m does," "The
Quran contains the whole religion of Muhammad," "The Quran which contains
the whole Gospel of Islam" are not simply misleading, they are erroneous.
So far from the Quran alone being the _sole_ rule of faith and practice to
Muslims, there is not one single sect amongst them whose faith and practice
is based on it alone. No one among them disputes its authority or casts any
doubt upon its genuineness. Its voice is supreme in all that it concerns,
but its exegesis, the whole system of legal jurisprudence and of
theological science, is largely founded on the Traditions. Amongst the
orthodox Musalmans, the foundations of the Faith are four in number, the
Quran, Sunnat, Ijma' and Qias. The fact that all the sects do not agree
with the orthodox--the Sunnis--in this matter illustrates another important
fact in Islam--the want of unity amongst its followers. {2}

1. THE QURAN.--The question of the inspiration will be fully discussed, and
an account of the laws of the exegesis of the Quran will be given in the
next chapter. It is sufficient now to state that this book is held in the
highest veneration by Muslims of every sect. When being read it is kept on
a stand elevated above the floor, and no one must read or touch it without
first making a legal ablution.[2] It is not translated unless there is the
most urgent necessity, and even then the Arabic text is printed with the
translation. It is said that God chose the sacred month of Ramazan in which
to give all the revelations which in the form of books have been vouchsafed
to mankind. Thus on the first night of that month the books of Abraham came
down from heaven; on the sixth the books of Moses; on the thirteenth the
Injil, or Gospel, and on the twenty-seventh the Quran. On that night, the
Laylut-ul-Qadr, or "night of power," the whole Quran is said to have
descended to the lowest of the seven heavens, from whence it was brought
piecemeal to Muhammad as occasion required.[3] "Verily we have caused it
(the Quran) to descend on the night of power." (Sura xcvii. 1.) That night
is called the blessed night, the night better than a thousand months, the
night when angels came down by the permission of their Lord, the night
which bringeth peace and blessings till the rosy dawn. Twice on that night
in the solitude of the cave of Hira the voice called, twice though pressed
sore "as if a fearful weight had been laid upon him," the prophet struggled
{3} against its influence.