Jewish and Islamic Law

Jewish and Islamic Law

Similarities and Differences

There are many shared aspects between Judaism and Islam. Because of this, there has been considerable and continued physical, theological, and political overlap between the two faiths. Much of this overlap can be attributed to the close geographic proximity in which each tradition lived and evolved for various reasons and in various places over time. In addition, however, there are considerable differences. These primarily have to do with not only laws and traditions, but also with faith. In Judaism, there is much scholarly debate and interpretation of written and oral tradition with emphasis on the abiding of law before ascribing to an absolute truth, whereas in Islamic tradition things are much more concrete and viewed as absolute with faith, law, and tradition being completely inseparable. However, both see their political and religious worldviews as indissoluble. This essay will address the similarities as well as the differences within these two major Abrahamic religions.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam all share the lineage of Abraham. Jewish religion descends from Abraham’s son Isaac, known as Father of the Hebrews and Islam from Abraham’s son, Ishmael, Father of the Arab’s. Both adhere strictly to the premise of monotheism with a one True God, Yahweh in Judaism and Allah in Islam. These religions base much of their religious practice in lawful ideology handed down in the form of Scripture. Judaism and Islam understand divine revelation as being basis for their Scripture, revealed through Prophets and passed on to its followers.

For the Jews, the written Torah, Prophets, and Writings as well as an “Oral Torah”, laid the foundation for Jewish Law. For Islam, scriptural jurisprudence comes from the Quran, cited as the direct word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad as the final revelation from God and a completion of all other revelations. Islam does not discount the revelations and teachings of other Prophets; however, viewing Muhammad’s revelations as “final” implies loss of credibility to both Judaism and Christianity.

Within Judaism, it seems as though the “focus” is more upon deeds and practices as it is upon beliefs. These practices, known as mitzvot, are legal prescriptions or a “way of life” which assist an individual with his or her connection to God and to other Jews. These legal prescriptions come from a combination of written and oral tradition and bound in halacha, or legal interpretation. The Ten Commandments are the primary laws that are central to Jewish tradition. In addition, 603 additional commandments serve in various forms, although many are no longer practical.

As mentioned above there is the written Torah, or the revelation to Moses at Sinai that was dictated into the first five books of the Bible. In addition, there are the Prophets, Nevi’im in Hebrew, that document the 700-year history after Moses. The Ketuvim, or Writings, which contain prayers, hymns, history and proverbs is the last part of what is collectively known as the Tanach. The Tanach is known as the Jewish community as the Holy Scriptures or Hebrew Bible. Calling it the Old Testament, is not appropriate as this reflects a very Christian interpretation that compares it to the New Testament, which Jewish observers understand to be the Christian Bible or Christian Scriptures.

The Oral Torah, or teachings that were verbally passed down from the time of Moses onward, were eventually recorded in written form to become the Mishnah. The Oral Torah gave guidance in day-to-day events in the community. The Mishnah gives in detail, information and instruction regarding six things: Agriculture, Holy Days, Women, Property, Holy Things (temple paraphernalia), and Ritual Purity and Impurities (one of the most important). When the Mishna was completed, scholars of two separate schools, those from Babylonia and those from Palestine studied it intensely and offered up their own opinions of it. This is known as Gemara. The combination of Mishna and Gemara is Talmud.

Islam derives its law, also known as Shari’a, from the Quran, the Sunna, and the consensus of the community, or umma. The Quran, much like the Torah, is the divine revelation as received by the Prophet Muhammad. This “final word” is seen as unalterable and not fit for interpretation or debate it stands as is. This differentiates it significantly from Judaism in that Torah and Talmud, particularly Talmud, is constantly the subject of scholarly debate and scrutiny. The Sunna or way of the Prophet focuses on the habits of Muhammad as they represent