The
Ten Commandments of God as stated in most of the latest versions of the Old
Testament of the holy Bible are really the bedrock of the morality associated
with the three major religions that spread out of the Middle East to all
corners of the world. They are stated with great emphasis and in various
contexts in the holy Qur’an also. The New Living Version is quoted below with
my notes in italics.
Then God gave the
people all these instructions:
I am the Lord your
God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
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1. You must not have any other god but me.
(Basic concept of monotheism, common with Islam)
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2. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the
earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I,
the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for
any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire
family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those
who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on
those who love me and obey my commands.
(Prohibition of idolatry, common with Islam. However in the
period between Moses and Muhammad, God seems to have decided that nobody
should bear the burden of another’s guilt and the curse was removed. )
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3. You must not misuse the name of the Lord your
God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you
misuse his name.
(A false oath in the name of God is also sinful in Islam)
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4. Remember to observe the
Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a
Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in
your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters,
your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living
among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and
everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
(Sabbath literally means seventh. In Islam
Friday is the day of congregation (juma) and according to the Qur’an each of
the days in which God created the world was as long as our thousand years.)
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5. Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your
God is giving you.
(This is a basic value of civilization and can be found in all
religions practiced in any part of the world)
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6. You must not murder.
(This is a universal prohibition of killing human beings under
any circumstances. In the holy Qur’an the statement has been qualified in
various contexts. An extremist Jew, Christian, Muslim or Hindu thinks that the
prohibition of murder applies only to other adherents of his own faith and it
is virtuous to kill the adherents of other faiths. They need to be told
otherwise, especially Israelis that they should not kill Palestinians.)
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7. You must not commit adultery.
(This is the basic difference between Middle Eastern Divine
religions and the Greek and Hindu mythologies in which the gods themselves
were promiscuous.)
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8. You must not steal.
(Here is another blanket injunction: stealing is prohibited from
anyone and under all circumstances including infidels and enemies.)
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9. You must not testify falsely against your
neighbor.
(It seems that God in His infinite wisdom had anticipated the
present day conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and warned
against calumnies and false propaganda.)
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10. You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife,
male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your
neighbor.
(This seems to be another forewarning for the Israelis not to takeaway
Palestinian lands or build housing schemes on their usurped lands.
For more comparisons
with Islamic injunctions go to one of the links below:
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