the middle of a word if it follows some Arabic alphabets that do not connect with it, e.g. alif, Dal , Thal, Reh, zen, waw....
Medial form means how the alphabet appears when written in the middle of a word, when it connects with the surrounding alphabets.
Final form means when the alphabet appears at the end of a word, unless it follows some Arabic alphabets that do not connect with it, e.g. alif, Dal , Thal, Reh, zen, waw.....
Isolated form means when the alphabet is free standing.
| Initial form | Medial form | Final form | Isolated form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alif (Alef) |  |  |  | |
| Lam |  |  |  |  |
See also:
- Count of "Lam" in Sura 11 and Sura 30
- Faith and what the messenger of the covenant said.
- Examples of Errors in Printings of Quran
- The updated count of the Quranic initials, ALM and ALR
- The updated count of the Quranic initials, ALMR and ALMS
- How to count the Quranic initials
- Are all the Arabic versions of Quran the same?
- Preserving and protecting Quran
- Transliteration of the Quran