Moses lived in the
wilderness. There were no prisons for the punishment of criminals. Hence,
according to the exigency of the time, the law was an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth. Is it possible to follow such a law now? In the Torah there
are ten commandments concerning murder. These ten ordinances, concerning the
treatment of murderers, cannot be enforced now.
Even regarding
capital punishment, wise men are studying this question, as they maintain that
capital punishment should be abolished.
The laws of the
Torah were from God but they were suited for that time. If a man committed
theft to the extent of a dollar, the exigency of that time demanded that they
cut off his hand but now you cannot cut off a man's hand for stealing one
thousand dollars. Such laws were laid down in every Dispensation in accordance
with the needs of the age and are subject to change; they are non-essential.
The essentials are spiritual in character and have to do with morality. They
are the one foundation of religions and are subject to neither change or
multiplicity.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, From a talk at San Francisco’s Jewish
Temple, October 12, 1912, San Francisco, USA, recorded by Mahmud Zarqani;
‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
