The “Ten Commandments” and the “Tablets” in Shī‘ī and Sunnī Exegetical Literature

This paper studies the existence of the “Ten Commandments” in the Qur’ān. First, the writer addresses the viewpoints of the Sunnī interpreters and draws the conclusion that, in respect to the “Tablets” that the Qur’ān has referred to its revelation to the Prophet Moses (A.S.), most of the Sunnī interpreters believe that the Tablets consist of a collection of legal regulations in relation to Judaism. Then, he addresses the viewpoints of early Shī‘a interpreters and maintains that, by resorting to the two terms, “maw’iḍa” (preach) and “tafṣīl” (detail), they have considered the Tablets as containing sciences that have been bequeathed to the Imams from the Prophets and their legatees, and that it is somehow related to the word jafr that is brought up in Ahl al-Bayt’s traditions. However, modern Shī‘a interpreters have not accepted this viewpoint and are more of the opinion that the Tablets contain the Torah and all the things that Banī Isrā’īl required for preserving their religious tenets and practices.
The writer has also discussed the relationship between the Tablets and the knowledge of the Imams and their authority from the Shī‘ī point of view.