Number 9?

November 11, 2005 11:51 AM

What is the significance of the number 9 in Islamic culture? or perhaps, what is the significance of said number with relevance to "Radical Extremism" (dude! Extreme and Radical! This is in reference to 9 a.m. on 9-11 and 9 p.m., 11-9 and so on. . .

folks keep talkin' bout them nines. I'm not too convinced. Preliminary Google results don't help me and I don't have time to FILTER through it all!
Help me Metafilter, you're my only hope.

posted by punkbitch to religion & philosophy (15 comments total)

No significance except what human minds pull from randomness. The embassy bombings were on 8/7. The USS Cole attack was on 10/12. The Madrid bombings were on 3/11. The London bombings were on 7/7 (and 7/21). There are only a huge number of nines if you focus on the numbers that only have nines in them.
posted by Plutor at 12:22 PM on November 11, 2005

As Plutor said, just a coincidence.
posted by pmbuko at 12:23 PM on November 11, 2005

I think you've basically subbed 9 for 5.
posted by COBRA! at 12:28 PM on November 11, 2005

I'm curious, though. When you say "folks keep talkin' bout them nines", who do you mean? Where have you heard discussion about the number 9 as important to Islam?
posted by Plutor at 12:39 PM on November 11, 2005

Louis Farrakhan in his million man march speech had a bunch of weird numerology stuff, and he talked a bunch about the number 9, but he's not someone I'd look to for an orthodox interpretation of Islam.
posted by dagnyscott at 1:15 PM on November 11, 2005

According to Muslim tradition, there are 99 names of God. The number "99" is formed from two 9's, so perhaps this is helpful.
posted by alms at 1:22 PM on November 11, 2005

Many possibilities. This page lists some of them.
posted by sfenders at 4:16 PM on November 11, 2005

Apparently, many people now believe that the Enneagram (nine-pointed figure) is a Sufi thing, though it's unclear exactly how that came to be.
posted by sfenders at 4:41 PM on November 11, 2005

More on the enneagram:

"Originally, the Enneagram had been used in Central Asia for fortune telling through numerology, hence the importance of the decimal points.

The Sufis picked it up and used it as a symbol of the 9 stages of enlightenment"
posted by sfenders at 4:46 PM on November 11, 2005

I just asked my (Muslim) boyfriend and he had no clue what I was on about. The 99 names of god thing sprung to my mind, but I don't think there's anything there.
posted by jamesonandwater at 5:10 PM on November 11, 2005

There's nothing there. The number 9 has no more significance to Islam than any other number. But if you want to get into the wild and wacky world of Islamic numerology (huruf), try this site.
posted by languagehat at 5:36 PM on November 11, 2005

It's about prime. 19
posted by hortense at 7:20 PM on November 11, 2005

In the Baha'i faith the number 9 has a great deal of significance. One of its iconic symbols is the nine-pointed star.

Of course you specifically asked about Islamic culture, which is most definitely not the same thing as Baha'i culture. In fact Baha'i's have long been persecuted by Muslims. And the Baha'i faith is so profoundly against violence, extremism, and intolerance that the notion of a Baha'i blowing anything up or killing in the name of any god is absurd.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:14 PM on November 11, 2005

Google Answers on the same thing, more or less.

Here's a religious opinion on numerology as it applies to Islam. (They're agin it.)

This Wikipedia article on an Islamic sect gives some background on historical use of numerology in Islam, and points to the use of Abjad numerals, in which 9 is equivalent to the Arabic letter T.
posted by dhartung at 12:37 AM on November 12, 2005

They're agin it.

"They" being Moulana Imraan Vawda and those who take his word for things. There is no universal authority in Islam (aside from the Qur'an, of course). Some Muslims deprecate numerology (or Salman Rushdie, or Western culture, or you-name-it), others enjoy it. I'm sure dhartung knows that, but I thought I'd better clarify for those who might get the wrong idea.
posted by languagehat at 6:27 AM on November 12, 2005