The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c6.s7.2

c6.s7.2

The religion and theology of Islam are based on four great works - (1) The Quran, (2) the Hadis, (3) the *Siratun-Nabi* or the Biography of Muhammad, and (4) the *Shariat* or Islamic law as elaborated in the Hidaya. The word Quran literally means recitation, lecture or discourse. Muslims consider it to be the word of God conveyed to his prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. The first, final and only canonized version of the Koran was collected nineteen years after the death of Muhammad (from ribs of palm-leaves and tablets of white stone and from the breasts of men) when it was seen that the memorizers of the Koran were becoming extinct through the battles that were decimating the ranks of the believers⁵² The religion of Quran comes nearer to Judaism of the Old Testament as well as the Christianity of the New Testament.⁵³ The Quran, the Book of Allah, is treated with unbound reverence by the Muslims. Its 6,239 verses, its 77,934 words, even its 323,621 letters have since been painstakingly counted.⁵⁴ The book is not only heart of a religion, but it is still considered by one-eighth of mankind as the embodiment of all science, wisdom and theology.⁵⁵ Because of the dearth of efficacious writing material, written copies of Quran would have taken time to make, but it does seem to have been available by the middle of the eighth century.⁵⁶