T he Mujfulman L aw proceeds, in its determinations, upon two
grounds; the text of the Koran, and the Sonna, or oral law, corre-
lponding with the Mijhna of the Jews.
T he K oran (or, as it is more commonly termed, A l Koran) is
confidered by the Mujfulmam as the balls of their law ; and is therefore,
when applied to judicial matters, entitled, by way of diflinftion, alSharra,-
or the L aw, in the fame manner as the Pentateuch is diftinguilhed by
the Jews.
W ho was the real Author o f this extraordinary compound of declamation
and precept, mull for ever remain a matter of uncertainty, fince
on this point much difference of opinion obtained, even among the ear-
lieft opponents of Mohammed and his pretended million.— That this
extraordinary perfon, however, was himfelf the principal projector, is
beyond difpute, although it be probable that he received much affiltance
from others in the compofition o f it.— By all orthodox Mujfulmam, the
original is believed to have exilled from eternity, inlcribed on the tablet
of the divine decrees., which Rands clofe by the throne of G od, and
contains the predeflined fate of men and things.— From this tablet a
copy of it is fuppofed to have been taken by the angel G abriel, and
conveyed to the Simma A sjl, or loweft heaven, where it was by him
■ revealed to the Prophet in various portions, and at different times.— In
fact, it was delivered by Mohammed piece-meal to his followers, according
as the occalion dictated, or as any particular emergency required : nor
was it arranged together, in its prefent form, until the reign of his friend
and fucceflor, the K halif A boo B ekr, who ordered the whole to be collected
from the leaves or Ikins on which the palfages had been written,
and .alfo from the mouths of luch o f the furviving companions of the
Prophet as had committed them to memory, and inferted in one volume,
but without any regard to the order o f their original promulgation.—
Much difference, however, was foon perceptible in the feveral copies o f
6 this
D I S C O U R S E. IX
this work; wherefore O thman, the fecond fucceeding Khaltf, to remedy
the growing evil, directed a number of copies to be tranfcribed
from this of A boo Bekr, and ordered all others to be deflroyed.— The
precepts of the Koran are of two defcriptions, prohibitory and in-
junCtive. In the application of them to practice they are always confidered
as unqueftionable and irrefragable, except where one palfage
has been contradicted, and confequently repealed, by a fubfequent paf-
fage, fome inflances of which are cited in the courfe o f this Commentary.
Sonna is a word which (among a variety of other fenfes) fignifies
cuflom, regulation, or injlitute, The Sonna (or, as it is expreffed among
the Arabs, by way of diftinCtion, Al-Sonna) Rands next to the Koran
in point of authority, being confidered as a kind of fupplement to that
book. It forms the body of what is termed the oral law, becaufe it never
was committed to writing by the Arabian Legiflator, being deduced
folely from his traditionary precepts or adjudications, preferved from hand
to hand, by authorifed perfons, and which apply to many points of both
a fpiritual and temporal nature, not mentioned or but Rightly touched
upon in the Koran.— Thefe traditions* are divided, by the Mujfulman
commentators, into two claffes : I. the Ample fayings of the Prophet
from his own uninfpired judgment; II. fayings from divine infpiration.
T h e former are termed Hadees Nahwee, or traditions o f the Prophet ;
the latter Hadees Koodfee, or divine traditions; and both have the force
of laws.— After Mohammed’s death, they were at firR quoted by his
companions merely in order to decide occafional difputes, or to reRrain
men from certain aCtions which the Prophet had prohibited : and thus,
in procefs of time, they became a flandard o f judicial determination. T h e
* Th e Tranflator, fpeaking of the Sonna, ufes the word traditions, in compliance with
cuftom, which, among Europeans, has applied this term to all the oral precepts, &c. o f M ohammed—
Hadees (pronounced, among the Arabs, Haieeth) properly fignifies an occurrence
or event. Some Mujfulman commentators define it to mean “ an em a n a tio n and underftand
it particularly in this fenfe when applied to the fayings or actions of their Prophet.
firR