What Does Islam Say About the Ten Commandments?

14/Apr/2005

Name of Counselor Ahmad Kutty

 

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear questioner, we would like to thank you for the great confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake.

The Ten Commandments—with the exception of the fourth one, which deals with observance of the Sabbath—in essence and spirit belong to the perennial religion that allows for no abrogation or alteration, and thus in essence and spirit constitute an integral part of the Qur’anic ethics and laws.

In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

The Ten Commandments—with the exception of the fourth one, which deals with observance of the Sabbath—in essence and spirit constitute an integral part of the Qur’anic ethics and laws. The Qur’an presents itself as a book through which Allah has guided humankind to the noble ways of the previous prophets and messengers, who are to be emulated as the perfect role models of humanity. (See Qur’an 4:26; 6:90). Also, in a more fundamental sense, the Qur’an stresses that all the prophets and messengers, speaking different languages and raised in various times and places, taught essentially the same perennial religion (core religion called deen), although their precise promulgation of the laws of religion, responding to extremely divergent historical circumstances and milieu, assumed different forms. However, these fundamental commandments, in essence and spirit, belong to the perennial religion that allows for no abrogation or alteration. Although one hardly finds these commandments enumerated in a single place in the Qur’an as they are listed in the Torah, nevertheless, all of them with the exception of the rule to observe the Sabbath— which, according to the Qur’an, was specific to the Jews, and, therefore, has only a rather limited significance—are enumerated in various places with varying emphases in the Qur’an; hence one can safely conclude that these commandments are of universal relevance meant for all times and places. Here is a listing of these commandments as enumerated in the Bible with their parallels in the Qur’an:

1. In Bible, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20: 2-3); in the Qur’an: (Your Lord has commanded that you worship none but Him) (Al-Isra’ 17: 23).

2. In the Bible: “You shall not make unto you any graven image … You shall not bow down to them or worship” (Exodus 20: 4–5); in the Qur’an, (Therefore keep away from the defiling idols.) (Al-Hajj 22: 30).

3. In the Bible: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20: 7); In the Qur’an, (Make not Allah, by your oaths, a hindrance to your being righteous) (Al-Baqarah 2: 224).

4. In the Bible: “Honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20: 12); in the Qur’an: ((Your Lord has decreed) that you show kindness to your parents) (Al-Isra’ 17: 23).

5. In the Bible: “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13); in the Qur’an: (And kill not one another) (An-Nisa’ 4:29).

6. In the Bible: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20: 14); in the Qur’an: (Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their private parts… And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts.) (An-Nur 24: 30-31)

7. In the Bible: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20: 15); in the Qur’an: (They shall not steal) (Al-Mumtahanah 60: 12).

8. In the Bible: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20: 16); in the Qur’an: (You shall shun false testimony) (An-Nisa’ 4: 29).

9. In the Bible: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet you neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20: 17); in the Qur’an: (Do not desire the things which Allah has given to some of you in preference to others) (An-Nisa’ 4: 32).

Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: www.islam.ca

You can also read:

DO Muslims Believe in the Bible?

Why Muslims Believe in the Bible

 

Allah Almighty knows best

 

 

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503549660