Charity Begins at Home? Ransoming Captives in Jewish, Christian and Muslim Tradition

Surprisingly, the act of ransoming captives, defined in Judaism as “a great precept” (mitsvah rabba),1 and for which Jewish tradition influenced both Christianity and Islam, has no scriptural basis. In all three religions, the attitude toward captives from one’s own camp was largely determined by social conventions and concepts of religious charity (Tsedaka, Caritas, and Sadaqa). All three traditions viewed the ransom of captives as a meritorious deed of charity rather than as the moral obligation of the leaders who sent the soldiers to war.