MUSSELMEN'S VENERATION FOR THE KORAN.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2602, 10 May 1877, Page 3

MUSSELMEN'S VENERATION FOR THE KORAN.

The veneration which Musselmeh entertain .ffa> the Koran has been forcibly dwelt bfflhkEastern travellers. 'A case which laterp 1 came before the Court of Petty Sessions at Glasgow illustrates this. We quote from the Glasgow Herald of Feb. 9th :—On Wednesday we reported that in the action at the instance of some Turkish sailors against the owners of the Silistria, at present lying in Leith Docks, the men were sworn.to tell the truth on the. Koran. Suitable preparations were made in. the way of providing water with which the witness might wash their hands before taking the oatb, and the reason why the water was hot used only transpired yesterday morning. It seems that Mohammedans will not take the oath with a ) rinted copy of the Koran in their hands, and it was consequently necessary to have a manuscript copy. The manuscript copy of the sacred book was borrowed from the University Library in order to overcome that diiEculty, and in reference to it it may be interesting to state that it formerly belonged to Tippoo Sahib, from whom it was taken in the early years of the present century, and subsequently presented by the East India Company to the University of Edinburgh. Having thus got rid of this difficulty about using a printed copy at the Koran, a fresh dfficulty arose. Tho ( Koran had not only been handled by 'infidel Christians,' but had been placed on a seat lower than a

man's breast, and thus, in the eyes of the Turks, been defiled; and for this reason they dispensed with the customary ceremony on such occasions of washing their hands."-