Sometimes I am asked if Allah really expects and demands 100% obedience. We can argue about this between humans but really this question will be answered by Allah, not by us, so instead I have simply picked out verses from Taurat that tell us to what extent obedience to the Law is required and expected. They are below. Notice how many verses and how clear they are. The verses are full of phrases like ‘carefully follow’, ‘ALL commands’, “All your heart”, “commands always”, “everything”, “All decrees”, “fully obey”, “all the words”, “listen to all”.
This standard of 100% obedience never changes with the later prophets. Isa al Masih (PBUH) in the Injil taught that:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.(Matthew 5:17-19)
And the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the haddith said
Narrated Abdullah Ibn Umar: ..A group of Jews came and invited the Apostle of Allah (PBUH) to Quff. … They said: ‘AbulQasim, one of our men has committed fornication with a woman; so pronounce judgment upon them’. They placed a cushion for the Apostle of Allah (PBUH) who sat on it and said: “Bring the Torah”. It was then brought. He then withdrew the cushion from beneath him and placed the Torah on it saying: “I believed in thee and in Him Who revealed thee.” Sunan Abu Dawud Book 38, No. 4434:
And this only makes sense. Allah is preparing Paradise – and this is a perfect and holy place – where He is. There will be no police, no armies, no locks – and all the other securities we have today to protect ourselves from the sins of each other. That is why it will be paradise. But for it to remain a perfect place, only perfect people can enter – those who follow ‘all’ commands ‘always’, ‘fully’, and ‘in everything’.
Here is what the Taurat says about the extent of obedience to the Law that is required.
- Leviticus 18:4
You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 18:3-5 (in Context) Leviticus 18 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Leviticus 18:5
Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:4-6 (in Context) Leviticus 18 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Leviticus 25:18
“‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land.
Leviticus 25:17-19 (in Context) Leviticus 25 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Leviticus 26:3
“‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands,
Leviticus 26:2-4 (in Context) Leviticus 26 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Numbers 15:39
You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.
Numbers 15:38-40 (in Context) Numbers 15 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Numbers 15:40
Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. - Deuteronomy 5:27
Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”
Deuteronomy 5:26-28 (in Context) Deuteronomy 5 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 11:1
[ Love and Obey the LORD ] Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.
Deuteronomy 11:1-3 (in Context) Deuteronomy 11 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 11:13
So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—
Deuteronomy 11:12-14 (in Context) Deuteronomy 11 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 11:32
be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.
Deuteronomy 11:31-32 (in Context) Deuteronomy 11 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 12:28
Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 12:27-29 (in Context) Deuteronomy 12 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 13:18
because you obey the LORD your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.
Deuteronomy 13:17-18 (in Context) Deuteronomy 13 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 15:5
if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
Deuteronomy 15:4-6 (in Context) Deuteronomy 15 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 26:14
I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything you commanded me.
Deuteronomy 26:13-15 (in Context) Deuteronomy 26 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 28:1
[ Blessings for Obedience ] If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
Deuteronomy 28:1-3 (in Context) Deuteronomy 28 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 28:15
[ Curses for Disobedience ] However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:
Deuteronomy 28:14-16 (in Context) Deuteronomy 28 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 30:2
and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
Deuteronomy 30:1-3 (in Context) Deuteronomy 30 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 30:8
You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today.
Deuteronomy 30:7-9 (in Context) Deuteronomy 30 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 30:10
if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 30:9-11 (in Context) Deuteronomy 30 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations - Deuteronomy 32:46
he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law”.
Deuteronomy 32:45-47 (in Context) Deuteronomy 32 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations