Title Author Date

Objective analysis Turner , Jack Sep 08, 2006

I came accross a so called mathematical "proof" for the quran. It seems compelling at first glance. However there is no way I can beleive that Islam is a divinely inspired religion. I was wondering if the site/proof could be submitted to Mark Perakh for an objective opinion.

They will soon start to use it to prosetlyze and strengthen the Islamic fundamentelist causes and that doesnt bode well for us.

http://www.submission.org/miracle/

Thanks

Jack

Title Author Date

Objective analysis Perakh, Mark Sep 10, 2006

Dear Jack Turner:

Unlike you, I see nothing impressive in the drivel propagating the supposed "mathematical miracles" in the Quran. The "proofs" of the number 19 allegedly constituting a basis of a complex network which is under the text of the Quran are of the same quality as Panin's and his acolytes' "proofs" of a similar mathematical network based on the number 7 in the Hebrew Bible. In particular, in my essay at http://www.talkreason.org/articles/ignoramus.cfm there is a section specifically discussing the 7-related "miracles" in the Bible. It demonstrates that a network of 7-related patterns can easily be constructed in any text with a minimal effort, not requiring any divine intervention or any supernatural abilities. Another analysis of the 7-related "miracles" can be seen at Brendan McKay's website. There is hardly a doubt the same is true regarding the 19-related pattern in the Quran. Indeed, there is a substantial literature debunking the alleged 19-related pattern in the Quran (see, for example http://answering-islam.org/Nehls/Ask/number19.html, as well as numerous other essays which can easily be found via Google searching for, say "19 in Quran").

Regarding your suggestion that I specifically undertake an analysis of the claims about 19-related "miracles," I don't think I am the person best suited for such a task. Unlike the 7-related pattern in the Hebrew Bible, which I discussed based on my familiarity with Hebrew, I am not familiar with the Arabic language (in which the Quran was written) and therefore leave the task of debunking the 19-related "miracles" to those better versed in Arabic.