During the 1400 plus years since the revelation of the Quran, human interference to alter the word of God has affected the names of some suras.

Specifically, Sura 9 was known during the Prophet’s time, and for centuries after him as “Sura Bara’ah” (Ultimatum). This name was changed by some Mufassir (Interpreter) to “Al-Tawbah” (Repentance).

 

Sura 17 had the name “Bani Israel” until relatively recently. It was only in this century that the name was changed for obvious political reasons into “Al-Isra’’’ (The Night Journey). I counted all the suras whose names do not begin with the letter “Alef” (A). Their number turned out to be 19; they are Suras 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, 31, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 47, 50, 71, 80, & 106. The names of these 19 suras are

Bara’ah, Younus, Hud, Yousuf, Bani Israel, Maryam, Ta Ha, Luqman, Saba’, Fater, Ya Sin, Saad, Ghafer, Fussilat, Muhammad, Qaf, Noah, ‘Abasa, and Quraish.

It follows, of course, that the number of suras whose names begin with the letter “Alef” is 95 (19×5). These data conform with the Quran’s 19-based miracle.