MOHAMMEDAN LITERATURE. The study of the traditions of Mohammed, in all their extended ramifications, comprises what might be termed Mohammedan literature; and as these are pre-eminently embodied in the Koran, that work, without striking literary art and mechanically constructed, became the in comparable classic of Islam, to give rise to schools of thought, to systems of theology and jurisprudence and to promote distinct branches of history, biography, criticism, science, gram mar, philosophy, legend and poetry. It is curi ous how such a book, revealed in bits and scraps, arranged according to the length of the chapters, without uniform style, and whose text was not collates in the prophet's lifetime, should have been worshiped and idealized. But our Western mind cannot understand the Oriental point of view, and least of all the windings and complexities of the Semitic brain. Caliph Uthman had done away with all exist ing copies of the Koran except that of Abu Bekr, which itself was shortly afterward de stroyed by Marwan, governor of Medina. All copies of the book to-day, wherever scattered, are reproductions of Abu Bekr's edition. Uni formity and authoritative text could apparently be secured in no other way. Out of the exe gesis of the Koran sprang the most vital and varied elements in Arabic literary history, which began in primitive pre-Islamic times in the ceaseless caravan-marches across the des erts, where the camel's regular swing taught the Arab to sing rhymes. The more cultured Mohammedan of a later age is city dweller, and shares wider aspirations; but the Koran, not the desert, is still his starting-point, to which he always returns, whether he follows the simple monotheism of Mohammed or an agnostic mysticism.
It can readily be seen how history among the Arabs began with the Maqhazi — books devoted to the study of Mohammed's wars. The deeds of that era were to be narrated, the chronicles and legends gathered, at second hand generally. Efforts to obtain informa tion as to the prophet's life gave birth to biography, which was to develop in later cen turies. Parallel with histories of wars and events were written histories of famous cities, like Medina or Mecca, Bagdad and the rest, most of which works have perished. Hov this field was cultivated can be shown from what is recorded of Tabari, the most illustrious historian (828-923), who for 40 years wrote 40 sheets a day. The oldest biography extant is that of the prophet by Ibn Ishaq (d. 767). The beginnings of the historical romances go back to the first centuries of Islam when vener ation for Mohammed gave rise to legend and fable that passed as genuine history.
The literature of jurisprudence sprang nat urally from the study of the hadith or sources of tradition. The Koran had to be supple mented at an early date to provide laws for the Moslem world. The sayings of the prophet after his death, his usages and decisions, had to be collected, arranged and sifted. The Koran itself was absolute authority, if it con tained a law applicable to the case in hand; otherwise the memories of the Sahibs, the companions of the prophet, were resorted to for his rplings. If these proved of no avail, recourse was had to the common law of Me dina, and finally to the common sense of the judge. Hence a vast legal literature arose collections of traditions, called Musnads, be cause each tradition was against the companion from whom it came. One of
the first and greatest of these was the of Ahmad ibn Hanbol (d. 863). It was printed a few years ago in Cairo in six quarto vol umes of 2,x5 pages and is said to contain about 30,000 traditions going back 700 years.
Another type of tradition-book was the iMusannaf) or *arranged,* — chapters classified according to their subject matter. Al Bukhari (d. 879) made the most respected of all the collections, termed Sahib, which is so arranged as to form bases for a complete system of jurisprudence. Another is that of Muslim (d. 883). These were the two most honored au thorities. Four other legal collections, (*usages"), stand second to the two Sahibs. Different writers, however, give the number of canonical works as five, seven or even 10. It did not take long before the six great books were themselves abridged and explained— the rules of the faith were summed up into a selection of 40 traditions and these became the subject of endless commentaries. The Ro man as well as the Rabbinical law had marked influence on Mohammedan law. Four schools of thought held sway, that of Abu Hanifa (d. 772), speculative jurist; of Malik (d. 801), historical jurist; of Ash Shafi'i (d. 826), rev erent and conciliatory; and that of the pupils of Ahmad Hanbol (d. 863), reactionary. A fifth school, the Zahirite, whose discovery is due to Dr. Goldziher, founded by the Abu Sulaiman David ibn Ali (815-883) insisted on the external meaning of the Koran and the traditions and repudiated further tradition. ((It never held rank,* writes Macdonald, an acknowledged school of Mohammedan law.* With the deeper study of the Koran, two further branches arose — the science of read ing the text and that of its interpretation. Oral tradition which was at first depended upon was soon followed by written tradition and books were compiled on the various ways of reading, some of which dating from the 10th century are preserved at Berlin, Algiers and Leyden. One book, written by a gravejurist, and entitled 'Kitab Muhbarak' (Blessed Book) is a story of those who died listening to the reading of the Koran. In the line of exegesis, the array of books is overwhelming, the mys tical in large number. Hence arose the in creased study of grammar, most of the com mentators being grammarians.
In the department of theology, whole li braries have been written. Ghazali, one of the most famous masters (1049-1111), wrote 69 works that are extant. Like its jurisprudence, Mohammedan theology could not begin until after the prophet's death. At first it was more political than religious but soon settled down to more or less logical wrangling between sect and sect. Christian, Jew, Persian, Greek alike had their influence, with developments now ra tional, now mystical, now radical, now pan theistic, giving birth to countless works, some of which are almost modern in their sugges tions and implications. They prove the fertil ity and the intensity of the Mohammedan in tellect and what marvelous power existed in the prophet to have supplied thought for so many ages and to so many minds.
Bibliography.— The best recent books which can be recommended are Huart, Clement, 'A History of Arabic Literature) (New York 1903) ; Macdonald, Duncan B., 'Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Consti tutional Theory) (New York 1903).