Quran 5:32 closely resembles a passage in Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5, so critics sometimes claim that Muhammad (PBUH) copied it, or that the Quran "mistook the Mishnah for the Torah." The resemblance is real and should not be denied. But the objection is overstated: the Quran itself says this teaching was prescribed upon the Children of Israel, and it does not claim that this exact wording is found in the present written Torah.

The two texts

Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had killed all mankind; and whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved all mankind...

Quran 5:32

Whoever destroys one soul, Scripture accounts it to him as if he had destroyed a whole world; and whoever preserves one soul, Scripture accounts it to him as if he had preserved a whole world.

Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5, broader textual form

The resemblance is genuine. Both traditions also connect the idea to the story of the first murder. In the Quran, 5:27-31 recounts the story of the two sons of Adam, and 5:32 begins, "Because of that." The Mishnah likewise reflects on Cain's killing of Abel and the words of Genesis 4:10 while stressing the gravity of taking a single life.

At the same time, the texts are not identical. The Quran says "all mankind" and includes the legal exceptions "unless for a soul or for corruption in the land." The Mishnah is part of a rabbinic discussion about court procedure and the warning given to witnesses in capital cases. Similarity exists, but similarity is not the same as a demonstrated act of copying.

The Quran announces the Israelite connection

The Quran is not secretly inserting a Jewish teaching while pretending it is new. It openly introduces the ruling as something Allah had laid upon the Children of Israel:

مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ

min ajli dhalika katabna ala bani Israil - "Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel..."

Therefore, the existence of a Jewish tradition preserving a similar moral principle is not an embarrassment for the Quran. It is exactly the kind of connection the verse itself leads one to expect. The real question is not whether a Jewish tradition resembles the verse; the Quran already places the matter in an Israelite context. The real question is whether the resemblance proves plagiarism or error. It does not.

"Decreed upon" is not the same as "this sentence is in the Torah"

The wording matters. The Quran says:

كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ

katabna ala bani Israil - "We prescribed / decreed / ordained upon the Children of Israel."

In Quranic Arabic, kataba ala commonly means to prescribe, impose, or ordain. Fasting, for example, is described with the same root and construction:

Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you...

Quran 2:183

This is legal and moral language. It does not require the meaning, "This exact sentence was written in the Torah." The Quran is fully capable of saying "in it" when it is speaking about something written in a scripture. In the same surah, regarding the Torah, it says:

And We ordained for them therein: a life for a life, an eye for an eye...

Quran 5:45

Quran 5:32 says "upon the Children of Israel," not "in the Torah." So the claim that the Quran confused the Mishnah with the Torah rests on a wording the verse does not actually use.

The Mishnah's date does not prove invention

The Mishnah is a compilation of rabbinic legal and moral tradition, redacted around the end of the second century or the beginning of the third century CE, and traditionally associated with Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi. But a redaction date is not necessarily an invention date. The Mishnah often records teachings, legal discussions, and interpretations that circulated orally before they were compiled.

So the argument, "The Mishnah was written around 200 CE, therefore this teaching was invented around 200 CE," is too simplistic. A teaching recorded in the Mishnah may preserve an older Jewish reflection on Scripture. From the Quranic perspective, that is not surprising: Allah sent guidance to earlier communities, and remnants of true guidance could remain among them, even when mixed with later human commentary and disagreement.

The textual variant should be stated honestly

There is also a real textual issue in Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5. Some witnesses read, "whoever destroys a single soul from Israel," which narrows the wording. Other important witnesses read simply, "whoever destroys a single soul," giving the broader universal wording.

This matters because the broader wording is closer to Quran 5:32, which says "all mankind." It would be dishonest to pretend the variant does not exist in either direction. The careful point is this: the broader reading is genuinely attested in the Jewish textual tradition, while the narrower reading is also known. Even if someone preferred the narrower Mishnah reading, the objection would still fail, because the Quran is not claiming to quote the Mishnah word for word. It gives the principle in its own authoritative and universal wording.

The Quran confirms earlier truth

The Quran does not present itself as a new religion invented in seventh-century Arabia. It presents itself as confirming the truth that came before while also serving as a guardian over previous scripture:

And We have revealed to you the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a guardian over it.

Quran 5:48

On that basis, agreement between the Quran and an earlier Jewish moral tradition is not plagiarism. It is what confirmation can look like. A true teaching given to the Children of Israel did not have to survive only as a line in the present written Torah. It could also be preserved as a moral lesson, legal reflection, or inherited teaching among them. The Quran affirms the truth of the principle and gives it with its own divine authority.

Conclusion

The similarity between Quran 5:32 and Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 is real, but it does not prove that Muhammad (PBUH) copied from the Mishnah or mistook it for the Torah. The Quran itself says the teaching was prescribed upon the Children of Israel. It does not say that this exact sentence appears in the written Torah. The Mishnah's later redaction date does not prove the teaching was invented then, and the Jewish textual tradition itself contains a broader form close to the Quranic wording. Read on its own terms, Quran 5:32 is doing what the Quran says it does: confirming true guidance connected to earlier revelation.

For related discussions, see the articles on the Quran's relationship to previous scriptures and the meaning of confirmation and guardianship in Quran 5:48.