American Journal Of Philological Sciences
32
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VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue01 2025
PAGE NO.
32-35
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue01-09
The number forty in religious beliefs
Sofiya Djumaeva
Tashkent University of Applied Sciences, Gavhar Str. 1, Tashkent 100149, Uzbekistan
Received:
26 October 2024;
Accepted:
28 December 2024;
Published:
23 January 2025
Abstract:
The article talks about the number forty and its role and meaning in the life of our people, traditions,
customs, religious views, as well as in folk art and written literature. Mathematical properties of the number forty,
its connection with religious views and concepts, the views associated with the number forty in Islam, its wide use
in folk proverbs, its position in literature are illuminated using examples.
Keywords:
Number, number forty, folklore, proverb, Islamic religion, creation, arba'in, chilla, chiltan.
Introduction:
Numbers are concepts that define our
view of the world around us. Because the numbers do
not only indicate the amount, but also acquire a
symbolic meaning. The concept of digital symbolism in
literary texts is widespread and has always attracted
the attention of researchers. Number symbols are
found not only in literary texts and folklore, but also in
painting, music, and architectural monuments. That is
why numbers have been the subject of deep
philosophical analysis for thinkers around the world. In
many cultures of the world, especially Babylonian,
Hindu and Pythagorean, there was a basic principle that
number underlies everything in the universe. Numbers
are the main rule of proportionality in many forms of
art, including music and poetry. In Hermetic
philosophy, the world of numbers is identified with the
world of causes. Among the big numbers, the number
forty has a very high position and is especially widely
used in the Middle East, especially in Iran and Turkey.
From a scientific point of view, this number is related
to the fact that the star in the constellation of Surayya
(Hulkar) was not visible for forty days in ancient
Babylon. Mathematically, this number is one of the
"lucky" numbers because it is divisible by 1,2,4,5,8,10
and 20, and the sum of these numbers is 50, which is
greater than forty, i.e. (1+2)+(4+5)+(8+10)+20
–
50. This
number attracted the attention of Pythagoras from the
point of view that four numbers from one to four are
multiplied by four to form the number forty
(1x4)+(2x4)+(3x4)+(4x4)
–
40). There are various
reasons why the number forty has been in the center
of attention since the ancient times of human
development until today, and we will focus on some of
them.
METHODS
The scientific books "Rutbat ul-hayat" by Khoja Yusuf
Hamadani, "History of Sufism" by Usman Turar, and "
Number and mysticism" by S. Borodin were used in
writing this article. Mahmoud Koshgari's "Devoni
Lugatit Turk", N. Rabguzi's "Qissasi Rabguzi", Alisher
Navoi's lyrical heritage, the poetic works of Turkish
artists such as Nasimi, Makhtumquli were analyzed.
RESULTS
Concepts related to the number forty are extremely
widely used in folklore. "Forty-pillared palace", "forty
horses", "forty concubines", "forty girls", "forty young
men" or the hero of the work passes forty trials,
experiences forty adventures, kills forty enemies,
encounters forty treasures, forty nights and forty
weddings
daylight
hours
are very
common
occurrences. For example, in "Dede Korkut" you can
find more than a hundred expressions such as "forty
braves", "forty young men", "forty girls", "forty tents",
"forty nights", "forty days". Even if we look at the
proverbs that have a long survival feature of folklore,
we can see the expressions related to the number forty.
In Mahmud Koshgari's work "Devoni Lug'atit-Turk"
there is a proverb that says "Poor equates with rich up
to forty years " [5. B. 36]. Rich and big property owners
are said to be "Born with forty keys", those who are
aware of everything are "Cats of forty houses", and
"Forty door locks" is used to refer to those who are able
of doing everything. "One must eat forty loaves" to
complete a long and difficult task. "To do forty” i.e. "to
do one thing forty times " simply means to over-repeat
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
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2771-2273)
one thing. There are many such examples that prove
that the number forty has a wide range of meanings.
This situation was the reason for the widespread use of
the number forty in the rituals and traditions of Muslim
peoples. For example, the medieval Arab scholar
Damiri said that if a blue-eyed child was nursed by an
Abyssinian nanny for forty days, his eyes would turn
black. According to a similar wisdom among the
Bedouins, whoever deals with the enemies of the tribe
for forty days becomes one of them. A person who
prays the morning prayer in the great mosques for forty
days will see Khizr (a.s.) in a dream after the mysterious
enlightenment. In the Middle Ages, the Arabs believed
that a person who went to the bath every Wednesday
for forty weeks would gain all the wealth of the world.
Having fallen in love with a girl according to an existing
view in the Sindh province of southern Pakistan, a
young man writes his name on special tree leaves for
forty days, and then throws the leaves into the water,
believing that love for himself will appear in the girl's
heart. In Baghdad, unmarried girls for asking their
happiness, visit the city's three large mosques forty
times in three weekends. On the last Friday of
Ramadan, forty people gathered at the mosque are
asked to recite the first chapter of the Qur'an, Al-Fatiha,
in order to receive an amulet for a newborn baby.
Among Nasriddin Khoja's jokes, it is said that men
interrupt their wives once every forty years. In fact,
"once in forty years" in Turkish means "once in a
lifetime". Turks believe that drinking coffee together
with someone will create a forty-year relationship.
The number forty has long been interpreted in
connection with serious situations in human life.
According to the Old Testament, the longest human
lifespan is three times forty, which is 120 years. Most
rulers, even Prophets Solomon and David, ruled for
forty years. The Talmud and the later Catholic Church,
which accepted the age of forty as the end of a stage of
life, declared it to be man's "canonical age" because it
indicates the full development of the mind. In fact,
modern psychologists define the highest stage in
human development at the age of forty. That is why the
period up to the age of forty is considered a period of
learning, acquiring a profession, and preparing the
ground for the future. A forty-year-old person is a
person who has full intelligence, has taken his place in
life, is financially secure, and has a certain life
experience. "You have reached the age of forty, you are
perfect - you have regained consciousness," says
Makhtumquli in his biography [4. B. 212]. It is not a
secret that many scientists and creative people have
created a blessed work at this age. That is why great
thinkers, including Yusuf Khos Hajib, assigned a special
responsibility to the period of a person's life up to the
age of forty:
Қирқ йил ўтса кимнинг тириклик они,
Ундан кетган бўлар ёшлик замони
(Whose moment of life if forty years pass,
The time of youth will be gone from him) [10. B. 45].
Most of the world's religions have beliefs about the
number forty, which begins with the fact that the
creation of Adam took forty days. In the sources that
talk about creation, it is noted that God kept Adam's
clay for forty days. In particular, it is said in "Qisasi
Rabguzi": "It rained on the earth for forty years, it
rained for thirty-nine years for sadness, and for one
year it rained for joy" [6. B. 16]. Nasimi, speaking about
the creation of the universe and man, points out that
Adam was created in exactly forty days:
Кофу нундан яратди оламни,
Арбаин кунда яратди Одамни [3. Б. 303].
(A person who has reached the age of forty has passed
his youth)
When the end of time approaches, it is recorded that
Imam Mahdi will descend to the earth and live for forty
years, the sky will be covered with fog for forty days
during the reappearance of the world, and the process
of resurrection will last forty years. At the moment, the
number forty also represents the duration of the rainy
seasons. This was based on the fact that the rain that
caused Noah's flood lasted forty days. Medieval
Christian commentators identified a great deal of
information related to the number forty. From the
fortieth day of the flood, the Israelites wandered for
forty years in the desert, the forty days of Moses (pbuh)
on the mountain, and the forty hours of Jesus (pbuh) in
the grave, strengthened the essence of this number.
The importance of the number forty in Islamic
traditions is clearly understood from the Qur'an and
from the words of Muhammad (pbuh), who received
his first revelation at the age of forty. The number forty
can be found in the third place of the Qur'an. One of
them is that Moses (pbuh) stayed on Mount Tur for
forty days, and another is that after the age of 40, he
was encouraged to show kindness to his parents, do
good, and receive their prayers by pleasing them [9. B.
504].
Forty days is a period of purification in Islam. The period
of forty days of purification after childbirth - chilla,
feeding of the animal designated for sacrifice with
special food for forty days, cutting of hair and nails
during forty days is related to the concept of
purification in the essence of this number.
In the Islamic tradition, forty has another important
function: the letters "mim" at the beginning and middle
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
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of the name of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
represent forty according to the abjad calculation. That
is why it is noted that this number is a unique number
for the prophet. Also, according to the Sufis, when the
"mim" in his heavenly name - Ahmad is removed, the
word "Ahad" remains. It is one of the 99 names of the
Creator and means "One". The distinction between
God, the Divine Being, and the prophet, created as the
representative of mankind, refers to the forty stages
that must be passed through in human progress, which
separate mankind from God. These circumstances
encouraged Muslims to collect the hadiths of our
prophet in the form of forty groups, and according to
one of these hadiths, our prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
said, "Whoever memorizes forty hadiths among my
ummah will be resurrected in the ranks of religious
scholars and jurisprudents." Such a group of forty
includes forty sayings of the Prophet on a certain topic,
forty hadiths narrated by forty people with the same
name, or forty hadiths collected from forty different
places. Such forties called "Arbain" were skillfully
created by Eastern artists. For example, in
Abdurrahman Jami's "Chihil Hadith" and Alisher Navoi's
"Arba'in", forty hadiths about human manners were
selected and their content was interpreted in one rubai
or khita. In the introduction of "Arba'in", which Alisher
Navoi calls a translation, he thinks about "Chihil Hadith"
written by Jami, and evaluates this work as a work that
gives the reader the pleasure of a tax that has been
chilling forty times:
Ўқуғонда бухориу муслим,
Қирқ сўз борича шуҳбадин солим.
Наср ила назмни мураккаб этиб,
Форсий лафз ила мураттаб этиб,
“Арбаъин”е чиқардиким, жонлар
Балки қирқ арбаъин чиқорғонлар.
Топтилар анда нашъаи мақсуд,
“Арбаъин”дин нечукки, аҳли шуҳуд [2. Б. 261].
(No one doubts the meaning of forty, he wrote the
work in Persian language in poetic form and prose. He
wrote "Arbain", a person who reads this work will get
the peace of mind of a person who has been in chilla
for 40 days).
Sufis have a habit of sitting in chilla for forty days. It is
dominated by the desire to test patience, prepare for
new, better times, and achieve spiritual purification.
Although there is no specific period of time to stay
away from worldly pursuits and thoughts, spend time
in self-cultivation, prayer and dhikr, it has become a
tradition to sit for forty days. In this regard, the Qur'an
says, "We made a promise with Moses for thirty nights.
Then We filled it with ten more (nights). Thus, the time
appointed by the Lord as forty nights was completed"
[9. B. 167], based on the verse. Believers perform chilla
repeatedly. In some sects, there is a tradition of sitting
in khilavat for a much longer period (for example, 1001
days and nights among mavlavis), or some sheikhs
stayed in khilavat for a long time. In particular, it is
noted that Sheikh Abdulahad Nuri (died in 1651) of the
Khilvatiya sect entered Khilvat forty times in a row, that
is, he stayed in Khilvat for 1600 days. Khilwat is to pray
in a dark place away from sun rays and daylight. Alisher
Navoi, describing the situation of the Sufi who entered
the path of Seyru suluk, it was not for nothing that
Alisher Navoi compares this state precisely to the state
of the person in chilla or to the “tifl” –
baby, which does
not go to the difference between day and night:
Сулуку сайрким кўрмишки гар чилланишин қори
Ва ёхуд чилла ичра тифл тенгдур анда субҳу шом [1.
Б. 304
].
(A person who enters chilla, like a young child, does not
know the difference between night and day)
A person who enters khilvat restrains the
organs of feeling and in this way achieves the opening
of the inner feelings [7.B. 78-79]. Khoja Yusuf Hamadani
in his work "Rutbat ul-hayat" "The end of the
remembrance of the heart is forty days. When this
period comes to an end, the rays will be concentrated,
fill the heart, and go out of the holes of the sense
organs" [8. B. 45]. Fariddin Attar talks about Sufi
thinking during this forty-day chill in his work
"Musibatnama". This theme is very common, and they
also describe the death states of the forty tested saints.
CONCLUSION
Numbers are very important in Turkic culture. Most of
them are closely related to religious beliefs. Beliefs
directly affect our way of life, and this influence
manifests itself in our literature, art, and music. The
function of some numbers in our culture goes back to
our social life before Islam, some numbers occupy an
important place in folklore.
The symbolism of numbers is used in sacred literature,
architecture, music, sculpture and painting. Religion
has a great influence on our literature. The influence of
Islamic beliefs on both written literature and folklore is
evident in the views related to numbers. Paying serious
attention to numbers and their meaning in the
worldview and daily life of the Turkic peoples is not
limited to the above.
REFERENCES
Alisher Navoi. MAT. In 20 volumes. Volume 4. Tashkent,
1989. 560 pages.
Alisher Navoi. MAT. In 20 volumes. Volume 16.
Tashkent, 2000. 336 pages.
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Imadaddin Nasimi. Selected works. In two volumes.
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p.
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