Ten Commandments (Quran)

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The Koranic Ten Commandments ( Arabic الوصايا العشر, DMG al-waṣāyā al-ʿašr ) represent a series of commandments that are assigned to the late Meccan parts of the Koran . It appears towards the end of the 6th sura “Das Vieh” (Arabic: Sūrat al-Anʿām ) and consists of five commandments and five prohibitions (cf. 6: 151-153). In the Islamic exegetical tradition, these Ten Commandments are associated with those of Moses and they also have similarities in terms of content to the biblical Decalogue (cf. Ex 20.2-17 / Deut 5.6-21).

A parallel series, albeit differing in individual commandments from 6: 151-153, can also be found in the 17th Sura, also from the late Meccan language, “The Night Journey” (Arabic Sūrat al-Isrāʾ ). It is scheduled a little earlier and with its twelve commandments and prohibitions (cf. 17: 23-39) is more extensive than 6: 151-153. In addition, it often provides a more detailed explanation of the individual commandments, which is why it can be regarded as an explanation of them despite the fact that it probably preceded 6: 151-153.

Both series of commandments are equally important and central to Islamic exegesis, which is why they were (and are) read and received in addition to one another. Some Islamic scholars even regarded it as the universal law of mankind, which is why its place within Islamic ethics can be compared with the prominent position that the biblical decalogue occupies in the Jewish and Christian traditions.

Two versions with different target groups?

In the Koran there are two versions of the Ten Commandments with 6: 151-153 and 17: 23-39, both of which originate from the late Meccan period and were probably "sent down" or originated in the last year before Muḥammad's emigration (arab. Hiǧra ) to Medina are. The more detailed of the two versions, namely 17: 23-39, is dated a little earlier, which at first glance may seem a little surprising, since one would rather expect that a renewed inclusion of the Ten Commandments at a later point in time will not be shorter, but should have been more detailed.

Why the more concise version from 6: 151-153 is younger can sometimes be explained by the fact that it is aimed at a different or larger group of people and thus makes a more extensive claim to validity than 17: 23-39. While the latter v. a. seems to be addressed to Mu undammad and his followers, the shorter version in 6: 151-153, on the other hand, has a clearly declaratory character, because it is directed outwards as generally binding legislation; In this specific case to all residents of the city of Mecca and the people in their vicinity (cf. 6: 19.92), and thus also to the opponents of the early Islamic community.

Because of the given revelation situation, this audience represents the first “audience” of verses 6: 151-153, with the Koran immediately before (cf. 6: 136-150) and immediately after (cf. 6: 154- 157) makes it unmistakably clear that the reading of those commandments is an anamnesis. In other words: 6: 151-153 only repeats and confirms what has always been considered the elementary law of mankind and thus also transmitted to Moses (cf. 6: 154) and Jews and Christians alike (cf. 6: 156) has been.

The relationship between the two series of commandments is to be determined differently depending on the reading: When viewed synchronously, verses 17: 23-39 represent an explanatory update of 6: 151-153, while from a diachronic perspective they are understood to be expansions that are specific to Muslims can be, d. H. Muslims should commit themselves to a more precisely defined observance of the relevant commandments, while the non-Muslim environment is addressed in a more general way: Although they are called for agreement on a common basic canon, the scope of the individual commandments is (at least for the time being) not specified more precisely what the counterpart creates a certain "scope for adjustment".

It is just as possible, however, that 6: 151-153 is actually older than 17: 23-39, because it is very difficult to fix the exact time of individual Koran passages. In the Islamic sources there are statements about the beginning of revelation of numerous suras, but from when they can be regarded as complete or which of their parts were added at what point in the course of the descent or creation process, while other suras had already been added can hardly be said.

Wording of the command series in 6: 151-153

If you read the Koran according to its current arrangement, the first version of the Ten Commandments appears towards the end of the 6th sura. It is a late Meccan passage that was probably "sent down" or was created in the last year before the emigration to Medina. In contrast to 17: 23-39, it is no longer aimed only at the community of Muadsammad, but at all people in Mecca and its surroundings, as the prologue in 6: 151 and the overall context of the 6th sura suggest. Verses 6: 151-153 read as follows:

	[ 6: 151 ] Say: Come here, I will read to you what your Lord has (really) forbidden you :
1	You should not associate anything with him,
2	And the parents quality (prove) .
3	Do not kill your children for impoverishment
	(for) We provide for (both) you and them.
4th	Do not approach the abominations , (no matter) what and what is open of them hidden.
5	Do not kill human life that God has declared inviolable unless authorized.
	He has given you this so that you will be able to understand.
6th	[ 152 ] And do not approach the orphan's fortune, unless in the best way, until it has reached full strength.
7th	Give full measure and weight according to righteousness.
	We only demand from people what they can do.
8th	And when you testify, be fair even when it comes to a relative.
9	Fulfill the covenant of God.
	He asked you to do this so that you might consider it.
	[ 153 ] (And He has commanded you :) This is My way, it is straight,
10	So follow him and don't follow the (different) paths, otherwise they will lead you away from His path in different directions .
	He has given you this so that you may become godly.

Context of the 6th sura

The 6th sura with the title al-Anʿām ("the cattle"), in which the shorter version of the Koranic Ten Commandments (Arabic. Al-waṣāyā al-ʿašr ) can be found, comes from the classical Islamic as well as Islamic scientific view late Meccan period. Some of her verses could be Medinan insertions (e.g. 6:91), but the topics dealt with in the sura as well as their target group undoubtedly indicate a Meccan context of revelation or origin. The text of the sura has a largely cohesive surface structure as well as a high level of content coherence, which Theodor Nöldeke (1836-1930) already concluded that “the majority of the individual parts were created within a narrowly limited period of time”. One can therefore assume that al-Anʿām is a uniform text that deliberately aims to lead to the Ten Commandments. The latter have therefore hardly been inserted as secondary at the relevant point.

Thematically, the 6th sura is essentially determined by the praise of God and His creative power as well as by the complaint about the unbelief of the deniers, who neither gratefully (acknowledge) His work in nature nor take His punitive actions in history as a warning (cf. 6: 1-73.91-117.123-135). Instead, they attribute partners to God, act arbitrarily, and thereby commit sins in various ways. In this context, “injustice” ( ulm ) may be seen as a negative headword of the sura (18 mentions). It can refer to dogmatic, cultic and ethical offenses of the people as it were: For example, the 6th sura mentions the child sacrifice practiced in Arabia in order to point out the enormous harmfulness of idolatry and legal confusion (cf. 6: 137.140). In contrast, God emphasizes that He himself does no wrong (cf. 6: 131.160) and repeatedly underlines His unconditional commitment to mercy (cf. 6: 12.54.70.131.133.160.164), which, with a total of ten mentions, represents a positive leitmotif of the sura .

Against this background, the sura reads as a strict, but fundamentally benevolent appeal: With the Koran, Muḥammad is intended to call the people of the city of Mecca and its surroundings, as well as all those he can otherwise reach, to repent (cf. 6: 19.92) . God signals that He will turn to the Arabs with mercy and lead them out of the darkness of their ignorance and their raw mores (cf. 6: 39.122). Up to now they thought that God had only given Jews and Christians revelation knowledge and were offended by it, but now His word goes out to them too and in future they will have no excuse for their wrong way of life if they reject divine guidance and mercy (cf. 6: 124.155-157). According to 6: 104.135 and other verses they are still free to do the latter, but in this case they have to reckon with the fact that they will not be well in the hereafter.

In addition to the Ten Commandments, the 6th sura contains a few other verses that are important for Islamic exegesis, namely: the two-fold declaration that God prescribed Himself to be merciful (cf. 6: 12.54), and the promise that He will reward every good deed tenfold, but only simply reward every bad deed (cf. 6: 160); The tolerance commandments in 6: 68-70 and 6: 108 are also central, of which the former refers to enduring abuse of one's own religion, while the latter forbids insulting idols so that - as a reaction to this - God himself is not blasphemed may be. The followers of the pagan cults should therefore be protected from sin by blasphemous remarks (even more).

Some commandments from 6: 151-153 in detail

preface

[ 6: 151 ] Say: Come here, I will read to you what your Lord has (really) forbidden you .

Immediately before the announcement of the Ten Commandments - and sometimes even earlier (cf. 6: 118-121) - the question of which foods are forbidden is discussed in the 6th sura (cf. 6: 136-150). The Qur'an describes the old Arabic ideas on this as absolutely arbitrary and invented, especially since they are related to idol worship. God criticizes tribal leaders and pagan priests who impose any bans on people on the basis of an already questionable cult, while completely disregarding the actual rules and principles, which are indispensable for social welfare.

It is in this cult-critical context in which the Ten Commandments are recited. The imperative qul (“speak!”) Indicates that they - unlike the longer version in 17: 23-39 - should in fact be declared publicly. So they not only affect the group of believers around Muhammad, but also the general public, which is why the text also dispenses with religious ordinances. Rather, as the Tenth Commandment in 6: 153 makes clear, the focus is on the unification of the people through the recognition and respect of common principles for a prosperous coexistence: God is the true and only guidance (cf. 6:71) and He is the arbiter (cf. 6: 114), therefore the Ten Commandments as theonomous principles can also be accepted and internalized across religions.

In this context, Jews and Christians also come into focus, because the requirement expressed in 6:90 to orient oneself to the guidance of the earlier prophets - ranging from Abraham to Jesus - forms a first basis for the Ten Commandments from 6:90 : 151-153 to be placed in a tradition of salvation history. This relation is particularly clear from v. a. in verses 6: 154 and 6: 161, which follow the Ten Commandments. The former builds a bridge to the “book” of Moses as a “detailed exposition ( tafṣīl ) of all things and as guidance and mercy”, while the latter establishes a connection between the message of Muḥammad and the great piety of Abraham, who is God's right Path ( ṣirāṭ mustaqīm ) followed and did not associate anything with Him. Both verses therefore unequivocally invite the three scriptural religions to come together, which is why the commandment series from 6: 151-153 - despite its initially primarily Arabic target group - claims greater validity. That this claim to validity is universal, on the other hand - in addition to the general formulation of those Ten Commandments - sometimes also the covenant commandment in 6: 152, which can be read in the horizon from 7: 172-173 and thus to a primordial agreement between God and all people could suggest.

Justification of the bids

[ 6: 151 ] (...) He has given you this so that you may understand. [ 6: 152 ] (...) He has given you this so that you might consider it. [ 6: 153 ] (...) He has given you this so that you may fear God.

At the end of each of the three verses 6: 151-153, the aforementioned commandments are followed by a justification for the same. They describe a step-by-step development and thus clarify the ethical character of the command series.

For example, verse 6: 151 concludes with a statement that suggests that the aforementioned five offenses (i.e., idolatry, parental contempt, infanticide, fornication, and murder) were evidently commonplace in Arab tribal society at the time. Prohibiting them is apparently aimed at letting people first come to their senses, because ʿaqala / yaʿqilu , the Arabic verb for “to be understood”, derives from ʿaql (“understanding”, “reason”, “reflection”, “ Insight "). The human reason should be stimulated and bring about an inner change.

A process of reflection should follow the interruption of wrong doing as well as the use of the mind, as the final remark: “That you may consider it”, clarifies in 6: 152. The addressees should think more carefully about why the said offenses are evil and recognize on this basis that God gives them the respective commandments for their own good. This enables them to be affirmed as something good and thus internalized. The fact that taḏakkara / yataḏakkaru, as an Arabic verb for “ think ”, also means “to remember” , has a reinforcing effect : people are already aware of the harmfulness of the sins mentioned, even if they have been successfully suppressing or suppressing them for a long time may have otherwise excused his wrongdoing.

The end of 6: 153 finally points to a completion of the inner process: After his theoretical affirmation of the commandments, man can now also obey them in practice (or at least strive to do so). This is made possible by an ethical stance described in 6: 153 using the verb ittaqā / yattaqī (“to be godly”, “to be careful ”; “to be righteous”). Fear of God ( taqwā ) as a feeling of shame in front of God is a decisive motor for ethical action, because the commandments are obeyed for their sake even if the violation of certain norms cannot be punished by the “state”. Accordingly, man feels primarily responsible before God and therefore strives for his good pleasure instead of being concerned with his own earthly benefit at all costs.

Meaning of the requirement of sole worship

[ 6: 151 ] (...) You should not associate anything with him. (...)

The request to serve only one God is the first of the Ten Commandments in the Koran in both versions. But it is not: “Believe in God!”, Since faith as an intrinsic quantity cannot be enforced by decree. Instead, it operates as a prohibition of idolatry, which is legal - and not dogmatic! - Underlines the character of the command series. In the given context, the “ban on adding” refers to the standardization of the legal system, i. H. God stands for certain values ​​and principles, which are summarized in the Ten Commandments and articulated in contrast to other, contrary customs and practices.

If God is the lawgiver, then the worship of other masters brings with it a confusion of law, since pagan cults with their child sacrifices, magical practices etc. undermine much of what God has declared to be good, just and recognized. Therefore, at the end of the other version in 17: 23-39, God also means, for example, that God disapproves of the above-mentioned offenses and therefore nothing should be placed alongside Him that counteracts the unconditionality of this standard of values ​​(cf. 17: 38-39). The same is also true with regard to 6: 153, where God emphasizes at the end of the commandment that His straight path ( ṣirāṭ mustaqīm ) includes observance of the principles mentioned. For praying Muslims who ask several times a day to be led on this ṣirāṭ mustaqīm (cf. 1: 6), the Ten Commandments from 6: 151-153 are therefore absolutely binding; but not only for them, as u. a. the federal law in 6: 152 could suggest.

The sole worship requirement in 6: 151 is of great importance for the early Islamic context because the pagan Arabs in Muḥammad's time served many idols that led them moral astray in cultic, political and social terms. The worship of tribal deities ultimately promoted tribalism and thus a system of recurring violence and rejection. Tribal heads and priests demanded unconditional obedience from their communities - not least with recourse to the supposed will of the respective deity - even in the wrong. Since there was neither a central authority nor a common jurisdiction, the law of the stronger prevailed. In order to overcome the ongoing violence between rival tribes and the lack of rights of certain population groups (women, children, slaves, strangers etc.) as well as to secure generally binding values ​​and principles, a higher-level legislative authority was required, which with the one - or according to the old Arabic conception: highest - God Allaah (Eng. "the God") was identifiable.

In this context, serving one God also meant liberation from ʿibādat al-ʿibād, i.e. enslavement by other people: the tribal leaders and their arbitrariness should no longer represent the law, but God, whose commandments apply to everyone equally. In addition, the individual should not continue to be dependent on cultic intermediaries such as priests, seers or magicians who claim an exclusive "line" to this or that deity and thus exercise power. Instead, each individual was allowed to see himself directly as a servant of God. He could turn to him personally, which should also lead to a certain leveling of social structures.

Authority exercised by people loses neither its justification nor its importance with the sole veneration requirement, but it receives a reference value against which it can be checked, i.e. H. Man's power is always delegated and lent by God: to rule is to serve at the same time. If the actions of the state and authorities are based on God's legal and caring principle, i.e. it protects the basic values ​​expressed in the Ten Commandments and strives for justice, it is in principle also lawful, i.e. H. involved in God's rule.

Parents command

[ 6: 151 ] (...) (You should) show kindness to parents . (...)

The prohibition of sole worship is immediately followed in 6: 151 (and 17:23) by the parental commandment, to a certain extent in one breath, since the relevant partial verse wa-bil-wālidayni iḥsānan does not form a separate sentence. On the other hand, the parental commandment in 6: 151 is the first of three successive family commandments and can thus be understood as the beginning of a new group of commandments.

The great importance of the parental commandment explained in more detail in 17: 23-24 is also clear in many other places in the Koran (cf. 2: 83.180.215, 4:36, 29: 8, 31: 14-15, 45: 15-17 ): The parents are to be honored, one should care for them and be grateful and loyal to them. This basic attitude is developed more broadly in the hadith, e.g. B. in the prominent devotion to the mother (e.g. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buḫārī § 5971; Sunan an-Nasāʾī § 3106) or the appeal to cultivate good contact with parents and siblings ( e.g. Ǧāmiʿ at-Tirmiḏī § 1924) .

The otherwise mandatory parenting requirement was only restricted in three cases:

(1) One could not bend the law out of solidarity with the parents (cf. 4: 135). (2) One should not obey them if they call to associate something with God. Apart from that, one should listen to them and be kind and righteous to them (cf. 17:24, 29: 8, 31:15, 45:17) as long as they did not show militant enmity against the community of Muḥammad (cf. 58:22 , 60: 8-9). (3) But if they did so, they should not be taken as protectors at the expense of the believers. Rather, you had to - possibly also to your own material disadvantage! - to distance themselves from them when they worked against the cause of God and the Muslims or preferred unbelief - which in the Qur'an is almost always linked to injustice - to faith and righteous action (cf. 9: 23-24, 58:22, 60: 1 -6).

However, the parental command should not only be read with reference to the actual parents, but also to the elderly in general. For example, a canonical hadith in at-Tirmiḏī (st. 279/892) states - just to name an example - that he who does not treat the elderly with respect or show mercy to the children does not belong to the Islamic community, i.e. H. do not share their values ​​(cf. Ǧāmiʿ at-Tirmiḏī § 1919). Since parents are also the first authority figures with whom a person has to "grapple" in his development, the parental command may also be extended to the extent that it respects state and social authorities in general (e.g. teachers, police officers, doctors, Judges, politicians, etc.).

Prohibition of infanticide

[ 6: 151 ] (...) Do not kill your children because of impoverishment, (for) We provide for (both) you and them. (...)

The prohibition of infanticide or the commandment of children follows in 6: 151 directly on the parents' commandment, which demands "good doing" ( iḥsān ), in so far as the violent sin of infanticide opposed to it may be understood as the exact opposite of it. If you read the verse like this, then the children's commandment is definitely included in the invitation to “do good”, but even without this connection, the peculiarity of the second family commandment becomes immediately clear when one looks at the remark next to it: Is the biblical commandment to parents according to Eph 6, 2 “the first commandment that has a promise”, this statement in 6: 151 applies to the children's commandment, because God promises here that he will provide for both parents and children. Thus, the children's commandment is closely linked with īmān , that is, “trust in God” or “belief” in God and His gracious assistance, which actually does not apply to any other commandment in 6: 151-153.

In addition, the importance of the children's commandment in 6: 151 is underlined by the fact that it is tightened compared to its parallel in 17:31: If it says there that children should not be killed for fear of impoverishment, then it applies now even if the state of impoverishment has already occurred. The older verse 17:31 still offers an important addition, because it clearly states that infanticide is a great sin ( ḫiṭʾ kabīr ). This statement moves infanticide into the area of ​​so-called kabāʾir (Sg. Kabīra ), i.e. H. the "very big sins", which are phenomenologically - not in terms of punishment! - can be compared with the biblical "deadly sins". The term kabāʾir already appears in this meaning in the Koran (cf. 4:31, 42:37, 53:32). a. fighting in the holy month (cf. 2: 217), the wine and gambling (cf. 2: 219), the consumption of the orphan's property (cf. 4: 2) and the killing of children (cf. 17:31) counts.

The most important finding in connection with the children's commandment from 6: 151 and 17:31 is that children, both boys and girls, according to the Koranic understanding, have their own rights that are worthy of special mention! The most fundamental of these rights concerns, first of all, the right to life itself, but also the right to appropriate care and support and to one's own property, such as a. the orphan law in 6: 152 (and 17:34) clarified. Further rights of children can be derived from the Koran, such as the right to be with their own parents (cf. 28: 7-13) and the right to a good upbringing (cf. 31: 12-19). The Koran also teaches that children have a right to be taken seriously by their parents and by adults in general (including 12: 4-6, 19: 27-33.41-48). In the Islamic tradition further rights are formulated (e.g. the right to a beautiful name, to parental love or to honesty on the part of adults). Anyone who cheats children out of their rights will be held accountable, at the latest on the day of the judgment. B. 81: 8-9 suggests.

Furthermore - especially in connection with the slaughter of the sons of the Israelites under the tyrannical Pharaoh, condemned by the Koran (cf. 2:49, 7: 141, 14: 6) - it should be considered to what extent the prohibition of infanticide is not a proxy for protection of all the “weak” in a society over which one has unlimited power due to its defenselessness. Although these - like the children - are in principle also included in the general prohibition of killing at 6: 151 and 17:33, a twofold declaration of their right to life naturally gives more emphasis to its unconditional validity.

Prohibition of fornication and other sexual practices

[ 6: 151 ] (...) Draw near to not to indecencies , (no matter) what and what is hidden from them open. (...)

After the first family commandment related to the parents and the second to the children, the third family commandment now focuses on the relationship to the partner or to possible but unauthorized partnerships. The Qur'an understands the shamefulness ( fawāḥiš , Sing. Fāḥiša ) mentioned in 6: 151 v. a. sexual offenses (including 4: 15.19.25, 7:80, 12:24), as is also clear from the parallel in 17:32, which describes fornication ( zinā ) as something shameful ( fāḥiša ). Incest is also considered fāḥiša after 4:22 and 7:28 and is therefore strictly forbidden.

The prohibition of shamefulness is formulated in such a way that it affects not only the act of fornication, etc., but also every step on the way there. A gender segregation, as it is in many Islamic countries - v. a. to the detriment of women - is to be found, but does not justify it. Nor does it justify family vigilante justice when punishing young women or men who - however definable - maintain contact with the opposite sex, because the Koran does not allow murders anywhere to defend family honor. Instead, he underlines the protection of women from defamation (cf. 24: 4-10) and, through his demand from four eyewitnesses, also makes it impossible to carry out the corporal punishment intended for fornication (100 lashes with the stick). The idea that you can judge your partner even if you catch him red-handed with someone else is also resolutely backed up by the hadith ( aḥīḥ Muslim § 1498).

The unconditional avoidance ( iintināb ) of that which can lead to fornication has much more to do with an attitude. It is important to be aware of the gravity of the offense and to respect each other's boundaries to protect one's family as well as one's own. It goes without saying that the prohibition of shamefulness mentioned in 6: 151 also includes all forms of sexual violence.

General ban on killing

[ 6: 151 ] (...) Do not kill human life that God has declared inviolable, unless authorized. (...)

The prohibition of killing is the last commandment from verse 6: 151 and thus completes the series of the first five commandments. It can be observed that the sequence of these commandments gradually changes from the inside to the outside, i.e. H. it begins with the single worship commandment with humans themselves and then leads over with the three family commandments to their immediate environment, before it bridges the gap with society with the general prohibition of killing and thus prepares the transition to the commandments in verse 6: 152.

The general prohibition of killing in 6: 151 (and 17:33) represents an extension of the prohibition of infanticide mentioned shortly before: God has declared the individual ( nafs ) to be ḥarām , which, in addition to “inviolable” v. a. also means “holy”, therefore the Koranic prohibition of killing is not fulfilled simply by letting the other person live; Instead, his life must be protected and promoted, which in turn relates not only to his physical but also mental well-being, because the Arabic word nafs also stands for the soul. It is therefore logical to keep away from people everything that can destroy them spiritually.

At the same time, however, verses 6: 151 and 17:33 also speak of a restriction of the absolute prohibition of killing if there is a legal claim ( ḥaqq ). What exactly is meant by such a legal claim is concretized in 17:33 itself, in the form of blood vengeance, which in pre-Islamic Arab tribal society - as strange as this may sound from today's perspective - served as an instrument of de-escalation: In a conflict between two clans for one murder should be rewarded like with like to prevent a war in this way. Although the Koran ultimately seeks to overcome tribalism, in the late Meccan context of Suras 6 and 17 it initially takes this old custom into account, but for the first time restricts it by attempting to contain the extent of vengeance.

In Medina the Muḥammad also finds such tribal structures that he cannot completely change overnight , so it is understandable why the Koran also confirms the right to retaliation ( qiṣāṣ ) - again with regard to social reality - in early Medinan times ( cf. 2: 178.194) and points out that it actually serves to protect life (cf. 2: 179). With qiṣāṣ , however, a new term is introduced, which could suggest that retaliation is already somewhat “institutionalized”; H. has been transferred into the hands of a cross-tribal jurisdiction. The relevant qiṣāṣ verses 2: 178-179 can also be understood differently due to their formulation (cf. the parallel to "Life for life, an eye for an eye ..." in 5:45); for example, in the sense of a blood or pain and suffering payment, which apply to manslaughter anyway (cf. 4:92).

According to the consensus under Islamic law, however, verses 2: 178-179 are interpreted as a death penalty for murder (not manslaughter!), On the one hand with reference to the seriousness of the act, which, according to 5:32, amounts to the extinction of all humanity, and on the other hand on the grounds that the execution of the murderer prevented further killing (possibly 2: 179). If you bear in mind that the early Islamic community in the desert had neither a police apparatus nor a penal system, but had to fight for the implementation of a state monopoly of force and a generally binding jurisdiction, then the death penalty for murder as well as the Koranic corporal punishment in general as ad hoc measures that do not stand in the way of further development of the law.

The fact that 17:33 only restricts the absolute prohibition of killing in the case of retribution for murder also shows that adultery, apostasy and other offenses do not justify the death penalty. Accordingly, the Koran says nothing about stoning in the event of adultery. Even the relevant hadiths are - apart from their questionable authenticity - polyphonic and hardly suitable as a legal basis. The situation is similar with the apostasy, for which there is again nothing in the Koran, while the sayings from the Sunna are more likely to have political than religious connotations, i.e. H. they relate to high treason in war and not to the adoption of any other religion. According to the Koran, killing a human life is only permitted in war, provided that it is used to defend one's own (or an allied) community (inter alia 4:91). In this context it is important to point out that basically all Quranic war verses react to an already existing conflict and do not call for a provocation of one.

Orphan law

[ 6: 152 ] Do not approach the orphan's fortune, unless in the best way, until it is at full strength. (...)

As the second child commandment within the Koranic Ten Commandments, the orphan commandment in 6: 152 (and 17:34) extends the framework of the first child commandment twice, because on the one hand it now focuses on the orphans as those in need of protection in addition to their own children and on the other it supplements the right to life mentioned there with the right to inherit and own property.

In 17:34, the orphan's commandment is followed directly by the commandment to fulfill one's responsibility by fulfilling commitments made. This command does not necessarily have to be linked to the orphan command, as it encompasses much more, but it may well be "overheard" when interpreting the latter, especially since it is still in the same verse and, moreover, the wording of the orphan command itself suggests that it cannot be fulfilled with the mere renunciation of self-enrichment.

Orphans - incidentally also Muḥammad himself (cf. 93: 6)! - In pre-Islamic times, they mostly came under the care of a (close) relative who agreed to take over the guardianship for them and to manage their assets in trust. However, the Qur'an underlines in numerous passages both in Meccan (cf. 76: 8, 89:17, 90:15, 93: 9, 107: 2) that they were (and still is) to be shown love, kindness and care. as well as in Medinan suras (including 2: 220, 4: 2.10.36), where he v. a. in the latter makes it clear that the responsibility for orphans concerns the entire community: everyone should have mercy on them as far as possible, donate for them and in general strive for justice for them (cf. 2: 177.215, 4: 127). Furthermore, part of the taxes is to be paid specifically to orphans (cf. 4: 8, 8:41, 59: 7).

Remarkably, the prohibition of embezzlement is formulated as absolutely as that of fornication, since it is also introduced with the imperative: “Do not approach!” ( Lā taqrabū ).

Wording of the commandments in 17: 23-39

A more detailed - and probably somewhat older - version of the Ten Commandments can be found in the 17th sura, which is also called "The Children of Israel" ( Sūrat Banī Isrāʾīl ). It was probably also "sent down" around the last year before the emigration to Medina. In contrast to 6: 151-153, the command series contained therein in verses 17: 23-39 seems to be addressed primarily to the church of Muḥammad. It reads like this:

1	[ 17:23 ] Your Lord has ordained that you should only serve Him,
2	And the parents finish (turn) shall . If one of them or both of you grow old, do not say to them: ugh! And do not hit them, but speak respectful words to them. [ 24 ] For them, out of mercy, lower the wing of submission and say, My Lord, have mercy on them, how they raised me when I was little. [ 25 ] Your Lord knows better what is inside you. If you are righteous, He is forgiving of those who keep repenting.
3	[ 26 ] Give the relative his justice, also the needy and the traveler, but do not act entirely wasteful. [ 27 ] Behold, those who are wasteful are brothers of Satans, (for) Satan is very ungrateful to his Lord. [ 28 ] If you care but they (the relatives, the needy etc.) turn away in pursuit of a hoped for from you mercy of your Lord, say to them mild words. [ 29 ] And do not let your hand be tied to your neck, but do not stretch it out completely, otherwise you will be rebuked and penniless. [ 30 ] Your Lord generously distributes livelihoods to whom He wills, and also in a measured manner. He has knowledge of His servants and He sees them well.
4th	[ 31 ] Do not kill your children for fear of impoverishment. We provide for (both) them and you. See, killing them is a great sin.
5	[ 32 ] Do not approach fornication. See, it is a shameful thing and a wicked way.
6th	[ 33 ] Do not kill human life that God has declared inviolable unless authorized. If someone is killed unjustly, We give authority to his closest relative (over the murderer) . Only he shouldn't be excessive in killing. See, he will find assistance.
7th	[ 34 ] Do not approach the orphan's fortune, unless in the best way, until it is at full strength.
	Meets commitments made. See, the commitments are held accountable.
8th	[ 35 ] Give full measure when you measure. And weighs with the right scales. That is better and leads to a nicer result.
9	[ 36 ] Do not pursue what you have no knowledge of. See, hearing, eyesight and heart, all this is accounted for.
10	[ 37 ] And do not walk unconcerned about the earth. You will neither be able to pierce the earth nor reach the mountains in height.
	[ 38 ] The evil of all this is frowned upon by your Lord. [ 39 ] This is some of the wisdom your Lord has revealed to you. And don't set another god aside, otherwise you will be thrown into hell, reproached and cast out.

History of the effects of the Koranic Ten Commandments

The Koranic Ten Commandments were interpreted as universal law early on, as a look at the Islamic tradition shows: For example, verses 6: 151-153 in a hadith at at-Tirmiḏī are associated with the document on which the seal of Muḥammad is found ( aṣ-ṣaḥīfa al-latī ʿalayhā ḫātam Muḥammad ): Whoever wants to know what was in it, should read 6: 151-153 (cf. Ǧāmiʿ at-Tirmiḏī § 3070). This remark is instructive insofar as the Arabic term ṣaḥīfa suggests the document of Medina ( ṣaḥīfat al-Madīna ), which was a contractual agreement between Muslims, Jews and (partially) pagan Arabs who share a common legal system and wanted to give jurisdiction.

The central meaning of 6: 151-153 also speaks from other traditions, where e.g. B. as waṣiyyat rasūl Allāh ("the instruction / legacy of the Messenger of God") and thus - analogous to the Decalogue in the Bible! - be regarded as a summary of the divine instructions. The Koran scholar Ibn Kaṯīr (st. 774/1373) even describes the verses as umm al-kitāb (roughly "original") and thus underlines their timeless validity. A very similar thought - because it is also based on Koran 3: 7 - can already be found in the Koran commentary by aṭ-Ṭabarī (st. 310/923): He quotes a tradition of the companion of the prophet Ibn ʿAbbās (st. 68/687), according to which it 6: 151-153 is about al-āyāt al-muḥkamāt , i.e. “the unambiguous verses” (in the Koran) par excellence. This judgment appears in a more detailed form in the Tafsir of al-Qurṭubī (st. 671/1272). In the tradition given there, Ibn ʿAbbās says that verses 6: 151-153 are inherently clear and that all religions on earth would agree with regard to the commandments contained therein. He also mentions the view that those commandments are identical to the “Ten Words” ( al-ʿašr kalimāt ) which were once given to Moses.

The latter understanding, which is suggested to a certain extent by the Koran text itself (cf. 6: 154), can be found in other classical Koran commentaries as it were; for example with aṭ-Ṭabarī, who quotes a saying of the - formerly Jewish - Tābiʿī Kaʿb al-Aḥbār (st. 32/653), according to which the basmala , d. H. the formula: “In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful”, and 6: 151-153 are said to have been the first thing that was written in the Torah ( awwal šayʾ fī t-Tawrāh ). Al-Qurṭubī and as-Suyūṭī (st. 911/1505) also narrate almost the same thing, namely the former with reference to Kaʿb and the latter on the authority of Abū ʿUbayd (st. 224/828).

This shows that the Islamic tradition saw a close proximity between 6: 151-153 and the biblical Decalogue very early on, which is not least due to the similarity between the two texts, which Hartwig Hirschfeld (1854-1934) already noted will have been. Furthermore, in view of the authorities mentioned, it can be stated that this close association was also able to prevail in exegesis, although it was apparently only later - as can be proven from Ibn Taymiyya (st. 728/1328) - that the commandment series from 6: 151- 153 actually to be referred to as the "Ten Commandments" ( al-waṣāyā al-ʿašr ).

The longer version of the Ten Commandments in 17: 23-39 is quoted by many exegetes in the same breath with 6: 151-153, although the latter seem to have a certain dominance in reception.

The Ten Commandments in the Koran and the Bible: Similarities and Differences

Despite their sometimes remarkable proximity to Ex 20,2-17 / Dtn 5,6-21, the commandments from 6: 151-153 and 17: 23-39 have their own profile, which is independent of the Bible can already be recognized by their arrangement. In the biblical decalogue, all of the commandments related to God are presented first and only afterwards are the interpersonal commandments mentioned, which enables the decalogue to be divided into two tables. In 6: 151-153 and 17: 23-39, on the other hand, the interpersonal commandments are at the center and the “God's commandments” are framed at the beginning and the end.

In addition, with regard to the individual commandments, there are also some special features in terms of content that show that the Koranic Ten Commandments are not directly dependent on the biblical Decalogue. In the Qur'anic, they even seem to separate themselves to a certain extent from the Moses narrative, because although the Qur'an reports on the tables of the Law of Moses (cf. 7: 145) and in another passage also mentions some commandments that are said to have been conveyed to the children of Israel ( cf. 2: 83-84), it is nevertheless noticeable that those commandments do not correspond to those in 6: 151-153 or 17: 23-39. Presumably, this deviation was intended to prevent the Koranic Ten Commandments from being identified too much with Moses and the children of Israel and from being deemed no longer relevant. The basic similarities to the Torah are, however, confirmed, as v. a. appears from 6: 154.

The most striking peculiarity of the Koranic Ten Commandments compared to the Decalogue of the Bible is that they contain two commandments that concern children. What is missing in each of the Ten Commandments in the Koran is a parallel to the Sabbath commandment. This can be explained by the fact that 6: 151-153 and 17: 23-39 are purely ethical series of commandments. Cultic ordinances have evidently been deliberately avoided here in order to guarantee the universalisability of the commandments in question: It seems that they were not proclaimed as specifically Islamic principles, but should also be acceptable to members of other religions (especially Jews and Christians). This would also explain why the Koran - unlike the Bible - deliberately dispenses with a ban on images in connection with the requirement of sole worship.

The other deviations between the Ten Commandments in the Koran and the Bible are - at least in terms of their subject matter - less great, as the following overview shows. Nevertheless, there are sometimes subtle differences in the formulation of the individual commandments.

Ex 20.2-17	6: 151-153	17: 23-39	Dtn 5.6-21
1. Solicitor worship	1. Solicitor worship	1. Solicitor worship	1. Solicitor worship
2. Prohibition of blasphemy	2. Parents' command	2. Parents' command	2. Prohibition of blasphemy
3. Sabbath commandment	3. Prohibition of infanticide	3. Precept of care	3. Sabbath commandment
4. Parents' command	4. Prohibition of sexual offenses	4. Prohibition of infanticide	4. Parents' command
5. Ban on killing	5. Ban on killing	5. Prohibition of fornication	5. Ban on killing
6. Prohibition of adultery	6. Orphan Law	6. Ban on killing	6. Prohibition of adultery
7. Prohibition of theft	7. Law of honest trading	7. Orphan Law	7. Prohibition of theft
8. Law of truth	8. Commandment of fair speech	8. Law of honest trading	8. Law of truth
9. Prohibition of request (I)	9. Federal Law	9. Prohibition of curiosity	9. Prohibition of request (I)
10. Prohibition of request (II)	10. Commandment to follow one way of God	10. Law of mindfulness	10. Prohibition of request (II)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Aḥmad Ḫālid Šukrī / ʿImrān Samīḥ Nazzāl: ʿIlm tārīḫ nuzūl āyāt al-Qurʾān al-karīm wa-suwarih , Amman ¹ 1423/2002, pp. 187-188.
2. ↑ The Koran , ed. and over. by Adel Theodor Khoury, © 2007, Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh (in the Random House GmbH publishing group); Interventions are indicated in italics ; the same goes for 17: 23-39.
3. ↑ Theodor Nöldeke: History of the Qorāns , vol. 1 ["On the origin of the Qorāns"], 2nd edition, edit. by Friedrich Schwally, Leipzig 1909, p. 161.
4. ↑ Stefan Schreiner: “Muhammad's Sermon on the Mount. Reflections on Koran Sura 2,178-185 “, in ders .: The Jewish Bible in Islamic Interpretation , ed. v. Friedmann Eißler and Matthias Morgenstern, Tübingen 2012, pp. 217–222.
5. ↑ Patrick Brooks: The teachings of Jesus in the Arabic-Islamic literature. An examination of selected traditions about the Sermon on the Mount and other ethical-ascetic words of Jesus , Berlin 2019, pp. 433-440.
6. ↑ Roswitha Badry: "The instrument of hereticization, its politicization and the need for a reassessment of the Sharia and the question of apostasy in Islam", in: Thorsten G. Schneiders: Islamverherrigung. When criticism becomes taboo , Wiesbaden 2010, pp. 117–129.
7. ↑ Aṭ-Ṭabarānī (st. 360/918): al-Muʿǧam al-awsāṭ , Cairo 1415 / [1994], vol. 2, p. 43.
8. ↑ Sebastian Günther: “ O People of the Scripture! Come to a Word Common to You and Us (3:64). The Ten Commandments and the Qur'an “, in: Journal of Qur'anic Studies [London] No. 9/2 (2007), p. 41.
9. ↑ Tafsīr a-Ṭabarī , Kairo 1431/2010, Vol. 12, p. 226 § 14156 [to 6: 152].
10. ↑ Günther, p. 40.
11. ↑ Tafsīr a--Ṭabarī , Vol. 12, p. 227 § 14157 [with reference to Kaʿb al-Aḥbār]; see also ibid., pp. 232-233 [interpretation to 6: 154].
12. ↑ Günther, p. 40.
13. ↑ Ibid., P. 36.
14. ↑ Hartwig Hirschfeld: Contributions to the explanation of the Korân , Leipzig 1886, p. 19.
15. ↑ Günther, p. 41.