The seventh-day Sabbath in the Qur’an

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While I was revising my book on the Sabbath [i] it was interesting to discover that Jews Christians and Muslims may well have the same basis for respecting the Sabbath. In this article, I want to explore with you the basis of the Sabbath – As-Sabt – in the Qur’an.
Muslims, Christians and Jews believe that God[ii] created the world and everything in it in six days. The three monotheistic religions claim a common origin in the Garden of Eden. All three claim Abraham – Muslims call him Ibrahim – as their father and example of faith. And all three speak of the Sabbath of the seventh day. Just as the Christian world has departed from the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday, so have the Muslims done with Friday.

The vast majority of Christians, like Muslims, claim that the Sabbath is not important to their service to God because, they both say, “it is only for the Jews.” In my book, I offer evidence of the intentional change by the church to elevate Sunday over the Seventh-day Sabbath. History attests that Muslims have done the same with regard to Fridays.[iii]

It is very meaningful to understand that all three religions agree that before there were Jews, even before Abraham appeared on the scene, the Holy One had a people who worshiped Him in truth. And we may understand that if this Holy God created the world in six days – all three religions take that to be true – and if He rested from His work of creation on the seventh day and thereby made it a special monument in time, that this monument does not belong to any particular group, but that it is the day of the Holy God Himself.

It is His day and He has made it a special day of remembrance and has given it to His faithful servants to reverence it to honor Himself. The seventh-day Sabbath is not Jewish because it originated more than 2,000 years before any Jew walked the earth. The word Jew is derived from the name Judah, one of the sons of Jacob, a son of Isaac, brother of Ishmael, sons of Abraham. The origin of the Sabbath is from before the Fall of man (Genesis^21-3)[iv]. It is given to remember a perfect creation and provides man with an abundance of blessings and joy (Isaiah 5813^.14).

It is a new revelation to many that all three religious books, Tanakh, Bible and Koran, speak of this Sabbath of Elohim, the LORD and Exalted One. But as the Christian world leads its believers away from the claims of the Sabbath, so does the Muslim world with its Mu’mins [v] , for Sabbath is indeed mentioned in the Qur’an. The Christians have made Sunday the seventh day of the week, when in fact it is the first; the Muslims have made Friday the seventh day, when in fact it is the sixth. This is done to deter the faithful from observing the holy day of the Almighty.

God is the Only One who established time for us, and He is the Only One who established the week of seven days as a fundamental unit of time, not relating it to a solar or lunar cycle or a mathematical or physical system. But from ancient times to the present day, man in his stubborn disobedience has made the Sabbath a point of contention. Among Jews, Christians and Muslims, people dispute God’s authority over His Sabbath.

Few people realize that the word As-Sabt in Arabic means the same as Shabbat in Hebrew means RUST, in the sense of ceasing from work, ceasing from the Work of Creation; it does not indicate a rest from fatigue. Everyone agrees that God cannot grow weary (Isaiah ⁴⁰²⁸).

The word Sabt, Sabbath, occurs five times in the Qur’an and each time it refers to the transgression of the Sabbath and God’s punishment for that transgression. Of course, the common interpretation does not suggest validity of the Sabbath commandment for the Muslim. And because Muslims, like Catholics, depend on the clergy for interpretation of the texts, few mu’mins will accept these texts as valid for the practice of Islam. In addition, there are two more meaningful ayat[vi] having to do with work and rest.

In this article, I give myself the freedom to read and understand the texts as they are written. You may be free to disagree with me.

[vii]Surah Al Baqarah, S.^265.66

ولقد علمتم الذين اعتدوا منكم في السبت فقلنا لهم كونوا قردة خاسئين“Ye have known those among you who transgressed concerning the Sabbath. Thus We said to them, “Be despised apes.“

فجعلناها نكالا لما بين يديها وما خلفها وموعظة للمتقين“Thus We made them an example for those who lived at that time and for those who came after them, and a lesson for those who fear God.”

According to the above ayat, anyone who violates the Sabbath will be eligible for rejection and contempt. This proves that if Allah is the same God, He does not compromise on the Sabbath. Muslims interpret this ayat in one way that it is only about Jews; they say that Jews literally became apes because they violated their Sabbath and the Lord destroyed their city as a warning to the God-fearing.
But the example to the God-fearing is precisely that anyone who transgresses as they did will suffer the same punishment, otherwise the warning is of no use and we can delete this ayat from the Qur’an.

What is apparently meant is that just as monkeys are animals that imitate behavior without reason, transgressors in the matter of the Sabbath merely exhibit formalistic religious behavior without spiritual insight. They will be rejected and despised because copycat behavior does not apply to worship. That is what obedience to the Sabbath commandment or any other commandment leads to.

The Sabbath was given for spiritual development through submission to and recognition of divine precepts, and to worship God on that day through hearing and studying the scriptures, and meditating on them. When a person fails to submit to God and denies the holiness of the Sabbath, he makes the service to God and himself a caricature (a copycat). There is no doubt that animals cannot praise the Creator. Thus, the admonition in this ayat applies to all people-Muslims, Christians, Jews, and any other-who scorn the truth of the Lord’s Sabbath. The warning given to all God-fearers is not to follow that bad example.

Surah An-Nisa’, S.⁴⁴⁷

يا أيها الذين أوتوا الكتاب آمنوا بما نزلنا مصدقا لما معكم من قبل أن

نطمس وجوها فنردها على أدبارها أو نلعنهم كما لعنا أصحاب السبتوكان أمر الله مفعولا“O People of the Book, believe in what We have sent down, fulfilling what is with you before We destroy and cast down your leaders or curse them, as We cursed the people of the Sabbath [as We cursed those who violated the Sabbath day]. Allah’s commandment will be fulfilled.”

This aya speaks of a curse on those who violate the Sabbath. And it calls the believers to honor what has been revealed to them even before the Qur’an was written. Many Muslims understand that the People of the Book are those who respect everything written in the Tenach and the Bible, the forerunners of the Qur’an. Of all Christians, in my opinion, Seventh-day Adventists are the only true People of the Book, who keep all of God’s commandments and eat no and blood and haram foods, such as pork, shameful poultry, unscaled fish, other creeping animals, which are mentioned in Leviticus 11.

Surah An-Nisa’, S.⁴¹⁵⁴

ورفعنا فوقهم الطور بميثاقهم وقلنا لهم ادخلوا الباب سجدا وقلنا لهم لا تعدوا

في السبت وأخذنا منهم ميثاقا غليظا“We raised Mount [Sinaï] high above them during the covenant with them, and We said, ‘Enter the gate humbly,’ and, ‘Do not transgress concerning the Sabbath.’” And We made a firm covenant with them [En Wij ontvingen een stellige verbintenis van hen].”

This aya is so clear! It speaks of the covenant-making on Mount Sinai and God’s admonition not to violate His Sabbath commandment, and of the people’s promise that they would obey (see Exodus^208-11 and ²⁴³).

Surah Al-Aa’raaf’, S. ⁷¹⁶³

واسألهم عن القرية التي كانت حاضرة البحر إذ يعدون في السبت إذ

حيتانهم يوم سبتهم شرعا ويوم لا يسبتون لا تأتيهم كذلك نبلوهم بما كانوا
يفسقون“And ask them concerning the city, which was by the sea. When they profaned the Sabbath, fish appeared on their Sabbath on the surface of the water, but the day they did not keep Sabbath it did not come to them. Thus We tried them because they were transgressors.”

This aya speaks of testing fishermen whether they would violate the Sabbath or not. The fish swam in their nets on the Sabbath day, but not on any other day. It was a test from God whether they would be obedient. It is interesting to note that some Jewish leaders taught that it was permissible to put out the nets on Friday and bring them in after the Sabbath hours, as in the time of Jesus, the maximum travel distance on Sabbath was about 800 meters (a Sabbath journey), unless you meet a property of yours within that distance. That would allow you to travel another 800 meters from that point. If someone wanted to travel from Jericho to Jerusalem on the Sabbath, he could lay items out of his house on Friday within that distance to travel several Sabbath trips.

Surah An-Nahl, S. ¹⁶¹²⁴

إنما جعل السبت على الذين اختلفوا فيه وإن ربك ليحكم بينهم يوم القياةم

فيما كانوا فيه يختلفون”[Certainly,] the Sabbath was imposed only on those[voor hen een struikelblok], who differed [ challenged it] about it ; and on the Day of Resurrection, your Lord will surely judge among them concerning that over which they differed [ rebelled against Him].”

This aya says that on the Day of Resurrection God will act and judge those who reject the Sabbath, just as God will judge any sinner who violates any of His holy commandments.

Surah Al-Djomo’ah, S. ^629-11

يا أيها الذين آمنوا إذا نودي للصلاة من يوم الجمعة فاسعوا إلى ذكر الله

وذروا البيع ذلكم خير لكم إن كنتم تعلمون“O ye who believe! When the call to prayer is broadcast on Friday, hurry to be mindful of Allah and leave the trade. This is better for you if ye know.”

فإذا قضيت الصلاة فانتشروا في الأرض وابتغوا من فضل الله واذكروا الله كثيرا لعلكم تفلحون“And when the prayer is finished, then spread out over the land and seek Allah’s mercy, and remember Allah often, that ye may succeed.”

وإذا رأوا تجارة أو لهوا انفضوا إليها وتركوك قائما قل ما عند الله خير مناللهو ومن

التجارة والله خير الرازقين“But if they see merchandise or any entertainment, they go there hastily and leave you standing. Say: “That which is with Allah is better than entertainment and commerce, and Allah is the best Sustainer. “

There is no doubt that these ayat say that Friday is an ordinary working day. God commands here to leave all business and go to the Friday evening prayer, to enter into Remembrance of Allah when the gathering and prayer are over, to seek His mercy on the As-Sabt, which undeniably begins after the Friday evening prayer. Even if they should see trading happening around them, the believers should stick to their intention, for Allah will make them prosperous, for He is their Provider. This is unquestionably the best attitude for keeping As-Sabt – trusting that God will provide for all needs that day.

In very ancient Arabic, Friday is called the Evening of the Sabbath and Sabbath is the Principal or Joy Day – Shi-yar. In ancient and modern Arabic spoken in West Asia, in East, West and North Africa, Friday is Day of Assembly – Muham; and Sabbath is As-Sabt. In Pashto (Afghan), Friday is Day of Assembly and and Sabbath is Khali – Day without Works or Shamba.[viii]

Surah Al-Forqaan, S. ²⁵⁴⁷

نشورا وهو الذي جعل لكم الليل لباسا والنوم سباتا وجعل النهار
“And it is He Who has made the night a covering for you, and sleep for rest, and the day for rising.”

Muslims say, “Allah did not need to rest because He does not get tired.” By this they indicate that they understand very well that when the Creator rests from His work, it is not the same as us resting from our work. His rest can only mean that He stopped what He was doing in the preceding days – creating the world. Man’s resting at night is because they are tired and in the morning they rise again refreshed. The blessings from Him to them are that they can lay to rest trusting that they will rise again in the morning, because they trust in His protection of their lives.

Christians say, “the Sabbath is nailed to the cross.” But if they are truly honest with the Bible, they will surely understand that by saying it is finished, Christ meant only the termination of the earthly phase of God’s Plan of Salvation, the plan that had taken effect immediately after the Fall. Man’s fall occurred several decades after creation, at the end of which God had declared that all was excellently good and He established the seventh day as a holy and blessed day to remind mankind of that perfect creation. How could it be necessary for the Sabbath to be nailed to the cross as part of what we need to be redeemed from, if it was instituted to remind man of God’s perfect creation? That would make the Sabbath part of the Fall and part of sin, which it clearly is not.

Surah An-Nahl, S. ¹⁶¹¹⁶

ولا تقولوا لما تصف ألسنتكم الكذب هذا حلال وهذا حرام لتفتروا على الله

الكذب إن الذين يفترون على الله الكذب لا يفلحون“And do not say – because of the lies that your tongue speaks – “This is lawful and that is unlawful [verboden].”, to fabricate a lie against Allah. [Voorwaar,] those, who fabricate a lie against Allah, never succeed.”

God has never changed His Sabbath Day. Why should He? Its origin lies in a perfect time, reminding us of the perfect world that once existed and will be again in the future. Let us not attribute lies to God, for if we do we will not enter the promised Paradise! It is a conclusion stated in very clear language in all three holy books.

Don’t let anyone fool you. The day of preparation is Friday, the sixth day. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday. This makes the day in between, the seventh day, Saturday, the Sabbath of the Lord.

The Qur’an calls on the believer to respect God’s previous revelations.[ix] These previous revelations are, by their own interpretation, the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian Bible. All the ancient prophets and Jesus are recognized in the Qur’an. If God is trustworthy and does not change, then a later revelation can never contradict a previous one. So neither is an explanation. How then, can a Muslim start a jihad struggle against his own brothers, children of Ibrahim, and claim that they violate the commandments of Allah while he himself violates what Allah has commanded, namely the Sabbath? When Allah clearly says that He will judge transgressors in the Day of Resurrection? If he himself violates the commandment not to kill? Will those who commit murder be allowed into Paradise? This is a great error because even in the Qur’an it is written that murder is a great sin. How can Isa Ibn Maryam be a great prophet when He calls on believers to behave differently and love their enemies (Matthew^543-47), but they ignore His call and kill their enemies?
According to the Qur’an, Isa returns to defeat His enemies and to live with the mu’mins as righteous. [x] What will Isa say to transgressors when He comes? Will He approve or disapprove of their actions?

To say that murder is not a sin is to lie to Allah, Who says it is sin. This applies to everyone.

The God I know is a God of peace and He wants His children to show peace and mercy to one another, not to force anyone to believe in anything. It is God who judges and condemns faith, not man. He promises Paradise to the oppressed, not to oppressors; to the murdered, not to murderers; to those who do not carry a sword, and not to those who brandish the sword (Matthew^510-12). Jesus (Isa) warned that God’s kingdom is not defended with swords, but with love (Matthew ^2651-53). The days of the Crusades are over. For everyone! God fights His own wars and He wants believers to trust in His judgment. We are assured that He always wins (2 Chronicles²⁰¹⁵ and Revelation^127-9).

When a person sees the truth, he should embrace it immediately, no matter who points it out to him. Christians have substituted Sabbath for Sunday; Muslims have substituted Sabbath for Friday. Both did so primarily because of anti-Jewish feelings. It is very important to recognize that the Jews are not owners of the Sabbath. God alone owns the Sabbath and every man and woman, whether Christian, Muslim, Jew or otherwise, can enjoy the blessing of the Sabbath if they have put it in their hearts to love God first and above all else. For God’s commandments apply to every person (Ecclesiastes ^1213-14).

Latest Comments
Not every one who invokes God’s name prays true worship to the Most High. Not every religious book that claims to be holy is so to God. Holiness is a qualification granted by God Himself, and it does not depend on what people claim. How can we distinguish between the different holy books; which one is truly sanctified by the one true and Almighty God?

For me, it’s the book …
– That the test of time, consistency and coherence,[xi] prophetic claims has endured;
– That reflects the great love and patience of our Lord in the broadest sense;
– That teaches true peace and true freedom of choice;
– That is clear in what is sinful in God’s eye and not in the eyes of men;
– Which teaches us to fully and lovingly forgive our neighbor, as we hope to also be fully forgiven by a loving God;
– Which teaches us to love our enemies – the only strategy for true peace and love that really works! See Matthew ⁵⁴⁴ and Romans ^1217-21;
– This teaches that that solution consists in God Himself taking the punishment for our sins, the judge who pronounces judgment on the offender, takes off His judge’s mantle, steps down from His judgment seat and accepts and undergoes for us the punishment He has just pronounced Himself, because He knows that we could never endure it ourselves, no matter how many good works we might do;
– In which the heroes and prophets are ordinary sinful human beings, and the stories of their lives are not polished and made more beautiful than they are, and even the greatest among the prophets were well aware of their fallibility;
– This teaches that because no one is without sin, no one can sit on his own strict judgment seat to judge his neighbor even if he is a kafir, but everyone realizes that he is privileged to teach his neighbor in a gentle way and if he rejects the teaching he can let him go to live his own chosen life until God’s final Day of Judgment.
These are the columns[xii] Of true religion for me. They are the pillars of the Bible. They are about what God does to make people fit for His Paradise and not about what man must do to get there.

Jews, Christians, Muslims and others need not fight each other and can come to a right understanding of the truth if they would focus on the patient love and kindness of God and His great prophets Abraham, Moses and His righteous approach to sin through the substitutionary sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, for us. It may be difficult for a Muslim and a Jew to accept Isa, Joshua for who He is, but when they look unbiasedly at who this Isa, Joshua is, they will discover Him for Who He is: their personal Savior.

Yes, there are serious problems, but they exist mainly in the different human interpretations of the sacred words, of all three books. God or whatever you want to call Him is the final Judge of all, in all three books. He does not need partners to speak justice over this world. On His judgment seat is certainly no place for humans. He does it himself and can do the job just fine on his own. It is as Joshua, Jesus, Isa clearly said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” If there are still truly honest and God-fearing people, no stone will be thrown.

So, let’s talk to each other, because where men and women do not talk to each other, where they cannot have serious debates with each other, they will never be able to become friends and brothers of each other. Remember: Sabbath and all other commandments, will be lifted up like a standard on that Day and everyone will receive their judgment, good or bad, according to their deeds.

Let all who hear, also do so!

Easy to print PDF

[i] A Sabbath Journey from Genesis to Revelation, The Meaning of the Biblical Sabbath; first edition 1996, 6th and revised edition 2014; Promise Ministry. Order through webshop from www.promiseministry.nl in paper book and the free download e-book here.
[ii] It is not the purpose of this article to answer the question of whether Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
[iii] It is important to understand how Jews, Roman Catholic Christians and Muslims have made God’s salvation through the finished work on the cross a salvation by works. Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah, God in the flesh; Most (not all) Roman Catholics do see Him as God in the flesh, but in fact deny His redemptive merits by relying heavily on confession and purgatory; Muslims deny His divinity by saying, “God has no partner,” and although for them Isa Ibn Maryam is the Al-Masih , he is only a prophet, and Muhammad is greater. But Muhammad died and His grave is still here. Jesus rose from the dead as the Firstborn among the living; He has no grave on earth and He will come again in glory, our hope of eternal life. Muslims believe that this Isa will come again, just as Christians do and Jews are still waiting for the Messiah. Yet both the pope and Muhammad are merely men, who seem to have more authority than Jesus in matters of religion. In this way, the Muslims and the Christian world, under the leadership of the Roman Church, have usurped God’s authority on earth by changing God’s intentions with the human race and teaching the faithful to be unfaithful with regard to, among other things, respecting the Sabbath.
[iv] Bible texts in the NBG51 translation.
[v] Mu’min: believer; Kafir: unbeliever, apostate.
[vi] Aya, ayah means: proof, verse, lesson, revelation; ayat is plural.
[vii] From http://quran.com/. Dr. Ghali translation. See also http://www.moslim.co/online-koran/online-koran-lezen-nederlands. The italicized text between [ ] was added by me based on how Dr. Ghali translates Arabic.
[viii] See my book: A Sabbath Journey from Genesis to Revelation, Appendix, pp. 219-221.
[ix] As Dr. Mohsen Haredy writes, “Islam is the religion of all the prophets and messengers from Adam to Muhammad. All the prophets came with one and the same message, that is: to worship God … Islam calls the Christians and the Jews Ahl al-kitab (People of the Book), that is: the followers of the writings of the prophets, Mozen and Jesus … the Qur’an describes the details of the purpose of the creation of human beings from male and female with the following words: {O, humanity! We have created you from male and female, and We have made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know one another….} (Al-Hodjoraat ⁴⁹¹³). All people are addressed here, not just Muslims. All people of different backgrounds should work together to build a healthy society where all members live in peace with each other.”
[x] Isa returns to fight against the antichrist. Funny that Muslims use this extreme Christian word! Muslims do not recognize Him as the Son of God. The Bible states in 1 John^222.23 that anyone who denies that Jesus is both the Christ and the Son of God is an antichrist.
[xi] In Islam, the interpretation of the imams seems to be more important than what the Qur’an actually says.
[xii] The five fundamental pillars of Islam – shahada, salat, zakat, siyam, hadj – are all about what the believer himself must do to enter Paradise: faith by works. Some extremist movements within Islam also harbor a sixth pillar – jihad. That column calls on Muslims to kill in the name of Allah, even their own Muslim brothers if they stand in their way. Fortunately, these groups that give Islam a cruel appearance are in the minority. Shia Muslims have up to 12 pillars. These are separate from the common moral commandments, as we also know them in Christianity. If Allah demands all this, to be acceptable, then I see a very different God than the one I encounter in the Bible. Christianity also has works, but they are out of love for God and fellow man, believer or non-believer, enemies and friends; works out of faith in the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Isa also says that we should do good to all people because God gives sunshine and rain to the good and bad. If we are to be true followers of God, we must do as He does – we must be lovers of peace and freedom of choice for all people. Tribulation only gives us more reason to pray. The true God is more than capable of answering such prayers. See the prayers of Daniel. Although this Jewish prophet is not mentioned in the Qur’an, we find the account of him in the Hadith (sanctified Islam literature) as it appears in the Bible. Look up his life story in the book of the Bible that bears his name. Chapters 2, 7, 8, and 9 foretell the confusion now prevailing in the world. And we find the story told in the Hadith in chapter 6. The true God does indeed answer the prayers of the oppressed!