Tablets of Moses (a): Difference between revisions

'''Tablets of Moses''' or '''Alwāḥ Mūsā''' (Arabic: {{ia|ألواح موسی}}) are two tablets sent down to the prophet [[Moses]] on which the [[Ten Commandments]] were inscribed. Upon witnessing the [[Israelites]] worshiping a calf, Moses was infuriated and threw the tablets on the ground. According to Islamic sources, the broken pieces of tablets survived among the Israelites and were kept in the [[Ark of the Covenant]]. However, according to the [[Torah]], Moses (a) went to [[Mount Sinai]] again, where second Tablets were sent down to him.

The divine [[revelation]] was inscribed on stone tablets and was then sent down to Moses. The Torah narrates the story as follows: "Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.* The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets".

Although the [[Qur'an]] is not explicit on the tablets being sent down in the "place of appointment" ("miqat"), it does say that when Moses returned from the "miqat" and witnessed people worshiping a calf, he threw down the tablets, and when he calmed down, he grabbed the broken pieces of the tablets again.

Some [[Exegetes]] of the Qur'an such as [['Allama Tabataba'i]] believe that the tablets are the same as the Torah. Others maintain that they were sent down before the revelation of the Torah. [[Rashid Rida]], the author of ''[[al-Minar]]'', says about the relationship between the tablets and the Torah: "the Tablets were the first part of the judicial law. Indeed, they were a concise version of the Torah, and then detailed rulings regarding worships, transactions, and the like were gradually revealed on different occasions. The same type of revelation is true of the Qur'an as well".

The tablets were kept in the [[Ark of the Covenant]] in the [[Solomon's Temple]]. Eventually, after [[Nebuchadnezzar]]'s invasion on [[Jerusalem]] and the destruction of the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant and tablets inside it were lost.

The [[Torah]] is explicit that there were two Tablets: "the two Tablets of the Ten Commandments". The Qur'an talks about "alwah" ("tablets" in the plural from, rather than the dual form) without referring to the number. Thus, there are different views among exegetes of the Qur'an with respect to the number of the tablets. Some of them believe that in Arabic, plural form is used instead of the dual form (muthanna), so the tablets were two.