الٓمٓ
29:2.
Commentary:
The present Surah is second of the four chapters—29th, 30th, 31st and 32nd—which are headed by the abbreviated letters, Alif, Lam, Mim. This has not been done haphazardly as some Christian writers are prone to think or deliberately misrepresent. These letters have a deep significance and far-reaching bearing on the subject matter of the Surah. There exists a striking resemblance between the subject matter of all these four Surahs; even their diction and style are very similar. They deal with the defeat and destruction of the forces of disbelief and darkness, and the rise and triumph of Islam. It has been repeatedly declared in these Surahs that the old order is dying, and a new and better order is emerging from its ruins. In order to realize the full significance of this dominant theme, attention is drawn to history and to the laws of nature.
Moreover, each letter of the Arabic alphabet possesses a definite numerical value, and the combined letters الم have the numerical value 71 (ا having 1, ل 30, and م 40). As the central theme of the four chapters is the progress and ultimate triumph of Islam, the placing of الم in their beginning seems to signify that Islam will take about as many years to consolidate itself fully and attain the hey-day of its glory. And thus it actually came to pass. Beginning with the Migration, Islam went from strength to strength till in the year 71 A.H., with the coming into power of Yazid, son of Mu‘awiyah, the solidarity of Islam suffered the first serious blow.