Original Sin or Original Forgiveness – What is the Lesson?

The story of Adam and Eve are quite similar in the Bible and the Quran with minor differences yet the lessons derived from these stories differ greatly. Sometimes minor changes to any document can completely alter the actual meaning of the story. Both the scriptures talk about the creation of Adam and then Eve which are somewhat similar. However the events after their creation are of significance.

Soon after God commands them not to eat of this particular tree as eating of it would cause harm to them and the act would be transgression.

We said: "O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression." – [Quran 2:35]


According to the Bible, God said that if they would eat from this tree, they would die.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. – [Genesis 2:17]

According to the Bible, this warning was given to Adam before the creation of his wife, Eve. However the Quran corrects this bit and mentions that at the time of the warning, Eve already existed as the verse refers to both.


Woman misled Man or Satan misled Man?

Soon after enters the role of Satan who according to the Bible whispered to Eve saying that if they would eat of this tree then they would never die, contrary to what God warned Adam earlier. This is an important stage in the stories of the two scriptures. According to the Bible, it was the woman who was led astray and she ate the fruit and also gave it to Adam.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. – [Genesis 3:6]

The Quran does not put the burden of the sin on the woman but makes it clear that both were led astray by Satan and hence both are equally responsible for it.

Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. We said: "Get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood - for a time. – [Quran 2:36]

From these verses it is clear that both Adam and Eve were misled by Satan and it was not the woman who made the man do wrong. When religious doctrines like the Bible states that it was Eve who came under the influence of the whispers of Satan and thus ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam to eat, it subliminally programs men to believe that woman is evil by nature. When God asks Adam from where he got the sense that he was naked, meaning the sense of shame, Adam replied:

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. – [Genesis 3:11]

Clearly Adam is accusing the woman as being the culprit and later on when we keep on reading this chapter, we see that it is further clarified that Adam listened to his wife an under her influence ate the fruit (Genesis 3:16) rather than under the influence of Satan. The Quran corrects this and makes it clear that while Satan did mislead the woman, Satan also misled the man.


Original Sin or Original Forgiveness?

This act of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit is labeled by Christianity as the Original Sin. They say that because of this Original Sin, all people born afterwards were born in sin. The newborn baby according to Christianity is a sinner. Islam however goes on to give us a deeper lesson from the story.

It is learnt that after eating from the forbidden tree, Adam repented and God forgave him for God is Most Merciful. This is the lesson given to all Mankind by Quran. It is not of the Original Sin but of Original Forgiveness which shows the Merciful nature of God.

Man is by nature bound to commit sins either of small or major magnitude. God knows this nature of man because He is the Creator. God on the other hand is Most Merciful and is there to forgive man when he sincerely repents. The lesson derived from the Quran is much more complete and gives us a better picture of the nature of God. For forgiveness, all man needs to do is to turn towards God, repent for the wrong he did and promise not to repeat it. God who is Most Merciful then forgives the creation and on the Day of Judgment, this act will not be held up against him.

Thus the lesson which God wanted to give for all of humanity was that of Original Forgiveness rather than Original Sin. Islam teaches us this lesson and informs us that all newborns are without the burden of any sin on their shoulders. They are innocent. From the story the theme is easy to understand. God created man – Man committed sin – Man turned towards God for forgiveness – God forgave man for indeed God is Most Merciful.

-Ebrahim Saifuddin

Allah bless you...

We can see the great difference between Christianity and Islam, the bless Islam came with and the Christianity that charges human being with sin even an infant. Surely the lesson that we have in Islam about forgiveness is for the interest of human beings and once again ensures that Islam is about kindness and forgiveness.

May Allah reward you with good

I can see you're having difficulty grasping the concept of original sin, believing as you do that sin passes from parent to child from Adam onwards. This is NOT what it means. We are all responsible for our own sin. God made us perfect in his image, think on why would God wish to create something that did not match Gods own perfection? Why would God create us with a propensity to sin? Your Allah in creating man this way shows a nature that is perverse which is diametrically opposed to everything God of the Bible represents...as we know God by nature can only be perfect.

When sin entered mankind through Adam and Eve's disobedience to Gods will, we ceased to be the perfect creation and having become imperfect fall short of the glory of God. When we sin, we separate ourselves from God, our sin draws a veil between us. Sin has to be paid for, this is Gods will, God laid down rules for which blood was required to wash away sin. For Allah just to forgive sins by will implies an arbitrary nature which is at odds with the concept of God being just as well as merciful. Is it possible to be merciful whilst also being just? To show mercy is to forgive unconditionally to be just is to show fairness to all. We know by nature God is just and that Gods justice is also tempered with mercy. But unconditional forgiveness implies that someone has to lose out, which would thereby imply that Gods justice was in perfect. NOT possible.

Christ was Gods work for our salvation, this is Gods gift to us his children, because God our creator so loves us that he wishes a relationship with us in order to achieve that relationship we have to be perfect to enter Gods presence and receive his grace. God through Christ chose to give us this chance of redemption, we are free to take it or reject it the choice is ours.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. – [Genesis 2:17]


Worth mentioning here that eating of the forbidden tree and therefore surely dying...refers to a spiritual death. That means unable to stand in the presence of God, because of being unworthy through the sin of disobedience. Babies are not born sinful..that is nonsense.. But we are adopted into sin by the actions of Adam, Eve and Satan. No one person however pious and good can avoid sin. God has given us the means to defeat the consequences of sin if we are truly repentant and follow Gods teachings. Im not sure what assurances Allah gives you as muslims. Seems like you all spend some time in hell after which some of you may get forgiven and some might make it to paradise..depending on Allah's mercy. I guess you can but hope.