# What is the Ark of the Covenant in Islam?

*The Ark of the Covenant in Islam: the tabut, the sakinah and the cherubim*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/s/17/
- Date: 2021-01-19 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #198 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:06:12–1:10:42)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-BlBVTr4M&t=3972s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/

**Topics:** Moses; The ancient Near East and scripture

**Question as asked:** What is the Ark of the Covenant in Islam, compared to other faiths?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The Quran mentions the Ark (tabut) without saying what was in it, Mufti Abu Layth says; one early Maliki linguist described the sakinah in a way that resembles the cherubim.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran briefly mentions the Ark of the Covenant but it is not clear what the things in it were.

**Evidence, his words at 1:06:12:** “there's a brief in mention of uh this kind of Arc of the Covenant in the Quran but it's not clear what these things are” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-BlBVTr4M&t=3972s)

## Longer summary

Asked about the Ark of the Covenant in Islam, Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran briefly mentions the tabut, a carried chest holding what the family of Moses left and the sakinah, without saying what these were. Many commentators translated sakinah as tranquillity or a source of it, perhaps the law or the tablets, which he calls guesswork. He finds it interesting that Ibn Faris [?], the fourth-century Maliki linguist, describes the sakinah as something winged with perhaps the face of a cat, which he says resembles the cherubim on the Ark described in the Bible. He points out that this fits an age of statues alongside monotheism [?] and the Pharaohs' mobile temples, which is what the Ark becomes in Judaism, even if Muslims find it hard to relate to because of their understanding of tawhid.

## Sources and names cited

- Quran 2:248: https://quran.com/2/248
- tabut (the Ark)
- sakinah
- Ibn Faris [?]
- Musa (Moses)

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:06:12–1:10:42)

[1:06:12] H what is the Ark of the Covenant in Islam you see there's a brief in mention of uh this kind of Arc of the Covenant in the Quran but it's not clear what these things are so it mentions that there was this taboot this kind of uh thing that is carried and I know people call a casket a taboot because you kind of carry it you carry the dead person in it but taboot initially wasn't kind of

[1:06:50] restricted to a dead casket uh but it was something that is kind of carried as well that has you know it has contained certain things um now it does mention that they that had this that from what the family of Moses had left that it says that in it was that what the family had left that was in it now it doesn't mention what that was and it says

[1:07:31] so this was in the in the Ark of the Covenant Sakina is apart from just being a uh Dy Auntie's name is uh in Arabic it means Tranquility this kind of Sakina now many mu just translated that as you know it was um just Tranquility or was something that a source of Tranquility maybe it

[1:08:10] was the laws maybe it was the tablet maybe you know like they they interpreted they had to kind of do a bit of guesswork and assume it's interesting actually what I Faris the Maliki um what he translat it as you know the early uh 4th Century gram linguist Maliki scholar he also has a book on S and he also has something on certain words of the Quran now Faris he translates this

[1:08:46] Sakina as he says it was these particular most he seems to describe what resembles the cherubim these kind of statues that were on this Ark of the Covenant which is mentioned in the bible but generally not mentioned in Islamic sources that the the Ark of the Covenant that this it did have this kind of cherubim which were these winged kind of creatures you know with some say like a dragon face or maybe a lion face but with wings uh so maybe like a lion or a

[1:09:25] tiger face with wings he describes it as something which has wings but maybe the face of a cat this is how he describes it and he refers to that as Sakina uh that's what it was the cherubim which were the kind of what are the cherubim there's a huge discussion in biblical sources some say they're just another kind of creation that are preserving this kind of Covenant thing um which I would argue also also I I would just sorry not argue but point out I think in

[1:10:02] many ways more fits it's it's quite fitting with that whole uh akatan thing of you know of statues having that that even though monotheism was there but there were still certain statues and stuff like this um it's interesting because that's when the Pharaohs would go out they would take a mobile kind of Holy Temple with them not a temple but a holy um a mobile Temple unit which would kind of move around and this is exactly what this holy of the holies and the Ark of

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment Hv-BlBVTr4M/s/17. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/s/17/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.