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Interesting Results (summarised from research papers)

1. New discoveries about the Mystery of number 7 in the holy Quran (discovered in April 2015)

Several research reports noticed that number 7 seems to be strangely present several times inside the structure of the holy Quran. This may be seen as a God signature for the holy Quran authentication. After a statistical analysis of the entire Quran, several discoveries and evidences have been found. So for instance:
-The most frequent word/token (in the Quran) is the coordination conjunction "wa" (pronounced Waw) meaning “And” in English. The occurrence of the coordination conjunction “Waw” (meaning “And” in English) represents approximately 11% of the total words/tokens of the holy Quran. Although its computation is extremely difficult, we found that its total number of occurrence (without prefix) in the Ibnu-Katheer narration of the holy Quran, is a multiple of 7, namely: 9534 =2x3x7x227,  if our computation is accurate.
-The second most frequent word in the holy Quran is the preposition "Min", meaning “from/ some/ part of/ than” in English. We strangely noticed that its total occurrence number when it is used alone: without prefix or suffix, is exactly 2366=7x338 (multiple of seven). Again, if we count its occurrences when it is used with or without suffixes, we also get a multiple of 7, namely: 2870 =7x410  -S- (Ref. Statistics made by H. Sayoud in April 2015).
-The third most frequent word in the holy Quran is the name of God «Allah ». This Divine name has 3 morphological forms in the holy Quran: a) «Allahee» spelled « Allahee », b) «Allahu » spelled «Allahu» and c) «Allaha»  spelled « Allaha ». Again, surprised by the multiplicity by 7, we present their occurrences and those of many others respecting that strange  code in he following article: New Mystery of number 7 (PDF article).

2. Latest Draft Report on Quran/Hadith Authorship Discrimination

Several investigations of stylometry, artificial intelligence and pattern recognition are conducted in a purpose of Quran/Hadith Authorship Discrimination.
Here are some simplified examples and results that illustrate our different experiments and findings. Our apologies for the poor organization of this report: it is only a quick draft and not an article! See the corresponding report PDF report (August 2014).


3. Author Discrimination between the Holy Quran and Prophet’s Statements

Abstract. Was the Holy Quran invented by the prophet Muhammad?

Islam states that the Quran is not written by the Prophet, but was written by Allah (ie. God) and only transmitted to him by the Angel Gibraele (Gabriel).

So, is there a scientific way to make a rigorous verification of that affirmation?

In fact, individuals have distinctive ways of speaking and writing and there exists a long history of linguistic and stylistic investigation into authorship attribution. In recent years, practical applications of authorship attribution have grown in areas such as intelligence, criminal law, civil law, and computer security. This activity is part of a broader field within computer science of identification technologies, including biometrics, cryptography, intrusion detection, and others.

In this research work, we deal with a religious enigma, which has not been solved for fourteen hundred years. In fact, several doubts on the origins of the Holy Quran do exist and some persons thought that the Holy Quran could be an invention of the prophet Muhammad.

Several theologians, over time, tried to prove that this assumption was false. They were relatively logical, but their proofs were not so convincing for many people, due to a lack in scientific rigor.

Similarly, for the Christian religion, there exist several disputes about the origin of some texts in the Bible. Such disputes are very difficult to solve due to the delicacy of the problem, the religious sensitivity and because the texts were written a long time ago.

One of the purposes of stylometry is authorship attribution, which is the determination of the author of a particular piece of text for which it may exist some disputes about its writer. In such problems, it is crucial to use rigorous scientific tools and it is important to interpret the results very carefully.

Hence, knowing that authors possess specific stylistic features that make them differentiable, we tried to make some experiments of author discrimination between the Quran and Prophet’s statements in order to see whether the Quran was written by the Prophet Muhammad or not.

For this purpose, three series of scientific experiments are made:

The first series of experiments analyses the two books in a global form: it concerns nine different experiments. The second series of experiments analyses the two books in a segmental form: it concerns five different experiments. The third series of experiments makes an automatic authorship attribution of the two books in a segmental form by employing several state-of-the-art classifiers and features: it concerns two different experiments.

This investigation sheds light on an old enigma, which has not been solved for fourteen hundred years: in fact, all the results of this investigation (16 different experiments) have shown that the two books should have two different authors and that the holy Quran could not be written by the Prophet Muhammad. See the presentation below.
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Authorship of the holy Quran


4. A Stylometric Investigation on the Holy Quran: Was the Quran written by the Prophet?

Abstract. With the increase of the number of authorship attribution disputes during the recent years, especially for religious and political matters, the need of scientific and rigorous tools has become serious and  urgent.  In this paper, we conduct an investigation of authorship discrimination between the Quran (holy book of God in the Islamic religion) and the Bukhari Hadith (statements of the prophet Muhammad) in order to see if the Quran was ritten by the Prophet or only sent down to him (by God). Authorship discrimination is an authorship attribution field, which consists in checking whether two texts are written by the same author or not. The two books are segmented into 25 different text segments: 14 segments are extracted from the Quran and 11 ones are extracted from the Hadith. The different segments sizes are more or less the same, with approximately 2080 tokens per text segment. Several classifiers are employed: Support Vector Machines, Multi Layer Perceptron, Linear Regression and 6 statistical distances. Furthermore, several state-of-the art features are used: Character-bigram, Character-trigram, Character-tetragram, Word, Word-bigram, Word-trigram, Word-tetragram and rare word. This research work has shed light on an old enigma, which has been difficult to solve for fourteen centuries. In fact, results show that the two books should belong to two different authors.


5. Optimal Spectral Resolution in Speaker Authentication - Application in noisy environment and Telephony -

Abstract. This paper deals with the problem of speaker characterization, for which the principal interest is the improvement of the techniques of speaker authentication. For this purpose, we investigate the effect of spectral resolution in the speaker authentication performance. This investigation employs an approach based on the second order statistical measures using the Mel Frequency Spectral Coefficients (MFSC) and looks for the best spectral resolution (optimal number of MFSC). In fact, researchers do prefer using low spectral resolutions for many justifiable reasons, but we do not know what is the best resolution to adopt, especially in speaker authentication and we do not know what are the performances got with high spectral resolutions either. To find that optimal resolution, in microphonic and telephonic bandwidth, we have experimented several dimensions for the MFSC coefficients and several types of additive noises, at several SNR ratios. Results show the importance of the high spectral resolution in noisy environment and telephonic bandwidth, while the current research works have always favoured the low resolution of 24 coefficients in such tasks. For example, we notice an improvement of about 11% on the identification score, since we increase the resolution from 24 to 48 MFSC, in the telephonic bandwidth.


6. A New Relativistic Vision in Speaker Discrimination

Abstract. The present paper deals with the task of speaker discrimination using a new relativistic approach. Speaker discrimination has two practical applications: speaker verification and audio document indexing. In such applications, the speaker model is extracted directly from speaker’s own speech signal as well as using speaker’s own features. However, such a model can be rigid, inaccurate and not appropriate in fluctuating environments where a change in the recording conditions may occur.  For instance, during telephone talks, the vocal features for the same speaker may change considerably. And hence, a new relative speaker model is introduced.  The new model is based on a relative characterization of the speaker, called Relative Speaker Characteristic (RSC). RSC consists in modeling one speaker relative to another, meaning that each speaker model needs both its speech signal and its competing speech (speech of the speaker to be compared with). This investigation shows that the relative model, used as input at a neural network classifier, optimizes the training of the classifier, speeds up its learning time and also enhances the discrimination accuracy.  The experiments of speaker discrimination are done on two different databases: Hub4 Broadcast-News database and a telephonic speech database by using a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) with several input characteristics. Results indicate that the best characteristic is the RSC, when compared to other reduced features evaluated in the same manner.


7. Virtual Speaker Tracking by Camera Using a Sound Source Localization with two Microphones

Abstract. Our research work deals with the problem of automatic speaker tracking by camera. Such tracking systems do exist nowadays, but they suffer from a number of problems such as: the response time due to the system inertia, the disturbing motor noise and the mechanical oscillations of the mechatronic module.In order to overcome these problems, we thought to employ a virtual tracking system using a fixed camera that does not require any mechanical part. But, is it possible to track a moving speaker by a fixed camera?If the task is already difficult with a mobile camera, how would be the matter with a fixed camera? Trying to find a solution to the problem, we have proposed and conceived a virtual tracking system which is able to ensure the required task by using only two cardioid microphones and a classic video camera.Hence, in this research work, we will present two main tasks: the first one deals with the problem of audio speaker localization with only two microphones and the second one deals with the problem of virtual camera orientation.  The task of speaker localization is defined as the determination of the coordinates of the active speaker in relation to a point in space, and the task of speaker tracking by camera consists in orienting a mobile camera toward that speaker. However, in our virtual tracking system, the task of speaker tracking is ensured by the orientation of the ROI (Region Of Interest) of the camera towards the active speaker: we have called this method: VROI technique (Virtual Region Of Interest based technique). Experiments of virtual speaker tracking by camera have been done off-line, in a small meeting room without echo cancelation. Results show the good performances of the proposed localization methods and a correct tracking by the new virtual technique.


8. Biometrics: An Overview on New Technologies and Ethic Problems

Abstract. The term biometrics is derived from the Greek words: bio (life) and metrics (to measure). “Biometric technologies” are defined as automated methods of verifying or recognizing the identity of a living person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic. Several techniques and features were used over the time to recognize human beings several years before the Christ’s birth. Nowadays, this research field has become very employed in many applications such as security applications, multimedia applications and banking applications.Also, many methods have been developed to strengthen the biometric accuracy and reduce the imposture errors, by using several features such as: face, speech, iris, finger vein, etc. From a security purpose and economic point of view, biometrics has brought a great benefit and (let us say) magic tools for governments and institutions. On the other hand, citizens are expressing their thorough worry, which is due to the freedom limitations and loss of privacy. This paper briefly presents some new technologies that have recently been  proposed in biometrics, with their levels of reliability, and discusses the different social and ethic problems that may result from the abusive use of these technologies.


9. Investigation on the Mystery of the Quran's Disjointed Letters

Abstract. Disjointed letters, also called disconnected, opening, or muqattaat letters, (in Arabic: الحروف المقطعة) are characters that are put in the beginning of some chapters of the holy Quran, and which are pronounced discontinuously, such as acronyms or abbreviations. For a long time, there has been no clear explanation of their significance or at least no unanimous interpretation. In fact, different attempts to explain them were done, but no clear proofs of their interpretations were presented. This situation prompted us to make a text mining investigation in order to see if it is possible to find any explanation for this mysterious enigma. Hence, seven different approaches of text analysis are made: size based analysis, character frequency based analysis, lexical analysis, philosophical analysis, character N-gram based analysis, Quran based analysis and arithmetic analysis. The seven different text analyses that have been described in this paper: size based analysis, character frequency based analysis, lexical analysis, philosophical analysis, character N-gram based analysis, Quran based analysis and arithmetic analysis did not give a very clear interpretation (for the author) regarding the secret of the Muqattaat letters. Furthermore, the author cannot claim giving any explanation to this enigma. However, this investigation (especially the philosophical analysis) has led to an important conclusion, which states that it should exist an important reason for putting such letters in the Quran, even if we do not understand it (the reason) clearly.

The Quran explanation based analysis was interesting (in the opinion of the author), since Allah put a key verse that shed light on some incomprehensible phrases. In fact the sentence “و ما يعلم تأويله إلا الله” meaning “no one knows its explanation except Allah (God)”, when speaking about incomprehensible - or with several possible interpretations - sentences, shows that no one can know the exact interpretation of such Quran verses. Maybe, it is a secret information that could not be understood by us (human beings) without further decryption knowledge. The author does not affirm that the opening letters belong to this type of verses, but he does believe that if it is the case, then it would be impossible to decrypt them -A-.

On the other hand, the arithmetic analysis has shown very amazing discoveries on the harmony of these letters and how they all obey to a unique number structure (based on number 19). This analysis gave us an idea about the powerful skills and infinite abilities of the Quran author (i.e. Allah) to handle the Arabic letters in such a way that was impossible to realize 14 centuries ago.

Finally, as mentioned in the beginning of this discussion, the philosophical analysis has led to an important conclusion, which is: “it should exist an important reason for putting such letters in the Quran”. Maybe it is a sort of divine signature to show that the holy Quran has remained unchanged since its first apparition and that this book could not be the invention of a human being.

For more details, see the following article.

10. A strange correlation between the Sun-Earth-Moon positions and "Number 19"

In this investigation, we strangely notice that the number 19, which is present in the structure of the holy Quran (maybe as a signature of authentication), seems to be also present in the solar system. Hence the Sun-Earth-Moon triplet appears to respect the 19-based periodicity with a great harmony. In other words, if we see the full moon tonight in a specific position in the sky, then we will see it in the same shape and in the same position exactly 19 years after. Report: PDF report (March/ April 2015).


11. Authorship discrimination with a Visual Analytics approach IVAPP 2015 

Authorship discrimination between the holy Quran and Hadith based on a Visual Analytics approach, showing that the holy Quran could not be written/ dictated by the Prophet. Presented at the IVAPP 2015 Int. Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications. Berlin, March 11-14, 2015,  IVAPP". Slides IVAPP

12. First results on the statistical analysis of the Quran

The 1st reports on the statistical analysis of the holy Quran show ununderstandable results about the non-respect of some classic rules, which are respected by the physical and natural phenemena. It seems beyond those rules... First results

13. A Scientific Evidence on the Sun Movement in the Holy Quran

Even though the scientific community thought that the Sun was the center of the Universe and that it was immobile until the 17th century, it has been clearly stated in the holy Quran, 14 centuries before, that it does really move in the Universe by respecting a precise orbit that was well defined (by the Creator); and in perfect concordance with the latest discoveries.  See the video (ESA courtesy).
Hence, we can retrieve the related information in the following verse [36:38]:
والشمس تجري لمستقر لها ذلك تقدير العزيز العليم    36:38
This verse can be translated into: “And the Sun moves for the fixed/stable course (orbit) assigned for it. That is the decree/design of the Almighty, the All-Knowing” [36:38]. The corresponding report can be found here (Extended Abstract).

14. Polarity Inversion in the Sun and Earth: Consequences on the Earth Rotation

Recently, scientists revealed that the sun and earth have reversed their magnetic polarities (i.e. North becomes south and vice-versa). Another strange fact is that all the solar planets and even the sun itself spin in the opposite direction of the clock (i.e. counter-clockwise), except Venus, which has an abnormal rotation (reversed rotation) leading to see the sun rising from the west. Some reflections argue that the same phenomenon (reverse rotation) could happen to the earth leading to see the sun rising from the west one day. This investigation examines the possibilities of such an inversion and the scientific analysis of the prediction of the Prophet on the matter. The report can be found here.

15. Strange results on the analysis of the Quran: Gaussianity & Interpolability

It is well known that every physical phenomenon in the universe respects some specific rules, as we can scientifically observe and measure. For instance, the Gaussianity rule characterizes every physical phenomenon respecting the “Large Numbers” condition. On the other hand, the Interpolability can be noticed for almost every discrete curve representing a natural physical phenomenon. Those two rules are respected by a wide variety of data present in the Universe or let us say simply in our daily life.
In the case of textual data, the two rules should theoretically be respected, and indeed, they have been verified during some experiments conducted on a set of several books, which have been analyzed during this investigation.
However, in the case of the holy Quran, neither the Gaussianity nor the interpolability of the data curve is respected. Furthermore, we notice an inexplicable and strange statistical structure in the holy book, without any (prior) scientific interpretation. See the report here.

16. The Quran has been safely preserved for 14 centuries

In 2014, some scientists of the University of Birmingham discovered that four folios containing some ancient Quran manuscripts dated from the period of the Prophet’s companions. In fact a radiocarbon analysis showed that there is a 95.4% chance that the parchment on which the Quran fragments were written can be dated sometime between 568 and 645CE. This means that the animal from which the skin was taken was living sometime between these dates. We recall that another investigation on the Sanaa Quran, which was earlier discovered in the city of Sanaa, indicated that the old parchment had a 95% probability of belonging to the period between 578 CE and 669 CE.
Furthermore, we know that the Prophet lived between 570CE and 632 CE, which makes those discoveries quite interesting, by showing that the Birmingham and Sanaa documents can be considered among the oldest manuscripts in the world.
In this investigation, we are not going to confirm that fact, but want only to check whether the ancient texts are similar to the present Quran or not, and if the two ancient manuscripts, discovered in Birmingham and Sanaa, contain similar text or not.
In fact, most of existing research works were only focusing on the palaeographic and historical aspect of the ancient folios. That is why we have decided to conduct a statistical research work for evaluating the difference, if any, between the discovered parchments and the present compilation of the Quran. Our discrimination technique is based on the computation of characters and words that are different, within the manuscripts.
The first results, based on character analysis and word analysis, have shown that the two old folios are very similar to their corresponding part contained in the present Quran (Uthmanic compilation). Furthermore, the comparison between Birmingham folios (corresponding to folios 3-4) and Sanaa folio (referenced by 029006B), which correspond to the end of chapter 19 and the beginning of chapter 20, shows that the two texts present a great similarity too.
According to this investigation based on the comparison between the three Quranic manuscripts, it appears that the morphological skeleton of the analysed Quran text has been safely preserved during the last 14 centuries. See the article here.

17. Number of Months and Days in the Quran.

In the Quran, it is stated that the number of months (per year) is 12, as quoted in the verse [9-36]:
"إن عدة الشهور عند الله اثنا عشر شهرا في كتاب الله يوم خلق السماوات والأرض"
Translation: (The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)- so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth).

But strangely, by counting the occurence number of the word "Month" in the Quran we find exactly 12 occurences (cited 12 times). Again, if we count the number of "Day" in the Quran we find exactly 365 occurences, which is equal to the real number of days per year. During our experiments, we also found that the number of times, the word Hour (Saâa) is cited, is exactly 48 (2x24). These results (especially the two first ones) are extremely strange. Ref.


18. About Earth's Temperature.

What should happen if the distance between the earth and sun decreases? and what if it increases? Obviously, there will be no life for us to talk about this, in both cases, but let us explore both cases: [read the research paper]

19. Proof on the Earth Sphericity in the Quran

The verse [39-5] represents a proof on the sphericity of the earth, it also shows that the holy Quran could not come from a human author, known to be illiterate, from the seventh century. [read the research paper]