The Rain · Audio & Video

The Appendices

Thirty-eight studies, each one going further into a subject than any single page could. The deep end of this site.

What the Appendices Are

The appendices are extended studies — the detailed treatment of subjects that the main pages can only introduce.

All thirty-eight are here in full, one page each, exactly as the translator wrote them. Every table is reproduced, because in the mathematical appendices the tables are the argument.

They are not light reading, and they are not meant to be read front to back. Find the one that answers a question we actually have, and read that one.

Each page opens with a short note in our own words on what the appendix argues. Below it, the appendix itself. Every verse it cites is a link to that verse in our reader.

How to Use an Appendix

Five steps. The third one is the one people skip, and the one that matters most.

Read the two lines at the top first

Every appendix page opens with a short note from us on what that appendix argues. It takes ten seconds, and it tells us whether this is the one we came for.

Then read the appendix once, without stopping

Get the shape of the argument before testing any part of it. These are long, and stopping at the first table loses the thread.

Click the verses

Every verse reference in the text is a link to that verse in our reader. Check the ones the argument rests on. An appendix is a study of the Quran, so the Quran is what decides whether it holds.

Let the tables be tables

In Appendix 1 and Appendix 24 the tables are the argument, not decoration. Read a few rows and check one sum with a calculator. They are put there to be checked.

Write down what changed

One paragraph: what we thought before, and what we think now. Otherwise a long study evaporates within a week.

Where to Start

Thirty-eight is a lot to face at once. Here is where to go depending on what brought you here.

If you are new to all of this

Appendix 13 on the first pillar, and Appendix 15 on the religious duties as a gift, not a burden. Both are short and both reframe things most people have backwards.

If you are asking about sources

Appendix 18 on the Quran's sufficiency and Appendix 19 on hadith and sunna. Read them together with the Source Check framework in hand.

If you are wrestling with intercession

Appendix 8. Read the Intercession page here first so you know what question the appendix is answering.

If you want to know what happens after death

Appendix 11 on the Day of Resurrection, Appendix 17 on death, and Appendix 5 on heaven and hell. Read them in that order.

If you are interested in the mathematical structure

Appendix 1 and Appendix 38. These are the ones people either find compelling or find baffling — read both before deciding which.

If you have a practical question about daily life

Appendix 16 on diet, Appendix 35 on drugs and alcohol, Appendix 30 on polygamy, Appendix 37 on criminal justice. Specific subjects, directly addressed.

1One of the Great Miracles [74:35]The claim of this appendix is that the Quran carries a mathematical structure built on the number nineteen. It is there as physical evidence that no human composed the book.2God's Messenger of the CovenantThe Quran describes a covenant God took from the prophets. After the scripture and wisdom had been given, “a messenger will come to confirm all existing scriptures.3We Made the Quran Easy [54:17]One sentence is repeated four times in a single sura: “We made the Quran easy to learn. Does any of you wish to learn?” [54:17] The appendix takes that claim literally and asks how a book is made easy.4Why Was the Quran Revealed in Arabic?The appendix’s first answer is that the language was never the barrier anyone assumes it is. The Quran addresses the question itself: “Whether it is Arabic or non-Arabic, say, ‘For those who believe, it is a guide and healing.5Heaven and HellEverything the Quran tells us about Heaven and Hell is handed over as a picture. The Quran says so itself.6Greatness of GodThis appendix makes one argument and makes it with scale. It begins from a verse that opens by saying the idolaters can never fathom the greatness of God.7Why Were We Created ?This appendix answers the oldest question there is. Its answer is that we are here because of something we did before we got here.8The Myth of IntercessionThe Quran settles this in one sentence: “All intercession belongs to GOD.” [39:44] Not shared with a prophet, not delegated to a saint, not available through anyone's favour. The appendix names the two cases it is aiming at.9Abraham: Original Messenger of IslamMuhammad did not found this religion, and the appendix’s case is short. Submission is the only religion God approves [3:19].10God's Usage of the Plural TenseThis is the appendix for a question almost every English reader arrives with. If God is one, why does He say we?11The Day of ResurrectionThe Day has an order to it, and the appendix walks through it. The horn is blown.12Role of the Prophet MuhammadThe Quran states the Prophet’s job in one line, and returns to it repeatedly. “The sole duty of the messenger is to deliver the message” [5:99].13The First Pillar of Islam (Submission): "Laa Elaaha Ellaa Allah" (No god except God)The pillar is a single clause. It names one being: “there is no god except He”.14PredestinationThe appendix takes on the oldest knot in theology. If God already knows, in what sense do I choose?15Religious Duties: A Gift From GodThe appendix opens by pointing at what Abraham asked for. Not wealth, and not health.16Dietary ProhibitionsThe list is short. The Quran gives it as complete, in words the Prophet is instructed to say.17DeathThe appendix’s claim is that death is like sleeping, dreams included. It draws that from the way the Quran already speaks of sleep.18Quran: All You Need For SalvationThe claim is that there is no other source of religious guidance at all, not that the Quran is the best one. That is because this one is finished.19Hadith & Sunna: Satanic InnovationsThe Quran raises the subject itself, and not gently. “In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?” [45:6] It calls itself the opposite of that.20Quran: Unlike Any Other BookWhat this appendix describes is how the book behaves, not only what it says. It is under protection.21Satan: Fallen AngelThe appendix’s claim is that Satan held angelic rank before his fall. The rank came from the immense powers and the standing God had given him.22JesusThe Quran's position on Jesus is high and specific. He is a messenger of God.23Chronological Sequence of RevelationThis one makes no argument. It is a table.24Tampering with the Word of GodThis is the appendix behind a difference we may have already noticed. In this edition Sura 9 ends at verse 127.25End Of The WorldThe Quran keeps the hour deliberately out of reach. It says so in God’s own words.26The Three Messengers of IslamThis appendix sets out a chain of three. First is Abraham, the original messenger of Submission.27Who Is Your God?The question in the title is not rhetorical. The appendix’s answer is the most uncomfortable sentence in the thirty-eight.28Muhammad Wrote God's Revelations With His Own HandThe tradition says the Prophet could not read or write. The appendix’s position is that this was an invention.29The Missing BasmalahEvery sura in the Quran opens with “In the name of GOD, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”. Every sura except Sura 9.30PolygamyThe Quran permits more than one wife. Then it hedges the permission until almost nothing is left of it.31Evolution: Divinely ControlledThe appendix's position is in its title. Change in living things is real.32The Crucial Age of 40The question this appendix takes on is one every parent has asked in the dark. What happens to someone who dies young, before they could have worked any of this out?33Why Did God Send A Messenger Now?The argument is about timing. The covenant of 3:81 promised a messenger to come after the prophets and confirm what they brought.34VirginityThis is a short appendix with one instruction. Teach our children that chastity is theirs to keep.35Drugs & AlcoholThere is no negotiation in this one, and there is little of it. “intoxicants, and gambling, and the altars of idols, and the games of chance are abominations of the devil; you shall avoid them, that you may succeed.” [5:90] That is a commandment, not a recommendation.36What Price A Great NationThe claim is that a society’s fortunes follow its righteousness. The Quran states it as a conditional with a verdict attached.37Criminal JusticeThe appendix starts with a question, not a verse. If a man steals from us and is sent to prison, what do we get back?3819: The Creator's SignatureThis appendix takes the number out of the book and looks for it in the world. If nineteen is a signature, it argues, we would expect it signed on more than one kind of work.

Questions About the Appendices

Are the appendices scripture?

No. They are studies written by the translator, published alongside this translation of the Quran. They are useful, and this site cites them by number where a point rests on one. They are not the source, and nothing in them carries the authority of a verse. Where an appendix and a verse appear to disagree, the verse decides. God's own instruction covers the method: “You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself.” [17:36]

Which appendix should someone read first?

Appendix 13 on the first pillar, and Appendix 15 on the religious duties. Both are short, and both change how the rest reads. Appendix 1 is the one people arrive for, and it is worth reading once the practice is in place, and not before. A religion resting on arithmetic alone rests on somebody else's counting. The Where to Start cards above group the rest by what a reader is actually after.

How should we read an appendix we disagree with?

Slowly, and with the verses open beside it. That is the only way to tell a disagreement from a misreading. Every verse reference on these pages is a link, so checking one costs a click. Read what the verse says before deciding what the appendix made of it. If a claim still cannot be traced to a verse, note that and keep reading. God's own instruction covers the method: “You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself.” [17:36]

A Word of Caution

These are long, detailed arguments, and a detailed argument is persuasive whether or not it is correct. Read them with the Quran search page open. If a claim cannot be traced to a verse, note that and keep reading.

Growth Journal

Growth Prompt

Discomfort usually marks either something you have been avoiding or something you suspect you have wrong. Open that one, read it properly, and write down what you find, not what you feared.

Which appendix title made me uncomfortable when I read the list — and what is that discomfort actually about?

See the journal templates Ask the Knowledge Base

Root & Branch

Keep growing

Every topic on this site connects to the others. Here is where this page leads next.