Our object is to present the teachings of the quran Quran, as elicited from the book itself, apart from the Traditions of Islam  which form the second basis of the faith. But if the statement is made on good authority that the quran  is the only authentic, contemporary document of  Muhammad's lifetime the question naturally arises: What evidence have we of its authenticity as alleged? To answer this it is necessary to make brief reference to the Traditions and more especially to the biographies of the prophet, so as to see what, and on what basis, they tell us of the preservation, collation, and form of the quran. We shall find that the utterances of the  Quran extend over a period of some twenty-one years, during which immense changes took place in the inner and outer experience of Muhammad, and that these changes greatly affected the manner of his teaching and to some extent its matter. To understand it with insight we must therefore briefly trace the main stages of growth in the book corresponding to those of his life. Accordingly, by way of introduction, we shall deal very briefly with the preservation of the quranic text, with its divisions and literary character, and with the development of its matter.
quran

I. The Preservation of the Text of the Quran.

With the spread of Islam  after the death of Muhammad  the need of recording utterances of the prophet, other than the revelations through Gabriel, presently made itself felt. It is probable that such records began to be made within the lifetime of men who had seen the prophet. Within the next two centuries they increased enormously, and before a.h. 256 the first sifting and regular collection of the traditions was carried out by bukhari  (a.h. 194-256) in his work known as the sahih , i.e. "genuine" collection of Traditions. Meanwhile many of these traditions had been worked up into biographies of muhammad . The first of these is by Ibn hisham Hishåm, who died a.h. 218; but this contains in abridgment the biography by Ibn ishaq (d. about a.h. 150). Ibn ishaq Isøåq drew his information from zuhri Zuhræ, who died a.h.124, aged seventy-two; and he in his turn from urwa ÿUrwa, a relative of the prophet's favourite wife aishah ÿAishah, who died in a.h.94. We are thus brought within reach of the original sources, and if we take into account also the tenacity of verbal memory among Orientals there is reasonable ground for believing in the substantial truth of the facts alleged in the biographies of muhammad  if they fall in with the tenor of the  QurŸån itself.
Whether muhammad  himself was illiterate or not is a disputed point, but the emphasis laid by him from the first on a written revelation (964) makes it highly probable that the work of recording the oracles recited to his followers to be used in prayers (73 1-7) was begun at an early time, and the passage 2 100 ("Whatever verses we cancel or cause thee to forget, we bring a better or its like") distinctly implies the recording of revelations in a written form. Zaid bin thabit Thåbit, muhammad Muøammad's secretary, reported: "We"(including apparently other writers) "used in the prophet's house to put together the quran QurŸån out of its fragments." This seems to refer to the combining of separate oracles into the longer surahs , such as the second, which are obviously composite. Of the result Zaid says: "When the prophet died the quran QurŸån was not yet unified," i.e. the single surahs Sõrahs had not been collected into one volume. The writer who quotes him (jalalud JalåluŸd din Dæn a's suyuti Suyõþæ sums up: "During the lifetime of the prophet the quran QurŸån had all been written down, but it was not yet united in one place nor arranged in successive order." The work of collection was accomplished by the first Caliph abu Abõ Bakr, that of collation by the third Caliph uthman ÿUthmån.
The loss of life among the memorizers and reciters of the quran QurŸån during the fighting in Arabia after the prophet's death, especially in the battle of yamamah Yamåmah (a.h. 12), caused grave anxiety for the preservation of the sacred text. The Caliph therefore commanded Zaid bin thabit Thåbit to collect all the surahs Sõrahs into one volume. He undertook the work with reluctance, but carried it out with laborious care, so that the most careful searchers of succeeding generations have not produced more than nine fragments, and those mostly insignificant, which have a colourable claim to be discussed as variant remnants of the original. The arrangement followed by Zaid was roughly according to length, but the surahs Sõrahs regarded as revealed in Mecca and Medina respectively are kept in distinct groups. There appears to be a certain arrangement according to alphabetic cryptograms (A, L, M, etc.) prefixed to some of the surahs Sõrahs, and possibly there is an attempt at chronology in the order of the numerous shorter chapters, but any such tendency is often infringed by the inclusion of later oracles in earlier surahs Sõrahs, as in the long verse 20 of S. 73, which relaxes in detail the severer commands of an earlier stage as to recital of prayers.
The followers of islam Islåm were thus furnished with a complete collection of the oracles of their prophet, but it was still open to individuals to recite them in their own dialect, with the possibility of misunderstandings in detail, or to use other collections recorded to have then been extant. In a campaign of Muslim troops from Syria and Mesopotamia against Armenia the commander found such a difference in the recitation of the holy verses that he reported it to uthman, the Commander of the Faithful. Thereupon uthman ÿUthmån borrowed from hafsah Øafãah one of the prophet's widows, her copy of abu Abõ Bakr's quran QurŸån and entrusted it to a commission of four trustworthy men, including the collector Zaid, himself a Medinite, and three others of the Quraish tribe (of Mecca). They were to make four identical copies of the volume, and in case of any doubt as to the form of a word it was to be written down in the dialect of the Quraish to whom muhammad Muøammad belonged. This they did, and one standard copy was deposited in each of the four chief cities of the Caliphate-Medina, Kufa, Basrah, and Damascus. From these only must copies henceforth be made, and to prevent disobedience all other copies were ordered to be burned. The only difference which now affects the reader is a slight variety in the numbering of the verses.
quran

II. The Divisions of the QurŸån.

The name of the quran QurŸån and the word with which its earliest surah Sõrah, the 96th, begins (iqra iqrå) are both forms of a root which means "to recite," whether from memory or from the written page. The quran QurŸån is a recitation or thing to be recited, and that not only for the benefit of those who are to be instructed in the divine revelation, but also as the expression of worship due to allah Allåh; it is the treasury of faith, duty and worship in the very words uttered by allah Allåh, who is throughout held to be the speaker. Its division is partly literary, partly liturgical; the former is original, the latter secondary.
It is unnecessary for us to dwell on the Muslim scribes' division into 323,621 letters or 77,934 words, but the division into verses is structural. They are named ayat åyåt or signs, and the ambiguity between this word and the same term for miracles (semeia) is played upon by muhammad Muøammad when he places those who reject his verses on a level with those who despised the signs of earlier prophets, or when he makes his ayat åyåt of utterance equal in value to their ayat åyåt of action. They are characteristic of the literary form in which muhammad Muøammad cast his utterances. The Arabic poetry of his age offered an elegant form of expression which would have been highly appreciated; but, even if he had the poetic faculty, which is doubtful, muhammad Muøammad was unwilling to be reckoned among the venal and frivolous bards of his time, just as he distinguished his oracles from those of contemporary kahins kåhins or soothsayers. He therefore adopted the form of speech known as saj sajÿ, or rhymed prose, of which I give the first chapter as a specimen :-
Bismi 'llåhi'r rahmanir raømåniŸr rahim raøæm.
alhamdu Aløamdu 'lillåhi rabbi'l alamin ÿålamæn,
A'r rahmanir raømåniŸr rahim raøæm,
maliki Måliki yaumi 'd din dæn.
iyyaka Iyyåka nabudu naÿbudu wa iyyaka iyyåka nastain nastaÿæn
Ihdina 's siratal ãiråþaŸl mustaqim mustaqæm.
sirat Ãiråþ alladhina alladhæna anamta anÿamta alaihim ÿalaihim
ghairal GhairaŸl maghzubi maghñõbi alaihim ÿalaihim wa la lå 'ñ zalin ñålæn.
Various attempts have been made to give an English equivalent. This is Burton's-
In the name of allah Allåh, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Praise be to allah Allåh who the three worlds made,
The Merciful, the Compassionate,
The King of the Day of Fate.
Thee do we worship, and of Thee do we seek aid.
Guide us in the path that is straight,
The path of those to whom Thy love is great,
Not of those on whom is hate,
Nor of those who deviate.
But this is of course somewhat free and it does not rhyme with the amin Åmæn with which the devout Muslim ends the recital.
In a western language this impresses us as jingle, but we should do the earlier portions of the quran QurŸån less than justice were we so to regard it. In other Asiatic languages besides Arabic, rhymed endings to prose clauses and sentences are counted a beauty of literary style, and the early quranic surahs Sõrahs have also a distinct rhythmical cadence. Recited in sonorous long-drawn tones by a practised reader whose whole being is thrown into the effort of reproducing the words of allah Allåh, they are undoubtedly impressive even to an outsider, and on the faithful the effect is electrical. The chilling result produced by recitation or reading in the tone of ordinary speech is noticeable. Towards the middle period and in the Medina surahs Sõrahs repetition and prolixity are on the increase, and finally the discourse becomes undiluted prose, though even to the last not without occasional loftier passages. Taking the quran QurŸån at its best, in point of style it is far below the level of the Bible whether in lyric or rhetoric, argument or narrative. But this does not prevent the orthodox Moslem from regarding the quran QurŸån as the supreme proof of its own inspiration by reason of its unapproachable style. His prophet frequently insists on the fact that the heavenly oracles have now been sent down in "plain Arabic," the "vulgar tongue" which all its hearers could understand, and he challenges the poets and soothsayers who opposed him to produce the like. This, of course, they could not, for their verses and spells dealt with a lower level of things. The holy book became the pattern for the highest possibilities of human speech to those who knew Arabic only and accepted the Arabian prophet. To believers of other speech the language of the book which had been vouchsafed as the vehicle of divine revelation was, and is, still more mysteriously magnificent. The translations made by Muslims have been until recently quite slavishly literal for theological reasons. But the attempts of western writers not hampered by such prejudices show that the quran QurŸån does not readily lend itself to a translation which is both accurate and pleasing.
The verses of the quran QurŸån are built up into chapters called surahs Sõrahs, a word which may mean a layer of stones in a wall. These chapters vary very greatly in length, ranging from 286 verses in S. 2 (the Cow) to 3 verses in S. 108 (Abundance). The manner of their arrangement, according to length (see p. 2){electronic edition note: this refers to the second page of the Introduction in the original text - page 10 on the printed page; click on the link to go to that reference}, has resulted, generally speaking, in an inversion of the chronological order, as the longest Sõrahs, which are mainly the latest, come first, while the shortest and earliest are placed last. There is little doubt, too, that a good deal of dislocation of matter has occurred, see, for instance, p. 19. {electronic edition note: this is our best guess as to Stanton's intent}. From the fact that surahs Sõrahs are occasionally mentioned in the book itself (as at 11 16) we may deduce that muhammad Muøammad did something towards putting his oracles into shape, but how far their present limits or their names are to be ascribed to him remains uncertain.
Of the 114 surahs Sõrahs of the quran QurŸån 20 are superscribed as revealed at Medina. Being much longer than the Mecca surahs Sõrahs, those of Medina cover more than one-third of the volume, besides such later verses as were incorporated by the compilers in earlier surahs Sõrahs. The verses in the Arabic text are divided by small circles, but the position of these is not quite uniform in all editions, so that the total number of verses in the book varies from 6239 to 6211. There are five of these numberings, but I have thought it sufficient to give a comparative table at pp. 117-34 of the numberings used in Fluegel's standard western impression and in the Indian editions.
For liturgical and devotional purposes the quran QurŸån is further divided as follows:
ruku Rukõÿ (= bow) is the name given to sections of about ten verses, after each of which the devout reader makes a bow of reverence.
juz JuzŸ (portion), in Persian sipara sipåra (a thirtieth), signifies one of the portions for recitation on each day of the month of ramazan ramadan Ramañån. The juz juzŸ is divided into four sections: rub rubÿ = a quarter; nisf niãf = a half; thulth = three quarters.
Manzil (stage). Of these there are seven to guide the worshipper who desires to read the quran QurŸån through, in a week.
All these divisions are marked on the margin of the book, and it is by them that the Muslim reader quotes passages. Verse numbers are not marked in Oriental editions, and surahs Sõrahs are quoted by name not by serial number. The names are taken from some word or phrase in the surah Sõrah. The result of this mechanical division is that the Muslim reader, unless he be a memorizer (hafiz øåfiñ), is often very slow in identifying passages.
quran muhammad

III. The Growth of the QurŸån and the Career of Muøammad.

For the purpose in hand it is not necessary to do more than briefly to mention the principal events in muhammad Muøammad's career, and from the quranic point of view we may conveniently divide this into three periods. The first, up to the first flight of many of his followers to the shelter afforded by the Christian King of Abyssinia (a.d. 615) includes the beginnings of prophecy and the early teaching at Mecca. The second, up to the Flight or hijra Hijrah of muhammad Muøammad from Mecca to Medina in a.d. 622 (a.h. 1) * comprises the later type of Meccan surahs Sõrahs. The third period is that of the apostle of allah Allåh, who was also legislator, judge and prince at Medina (a.d. 622-632, a.h. 1-11). The chapters of the first and second periods are less distinctly differentiated from each other than those of the second and third, and in any case it cannot be pretended that more than approximate accuracy is attainable in the division thus made. For convenience sake the chronological succession as given by Rodwell in his translation of the quran QurŸån is here generally followed.
1. Up to a.d. 615; Emigration to Abyssinia.
muhammad Muøammad was born at Mecca about a.d. 570. His father belonged to the bani Banæ hashim Håshim, a family of the Quraish tribe, which was dignified by its position as guardian of the great central sanctuary of pagan Arabia at Mecca, known from its shape as the kabah kaaba Kaÿbah or cube. His grandmother belonged to the powerful tribe of the bani Banæ Khazraj at Medina, and he thus had connections in both the principal cities of the hijaz Hijåz, the leading province of Arabia. In 576 muhammad Muøammad was left as an orphan to the care of his his paternal uncle abu Abõ talib Þålib, who faithfully discharged his obligation though he never embraced islam Islåm. The quran QurŸån bears witness to muhammad Muøammad's thankfulness to allah Allåh for His care for an orphan lad and to his sympathy with the orphans of his community. In 595 muhammad Muøammad, at the age of twenty-five, married Khadaijah, a wealthy widow of the age of forty years, with whom he lived happily for five and twenty years. She bore him two sons and four daughters, of whom only fatimah Fåþimah survived. She afterwards was married to her father's cousin ali ÿAlæ, son of abu Abõ talib Þålib, whose guardian muhammad Muøammad became about a.d. 605. At the same time, having no son of his own, he also adopted Zaid bin harith Øårith, who sprang from a Christian family. Two cousins of Khadaijah, uthman ÿUthmån and Waraqah, were Christians. Jewish tribes were numerous in the hijaz Øijåz, and muhammad Muøammad must have had intercourse with them from early days. Whether there was at that time a class of inquirers after truth known as hanif øanæf (i.e. "inclined") is a disputed point. We only know that in the quran QurŸån Abraham is repeatedly called a hanif øanæf , and that others are exhorted to be the same. As a result of these and other influences muhammad Muøammad became deeply dissatisfied with the paganism of which Mecca was the centre, and with the social and moral conditions of his people. About the year 610 we hear of his retiring for meditation to a cave on Mount hira ØiråŸ near Mecca, and in the next year (611) he received his first revelation. For nearly two years after this the visions ceased. During this Fatrah, or intermission, muhammad Muøammad was not a little depressed, but was comforted by his wife and his Christian cousin Waraqah. In 613 the revelations were resumed, but adherents were few. The most important were from his domestic circle including, besides his wife, his adopted sons ali ÿAlæ and Zaid, and his friends abu Abõ Bakr and uthman ÿUthmån, afterwards successors in rule. Many slaves also believed, and these poorer followers of islam Islåm were severely persecuted. For this reason the prophet in 615 advised them to seek refuge in Abyssinia, where the najashi Najåshæ (Negus), or king, received them with kindness. This first of the two flights of the early Moslems to Abyssinia marks the close of the early type of oracle.
The chapter with which muhammad Muøammad's ministry opens is the 96th (Clots of blood)-
1. Recite thou, in the name of the Lord who created-
2. Created man from clots of blood.
3. Recite thou! For thy Lord is the most beneficent,
4. Who hath taught the use of the pen-
5. Hath taught man that which he knoweth not.
6. Nay, verily! man is most insolent,
7. Because he seeth himself possessed of riches.
8. Verily, to thy Lord is the return of all.
These verses contain in germ the leading ideas of the book. The oracles are intended for recitation, whether to teach man or to worship God. The goodness of God is shown in the creation of man (special emphasis being laid on details of the birth process); and in enabling him to record in writing what he is taught by God. The prophet sees himself opposed by insolent, purse-proud men of Mecca, who are reminded that they have to return to the Creator to be judged by Him. The remaining verses are of a later date, and refer to the special case of an enemy, abu Abõ Jahl, who had opposed the worship of allah Allåh. He is threatened with hell fire, and the surah Sõrah ends with the words-
18. Nay! Obey him not; but adore and draw nigh (to God).
The character of the surahs Sõrahs following the Fatrah is well exemplified by 112 (Unity), in which muhammad Muøammad repudiates both the polytheism of the pagan Arabs, and also their sexual conception of divinity-
1. Say, He is God alone:
2. God the Eternal!
3. He begetteth not, and He is not begotten,
4. And there is none like unto Him
Sins are denounced in the light of coming judgment.
81 (The Folded up) -
8. When the female child that had been buried alive shall be asked
9. For what crime she was put to death.
In 83 (Those who stint) -
1. Woe to those who stint the measure;
2. Who, when they take by measure from others exact the full;
3. But when they mete to then, or weigh to them, minish.
4. What! have they no thought that they shall be raised again
5. For the great day?
The opponents of the prophet in like manner are threatened with the pains of hell: S. 111 (abu Abõ Lahab) -
1. Let the hands of abu Abõ Lahab perish, and let himself perish!...
3. Burned shall he be at the fiery flame.
And their torments are described in 78 (News), in 88 (Overshadowing) and elsewhere.
Similarly virtues are enjoined in the light of the joys of paradise. Those who are ever constant at their prayers, and who own the judgment day a truth, and who control their desires (save with their wives, or with the slaves whom their right hands have won), and who are true to their trusts, these shall dwell amid gardens (70 22-85). There virgin brides await them who never age, fruits, flesh, and wine at their desire, and the salutation, Peace, Peace! (56 11-36).
The office of muhammad Muøammad at this time is simply that of a warner: "Warn, therefore, for the warning is profitable" (87 9). "Woe, on that day, to those who charged with imposture!" is the refrain of S. 77 (The Sent). For the quran QurŸån was revealed to him in the "Night of Power" (97 1 f), and it is to be recited for Prayer in measured tones during the watches of the night (73 1-4). But while muhammad Muøammad has distinctly broken with polytheism there is not yet the assurance that his message will be victorious: to the unbelievers he says (109 4-6): "I shall never worship that which ye worship; Neither will ye worship that which I worship; To you be your religion, to me my religion."
The Meccan idolaters are conservatives who dread the results of change. Besides accusing him as an impostor, the proudly contemptuous among them set down the new preacher as one possessed with jinns (demons); or as a kahin kåhin (soothsayer). When he warns them they say: "He is certainly possessed" (68 51). allah Allåh replies "Warn thou then: for thou, by the favour of thy Lord, art neither a soothsayer nor possessed" (52 29). The majesty of the message is emphasized against scorners. "The criminal, when our signs are rehearsed to him, says: Tales of the ancients" (83 12 f). To which the answer: "Yet it is a glorious quran QurŸån, written on the Preserved Table" (85 21 f).
The exhortations of this period are enforced by frequent oaths by various things created; by the pen and what they write (68 1); by the fig and the olive (95 1); by the signs of the Zodiac (85 1); also by refrains, a frequent feature of the quran QurŸån, e.g. in S. 55 (The Merciful), which celebrates the power and goodness of God in creation and judgment in an address to men and jinns with the refrain, "Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny ?" The appeal to history begins with a reference in S. 105 (The Elephant) to the deliverance of Mecca from invasion by Abraha, king of Abyssinia (in 570), with his array of elephants. There are beginnings also of the appeal to former Scriptures in a vague form, as when muhammad Muøammad supports his monition to almsgiving, prayers and belief in the life to come by an appeal to "the ancient rolls (suhuf ãuøuf,) the rolls of Abraham and Moses" (87 18 f). The first references to the fate of unbelievers in former prophets appear in a vague form, as in the mention of Pharaoh and thamud Thamõd in 85 17 f.
2. From the first Abyssinian Flight to the hijra Hijrah (615-622).
-After three months the refugees returned, in consequence, it is said, of a report that Mecca had been converted. The biographer waqidi Wåqidæ explains the origin of this by relating that muhammad Muøammad had recited to his fellow-tribesmen the opening verses of S. 53 (the Star) in which verses 19 and 20 run:
Do you see allat Allåt and uzza Al-ÿUzzå
And manat Manåt the third beside?
to which he then added:
Verily these are exalted females
Whose intercession is to be desired.
winding up with the closing words of the surah Sõrah: "Prostrate yourselves then before allah Allåh and worship." The leaders of the Quraish were glad of this concession to their old belief and joined him in worship, but muhammad Muøammad was ill at ease. Gabriel visited him in the night; he confessed his sin and was pardoned, and in place of the concession to idolatry the words were revealed:
What! shall ye have male progeny and allah Allåh female?
That were indeed an unfair partition:
the allusion being to the Arabs' dislike of female offspring (16 59 ff). He adds: "These are mere names," but, as we shall see, it is not their existence but their divinity that is denied. The lapse is referred to later, once and again (17 75; 22 11), but it was never repeated.
Opposition to muhammad Muøammad and his message increased, and though he was encouraged by the conversion of umar ÿUmar (the second Caliph) he again advised many of his adherents to migrate to Abyssinia, and some of them remained there till a.h. 7. From 617-619 the Moslems were banned by the Quraish and had to retire to the quarter of abu Abõ talib Þålib, emerging only at the annual pilgrimage feast. The surahs Sõrahs now become more argumentative. muhammad Muøammad approaches the Jews, not without some success: "They to whom we have given the Scripture rejoice in what hath been sent down to thee, yet some are banded together who deny a part of it" (13 36). His appeal to the former prophets of whom he had learned from the Jews gained him a favourable hearing, and he reproduces many Old Testament stories in their talmudic form as current in Arabian Jewry. So in "the Ranks" (37 13-148) we have Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Lot, Jonah: in 40 21-56 Moses, Pharaoh, Haman and Korah are jumbled together: in S. 12 (Joseph) we have the consecutive story of Joseph, distorted with legendary matter, of which allah Allåh says: "In revealing to thee this quran QurŸån (i.e. recital) we will relate to thee one of the most beautiful of narratives, of which thou hast hitherto been ignorant" (12 3, cp. 103). In S. 19 (Mary) we have the story of John the son of Zachariah and of Mary and the infant Jesus in accordance with the apocryphal gospels current among the Christians of Arabia, with curious added solecisms, such as making Mary the mother of Jesus to be also the sister of Aaron.
We can hardly be surprised that his opponents should again have brought against muhammad Muøammad at this time the accusation of plagiarism and forgery: "The infidels say: This is a mere fraud of his own devising, and others have helped him with it. . . . And they say: Tales of the ancients, that he hath put in writing! and they were dictated to him morn and eve" (25 5 f). In 25 32 he laments: "Then said the Apostle: O my Lord! truly my people have esteemed this quran QurŸån to be vain babbling." To which allah Allåh replies by emphasizing the excellence of the book: "The best of recitals hath allah Allåh sent down, a book in unison with itself and teaching by iteration; the very skins of those who fear their Lord do creep at it" (39 24). "A blessed book have we sent down to thee, that men may meditate its verses" (38 28). "The holy spirit (Gabriel) hath brought it down with truth from thy Lord" (16 104). "We have made it an Arabic quran QurŸån that ye may understand, and it is a transcript of the Archetypal Book, kept by us; it is lofty, filled with wisdom" (43 2 f). It is incomparable: "verily, were men and jinn assembled to produce the like of this quran QurŸån, they could not" (17 90). "If they shall say: It is his own device, say: Then bring ten surahs Sõrahs like it of your own devising, and call to your aid whom ye can beside allah Allåh, if ye are men of truth" (11 16). The quran QurŸån is its own proof, not as literature, be it marked, but as dogma.
The friendly attitude of muhammad Muøammad towards the Jews at this time is further shown by his adoption from their language of the name rahman Raømån (the Merciful) for allah Allåh. At first there seems to have been some doubt about this in the minds of his hearers. "When it is said to them: Bow down before A'r rahman Raømån, they say: Who is A'r rahman Raømån? Shall we bow down to what thou biddest?" (25 61). Accordingly the oracle comes: "Call upon allah Allåh, or call upon A'r rahman Raømån, by whichsoever ye will invoke him" (17 110). This name is preserved in the bismillah bismillåh or invocation. On the same line at this period are several appeals to the goodness of God in nature as in 23 18-22. The quran QurŸån confirms the Torah: "Before the quran QurŸån was the Book of Moses, and this book confirmeth it in the Arabic tongue" (46 11). Still islam Islåm is now proclaimed as the one religion (21 92), and obedience to allah Allåh and the Apostle begins to appear as the basis of islam Islåm.
In 619 the ban of the Quraish against the family of hashim Øashim was removed, but not long after both Khadaijah, muhammad Muøammad's faithful wife and first believer, and abu Abõ talib Þålib his staunch, though unbelieving, protector died. In 620 muhammad Muøammad went on an unsuccessful mission to taif ÞåŸif south-east of Mecca. On the way back in the vale of Nakhlah he was cheered by the vision of a company of jinn who listened to his preaching of islam Islåm and believed (S. 72, Jinn). But the same year at the pilgrimage seven men from Medina met him and promised to tell of his mission. Next year (621) twelve men came ready to pledge themselves at aqabah ÿAqabah to worship only allah Allåh and to obey the prophet. muhammad Muøammad's hopes took a wider sweep. He had the vision recorded in S. 17 (Night Journey) in which he was carried by Gabriel to the temple at Jerusalem (which was then a church) to worship and return, and towards this sanctuary he and his followers faced in worship. He was watching political events outside, and when the Byzantine empire at this time roused itself to retrieve its ignominious defeat by the Persians, muhammad Muøammad prophesied in S. 30 (the Greeks) the success of the "Romans," the only instance in the quran QurŸån of a world-historical allusion outside Arabia. In this lull of expectation muhammad Muøammad is comforted by the assurance of victory for his message, whatever his own fate; see S. 43 (Ornaments of Gold):
39. What! Canst thou then make the deaf to hear, or guide the blind and him who is in palpable error?
40. Whether therefore we take thee off by death, surely we will avenge ourselves on them:
41. Or whether we make thee a witness of that with which we threatened them, we will surely gain the mastery over them.
42. Hold thou fast therefore that which hath been revealed to thee, for thou art on the right path.
At the Pilgrimage of 622 seventy-three men and two women from Medina came again to aqabab ÿAqabab, to pledge their fealty to the prophet and his message, for life or death, and returned to prepare the way for his entry to their city. muhammad Muøammad received the command to "withdraw from those who join other gods with Him" (6 106). He recalls later his danger and the success of his secret flight from Mecca in S. 8 (The Spoils):
30. "When the unbelievers plotted against thee to keep thee prisoner, or to kill thee, or to banish thee; they plotted, but allah Allåh plotted; and of plotters allah Allåh is the best."
The emigrants, including women and children, may have numbered 150. The date of their departure has been reckoned as 20th June, a.d. 622.
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3. From the hijra Hijrah to the Death of Muøammad. (622-632).
References to verifiable historical events are far more numerous in the surahs Sõrahs of this period than in all that go before. For this reason the main lines of development are more clearly marked, and it will be sufficient for our purpose to mention only the chief. The two leading features are the change from preacher to prince, and the consequent change in attitude towards Jews and Christians who refused to recognise the claims of muhammad Muøammad. These changes affect muhammad Muøammad's domestic life, his official authority, his ritual and social legislation and his religious teaching; and they are marked by a new departure, in those military operations for the spread of the faith which form the most novel and characteristic feature of islam Islåm.
(1) Change of condition and policy.
The first care of muhammad Muøammad was to secure the abolition of idolatry and to unite the Refugees, the Helpers, * and the other citizens of Medina in the brotherhood of islam Islåm, and afterwards to do the same with the surrounding tribes. In this he was largely successful, but he was often thwarted by two classes: by the munafiqun Munåfiqõn, i.e. "hypocrites" or "cowards" of Medina who outwardly conformed but held back from active support of the cause, and later by the Arabs of the desert who cared much for booty but little for the faith (9 91, etc.). The former, especially, are often castigated (2 7-17, 63 1, 2, 7, 8. etc.). The Jews, who were numerous and powerful in Medina and its neighbourhood, muhammad Muøammad at first hoped to gain for islam Islåm in view of his claim that the quran QurŸån fulfilled their Scriptures, and they were included in the first treaties which he made. The oracle commanded: "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (2 257), in accord with the earlier order: "Dispute not, save in kindly sort, with the people of Scriptures" (29 45). The prayer times, taken from Judaism, are now fixed more in detail (30 16 f). But though muhammad Muøammad was able to rejoice over the conversion of some Jews (3 198 f), the mass rejected his message and even derided his pretensions (2 98; 4 48f). The Qiblah or direction of prayers was therefore changed from Jerusalem to Mecca, already marked out as the centre of the faith (2 138 ff), and the yearly fast was transferred from the Jewish Day of Atonement to the Arabian month of ramazan ramadan Ramañan (2 179-183). The Jews are charged with hypocrisy and with deceitful treatment of their Scriptures (2 70-85). muhammad Muøammad is bidden to sever connection with them (2 131). They falsify the teaching of their Scriptures (3 72; 5 16), though these themselves are true (5 72), and in accordance with the quran QurŸån (5 52). They are to be "cast into the fire; so often as their skins shall be well burned, we will change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the torment" (4 59), and they are accordingly attacked, slain, and despoiled by the believers (33 26 f). Christians are more favourably described. They are said to be "nearest in affection to" believers (5 85). But all people of Scripture are summoned to believe (3 19-24), and now: "Whoso desireth any other religion than islam Islåm, that religion shall never be accepted from him, and in the next world he shall be among the lost" (3 79). Presently Christians are denounced no less bitterly than the Jews, and believers are to make war upon both (9 29-35). As for pagans, the former toleration is abrogated by the "verse of the sword": "Kill those who join other gods with allah Allåh wherever ye shall find them, . . . . but if they shall convert, and observe prayers and pay the obligatory alms, then let them go their way" (9 5).
(2) The domestic life of muhammad Muøammad, if the general standard of oriental rulers of his time be taken into account, is moderate in indulgence, though of course the standard of a prophet claiming to supersede Jesus Christ yields a very different result. The biographers agree that he practised the charity and thrift which he recommended (17 28-32), but the polygamy that he indulged in has left its traces in the quran QurŸån. By a.h. 5 he had five wives, but fell in love with Zainab the wife of his adopted son Zaid, and his conduct in taking her, contrary to Arab customary law, needed to be justified by an oracle (33 1-6). Further liberty was given to provide for any like future case: "We make lawful for thee any believing woman, if she give herself to the prophet, if the prophet desire to marry her; a special privilege this, for thee, above other believers" (33 49). An accusation of unfaithfulness against his favourite wife aisha aishah ÿAishah is repelled by another revelation (24 11-25); and his wives are invested with the rank of "mothers of the faithful" (33 6), so that they can never be married to any other.
(3) Personal authority.-The opening of this period is not without traces of inner struggles. S. 3 (the Family of imran ÿImrån) shows that muhammad Muøammad was deeply disturbed by the severe reverse of his army at uhud ÿUhud, and that he felt the accusations levelled against him by some believers of unfairness in the division of spoils after successful battles (3 153-159). But his personal authority is emphasized as successes multiply. "It is not for a believer, man or woman, to have any choice in their affairs, when allah Allåh and His apostle have decreed a matter" (33 36); it is only for them to say: "We hear and we obey" (24 50). All booty belongs to allah Allåh and His apostle (8 1). None may approach him without due respect (24 62 f). He is the Seal of the prophets (33 40). Abraham prayed for the coming of muhammad Muøammad (2 123). islam Islåm is "the baptism of allah Allåh" (2 132), the one true faith (3 16-18, 79).
(4) Ritual and social legislation.-Freedom to adapt his former enactments to new conditions is given to muhammad Muøammad in 2 100: "Whatever verses we cancel or cause thee to forget, we bring a better or its like." The lengthy S. 2 (The Cow), is characteristic of the period. The first part sets forth in some kind, of connected sequence the fundamental principles of islam Islåm, the place of man in creation, the revelation to Israel, and their unfaithfulness to it and their opposition to muhammad Muøammad; it then reverts to the faith of Abraham as the founder of the kabah Kaÿbah, which is now to be the centre of islam Islåm. Then from verse 168 on follows a motley collection of laws on prohibited foods, retaliation, inheritance, the fast of ramazan Ramañån, fighting for the faith, the pilgrimage, etc., ending with a profession of faith and a prayer for divine help. Naturally the Medinite surahs Sõrahs abound in historical allusions which throw light on the career of the prophet.
(5) The spread of the Faith.-muhammad Muøammad had already predicted that islam Islåm would spread to other lands (41 53), and that it was a message for mankind (14 52). For the realisation of this aim he adopted a policy suited to human nature as he knew it. Clan warfare and freebooting were, and are still, natural to the Arab, but they are here made subservient to a larger plan. In a late Meccan surah Sõrah (7 157) muhammad Muøammad had already claimed-"I am allah Allåh's apostle to you all." In 3 57--60 he summons the people of the Scripture to follow the faith of Abraham which he has restored. But if they do not do so then the faithful are to make war upon them "till they pay tribute out of hand and be humbled" (9 29). The "Refugees" from Mecca and the "Helpers" of Medina, who have believed and fled their country, and given the prophet an asylum, and fought on the path of allah Allåh "these are the faithful; mercy is their due and a noble provision" (8 75). The exhortation and the promise is to all believers: "if, when the command for war is issued, they are true to allah Allåh, it will assuredly be best for them" (47 23). "Repute not those who are slain on the path of allah Allåh to be dead. Nay! Alive with their Lord, they are richly sustained" (3 163). "Whosoever shall obey allah Allåh and the Apostle, they shall be with the company of the Prophets and of the true-hearted and of the martyrs" (4 71). The chief references to battles are: to the victory of Badr a.h. 2, in S. 3 and 8; to the reverse of 'Uhud a.h.3, in S. 3; to the expulsion of the bani Banæ Nadhir a.h.4, in S. 59; to the siege of Medina a.h.5, in S. 33; to the Pledge of hudaibiyah Øudaibiyah at the first Pilgrimage a.h.6, in S. 48; to the battle of hunain Øunain a.h.8, in S. 9.
While we note the change of matter and manner in the successive periods we must remember that the earlier surahs Sõrahs (with the exception of verses definitely repealed) still stood as divine revelations and they were doubtless often enough appealed to. The surahs Sõrahs of this last period are not without occasional outbursts of the old fire, as in the "verse of the Throne" (2 256): "allah Allåh! there is no god but He, the Living, the Eternal. Nor slumber seizeth Him, nor sleep; His, whatsoever is in the Heavens and whatsoever is in the earth! Who is he that can intercede with Him save by His own permission? He knoweth what hath been before them and what shall be after them; yet nought of His knowledge shall they grasp, save what He willeth. His throne reacheth over the heavens and over the earth, and the upholding of both burdeneth Him not; and He is the High, the Great." If, as seems probable, we take S. 5 as the latest chapter, then the book ends, after an intermittent fire of denunciations against Christians, on the elemental note: "Unto allah Allåh belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that they contain; and He hath power over all things."
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