Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 9
9 3. The non-corporal nature of God 4. God is the First and Last 5. God is All-knowing, All-Seeing and the Lord 6. Prayers should only be directed to God 7. God rewards good and punishes bad deeds 8. The words of the prophets are true 9. Moses is the chief of all prophets 10. The present Torah is the same as revealed to Moses 11. The Law of Torah is the last Law from God 12. The coming of the Messiah 13. The belief in the Resurrection (life after death) The central belief expressed in the Hebrew Bible concerns the Unity and love of God. This is evident from the Hebrew declaration of faith, the Shemah, 8 which could be considered equivalent to the Islamic kalima (proclamation of faith): "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, And with all your soul and with all your might And these words which I command you shall be upon your heart" THE CODES FOR SOCIAL AND MORAL CONDUCT The Hebrew Bible contains hundreds of codes and directives for the Israelites by which to conduct their spiritual and worldly affairs. Of these, the famous Ten Commandments 7 are summarized below: 1. You shall have no other gods besides Me 2. You shall not make any image or likeness of anything in heaven above 3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain 4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy 5. Honor your father and your mother 6. You shall not commit murder 7. You shall not commit adultery 8. You shall not steal 9. You shall not bear false witness 10. You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor's Some additional directives, besides the Ten Commandments, are: • You shall not oppress your neighbor • You shall do no injustice in weight or in measure • You shall seek no vengeance • Open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor