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instruction of the people, he hau a sure way to answer all emergencies, and to extricate himself with honour from any difficulty which might occur. If any objection be hence made to that eternity of the Korân, which the Mohammedans are taught to believe, they easily answer it by their doctrine of absolute predestination; according to which all the accidents for the sake of which these occasional passages were revealed were predetermined by God from all eternity.

That Mohammed was really the author and chief contriver of the Korân, is beyond dispute; though it is highly probable that he had no small assistance in his design from others, as his countrymen failed not to object to him; however they differed so much in their conjectures as to the particular persons who gave him such assistance, that they were not able, it seems, to prove the charge; Mohammed, it is to be presumed, having taken his measures too well to be discovered. Dr. Prideaux has given the most probable account of this matter, though chiefly from Christian writers, who generally mix such ridiculous fables with what they deliver, that they deserve not much credit.

However it be, the Mohammedans absolutely deny the Korân was composed by their prophet himself, or any other for him; it being their general and orthodox belief that it is of divine original, nay that it is eternal and uncreated, remaining, as some express it, in the very essence of God; that the first transcript has been from everlasting by God's throne, written on a table of vast bigness, called the preserved table, in which are also recorded the divine decrees past and future; that a copy from this table, in one volume on paper, was by the ministry of the angel Gabriel sent down to the lowest heaven, in the month of Ramadan, on the night of power: from whence Gabriel revealed it to Mohammed by parcels, some at Mecca and some at Medina, at different times, during the space of twenty-three years, as the exigency of affairs required: giving him however the consolation to show him the whole (which they tell us was bound in silk, and adorned with gold and precious stones of paradise) once a year; but in the last year of hi.. life he had the favour to see it twice. They say that few chapters were delivered entire, the most part being revealed piece-meal, and written down from time to time by the prophet's amanuensis in such or such a part of such or such a chapter till they were completed, according to the direc tions of the angel.' The first parcel that was revealed is generally agreed to have been the first five verses of the ninety-sixth chapter.

After the new revealed passages had been from the prophet's mouth taken down in writing by his scribe, they were published to his followers, several of whom took copies for their private use, but the far greater num ber got them by heart. The originals, when returned, were put promiscuously into a chest, observing no order of time, for which reason it is uncertain when many passages were revealed.

When Mohammed died, he left his revelations in the same disorder I have mentioned, and not digested int: the method, such as it is, which we now find them in. This was the work of his successor Abu Beer, who considering that a great number of passages were committed to the memory of Mohammed's followers, many of whom were slain in their wars, ordered the

Vide Korân, chap. 16. and chap. 25. • See the notes on those passages. • Life

• Vide Korân, c. 97, and note ibid.

Therefore it is a

of Moham p. 31, &r mistake of Dr. Prideaux to say it was brought him chapter by chapter. Life of Moham p. 6. The Jews also say the law was given to Moses by parcels. Vide Millium, de Monamme dismo ante Moham. p. 365. Not the whole chapter, as Golius says. Append. ad Gr. Erp. p. 180.

whole to be collected, not only from the palm-leaves and skins on which they had been written, and which were kept between two boards or covers, but also from the mouths of such as had gotten them by heart. And this transcript, when completed, he committed to the custody of Hafsa the daughter of Omar, one of the prophet's widows.

From this relation it is generally imagined that Abu Becr was really the compiler of the Korân; though for aught appears to the contrary Mohammed left the chapters complete as we now have them, excepting such passages as his successor might add or correct from those who had gotten them by heart; what Abu Becr did else being perhaps no more than to range the chapters in their present order, which he seems to have done without any regard to time, having generally placed the longest first.

However in the thirtieth year of the Hejra, Othman being then Khalif, and observing the great disagreement in the copies of the Korân in the several provinces of the empire, those of Irak, for example, following the reading of Abu Musa al Ashari, and the Syrians that of Macdâd Ebn Aswad, he, by advice of the companions, ordered a great number of copies to be transcribed from that of Abu Becr, in Hafsa's care, under the inspection of Zeid Ebn Thabet, Abd'allah Ebn Zobair, Said Ebn al As, and Abd'alrahmân Ebn al Hâreth the Makhzuinite; whom he directed that wherever they disagreed about any word, they should write it in the dialect of the Koreish, in which it was at first delivered.' These copies when made were dispersed in the several provinces of the empire, and the old ones burnt and suppressed. Though many things in Hafsa's copy were corrected by the above-mentioned su pervisors, yet some few various readings still occur; the most material of which will be taken notice of in their proper places.

The want of vowels in the Arabic character made Mokrîs, or readers, whose peculiar study and profession it was to read the Korân with its proper vowels, absolutely necessary. But these differing in their manner of reading, occasioned still further variations in the copies of the Korân, as they are now written with the vowels; and herein consist much the greater part of the various readings throughout the book. The readers whose authority the commentators chiefly allege, in admitting these various read. ings, are seven in number.

There being some passages in the Korân which are contradictory, the Mohammedan doctors obviate any objection from thence, by the doctrine of abrogation; for they say, that God in the Korân commanded several things which were for good reasons afterward revoked and abrogated.

assages abrogated are distinguished into three kinds: the first, where the letter and sense are both abrogated; the second, where the letter only is abrogated, but the sense remains; and the third where the sense is abrogated, though the letter remains.

Of the first kind were several verses, which by the tradition of Malec Ebn Ans were in the prophet's lifetime read in the chapter of repentance, but are not now extant, one of which, being all he remembered of them, was the following, "If a son of Adam had two rivers of gold, he would covet yet a third; and if he had three, he would covet yet a fourth (to be added) unto them; neither shall the belly of a son of Adam be filled, but with

• Elmacin. in Vita Abu Becr. Abulfeda. Abulfeda, in Vitis Abubecr and Othmân. The characters or marks of the Arabic vowels were not ared till several years after Mohammed. Some ascribe the invention of them to Yahya 1 Yâmer, some to Nasr Ebn Asam, surnamed al Leithi, and others to Abu'laswad al Jîli; all three of whom were doctors of Basra, and immediately succeeded the companions. See D'Herbel. Bibl Onem. p. 87.

dust. God will turn unto him who shall repent." Another instance of this kind we have from the tradition of Abd'allah Ebn Masùd, who reported that the prophet gave him a verse to read which he wrote down; but the next morning looking in his hook, he found it was vanished, and the leaf blank this he acquainted Mohammed with, who assured him the verse was revoked the same night.

Of the second kind is a verse called the verse of stoning, which according to the tradition of Omar, afterwards Khalif, was extant while Mohammed was living, though it be not now to be found. The words are these, “Abhor not your parents, for this w uld be ingratitude in you. If a man an' woman of reputation commit adultery, ye shall stone them both; it is a punishment ordained by God; for God is mighty and wise."

Of the last kind are observed several verses in sixty-three different chapters, to the number of two hundred and twenty-five. Such as the precepts of tuning in prayer to Jerusalem; fasting after the old custom; forbearance towards idolaters; avoiding the ignorant, and the like. The pas saves of this ort have been carefully collected by several writers, and aio inost of them remarked in their proper places.

Though it is the belief of the Sonnites or orthodox that the Korân is uncreand eternal, subsisting in the very essence of God, and Mohammed himself is said to have pronounced him an infidel who asserted the contrary, yet several have been of a different opinion; particularly the sect of the Motazalites, and the followers of Isa Ebu Sobeih Abu Musa, surnamed al Mozdâr, who stuck not to accuse those who held the Korân to be uncreated of infidelity, as asserters of two eternal beings.

This point was controverted with so much heat that it occasioned many calamities under some of the Khalifs of the family of Abbâs, al Mamûn' making a public edict declaring the Korân to be created, which was confirmed by his successors al Mótasem' and al Wâthek, who whipt, imprisoned, and put to death those of the contrary opinion. But at length

al Motawakkel,' who succeeded al Wathek, put an end to these persecu. tions, by revoking the former edicts, releasing those that were imprisoned on that account, and leaving every man at liberty as to his belief in this point.2

Al Ghazali seems to have tolerably reconciled both opinions, saying, that the Koran is read and pronounced with the tongue, written in books, and kept in memory; and is yet eternal, subsisting in God's essence, and not possible to be separated thence by any transmission into men's memories or the leaves of books; by which he seems to mean no more than that the original idea of the Koran only is really in God, and consequently coessential and co-eternal with him, but that the copies are created, and the work of man.

The opinion of al Jahedh, chief of a sect bearing his name, touching the Korân, is too remarkable to be omitted: he used to say it was a body, which might sometimes be turned into a man, and sometimes into a

Abu Hashem Hebatallah, apud Marracc. de Alc. p. 42. Apud. Poc. Spec. 220. See after in sect. viii. Vide Poc. Spec. p. 219, &c. Anno Hej. 218. Abulfarag. p. 245. v. etiam Elmacin. in Vita al Mamûn. "In the time of al Mótasem, a doctor named Abu Harûn Ebn al Baca found out a distinction to screen himself, by affirming that the Korân was ordained, because it is said in that book, "And I have ordained thee the Koran." He went still farther to allow that what was ordained was created, and yet he denied it thence followed that the Koran was created. Abulfarag. p. 253. • Ibid. p. 257. Anno Hej. 242. 2 Abulfarag. p. 262. Al Ghazali in prof. fid. The Khalif al Walîd Ebn Yazîd, who was the eleventh of the race of Ommeya, and is looked on by the Mohammedans as a reprobate, and one of no religion, seems to have treated this book as a rational creature. For dipping into it one day, the first words he inft

beast; which seems to agree with the notion of those who assert the Koran to have two faces, one of a man, the other of beast; thereby, as I conceive, intimating the double interpretation it will admit of, according to the letter or the spirit.

As some have held the Korân to be created, so there have not been wanting those who have asserted that there is nothing miraculous in that book in respect to style or composition, excepting only the prophetical relations of things past, and predictions of things to come; and that had God left men to their natural liberty, and not restrained them in that particular, the Arabians could have composed something not only equal, but superior to the Korân in eloquence, method, and purity of language. This was another opinion of the Motazalites, and in particular of al Mozdâr abovementioned and al Nodhám.7

The Koran being the Mohammedans' rule of faith and practice, it is no wonder its expositors and commentators are so very numerous. And it may not be amiss to take notice of the rules they observe in expounding it. One of the most learned commentators distinguishes the contents of the Koran into allegorical and literal. The former comprehends the more obscure, parabolical, and enigmatical passages, and such as are repealed or abrogated; the latter those which are plain, perspicuous, liable to no doubt, and in full force.

To explain these severally in a right manner, it is necessary from tradition and study to know the time when each passage was revealed, its circumstances, state, and history, and the reasons or particular emergencies for the sake of which it was revealed. Or more explicitly, whether the pas sage was revealed at Mecca, or at Medina; whether it be abrogated, or does itself abrogate any other passage; whether it be anticipated in order of time, or postponed; whether it be distinct from the context, or depends thereon; whether it be particular or general; and lastly whether it be im plicit by intention, or explicit in words.'

By what has been said the reader may easily believe this book is in the greatest reverence and esteem among the Mohammedans. They dare not so much as touch it without being first washed or legally purified; which lest they should do by inadvertence, they write these words on the cover or label, "Let none touch it, but they where clean." They read it with great care and respect, never holding it below their girdles. They swear by it, consult it in their weighty occasions, carry it with them to war, write sentences of it on their banners, adorn it with gold and precious stones, and knowingly suffer it not to be in the possession of any of a different persuasion.

The Mohammedans, far from thinking the Korân to be profaned by

with were these; "Every rebellious perverse person shall not prosper :" Whereupon he stuck it on a lance and shot it to pieces with arrows, repeating these verses;

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Dost thou rebuke every rebellious perverse person? behold, I am that rebellious perverse person.

1

"When thou appearest before thy Lord on the day of resurrection, say, O Lord, al Walîd has torn me 'hus."-Ebn Shohnah. v. Poc. Spec. 223. Poc. Spec. p. 222. Herbelot. p. 87. Abulfeda, Shahrestani, &c. apud. Poc. Spec. p. 222, et Marracc de Kor. p. 44. Al Zamakhshari. Vide Korán, chap. 3. p. 35. Ahmed Ebn Mo ham. al Thalabi, in princip. Expos. Alc. Yahya Ebn al Salâm al Basri, in Princip. Expos Alc. The Jews have the same veneration for their law; not daring to touch it with unwashed hands, nor then neither without a cover. Vide Millium, de Mohammed ismo ante Moham. p. 366. This they do by dipping into it, and taking an omen from the words which they first light on which practice they also learned of the Jews, whe Vide Millium, ubi sup.

do the same with the scriptures.

a translation, as some authors have written, have taken care to have theit scriptures translated not only into the Persian tongue, but into several others, particularly the Javan and Malayan, though out of respect to the original Arabic, these versions are generally (if not always) interlineary

SECTION IV.

OF THE DOCTRINES AND POSITIVE PRECEPTS OF THE KORAN, WHICH RELATE TO FAITH AND RELIGIOUS DUTIES.

It has been already observed more than once, that the fundamental position on which Mohammed erected the superstructure of his religion was, that from the beginning to the end of the world there has been, and for ever will be, but one true orthodox belief; consisting, as to matter of faith, in the acknowledging of the only true God, and the believing in and obeying such messengers or prophets as he should from time to time send, with proper credentials, to reveal his will to mankind; and as to matter of practice, in the observance of the immutable and eternal laws of right and wrong, together with such other precepts and ceremonies as God should think fit to order for the time being, according to the different dispensations in different ages of the world: for these last he allowed were things indifferent in their own nature, and became obligatory by God's positive precept only; and were therefore temporary and subject to alteration according to his will and pleasure. And to this religion he gives the name of Islam, which word signifies resignation, or submission to the service and commands of God; and is used as the proper name of the Mohammedan religion, which they will also have to be the same at bottom with that of all the prophets from Adam. Under pretext that this eternal religion was in his time corrupted, and professed in its purity by no one sect of men, Mohammed pretended to be a prophet sent by God, to reform those abuses which had crept into it, and to reduce it to its primitive simplicity; with the addition however of peculiar laws and ceremonies, some of which had been used in former times, and others were now first instituted. And he comprehended the whole substance of his doctrine under these two propositions, or articles of faith; viz. that there is but one God, and that himself was the apostle of God; in consequence of which latter article, all such ordinances and institutions as he thought fit to establish must be received as obligatory and of divine authority.

The Mohammedans divide their religion, which as I just now said they call Islâm, into two distinct parts · Imán, i. e. faith, or theory, and Din, i. e. religion, or practice; and teach that it is built on five fundamental points, one belonging to faith, and the other four to practice.

The first is that confession of faith which I have already mentioned, that "there is no God but the true God; and that Mohammed is his apostle." Under which they comprehend six distinct branches; viz. 1. Belief in God; 2. In his angels; 3. In his scriptures; 4. In his pro

p. 265.

Reland, de Rel. Moh

Siomta. de Urb. Orient. p. 41. et Marracc. de Alc. p. 23. The root Salama, from whence Islâm is formed, in the first and fourth cor jugations, signifies also to be saved, or to enter into a state of salvation; acco,ding to which, Islâm may be translated the religion or state of salvation: but the other sense is more appro d by the Mohammedans, and alluded to in the Korân itself. See c. 2. p. 16, and c. 3 !. 37.

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