Much has been said about the meaning and role of these letters. The very first thing to note is, as scholars have agreed, these are the names of the letters, not their sounds. Hence, we read them as Alif, Laam, Meem; and these are the names of these letters. These names are nouns, and hence possess characteristics that define a noun in Arabic, such as the definite article, having plural forms, and accepting adjectives that define it. Sibawayh mentions his teacher al- Khalal ibn Ahmed al Farahidi asking his companions to produce the sounds of these letters, to which they responded Alif, Laam, Meem. Upon this, he said that these are names of the letters, not their sounds. If one wants to refer to their sounds, he would say أه، به، كه, not Alif, Laam and Meem etc. Zamakhshari has written in detail supporting this position
Now, what is the meaning and significance of these letters? Many opinions have been presented. Ibn Ashur notes down 21 different opinions presented by different scholars across different times after omitting overlapping views. We can narrow them down into broader categories instead of having to dive in detail into each one.
They are the names of the surahs of which they are a part of. This is the position of the majority of scholars including linguistic scholars such as Sibawayh and al- Khalil.
They are oaths whereby Allah swears by these letters. Since the final revelation was sent down in Arabic, Allah swears by the letters of this language to indicate its greatness and lofty nature for it was this specific language in which Allah chose to sent down his final and greatest revelation.
These letters are a challenge to those who reject the Qur’an, especially the Arabs. This book is made up of the same letters that you are well aware of and which you use frequently in your daily life. Not only is this your native tongue, you are masters of this language and take great pride in your mastery of it. Yet despite this, you are incapable of producing anything like this. Therefore, these letters are a direct challenge to the deniers of the Qur’an to highlight their incapability to produce anything like it despite having all the tools of the language needed to do it.
These letters are there to grab and attract the attention of the listener. No one in Arab history started speech in this manner. As a matter of fact, we would be hard pressed to find anyone in human history to have done so. When an extremely unusual thing happens, it naturally attracts you to it and makes you curious about it. Therefore, when someone reads and hears the names of these letters being pronounced in this manner, it captures his attention and produces in him the desire to know what follows these letters.
They are abbreviated forms of larger names, attributes, actions or sentences. For example, Alif can refer to Allah, Laam to Latīf, and Meem to Majīd. It can also be that Alif refers to Allah, Laam to Gabriel, and Meem to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. It can also be that they are abbreviated forms of a larger sentence such as أنا الله الملك - I am Allah, the king. Under this category, many meanings have been presented.
They are signs for the Jews and Christians. Allah had informed them in their books that he will send down a book in the future which would contain disjointed letters in this form.
If what is meant by these letters are the names of the surahs of which they are a part of, then many surahs start with the same letters. For example, apart from this surah, Āl - Imrān, Luqmān, al - Rūm and some other surahs also start with these very same letters; Alif Laam Meem. If the entire point of these letters were to name these surahs, then we would have many surahs with the same name. Since the very purpose of naming something is to distinguish it from something else, this opinion can be considered weak. This is a well known objection and Razi responds to it by saying that even though each surah would have the same name, it would then be distinguished by what follows it, which is different from other surahs. Some will agree while others may disagree.
The second position that they refer to oaths by means of which Allah highlights the lofty nature of Arabic language in which He chose to send down His final book is also very common. This would then serve to explain why Allah sent down the Qur’an in Arabic. Because it is the best and greatest language in which divine guidance can be read and communicated to people to guide and change them. Secondly, if these letters referred to the names of the surah itself, then Allah would be swearing by the surah itself just as in other places, He swears by the Qur’an itself.
The fact of the matter is that Alif Lām Mīm are names of Arabic alphabets and undoubtedly, what is being emphasized by reading out their names separately is the Arabic language itself. These letters highlight the elementary constituents from which the Qur’anic linguistic expression is constructed. This miraculous divine book is in Arabic language, a language used and understood widely by people. This language has now been chosen for God’s revelation. This can not only refer to the greatness of this language, but also to its accessibility and easy to understand nature. This is not some mystic, poetic and hidden word spoken in some other worldly language, but in the widely known and spoken Arabic language to make it easy and accessible for people to understand. This is supported by the Qur’an itself;
Truly have we made the Qur’an easy to take reminder from. So is there anyone to take heed? (54:22)
Arabic itself, of course, is not the only thing that makes the Qur’an easy to understand. It is the Qur’anic expression itself, its coherent structure, its clear message and masterful composition that all contribute to it.
Secondly, all languages are learnt by understanding and pronouncing the letters first. The disjointed letters could serve to represent the beginning and initial phases of learning Arabic. But then, what comes after it in the form of entire surahs, is Arabic language - rather linguistic expression itself as a whole - taken to its utmost perfection. At first the most basic building blocks of the language are shown, and then they are taken to utter perfection later on. It is a very rhetorical challenge. See these letters? These basic building blocks that form words? Now watch! See how I will use them to compose utter perfection - language that will become the very standard itself of what eloquence is.
Every time any surah starts with disjointed letters, this rhetorical fact and challenge is being stated out loud. You all use these basic letters all the time in your daily lives. I will use these very same letters to compose a surah and a book the likes of which you cannot. I will not use any other sources or materials to which you have no access, but the very letters and language that you not only speak day to day, but are masters of it. The Arabs at that time excelled in their language and took great pride in it. You use these letters all the time. Now watch how I use them!
Hence, we can see why many scholars mentioned that these letters are a challenge to the disbelievers. What also supports this position is the use of the demonstrative noun ذلك - used normally to refer to objects far away - in the next verse instead of هذا as we will see in sha Allah. This position also remains in harmony with the view that these disjointed letters serve to capture the attention of the listener since a huge claim is being made regarding the nature of what will follow these letters, which would naturally capture the attention of the listener.
Notes
Zamakhsharī — al-Kashshāf V 1 : P 30 - 41
Ibn ʿĀshūr — al-Taḥrīr wa-l-Tanwīr V1 : P 207
Al-Rāzī — al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr V1 : P 253
Ibn ʿAṭiyyah — al-Muḥarrar al-Wajīz V1: P 82; Ibn ʿĀshūr — al-Taḥrīr wa-l-Tanwīr V1 : P 215; Abū Ḥayyān — al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ V1 : P 59
Alif Laam Meem
Much has been said about the meaning and role of these letters. The very first thing to note is, as scholars have agreed, these are the names of the letters, not their sounds. Hence, we read them as Alif, Laam, Meem; and these are the names of these letters. These names are nouns, and hence possess characteristics that define a noun in Arabic, such as the definite article, having plural forms, and accepting adjectives that define it. Sibawayh mentions his teacher al- Khalal ibn Ahmed al Farahidi asking his companions to produce the sounds of these letters, to which they responded Alif, Laam, Meem. Upon this, he said that these are names of the letters, not their sounds. If one wants to refer to their sounds, he would say أه، به، كه, not Alif, Laam and Meem etc. Zamakhshari has written in detail supporting this position
Now, what is the meaning and significance of these letters? Many opinions have been presented. Ibn Ashur notes down 21 different opinions presented by different scholars across different times after omitting overlapping views. We can narrow them down into broader categories instead of having to dive in detail into each one.
If what is meant by these letters are the names of the surahs of which they are a part of, then many surahs start with the same letters. For example, apart from this surah, Āl - Imrān, Luqmān, al - Rūm and some other surahs also start with these very same letters; Alif Laam Meem. If the entire point of these letters were to name these surahs, then we would have many surahs with the same name. Since the very purpose of naming something is to distinguish it from something else, this opinion can be considered weak. This is a well known objection and Razi responds to it by saying that even though each surah would have the same name, it would then be distinguished by what follows it, which is different from other surahs. Some will agree while others may disagree.
The second position that they refer to oaths by means of which Allah highlights the lofty nature of Arabic language in which He chose to send down His final book is also very common. This would then serve to explain why Allah sent down the Qur’an in Arabic. Because it is the best and greatest language in which divine guidance can be read and communicated to people to guide and change them. Secondly, if these letters referred to the names of the surah itself, then Allah would be swearing by the surah itself just as in other places, He swears by the Qur’an itself.
The fact of the matter is that Alif Lām Mīm are names of Arabic alphabets and undoubtedly, what is being emphasized by reading out their names separately is the Arabic language itself. These letters highlight the elementary constituents from which the Qur’anic linguistic expression is constructed. This miraculous divine book is in Arabic language, a language used and understood widely by people. This language has now been chosen for God’s revelation. This can not only refer to the greatness of this language, but also to its accessibility and easy to understand nature. This is not some mystic, poetic and hidden word spoken in some other worldly language, but in the widely known and spoken Arabic language to make it easy and accessible for people to understand. This is supported by the Qur’an itself;
وَلَقَدۡ يَسَّرۡنَا الۡقُرۡاٰنَ لِلذِّكۡرِ فَهَلۡ مِنۡ مُّدَّكِرٍ
Truly have we made the Qur’an easy to take reminder from. So is there anyone to take heed? (54:22)
Arabic itself, of course, is not the only thing that makes the Qur’an easy to understand. It is the Qur’anic expression itself, its coherent structure, its clear message and masterful composition that all contribute to it.
Secondly, all languages are learnt by understanding and pronouncing the letters first. The disjointed letters could serve to represent the beginning and initial phases of learning Arabic. But then, what comes after it in the form of entire surahs, is Arabic language - rather linguistic expression itself as a whole - taken to its utmost perfection. At first the most basic building blocks of the language are shown, and then they are taken to utter perfection later on. It is a very rhetorical challenge. See these letters? These basic building blocks that form words? Now watch! See how I will use them to compose utter perfection - language that will become the very standard itself of what eloquence is.
Every time any surah starts with disjointed letters, this rhetorical fact and challenge is being stated out loud. You all use these basic letters all the time in your daily lives. I will use these very same letters to compose a surah and a book the likes of which you cannot. I will not use any other sources or materials to which you have no access, but the very letters and language that you not only speak day to day, but are masters of it. The Arabs at that time excelled in their language and took great pride in it. You use these letters all the time. Now watch how I use them!
Hence, we can see why many scholars mentioned that these letters are a challenge to the disbelievers. What also supports this position is the use of the demonstrative noun ذلك - used normally to refer to objects far away - in the next verse instead of هذا as we will see in sha Allah. This position also remains in harmony with the view that these disjointed letters serve to capture the attention of the listener since a huge claim is being made regarding the nature of what will follow these letters, which would naturally capture the attention of the listener.
Notes