Home > Surah 5 - The Table Spread
This verse serves as a direct textual link between the Quran and the Torah, providing a literal quotation of the Law of Retaliation (Lex Talionis). This is a "Certification of Text," proving that the Quran viewed the physical Torah of the 7th century as a PERFECT record of God’s previous decrees.
Surah 5:45:
And We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution. But whoever gives charity, it is an expiation for him. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the wrongdoers.
In a debate, the Christian polemicist points to the literal list: eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
This list exists in the Torah we have today and the Torah that existed in the 7th century.
If a Muslim claims the Torah was corrupted before Muhammad, they must explain why the Quran is quoting the "corrupted" version as the authoritative Word of Allah ("We ordained..."). If the Quran quotes it, the Quran certifies it. If the Quran certifies it, the Torah is the Word of God.
Like the previous verse, 5:45 ends with a warning. Allah tells the audience they MUST judge by what He revealed.
If a Jew in Medina opened his Torah and judged by it, he would see the specific laws of the Covenant and the prophecies of a Messiah from the line of Isaac. By telling him to "judge by what Allah revealed," the Quran is inadvertently telling the Jew to stay a Jew and reject any later prophet who contradicts that Torah.
The detail of "wounds for wounds" shows that the Quranic author was looking at the minute details of the Mosaic Law.
You don't quote the "fine print" of a contract if you believe the contract is a forgery. The level of detail in 5:45 proves that the Quran regarded the 7th-century Jewish scrolls as a reliable, point-by-point record of divine law. This makes the "Total Corruption" theory historically and textually impossible within a Quranic framework.
By quoting the Lex Talionis and commanding that people judge by it, the Quran seals its own fate: it cannot be a "guardian" over a book that it quotes as the absolute truth if that same book’s broader theology (the sacrificial system, the blood atonement) renders the Quran’s new system unnecessary.
If the Torah was the "Word of Allah" enough to be quoted, it was the "Word of Allah" enough to be followed—and following it leads away from Islam.
The Quran's inclusion of the "mercy/charity" clause in this verse suggests an attempt to harmonize Mosaic Law with the "Grace" found in the Gospel mentioned in Surah 5:46 which follows.