Dunya and akhira word count in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

This article lists all occurrences of the arabic words ad-dunya (ٱلدُّنْيَا) and al-akhira (الآخرة) in the Qur'an. The translation of these words to English is complicated and is discussed in the article. These words do not appear in the dual or plural forms, so this word count will be easier than others.

To make it clear for non-speakers of arabic:

• The al- (ال) prefix represents the definite article, like the "the" in English
• The letter د (d) in dunya is from a group of letters called sun letters ^[1]. If a word starts with a sun letter, then the "l" in the al- prefix is replaced with the first letter of the word in pronunciation. So Al-Dunya is read as Ad-Dunya. Just like Al-Salam (peace) is read as As-Salam. The "s" here takes double time in pronunciation.

Ad-Dunya (ٱلدُّنْيَا)

The word dunya is derived from the trilateral root دنو (d-n-w). Just like from the root سلم (s-l-m) we can derive different words, like submission (al-islam, الإسلام) and peace (as-salam, السلم), from the root دنو we can also derive different words. The first word in the Qur'an with this root is adna (أَدْنَىٰ), meaning "worse":

• Qur'an 2:61 "...exchange that which is better for that which is worse (أَدْنَىٰ, adna)..."

Words derived from this root can also have a meaning of "nearer" or "lower" or "lesser".

Here is the list of occurrences of the Arabic word dunya:

• As we can see, there are two occurrences, where the word does not mean "this world" or "worldly life":
  • Verse 8:42 "When you were on the nearer side (بِٱلْعُدْوَةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا, bilAAudwati addunya) and they were on the farthest side"
  • Verse 67:5 "And certainly We have adorned this lower heaven (ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا, assamaa addunya) with lamps and We have made these missiles for the Shaitans..."

Al-Akhira (الآخرة)

The word الآخرة is derived from the trilateral root اخر (a-kh-r). Other derived words from this root besides "hereafter" are "last", "other", "next", "second" or "to delay". This word, unlike the first one, appears in the Qur'an with different prefixes. The list also counts the basic form الآخرة separately.

• As we can see, there are occurrences where this word doesn't mean "hereafter":
  • Verse 17:7 "If you do good, you will do good for your own souls, and if you do evil, it shall be for them. So when the second promise (وَعْدُ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ, waAAdu alakhirati) came (We raised another people) that they may bring you to grief ..."
  • Verse 29:20 "Say: Travel in the earth and see how He makes the first creation, then Allah creates the latter creation (ٱلنَّشْأَةَ ٱلْءَاخِرَةَ, annashata alakhirata); surely Allah has power over all things."
  • Verse 38:7 "We never heard of this in the former faith (ٱلْمِلَّةِٱلْءَاخِرَةِ, almillati alakhirati); this is nothing but a forgery:"
• There are also verses where this word could be translated as both last and hereafter, but "last" would fit better to the word "first" (ٱلْأُولَىٰ, al-oola):
  • 28:70 "...the first and the last / hereafter (ٱلْأُولَىٰ وَٱلْءَاخِرَة, aloola waalakhirati) ..."
  • 53:25 "... the last / hereafter and the first (ٱلْءَاخِرَةُ وَٱلْأُولَىٰ, alakhiratu waloola) ..."

Conclusions

• The word Ad-Dunya appears 115 times in the Qur'an but doesn't always mean "this world" or "worldly life"
• The word Al-Akhira appears 71 times, when counting the basic form Al-Akhira and 115 times, when the word count includes occurrences with prefixes - like bilakhirati (بِٱلْءَاخِرَةِ) in the verse 12:37.
• The word Al-Akhira also doesn't always mean "hereafter".
• "The words Dunya (this world) and Akhira (hereafter) both appear 115 times in the Qur'an, which is a numerical miracle."
  • In this "miracle" the word akhira is counted with many prefixes, while in the 365 days miracle words with these prefixes were not counted.
  • The word dunya doesn't always mean "world" and the word akhira doesn't always mean "hereafter". So the miracle claim is wrong. And phrasing it without the translations is misleading, because it makes people assume that those words always mean "this world" and "hereafter".
  • What is the message behind the number 115? This number seems to be a product of coincidence.
  • What is the message behind these numbers being equal? Worldly life is the same as hereafter? They are equally important? Are they equally long? Shouldn't the hereafter be much more important and have a double word count?
  • The correct way of describing the miracle: The word ad-dunya (ٱلدُّنْيَا), meaning either "this world" or "nearer" or "lower" and so on, appears 115 times in the Qur'an and the word al-akhira (الآخرة) meaning either "hereafter" or "second" or "latter" and so on, appears 71 times in the Qur'an and if we count also the words with prefixes like bi- (ب) or waw- (و) the word appears 115 times. So the same amount of times as the word ad-dunya.

References