There are various correspondences with these Scrip- tures, as in the accounts of the fall of Ad.am and Eve, the narratives of Noah and the deluge, of Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Isaac, Moses, Joseph, Zacharias, John the Baptist, etc. The contradictions are, however, innumer- able : e. g. one of Noah's sons was drowned in the Del- uge (sura 11); the wife of Pharaoh saved Moses (sura 28) ; the wind was subject to Solomon (sura 21 ) ; Solo- mon was driven from his kingdom ; devils built for Sol- omon, other devils dived for him (ibid.) ; thousands of dead Israelites were raised to life (sura 3) ; Ezra and his ass died for a hundred years, and were then raised to life (sura 2) ; the grossest being that Jesus teas not crucified, and is not the Son of God (sura 4).
Sources of Jeioish and Christian Elements. — The Jew- ish and Christian elements in the Koran are readily to be accounted for. Jews from all parts of Arabia were in yearly attendance at the great fairs of Ocatz, Mujanna, Dzul, Majaz, etc., and great mercantile journeys were made from iMecca to Syria, Yemen, and Abyssinia at least once a year. Christianity was established in these quarters. Some Arabs even reached much further. Othman ibn-Huweirith, a citizen of Mecca, went to Constantinople, and subsequently returned a baptized Christian. Arabs frequented the Christian courts of Hira and Ghassan, which adjoined Arabia on the north. Mohannned himself had been twice to Medina. Blore than a hundred of his followers found refuge in the Christian court of Abyssinia, both before and after the Hegira. Embassies were sent by Mohammed to the Koman and Persian courts, to Abyssinian and other Christian chiefs. "Mohammed had connection with Jews and Christians of every quarter of the civilized world" (Muir's Teslimoni/, p. 118, 119). There are, more- over, many prominent individual cases : Zeid was of Syria, among whom Cliristianity prevailed. He was captured and sold into slavery, and was presented to Khadija shortly after her marriage to Mohammed, who loved liim, and adopted him as his own son. He learned Hebrew. Waraca, a cousin of Khadija, was a convert to Christianity, acquainted with the religious tenets and sacred Scriptures of the Jews and Christians, cofiied or translated some portion of the Gospel in Arabic or He- brew, and was of the family of Mohammed. The slaves generally of Mecca knew something of Christianity and Judaism (Muir's Mohammed).
Mohammedans, however, do not admit that our pres- ent Scriptures are trustworthy, but believe them to liave been interpolated and otherwise coiTupted. Tlicy quote a great number of passages of the Koran to establish this. Mr. Muir {Testimonji, p. 119 sq.) nevertheless shows that there is no charge in tlie Koran against the Christians on this account, and that even those against
the Jews are of " hiding, concealing" the whole, and uot of corrupting.
Doctrines and Hforxils. — The contents of the Koran as the basis of Mohammedanism will be considered un- der that head, while for questions more closely connect- ed with authorship and chronology we must refer to MoHAM.MED. Brietiy it may be stated here that "the chief doctrine laid down in it is the unity of God, and the existence of but one true religion, with changeable ceremonies. When mankind turned from it at different times, God sent prophets to lead them back to truth ; Moses, Christ, and l\Iohammed being the most distin- guished. Both punishments for the sinner and rewards for the pious are depicted with great diffusencss, and exemplified chiefly by stories taken from the Bible, the ai)Ocryphal writings, and the ISIidrash. Special laws and directions, admonitions to moral and divine virtues, more particularly to a complete and unconditional resignation to God's will, legends, principally relating to the patri- archs, and, almost without exception, borrowed from the Jewish writings (known to IMohammed by oral commu- nication onlj-, a circumstance which accounts for their often odd confusion), form the bulk of the book, which throughout bears the most palpable traces of Jewish in- fluence" (Chambers, Cyclop, s. v.).
Outward Reverence. — The ]\Iohammedans regard the Koran witli great esteem, never holding it below the girdle nor touching it without purification. It is con- sulted on all matters of importance, and is the basis of the entire civil code and procedure of all IMohammcdan countries. Sentences from it are inscribed on tlicir ban- ners : they are written on tissue paper, and are suspend- ed in gold and silver lockets from their necks. The ma- terials of its binding are often costly, being emblazoned with gold and precious stones. Mohammedans much dislike to see the book in the hands of "infidels," as they call all but Islamites. The bazaars or streets in which if is sold in Constantinople have become almost as sacred as mosques, and the dealers in the Koran have come to be as much reverenced as the preacher. Ke- mal Bey has recently had photographed a famous copy of the Koran, written nearly tvio hundred vears ago (in 1004 of the Ilegira) by Ilafiz Osman, from" the MSS. of Al-Kari, a celebrated doctor {friend of India, Nov. 2, 1871 ; also A thenaum). Multitudes of Mussulmans know the entire Koran by heart ; these are called Ilatiz, and are much venerated in consequence.
Ti-anslations, Commentaries, Editions, etc. — Various versions of the Koran have been made. IMohammedans do not object to this (Sale, p. 50). Of French transla- tions we have those of Du Koyer, Savary (with notes, 1783), Garcia do Tassy (1820), and Kassi Mirski (1840). In Latin there is an early one (A.D. 1143) by Ketencn- sis, an Englishman (Basle, 1543), and an Italian one from it — both condemned by Sale. The Latin transL-ftion of Maracci (1698) is much quoted by authors. In German we have those of Megerlin (1772),Wahl (1828), and UU- mann (1840). In English there is Kodwell's (1862), and the excellent one with notes by George Sale (first edit. 1734; last, Lond. 1861) ; also Lane's /Selections from, the Koran (Lond. 1843, 12mo). Besides these there are a great number of Persian, Turkish, Malay, Hindustani, and other translations, made for the benefit of the vari- ous Eastern Moslems.