Anonymous - The Koran

THE KORAN

The posthumous son of Abdullh bin Abd al-Mualib, of the tribe of Quraysh, Muammad was born in Mecca about the year A.D. 570. His mother minah died when he was still a child, and he was brought up by his grandfather and then by his uncle Ab lib. As a youth he travelled with the trading caravans from Mecca to Syria, and at the age of twenty-five married Khadjah, daughter of Khuwailid, a rich widow fifteen years his senior. Meanwhile he had acquired a reputation for honesty and wisdom, and had come under the influence of Jewish and Christian teachings.

Long before Muammads call, Arabian paganism was showing signs of decay. At the Kabah the Meccans worshipped not only Allh, the supreme Semitic God, but also a number of female deities whom they regarded as the daughters of Allh. Among these were Al-Lt, Al-Uzz, and Mant, who represented the Sun, Venus, and Fortune respectively. Impressed by Jewish and Christian monotheism, a number of theists, or spiritual fundamentalists, known as anifs had already rejected idolatry for an ascetic religion of their own. Muammad appears to have been influenced by them. It was his habit to retire to a cave in the mountains in order to give himself up to solitary prayer and meditation. According to Muslim tradition, one night in Raman about the year 610, as he was asleep or in a trance, the Angel Gabriel came to him and said: Recite! He replied: What shall I recite? The order was repeated three times, until the Angel himself said:

Recite in the name of your Lord who created, created man from clots of blood.

Recite! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One, who by the pen taught man what he did not know.

When he awoke, these words, we are told, seemed to be inscribed upon his heart.

Muammad, who disclaimed power to perform miracles, firmly believed that he was the messenger of God, sent forth to confirm previous scriptures. God had revealed His will to the Jews and the Christians through chosen apostles, but they disobeyed Gods commandments and divided themselves into sects. The Koran accuses the Jews of corrupting the Scriptures and the Christians of worshipping Jesus as the son of God, although He had expressly commanded them to worship none but Him. Having thus gone astray, they must be brought back to the right path, to the true religion preached by Abraham. This was Islm absolute submission or resignation to the will of God.

The Koran preaches the oneness of God and emphasizes divine mercy and forgiveness. God is almighty and all-knowing, and though compassionate towards His creatures He is stern in retribution. He enjoins justice and fair dealing, kindness to orphans and widows, and charity to the poor. The most important duties of the Muslim are faith in God and His apostle, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and (if possible) pilgrimage to the Sacred House at Mecca, built by Abraham for the worship of the One God.

The Koranic revelations followed each other at brief intervals and were at first committed to memory by professional remembrancers. During Muammads lifetime verses were written on palm-leaves, stones, and any material that came to hand. Their collection was completed during the caliphate of Umar, the second Caliph, and an authorized version was established during the caliphate of Uthmn, his successor (64456). To this day this version is regarded by believers as the authoritative Word of God. But, owing to the fact that the kufic script in which the Koran was originally written contained no indication of vowels or diacritical points, variant readings are recognized by Muslims as of equal authority.

In preparing the contents of the Koran for book-form its editor or editors followed no chronological sequence. Its chapters were arranged generally in order of length, the longest coming first and the shortest last. Attempts have been made by Noldeke, Grimme, Rodwell, and Bell to arrange the chapters in chronological order, but scholars are agreed that a strictly chronological arrangement is impossible without dissecting some of the chapters into scattered verses, owing to the inclusion of revelations spoken in Medina in chapters begun several years earlier in Mecca.