Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/648

* KOBAN. 588 KORAN. utU'ranccs already existed, and it was from these that Zaid prepared an authoritative couipihition to be known lienceforth as the Koran. This vol- ume passed, after the death of Aliu-hekr, into the hands of Omar, and by Omar was intrusted to the keeping of Hafsa,"one of the Prophet's wives, the daut;liter of Omar. Dillerenees of opinion in rejjjard to the. text of the Kciran still prevailed after Zaid's edition was completed, and aocordin!,dy a second redaction was instituted in the thirtieth year of the Hejira by Caliph Othman, not for the sake of arranging and cor- recting the text, but in order to insure unity. This work was intrusted to four editors of recog- nized authority, of whom Zaid was one. With respect to the succession of the single chapters, 1 14 in number, no attempt was made at estab- lishing continuity, but they were placed side by side according to their respective lengths; so that immediately after the introductory exor- dium follows the" longest chapter, and the others are ranged after it in decreasing size, though this princi])ie is not strictly adhered to. They are not numbered in the manuscripts, but bear dis- tinctive, often strange-sounding, headings; as: the Cow, Congealed Blood, the Fig, the Star, the Towers, Saba, the Poets, etc., taken from a par- ticular matter or person treated of in the respec- tive chapters. Every chapter or sura begins with the introductory formula, "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." It is further stated at the iieginning whether the sura was re- vealed at Jlecca or at Medina. Every chapter is subdivided into smaller portions {Ai/ah, Heb. 0th, sign, letter), varying in the ancient copies (of Medina, Cufa, Basra, and Damascus, and the 'vulgar edition') between GOOO and Od:!!!. The number of words in the whole book is 77,039, and an enumeration of the letters shows an amount of 323,015 of these. Other (encyclical) divisions of the book are into 30 aj::a and into fiO ahzOb, for the use of devotional readings in and out of the mosque. Twenty-nine suras commence with certain letters of the alphabet, which are sup- posed by Mohammedans to be of mystic import, but which are probably monograms of private collectors or authorities. The contents of the Koran as the basis of Mo- hammedanism will be considered under that head, while for questions more closely connected with authorship and chronology, consult MoH.MMEn. Briefly it may be stated here that the chief doc- trine laid down in it is the miity of Cod, and the existence of but one true religion, with change- able ceremonies. As teachers and warncrs of mankind. Cod. at different times, sent prophets to lead back to truth. Moses, Christ, and Moham- med being the most distinguished. Both punish- ments for the sinner and rewards for the pious are depicted with great diffuseness, and exempli- fied chielly by stories taken from the Bible, the apocryphal writings, the Jlidrash, and pre-Islamic history. Special laws and directions, admoni- tions to moral and divine virtues, more particu- larly to a ccmiplete and unconditional resignation to God's will (see IsL.vii), legends, principally relating to the patriarchs, and, almost without exception, borrowed from the .Jewish writings (known to Mohammed by oral communication only, a circumstance which accounts for their frequent odd confusion), form the bulk of the hook, which throughout bears the most palpable traces of Jewish influence. Thus, of ideas and words taken bodily, with their Arabicized desig- nations, from .Judaism, may be mentioned: }'ui'uii=mikra (reading) ; furkan (salvation) ; the introductory formula, hisinillah (in the name of God) ; 1aurat=^IOr(ih (book of law) ; jiitnah ^gan (den (paradise) ; jahinmttn (hell) ; darasa =(/a)as/i (to search the scriptures) ; subSt, sabt =^sli(ibbuth (day of rest); Kuldiiult (majesty of Cod). It is especially in the later suras that Mohammed, for the edification of his hearers, in- troduced (in imitation of Jewish and Christian preachers) stories and legends of biblical i)er- sonages. The suras may be divided into three general classes: those delivered during the first years of Mohammed's preaching in Mecca, those delivered during the latter part of his stay in that city, and those delivered in Jledina. In the oldest suras Mohammed is concerned mainly with de- picting the power and unity of Cod, with the resurrection and the judgment day, with depict- ing the blessedness of paradise and the tortures of hell. These subjects are elaborated in the suras of the middle and last period. While in the earlier ones Mohammed claims to be only a preacher .sent to warn people, in the later ones he steps forward boldly with the claim of being a divinely sent prophet, whose utterances repre- sent revelations made to him by the angel Ga- briel. The duties obligatory upon Moslems are all discussed in the later suras, though the for- mation into codes was reserved for the Jloham- niedan theologians. Incidentally his polemics against his personal enemies, and especially against .Judaism and Christianity, are introduced into the Koran, the .Jews being accused of falsi- fying the Scriptures, the Christians of running counter to the doctrine of the unity of God by the assumption that Jesus was a son of God. The discour.=es themselves are of a rambling nature, and numerous social customs are touched upon. In this way the Koran becomes a mirror in which Mohammed's personality is reflected with a clear- ress which leaves little to be desired. It prop- erly was taken as the basis for the elaboration of a Jlcjhammedan system of theology, for there is scarcely any topic connected with the law upon which it does not touch, though never exhaustive- ly. Its lack of system, and its discursiveness, make the Koran hard reading, but its interest and value to the student are all the greater because of the assurance these very defects give us that we have in the Koran a work that is in all essential particulars authentic. The general tendency and aim of the Koran is found clearly indicated in the beginning of the second chapter: '"This is the book in which there is no doubt; a guidance for the pious, who believe in the miisteries of fuilh. who perform their prayers, give uhns from what we have be- stowed upon them, who believe in the revelation which we made nnto thee, which was sent down to the prophets before thee, and who believe in ihe future life," etc. To unite the three principal religious forms which he found in his time and country — viz. Judaism. Christianity, and heathenism— into one. was iMohammed's ideal; and the Koran, properly read, discloses constant- ly the alternate flatteries and threats aimed at each of the three parties. No less are certain abrogations of special passages in the Koran, made by the Prophet himself due to the vacillat-