Forty

The number forty has a significance in the history of the Abrahamic religions and the ensuing culture. If you dig in, you see some facts that can be substantiated through the divine books or other historical recordings, but also you come across with many other pieces of information related to forty, which cannot be substantiated. Nevertheless overall, it is clear that there is a message of rebirth that is embedded in this number by the Designer of the Universe.

If you make an online search, you can find the above-mentioned mysterious facts about forty. Here, I would like to enumerate the ones that are more objective and reliable than others to my knowledge.

Let's start with the pregnancy term of forty weeks. Our journey in this world starts with a formation period in our mother's womb that lasts forty weeks. This is a duration chosen by the Creator!

It is known that Moses pbuh and Muhammad pbuh were 40 years old when they undertook the divine mission. Moses stayed on Mount Sinai for forty days when he eventually received the ten commandments (Quran 2/51). In interpreting the verses 3/45-46 from the Quran, it is inferred that Jesus pbuh is going to be around forty years of age when he returns. Prophet Muhammad tells about the same issue that Jesus is going to stay on earth for forty years during his second mission (Sunan Abi Dawud 4324, grade: sahih).

According to the Old Testament, Great Flood lasted for forty days (Genesis 7/17). The Israelites were punished by God to stay out of Jerusalem for forty years (Quran 5/26). Jesus pbuh fasted for forty days before he was tempted by the Devil (Matthew 4/2). Similarly, Sufis practice a forty day seclusion period of meditation and worship for spiritual attainment.

In the Islamic history, the boycott against the Muslims in order to annihilate them through hunger and thirst lasted for three years, which is about forty months. Muhammad pbuh started openly inviting people to Islam after the fortieth Muslim, Umar (who later became the second caliph and had a world wide fame for his justice).

On top of these, read the following verse from the Quran:

And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims." Those are the ones from whom We will accept the best of what they did and overlook their misdeeds, [their being] among the companions of Paradise. [That is] the promise of truth which they had been promised. (Quran 46/15-16)

These, when considered together, point at a mystery embroidered into the time spent for something. Forty days, forty weeks, forty months or forty years mark the termination of a preparation period and the onset of a birth. God knows best.