Exodus 211 Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them:2 “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the

seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. ...12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 15 “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise....28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be

stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished.

29 “If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death...

Deuteronomy 22

13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then turns against her, 14 and charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,’

15 then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.

16 … And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.

18 “So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.

20 “But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 2319 “You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on

money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20 “You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.

Deuteronomy 24;19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a

sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 “When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.

Jeremiah 69 [Jeremiah said:] “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from

Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver.

10 “I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

11 “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy;

12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.

13 “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these

deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.”

A Mishnah and GemaraMISHNAH. SOME FINDS BELONG TO THE FINDER; OTHERS MUST BE

ANNOUNCED. THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES BELONG TO THE FINDER: IF ONE FINDS SCATTERED FRUIT, SCATTERED MONEY, SMALL SHEAVES IN A PUBLIC THROUGHFARE....

GEMARA. IF ONE FINDS SCATTERED FRUIT, etc. What quantity of fruit in a given space is meant? R. Isaac said, A kab within four cubits. But what kind of case is meant? If the fruit appears to have been dropped accidentally, then even is there is more than a kab it should also belong to the finder. And if it appears to have been deliberately put down, then even if there is a smaller quantity it should not belong to the finder...[followed by discussion and debate and differing viewpoints]

[Baba Mezia, ch. 11, of the Babylonian Talmud]

Islamic Law

Shari’ah law

Based on:

• The Koran (Qur’an)

• The sunnahs of Mohammed

• Interpretations of scholars (until the 10th century, when interpretation was “closed”)

Crimes in Shari’ah law

• death for apostasy and for highway robbery;

• amputation of the hand for theft; • death by stoning for extramarital sex

relations if the offender is married and 100 lashes for unmarried offenders;

• 80 lashes for an unproved accusation of unchastity and for the drinking of any intoxicant.