The Book of Commandments

Written in Judeo-Arabic, The Book of Commandments (Kitāb fī ’l-sharā’i‘) examines the nature and universality of the religious commandments—both “rational” (those that can be derived through the use of human reason) and “revealed” (those that are known only through divine revelation)—and categorizes them in terms drawn from then-current Muslim (in particular Mu‘tazilite) theological discussions. In these excerpts, Samuel ben Ḥofni Ga’on argues strongly that intention is required for the performance of a commandment to be valid; that commandments must be done for the correct reasons; and that before the revelation on Mount Sinai, when the revealed commandments were given, the Jewish people already knew and observed the rational commandments.