THE TESTAMENTS

The Revelation
“The Journey of guidance started by the Prophet Adam, which was also the starting point of humanity, made its way through the ages suppleme-nted by the teachings of the subsequent prophets. The religious instructions were simple and easy in the beginning as humanity was in its childhood; too young to bear the burden of extensive worships and religious practices. No divine books, no written instructions. The history of religion shows that Allah gradually increased the burden of religious respo-nsibility for mankind conforming with the age and maturity of humanity. The first written instructions, as known from the Qur’an, were sent to the father of the Prophets Ibrahim:

“This (the subject discussed above) is in the early scriptures, the scriptures of Ibrahim and Musa”.
“As humanity entered its adolescence and was capable of bearing the burden of substantial divine commandments, Prophet Musa was sent with Torah, which was made source of guidance from that time to time of the last of all Prophets, Muhammad S.A.W”.

“The sacred writings of the Jews and the Christian Church are collectively known as the Bible. The scriptures of Christianity and Judaism do not have the original or a single text, written down as was revealed.

“I may not be misunderstood for not mentioning Injil, the book revealed to the Prophet Isa A.S. The Injil (Gospels) was not meant to override the teaching of the Torah, rather it was revealed to correct and renovate the practices and teachings of the original Torah. The Jewish people had lost the original Torah and had built a new edifice of Judaism based on oral tradition and conjectures. Prophet Isa A.S. was a Jew himself and invited Jewish community to the original commandments of the Torah. Christianity as a separate religion from Judaism has no support from divine sources.” _ Muhammad Wali Raazi.

The Bible
The Bible of the Church comprises two collections----- the Old Testament ( Al-Ahdul 'Atiq ) and the New Testament (Al-Ahdul Jadeed).

The Old Testament
The Old Testament has three divisions---- Law, Prophets and Writers, covering 24 ( in the traditional Jewish reckoning) or 39 documents ( in the conventional Christian reckoning). The Old Testament appears as a literary monument to the Jewish people from its origin to the coming of Christianity. It consists of the Books written, completed and revised between the 10th and the 1st Centuries B.C.

The New Testament
The New Testament comprises 27 documents, written within the century following the departure of Jesus. There are generally accepted five narrative works: the 4 Canonic (Mark's, Mathew's, John's, Luke's) Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 21 letters (13 by Paul) and the Apocalyptic Book of Revelation [(A genre of Jewish and Christian literature, called after the Apocalypse (meaning unveiling ), the New Testament Revelation to John. The apocalyptic literature claims to disclose matters inaccessible to normal knowledge, such as the mysteries of outer space or (more especially) those of the future often in symbolic language. Mainly it represents the preaching and teaching in the light of which Old Testament has traditionally been interpreted in the churches).]

The Collection and Compilation of the Scripture
The books of the Old Testament were written in several languages, corrected, compiled and completed within the light of later events or special requirements, at distant periods, much after the original revelation and over a period of more than 900 years. Before collection into a book, they existed as a folk tradition, relied entirely upon human memory, through singing. Thus different archives containing material on revelation mixed with historical and other events, e.g., contracts, letters, lists of personalities (judges, high city officials, genealogical tables, lists of offerings and plunder) all needed careful editing. Consequently the Old Testament is a disparate mixture of reality and legend.

JUDAISM has its Holy Book - the HEBRAIC BIBLE: It differs from the Old Testament of Christians, which includes several books which did not exist in Hebrew. But the Old Testament is substantially the Hebrew Bible. There are, however, differences of practice and doctrine among Christians about the inclusion of the Apocrypha-books not found in the Hebrew Bible but mostly (though not entirely) belonging to the Septuagint.
Septuagint: The Greek translation of the Hebrew BIBLE, began at Alexandria in the 3rd century BC for the benefit of the Greek-speaking Jewish community in that city. The Pentateuch (the first five books) was translated first: according to tradition its translators were 70 or 72 elders of Israel (hence the title of the version, from Latin septuaginta, "70"): Since the first century CE the Septuagint has been standard version of the Hebrew Bible for Greek speaking Christians.[I: 146-62; 6: I, 141-9, 159-79] ( page 291 DOR).

In Israel, as elsewhere also, poetry about events of history preceded prose. The narration was passed down from family to family and as a loose account of historical events. The same is the position of the following:
• Psalms (ZABUR, it occurs in Quran three times) of David ( A.S.)
• Maxims and Proverbs.
• Words of blessing and curse
• The laws decreed by the Prophets on reception of their Divine mandate.

It is believed that after the settlement of Jewish people in Cann'an, at the end of the 13th Century B.C. they used writing in order to preserve the traditions but they lacked complete accuracy, e.g., in the case of LAWS (The TEN COMMANDMENTS), written in (two) versions i.e. (i) EXODUS (20, 1-21) and (ii) DEUTERONOMY (5, 1-30) although they are the same in spirit but the variations are obvious.

The first incomplete writings pertain to the period when writing flourished at the beginning of Israelite Monarchy (around 11th Century B.C.) There were royal household Scribes. During 10th Century B.C. YAHVIST text of the PENTATEUCH was written which is the backbone of the first five books. The YAHVIST text deals with the origins of the world up to the death of Jacob ( A.S.). It belongs to the JUDAH- the Southern Kingdom. Later the "ELOHIST" text and "SACERDOTAL" versions, were added. From the end of 9th Century B.C. till after the 2nd deportation to Babylon, there were many Prophets (A.S.) and there works (Books) pertain to that period.

In 721 B.C. the fall of SAMARIA put an end to the kingdom of Israel. The JUDAH took over the religious heritage. The YAHVIST and the ELOHIST texts of the PENTATEUCH were fused into a single Book- the TORAH. The DEUTERONOMY was written at this time. The post-exilic Jewish community formed a temple-state, with the completed Hebrew law Book (Torah), as its constitution.

Around 3rd Century B.C. there were said to be at least 3 forms of the Hebrew Text:
• The Masoretic Text.
• The Text which was partly used for the Greek translation, and
• SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH

In the 1st Century B.C. there was an effort for a single text. But it was only after 1st century A.C. that the BIBLICAL TEXT was definitely established, i.e. about 14 centuries after Moses (A.H.)

A Papyrus of the TEN COMMANDMENTS of the 2nd Century A.C. presents variations from the classical text besides a few fragments from the 5th Century A.C. (Geniza of Cairo). From different versions the specialists pieced together the so called "middle - of - the - road" texts_ i.e. compromises between different versions.

In 1854 A.C. four sources were recognized:
• The YAHVIST version __ 9th Century B.C. written in JUDAH.
• The ELOHIST version __ written in Israel.
• DEUTERONOMY __ 8th Century B.C.
• SACERDOTAL version __ 6th Century B.C.
from the period of Exile or after it.

Thus the arrangement of the sources of the text of the PENTATEUCH spans over at least three centuries.
The PENTATEUCH (the Greek adjective meaning" consisting of five scrolls" ) designates the work in 5 parts:
• GENESIS
• EXODUS
• LEVITICUS
• NUMBERS
• DEUTERONOMY

These are the five primary elements of collection of 39 volumes of the Old Testament. This group of texts deals with the origins of the world up to the entry of Jewish people into Canaan, the land promised to them after their exile in Egypt, until the death of Moses (A.S.).

TORAH provides general framework for the provisions for religious and social life__ hence the name___ i.e. the LAW. The title given in the Quran (Surah 3-3) for the revelations made to Moses (A.S.). In the Dictionary of Islam, Thomas Patrick Hughes has quoted "The author of the Kashfu'z-Zunun (the bibliographical dictionary of Haji Khalifah), as "The Taurat is the inspired book which was given to Moses, and of which there are three well-known editions. (I) The Tauratu's-Saba'in, the Torah of the Seventy, which was translated from the Hebrew into Greek by seventy-two learned Jews. (It is admitted by Christian writers that the Law i.e. the Pentateuch, alone was translated first). It has since been translated into Syriac and Arabic. (2) The Tauratu'I-Qarra'in wa Rabbaniyin, the Taurat of the learned doctors and rabbins. (3) The Tauratu's-Samirah, 'The Samaritan Pentateuch'." (page 629-630 DOI ) Instead of accepting revelation as the basis, The New Testament ascribes the authorship to Moses (A.S.)__ Paul in his letter to the Romans (10,5), quoting from LEVITICUS, and John in his GOSPEL (5, 46-47), asserts this.

Multi-lingual collections have also been produced which juxtapose HEBREW, GREEK, LATIN, SYRIAC, ARAMAIC, ARABIC versions, e.g. WALTON BIBLE ___ London 1657.

Second VATICAN Council published the text after three years efforts (1963-65) expressing reservations about the "Books of the Old Testament" which "contain material that is imperfect and obsolete".
ZABUR. PI. zubur. Also zubur, pI of zibr. From the Heb. Zimrah, "a psalm or chant" (Psa. Ixxx 5) The title given to psalms of David in the Qur'an, where it occurs only times: Suratu 'n-Nisa (iv) 161 : (and to David We (Allah) gave Psalms (Zaburan)." Surah '1-Mir'aj (xvii) 57 : "And Psalms (Zuburan) We (Allah) gave to David." Suratu '1-Ambiya' (xxi) 105: "And now, since the exhortation (zikr) was given have We (Allah) written in the psalms (fil z-zaburi) that My servants the righteous shall inherit the earth”.

The Gospels
The Gospel is the life and teaching of Jesus as recorded in the first four books of the New Testament. So far compilation of Gospel is concerned, it is relatively comparable to the "Hadith" in Islam. The Gospels were written decades after Jesus. They bear witness to events in the past. In the middle of 2nd Century A.C. SAINT JUSTIN called the GOSPELS AS "MEMORIES OF THE APOSTLES"
Sometimes word "INJIL" in Islam has been used both for Bible and the Gospels. Earlier word "INJIL" was used in Quran, Hadith (Traditions) and all Islamic literature for the revelations made by Allah to Jesus (Isa, A.S.). But subsequently it came to be applied to the New Testament. The word "INJIL" occurs twelve times in the Quran e.g:-

"He (Allah) has sent the Book (i.e. the Quran) in Truth confirming what was before it, and has revea-led the Law (Torah) and the Gospel (Injil)" (3-3).

The degree of authenticity of these Books requires examination of the circumstances under which they were composed and historical process through which they have reached us. The authors of the four CANONIC GOSPELS were not the direct witnesses of the events they relate. They are based on numerous indirect human accounts.

"When one refers however to the works written by clergymen, not meant for mass publication, one realizes that the question concerning the authenticity of the Books in the Bible is much more complex than one might suppose a priori".

The Historical Background
From the time Jesus (A.S.) left, to the second half of the 2nd Century, there was a struggle between two factions. One which emerged as PAULINE CHRISTIANITY and the other JUDEO-CHRISTIANITY. [Some e.g., Evangelists believe both in Moses (A.S.) and Jesus ( A.S. ).] The 1st supplanted the 2nd slowly.

It is essential to understand the struggle between communities that formed the background against which the Gospels were written. The Gospels appeared at the time of fierce struggle between the (two) communities.

The GOSPELS did not become known until fairly late, although they were completed at the beginning of the 2nd Century A.C. Christianity has not accepted all the writings and has made incisive cuts in the profusion of books relating to the life and teachings of Jesus. It has preserved only a limited number of writings in the New Testament. In Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Churches the revelation of scripture has to be understood through the tradition of the churches.

In the early centuries of the Church the problem of the vast number of Gospels had to be decided. Only four of these were proclaimed official or CANONIC – although they also do not agree on many points – the rest were concealed; hence the term "APOCRYPHA". Since the Councils held in the 4th Century, the Church issued the list of ratified Holy Books.

"The Canon of the Bible is the list of books acknowledged by SYNAGOGUE and CHURCH as uniquely authoritative. The three divisions of the Hebrew Bible – the Law, Prophets, and Writings – may represent three stages by which it received 'canonical' recognition. The main content of the Hebrew canon was recognized before the beginning of the Christian era, but it was re-examined and finally 'closed' by the rabbis at Jamnia between 70 and 100 CE. The Christian canon of the Old Testament was wider than the Hebrew Bible; it also included documents of SEPTUAGINT and others. The main outlines of the New Testament Canon were fixed during the 2nd century, largely through the controversy over Marcionism. There were disagreements over the inclusion or exclusion of some of the documents, notably Hebrews and Revelation. But the traditional canon of 27 books was widely agreed by 367 CE". (Page 76 DOR) 35 Between 70 A.C. and 110 A.C. the GOSPELS of MARK, MATHEW, LUKE and JOHN were produced. However they are not the first written Christian documents. PAUL's letters are much earlier.

The Authors of the Four Gospels
Mathew was well known as a "customs officer employed at the toll gate or customs house". He spoke Armaic and Greek. Mark was Peter's colleague. Paul says Luke was the "dear physician", information on him is precise. John, the Apostle, was always near to Jesus. He was son of Zebedee, fisherman of the Sea of Galilee.

Paul is the most controversial figure in Christianity. He was considered to be a traitor. He had not met Jesus (A.S.) during his life time and he proved his legitimacy by declaring that Jesus(A.S.) raised from the dead, had appeared to him on the road to Damascus.

The Four Gospels
MARK: Mark's is the shortest of the four Gospels. It is the Oldest. He is considered to be an Apostle's disciple. MATHEW: Mathew's is the prolongation of the Old Testament. It was written to show that "Jesus fulfilled the history of Israel". He constantly refers to quotations from the Old Testament. The origins of the Mathew's Gospel may be placed in the tradition of a Judeo-Christian community who "was trying to break away from Judaism while at the same time preserving the continuity of the Old Testament". There are also political factors in it - e.g., desire/prayers against Roman occupation of Palestine. Mathew is no longer considered to be an Apostle. He borrowed heavily from Mark's Gospel. LUKE: For some he is a "Chronicler" and to others a "true novelist". In his writings he has implied that he was not the eye witness. He was a cultivated Gentile convert to Christianity-his attitude towards the Jews is, therefore, apparent. LUKE used MARK's and MATHEW's Gospels. It seems that he witnessed the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus's Armies in 70 A.C. The GOSPEL probably dates circa 80-90 A.C. JOHN: John's Gospel is radically different from the other three-a unique Book, different in the arrangement and choice of subject, description, speech, style, chronology, geography, theological outlook etc. The authorship is controversial on account of the question of his being eyewitness, age, etc. The historical value of his stories has been contested to a great extent. The discrepancy between them and the other three is quite obvious. He chose certain stories suitable for illustrating his own theories. Certain descriptions of other Gospels are missing and in contrast some stories are unique to this one only.

The Gospel Of Barnabas
After adopting TRINITY at the Council of Nicene in 325 A.C. all other literature containing any reference against this Creed (i.e. based on Monotheism) was declared unlawful and destroyed forcibly. People in possession of the banned material were severely persecuted. But there were still some records/archives which were retained/maintained by high priests. These are not supposed to be read by the people of common knowledge. The discoverer of the original manuscript of the Gospel of Barnabas was a Christian monk, Fra Marino. He accidentally met with the writing of Iraneus(among others) "wherein he speaks against St.Paul alleging for his authority, the Gospel of St.Barnabas." He therefore became interested in finding this Gospel. He became very intimate with Pope Sixtus V. One day as they were together in his library and the latter was asleep and "he to employ himself reaching down a book to read" found the Gospel he was looking for.
The Gospel of Barnabas contains the history of Jesus Christ from his birth to his ascension and most of the circumstances of the other four Gospels.

Some Variations in the Gospels:

Verses common to: All three synoptic 330
MARK and MATHEW 178
MARK and LUKE 100
MATHEW and LUKE 230
Verses Unique to: MATHEW 330
MARK 53
LUKE 500

There are different versions of the same event in different Gospels. Neither Mathew nor John speaks of Jesus’ Ascension. Luke in his Gospel places it on the day of resurrection. Mark mentions it without giving a date.

Some contradictions and improbabilities in the Gospels are found in the following:-
• Genealogy
• Description of the Passion
• JOHN'S does not describe EUCHARIST
• Appearance of Jesus (A.S.) raised from the dead
• Ascension of Jesus (A.S)
• Jesus (A.S. )'s last dialogue
• The paraclete of John's Gospel
There are some incompatibilities of the Old Testament and Science e.g. :-
• the creation of the world and its stages
• the date of the creation of the World
• the date of appearance of the man on the Earth
• the description of the Flood
• the life span of the man

e.g. GENESIS (6,3): YAHVIST text and GENESIS (11, 10-32): Sacerdotal VERSION mention the life span of Man as "his days shall be hundred and twenty years". (The 10 descendants of Noah (A.S.) are reported to have life span ranging from 148 to 600 years).
“There is no evidence in the Quran, or in the Traditions that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has ever seen or was acquainted with the New Testament”… This is all the more remarkable beca-use the Old Testament history and its leading chara-cters are frequently mentioned in the Quran” (Dict-ionary of Islam) Thomas Patrick Hughes, Page 433.

Al-Quran
Al-Quran is the Revelation made to Muhammad (SAW) which was immediately taken down, by the secretaries, and then memorized and recited by the faithful. Muhammad (SAW) himself arranged the same into Surahs and gave their titles based on some word which occurs in the chapter. These were collected and compiled unanimously soon after his death. Quranic Revelation confirms most of the important data found in the Hebraic Bible and the Gospels.

The Quran is a Fact. Science is ever progressing. The Science has, however, provided many explanations to the phenomena mentioned in the Quran, e.g. genetics have recently rekindled the faith that Allah is Ever All-Powerful to create and recreate living things in many more manners as He may please, e.g. the birth of Jesus (A.S.) in the absence of a biological father. But the science and the scientists have each their own limitations. Science does not still have any explanation of many facts and processes mentioned in the Quran.

Preservation of the Quran
According to AI-Bukhari (Sahihul Bukhari) Zaid ibn Sabit relates: "Abu Bakr sent a person to me , and called me to him at the time of the battle with the people of Yamamah, and I went to him and Umar was with him and Abu Bakr said to me, "Umar came to me and said, 'Verily a great many of the readers of the Qur'an were slain on the day of the battle with the people of Yamamah and really I am afraid that if the slaughter should be great, much will be lost from the Qur'an because every person remembers something of it and, verily, I see it advisable for you to order the Qur'an to be collected into one book. I said to Umar, how can I do a thing which the Prophet has not done? He said, I swear by God this collecting of the Qur'an is a good thing. And Umar used to be constantly returning to me and saying: you must collect the Qur'an till at length God opened my breast so to do and I saw what Umar had been advising. And Zaid ibn Sabit says that Abu Bakr said to me, "You are a young and sensible man and I do not suspect you of forgetfulness, negligence, or perfidy and verily you used to write for the Prophet his instructions from above; then look for the Qur'an in every place and collect it. I said I swear by God that if people had ordered me to carry a mountain about from one place to another, it would not be heavier upon me than the order which Abu Bakr has given for collecting the Qur'an."I said to Abu Bakr "How do you do a thing which the Prophet of God did not?" He said, "By God, this collecting of the Qur'an is a good act". And he used perpetually to return to me until God put it into my heart to do the thing which the heart of Abu Bakr had been set upon. Then I sought for the Qur'an and collected it from the leaves of the date and white stones and the breasts of people that remembered it, till I found the last part of the chapter entitled Tauba (Repentance), with Abu Khuzaimah al-Ansari and with no other person. These leaves were in the possession of Abu Bakr, until God caused him to die; after which Umar had them in his life time, after that they remained with his daughter, Hafsah; after that Usman compiled them into one Book. Anas ibn Malik relates: Huzaifah came to Usman and he had fought with the people of Syria in the conquest of Armenia and had fought in Azurbaijan, with the people of al-Iraq and he was shocked at the different ways of people reading the Qur'an. And Huzaifah said to Usman "O Usman, assist this people before they differ in the Book of God just as the Jews and Christians differ in their books." Then Usman sent a person to Hafsah ordering her to send those portions which she had and saying "I shall have a number of copies of them taken and will then return them to you." And Hafsah sent the portions to Usman and Usman ordered Zaid ibn Sabit, Ansari and Abu'llah ibn az-Zubair and Sa'id ibn Alias, and Abdu'r Rehman ibn al-Haris ibn Hisham and these were all of the Quraish tribe except Zaid ibn Sabit and Usman. And he said to the three Quraishites "when you and Zaid ibn-Sabit differ about any part of the dialect of the Qur'an then do ye write it in the Quraish dialect because it came not down in the language of any tribe but theirs." Then they did as Usman had ordered; and when a number of copies had been taken, Usman returned the leaves to Hafsah and Usman sent a copy to every quarter of the countries of Islam and ordered all other leaves to be burnt and Ibn Shahab said" Kharijah son of Zaid ibn Sabit informed me, saying 'I could not find one verse when I was writing the Qur'an which verily, I heard from the Prophet; then I looked for it and found it with Khuzaimah and entered it into the Suratu'l Ahzab. '''

"Sir William Muir (the vehement critique of Islam) remarks in his Life of Mahomet (Muhammed S.A.W.): "The original copy of the first edition was obtained from Haphaa's (Haffaah) depository and a careful recension of the whole set on foot. In case of difference between Zaid and his coadjutors, the voice of the latter, as demonstrative of the Coreishite idiom, was to preponderate and the new collation was thus assimilated to the Meccan dialect, in which the Prophet had given utterance to his inspiration. Transcripts were multiplied and forwarded to the Chief cities in the empire and the previously existing copies were all by the Caliph's command, committed to the flames. The old original was returned to Haphaa's custody.

"The recension of Othman (Usman) has been handed down to us unaltered. So carefully, indeed, has it been preserved, that there are no variations of importance-we might almost say no variations at all , amongst the innumerable copies of the Coran scattered throught the vast bounds of the empire of Islam.

"Contending and embittered factions, taking their rise in the murder of Othman himself within a quarter of a century from the death of Mahomet (Muhammed S.A.W.), have ever since rent the Mahometan (Muhammed S.A.W.) world. Yet but one Coran has been current amongst them; and the consentaneous use by them all in every age up to the present day of the same Scripture, is an irrefragable proof that we have now before us the very text prepared by command of the unfortunate Caliph. There is probably in the world no other work which has remained twelve centuries ( now more than 14 centuries) with so pure a text. The various readings are wonderfully few in number, and are chiefly confined to differences in the vowel points and diacritical signs. But these marks were invented at a later date. "They did not exist at all in the early copies, and can hardly be said to affect the text of Othman. Since then we possess the undoubted text of Othman's recension, it remains to be inquired whether that text was an honest reproduction of Abu Bakr's edition with the simple reconcilement of unimportant variations. There is the fullest ground for believing that it was so. No early or trustworthy traditions throw suspicion of tampering with the Coran in order to support his own claims upon Othman". "First when Othman's edition was prepared, the unity of Islam was still complete and unthreatened. Second: On the other hand Ali from the very commencement of Othman's reign, had an influential party of adherents...," Who would not have allowed this. Third: At the time of the recension there were still multitudes alive who had the Coran, as originally delivered, by heart.. ..." "All of these sources must have proved an effectual check upon any attempt at suppressions". Fourth: Ali himself soon succeeded to the Caliphate…., would not have tolerated a mutilated Coran…No hint was dropped of any alteration or omission. We may then safely conclude that Othman's recension was what it professed to be a reproduction of Abu Bakr's edition, with a more perfect conformity to the dialect of Mecca and possibly a more uniform arrangement of its parts,- but still a faithful reproduction. The most important question yet remains, viz Whether Abu Bakr's edition was itself an authentic and complete collection of Mahomet's ( Muhammed S.A.W) Revelations. The following considerations warrant the belief that it was authentic and in the main as complete as at the time was possible. "First- we have no reason to doubt that Abu Bakr was a sincere follower of Mahomet (Muhammed S.A.W) and an earnest believer in the divine origin of the Coran. His faithful attachment to the prophet's person, conspicuous for the last twenty years of his life and his simple consistent and unambitious deportment as Caliph, admit no other supposition. Firmly believing the revelations of his friend to be the revelations of God Himself, his first object would be to secure a pure and complete transcript of them. A similar argument applies with almost equal force to Omar and the other agents in the revision. The great mass of Mussulmans were undoubtedly sincere in their belief. From the scribes themselves, employed in the compilation, down to the humblest believer who brought his little store of writing on stones or palm-leaves, all would be influenced by the same earnest desire to reproduce the very words which their prophet had declared as his message from the Lord. And a similar guarantee existed in the feeling of the people at large, in whose soul no principle was more deeply rooted than an awful reverence for the supposed word of God. The Coran itself contains frequent denunciations against those who should presume to 'fabricate anything in the name of the Lord,' or conceal any part of that which He had revealed. Such an action represented as the very worst description of crime, we cannot believe that the first Moslems, in the early ardour of their faith and love, would have dared to contemplate. "Second__ The compilation was made within two years of Mahomet's (Muhammed S.A.W.)death. We have seen that several of his followers had the entire revelation(excepting, perhaps, some obsolete fragments) by heart; that every Moslem treasured up more or less some portion in his memory; and that there were official Reciters of it, for public worship and tuition, in all countries to which Islam extended. These formed an unbroken link between the Revelation fresh from Mahomet's (Muhammed S.A.W.) lips, and the edition of it by Zaid. Thus the people were not only sincere and fervent in wishing for a faithful copy of the Coran; they were also in possession of ample means for realizing their desire and for testing the accuracy and completeness of the volume placed in their hands by Abu Bakr. “Third.__ A still greater security would be obtained from the fragmentary transcripts which existed in Mahomet's (Muhammed S.A.W.) life-time and which must have greatly multiplied before the Coran was compiled. These were in the possession, probably of all who could read. And as we know that the compilation of Abu Bakr came into immediate and unquestioned use, it is reasonable to conclude that it embraced and corresponded with every extant fragment, and therefore by common consent, superseded them. We hear of no fragments, sentences or words intentionally omitted by the compilers, nor of any of that differed from the received edition. Had any such been discoverable, they would undoubtedly have been preserved and noticed in those traditional repositories which treasured up the minutest and most trivial acts find saying of the Prophet. “Fourth.__ The contents and arrangement of the Coran speak forcibly for its authenticity. All the fragments that could possibly be obtained have with artless simplicity been joined together. The patchwork bears no marks of a designing genius or a moulding hand. It testifies to the faith and reverence of the compilers and proves that they dared no more than simply collect the sacred fragments and place them in juxtaposition. Hence the interminable repetitions; the palling reiteration of the same ideas, truths and doctrines; hence scriptual stories and Arab legends told over and over again with little verbal variation; hence the pervading want of connection and the startling chasms between adjacent passages. Again the frailties of Mahomet's (Muhammad S.A.W.) supposed to have been noticed by the Deity, are all with evident faithfulness entered in the Coran... The editor plainly contended himself with compiling and copying out in a continuous form, but with scrupulous accuracy the fragmentary materials within his reach. He neither ventured to select from repeated versions of the same incident, nor to reconcile differences, nor by the alteration of a single letter to connect abrupt transitions of context nor by tampering with the text to soften discreditable appearances. Thus we possess every internal guarantee of confidence. It is sufficient for us to know that in Othman's revision recourse was laid to the original exemplar of the first compilation, and that there is otherwise every security, internal and external, that we possess a text the same as that which Mahomet (Muhammed S.A.W.) himself gave forth and used". (Life of Mahomet, new ed., p 557 et seqq)__ A D.O.I. by Thomas Patrick Hughes.

The various readings (Qira'ah) in the Qura'n are not such as are usually understood by the term in English authors, but different dialects of the Arabic language. These seven dialects are called in Arabic Saba'tu Ahruf, and in Persian Haft Qira'at.

The Division of the Qur'an
The Qur'an, which is written in the Arabic language, is divided into: Harf, Kalimah, Ayah, Surah, Ruku', Rub, Nisf, Suls, Juz', Manzal.
• Harf (pl. Huruf) Letters
• Kalimah (pl. Kalimat) words
• Ayah (pl. Ayat) Verses: Ayah is a word which signifies "sign". It was used by Muhammad for short sections or verses of the revelation.
• Surah (pl. Suwar), Chapters: a word which signifies a row or series, but which is used exclusively for the chapters of the Qur'an, which are one hundred and fourteen in number. These chapters are called after some word which occurs in the text. They were so named by Muhammad (S.A.W) himself. The Khalifah 'Usman arranged the chapters in the order in which they now stand in the Qur'an.
The Surahs are similar to the forty-three divisions of the Law amongst the Jews known as Sidarim , or "orders." These were likewise named after a word in the section, e.g. The first is Bereshith, the second Noah, &c.
Each Surah of the Qur'an, with exception of the IXth, begins with the words

"In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate".
There are 114 Surahs in the Quran.
• Ruku' (pl.Ruku'at): an inclination of the head or bow. These are sections of about ten verses or less. They are marked on the margin of the Qur'an with the letter 'ain, with the number of the ruku' over it. Qur'an is generally quoted by the Juz' or Siparah and the Ruku'.
• Rub' The quarter of a Juz' or Siparah.
• Nisf The half of a Siparah.
• Suls The three quarters of a Siparah. These three divisions are denoted by the words being written on the margin.
• Manzil (pl. Manazil, Stages). These are seven in number, and are marked by the letters which are said to spell Fami, bi Shauq, "My mouth with desire." This arrangement is to enable the Muslim to recite the whole in the course of a week.

The compiler of the Kashfu 'z- Zunun(ed. Flugel, vol ii p.458 article Taurat) attempts an account of the Old Testament scriptures. He divides the whole into four sections and gives the names of the books as follows:
• The Taurat, or the five Books of Moses.
• Yusha (Joshua)
Sifru 'I-Hukkam (Judges)
Shamuil ( Samuel )
Sifru 'I-Muluk ( Kings)
• Shaya ( Isaiah)
Irmiya (Jeremiah)
Hizqil (Ezekiel)
Yunus(Jonah)
• Tarikh. A history from Adam to the building of the temple
Mazamir (Psalms)
Aiyub (Job)
Amaal ( Proverbs)
Ahbaru 'I-Hukkam Qabla 'I-Muluk (Ecolesiastes)
Nashaid li-Sulaiman ( Song of Solomon)
Hikmah ( Wisdom )
An-Nawah ( Lamentations)
Urdshair (Esther)
Danyal (Daniel)
Uzair ( Esdras) [prophets, Taurat, Zabur]

"The following are mentioned by name in The Old Testament and the Quran:- Aaron, Harun; Abel, Habil; Cain, Qabil; Abraham, Ibrahim; Adam, Adam; Terah, Azar; Korah, Qarun; David, Daud; Goliath, Jalut; Enoch, Idris; Elias, Ilyas; Elijah, Alyasa (al-Yasa); Ezra, Uzair; Gabriel, Jibril; Gog, Yajuj; Magog, Majuj; Isaac, Ishaq; Ishmael, Ismail; Jacob, Yaqub; Joseph, Yusuf; Job, Aiyub; Jonah, Yunus; Joshua, Yusha; Lot, Lut; Michael, Mikail; Moses, Musa; Noah, Nuh; Pharaoh, Firaun Solomon, Sulaiman; Saul, Talut"

The reference in the Qur'an to the sacred scriptures of the Jews and Christians are very many, and in all cases it refers to these sacred writings with the highest respect and veneration. It confirms their inspiration, and the existence of such documents and invites to refer to them without prejudice in support of its own mission.

The Quran mentions the Taurat, the Zabur and makes several references to the historical portions of the Old Testament . There have been many portions or suhuf and four books or kutub have been given to mankind.
There are many verses in the Qur'an, in which there are references to the Old and New Testaments, e.g., the translations given are for the most part from Sir William Muir's manual on "The Coran," published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Surah ii. 131: 'We believe in God, and what has been revealed to us, and what has been revealed to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob and the Tribes and what was brought unto Moses and Jesus what was brought unto the Prophets from their Lord (Allah) and we will not distinguish between any of them, and unto Him are we resigned".

Surah ii,1-5: "This is the book in which there is no doubt, --- a guide to the pious;-- they who believe in the Unseen, and observe prayer, and spend out of that which hath been revealed unto these, and that which hath been revealed before thee, and have faith in the life to come. These walk according to the direction of their Lord, and these are the blessed,"

Surah ii. 87: " And verily We gave Moses the book, and caused prophets to arise after him and We gave to Jesus, the Son of Mary, evident signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit".

Surah ii . 113 " The Jews say the Christian are not founded upon anything and the Christians say the Jews are not (founded) upon anything; and yet they read the Scripture".

Surah ixi. 6: “And when Jesus, the son of Mary, said:--- O children of Israel, verily I am an Apostle of God unto you, attesting that which before me of the Tourat, and giving glad tidings of an apostle that shall come after me, whose name is Ahmad (the praised)."