The 20th century, gone down in history, has handed down to the new century, along with outstanding discoveries, inventions and engineering advances, a set of challenges and troubles.

Problems related to fresh water resources and their protection from depletion and pollution are perhaps at the first place amongst other challenges.
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As it follows from the head of this paragraph, the human merits will be discussed hereinafter. It is not a secret that a different attitude of people to water can be met in our life – from worship of water as the certain sacred gift towards an odious behavior when a man disposes his wastes into flowing water of aryks or canals.

However, a person with such an attitude to water can show concern with respect to an abandoned slice of bread – shakes off it from dust, places against his forehead, and carefully puts it in a secluded nook. Why is his behavior so different with respect to bread and water, although he knows, or has to know, that a role of water in our life no less important than of bread? For instance, a man can survive without water only three days, and without bread a few weeks. Why an internal “protective relay” or moral brakes of a man function in different ways under different situations? Of course, such a matter is in the competence of psychoanalysts and specialists in morality and ethics, but it is of interest for all.
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(Hadith means in Arabic language: manner or tradition; sometimes is used as «sunnah»)

In the process of expansion and strengthening of the Caliphate, the amount of questions related to various aspects of life of citizens and the state system was growing like an avalanche. If earlier, fellow-fighters and assistants had addressed to Muhammad with such questions then after his death, caliphs, who had ruled the state, could not so confidently solve the arisen problems any more. Then the necessity has arisen to address to experience of life and activity of the Prophet – what he did, what he spoke or approvingly kept silent, or did not kept silent etc. in similar cases, situations etc. Inasmuch as, during his life, many people communicated with him and worked under his leadership, the great number of hadiths has appeared. It is known that our ancestor the Imam Al-Bukhari the Great (810 – 870) has collected during his life in such Moslem centers as Mecca, Medina, Baghdad, Damascus etc. about 600,000 hadiths (the oral traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), he knew by heart about 300,000 hadiths, and he compiled 7,275 of them in Al-Sahih (The Genuine) and has presented them in 4 volumes*.
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It is considered that surahs (chapters) of the Quran (114 surahs) were conveyed to Prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel or directly by Allah during 23 years – since 610 until 632 (the year of Muhammad’s death). Each surah consists of three or more ayahs (verses).

The longest surah is known as “Al-Baqarah: The Cow” and consists of 286 ayahs. There are 10,640 ayahs in the Quran (however, some ayahs are marked by two or even three serial numbers). According to chronology, all surahs are distributed between two periods: the Meccan Period (90 surahs) and the Medinan Period (24 surahs). The Medina Period has started in 622, just in that year Muhammad together with his followers emigrated to Medina, where he established the caliphate. His emigration became known as the Hegira (Arabic hijrah) and marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. When Muhammad was alive, he did not agree to write down surahs and ayahs and to compile them in a single book. He himself and his companions have recited surahs and ayahs, and he required the same from others.
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Before direct reviewing of sources – holy books of Muslims (the Quran and Hadiths), let us present some opinions of famous scientists about Islam as the religion and doctrine.

One of outstanding orientalists in the 20th century, E. von Grunebaum said: “Even an atheist considers that if this is not a miracle then, at least, the extraordinary fact that on the basis of such a small foundation as the population and civilization of pagan Central and Northern Arabia, such a majestic and splendidly-built structure could arise. This structure has gained the vitality and force for transforming from a religion clan having the merely national nature into the cultural community that was both religious and international one, and at the same time, has kept the entitlement for existence and the status of State.”*
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