Dr Abdur Rahman Bhutta, Germany
Section 5 – Adam and his ‘sin’
The Biblical story of Adamas and Eve as mentioned in Genesis, holds a very important position in Christian theology and forms the basis of its doctrine of salvation. It is believed that by eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, Adamas and Eve had committed a sin; and that their descendants have inherited this sin. Therefore, according to them, the whole of humanity is ´born as sinners`. Even if somebody does not commit any sin, he remains a sinner due to the sin ‘inherited’ from Adamas; and they call this sin “the original sin”.
First of all, let us analyse what makes an act a sin, and then we shall go on to have a candid and careful look at this Biblical story to see how far it supports this Christian doctrine of salvation.
(5a) What makes an act a sin?
All divine laws and commandments are aimed at developing and safeguarding our physical, moral and spiritual health; and any breach of these laws and commandments damages our ‘health’. It disturbs our relationship with God and incurs His displeasure, and that is the essence of sin. A sin, therefore, is the disregard or disobedience of God’s commandments, be it in respect of our duties towards God or concerning our duties towards His creatures.
(5b) Our intentions and the sin
One very important aspect of sin is that it is something which is related to our will and intention. An act, though wrong by its nature, cannot be counted as a ´sin` unless there is an evil intention behind it. A sin is not merely a wrong act but a ‘wilful wrong act’. A hunter while hunting in the bush may shoot somebody by mistake, and still, he may not be convicted of murder, because there was no evil intention behind his act.
(5c) Our knowledge and sin
Another point to be noted in this respect is that we cannot accuse somebody of sin unless we are sure that he has the knowledge of right and wrong; and that he fully appreciates the consequences of his action. A mentally unsound person can cause some injury to life or property, or a child may do something wrong, but none of them will be labelled as ‘sinners’ or ‘criminals’ because their knowledge of ‘good and evil’ is poor and they do not fully appreciate the consequences of their actions.
So it is quite clear that the knowledge of good and evil and an intention to do it, have to be considered before we can count an act to be a sin.
(5d) The law and the sin
Sin is essentially a legal concept. It is an offence against divine laws and as such involves judgement, conviction and possibly punishment. If there is no law, an act though evil and wrong by its nature, will not be counted as sin because in that case no disobedience of God’s will or breach of His law is involved. This aspect of sin was pointed out by Saint Paul too when he wrote to Romans: “Sin indeed was there in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.” (Romans 5:13)
So we see that it is in the light of law that our evil actions are judged and counted as sins; and it is this legal aspect of sin that makes the consideration of motive, intentions and knowledge essential for a particular act to be counted as sin. If we decide to make a particular move, and our motive is found to be bad and our intentions wrong, then even if we fail to put our evil design into practice, it will be counted as a sin. If some army officers are caught planning to overthrow a government, they cannot be forgiven simply because they have not actually overthrown the government. God knows our hearts and souls, and once we make an evil decision and intend to act upon it, it displeases Him and our relationship with Him gets disturbed; and that is the essence of sin.
On the other hand, we may do something wrong without the intention or knowledge and still, we may not be held responsible for it. We may suffer the physical consequences of our wrong actions but it will not disturb our spiritual relationship with God because we acted without any bad intentions or sufficient knowledge. Stressing this point, the Holy Prophetsa of Islam said “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab badu l-wahy, Hadith 1)
(5e) Sin and moral health
It may be said that sin has been dealt with only from a legal point of view and that its moral and ethical side has been neglected. But, as already mentioned, all divine laws are meant to maintain and improve the ethical, moral and spiritual health of mankind. Sin is sometimes a crime in the legal sense but it is also a “crime” in the sense that it has an adverse effect on the health of society in general. It, therefore, spreads moral and spiritual diseases, damaging all aspects of our lives.
Even the governmental laws which sometimes seem harsh, are meant to protect and improve the physical, social and moral health of society. No law is made just to create trouble for the people and to penalise them. The crimes committed in society are quite often social and moral diseases.
That is why there is growing awareness in the world today that the punishment of criminals should be given in such a way that it may have a corrective and reformatory effect upon them; and that the prisons should be more of health and education centres for the offenders than merely a place of torture and suffering for them. This shows the necessity and efficacy of divine laws which are meant to correct and reform the society and improve its moral and spiritual health.
(5f) The law of conscience
When Saint Paul said that sin is not counted where there is no law, he was talking of the Law of Moses. However, this is true of all the laws that were given by God to different nations through their prophets since the days of Adamas, the Law of Islam being the last one to be given. The followers of all these prophets will have their actions judged in the light of the laws given to them.
In the absence of divine laws, an evil act may not be counted as “sin” but that does not mean that that evil act does not remain evil by its nature; and the man committing it can be counted as a pious and righteous person. All those people who, for some reason or the other, have not received any divinely revealed law, will be judged in the light of the dictates of their conscience.
In the form of ‘conscience’, God has installed in every man’s mind a ‘built-in’ detector which tells him what is right for him to do and what is wrong. When he does something wrong or fails to do something right in a particular situation, he feels a sense of guilt in his conscience and ‘a pinch’ in his heart. This feeling may be so strong and disturbing that he may feel obliged to apologise for the wrong he did and may even feel compelled to rectify it. This call of conscience is in fact the first divine law that tells a man the difference between a vice and a virtue. (Tafsir-e-Kabir by Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Vol. 5, ed. 1986, Surah Maryam, Ch, 19, V. 2, p. 32)
When asked about ‘sin and virtue’, the Holy Prophetsa of Islam is reported to have said: “Virtue is a kind disposition and vice is what rankles in your heart and that you disapprove that people should come to know of it.” (Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-birri wasillati wa l-adaab, Hadith 2553a)
On another occasion, when a companion of the Holy Prophetsa approached him in order to ask him about righteousness, he pointed his finger towards his chest and explained: “Ask yourself for a decision, ask your heart for a decision (saying it three times). Righteousness is that with which the soul is tranquil and the heart is tranquil, but sin is that which rouses suspicion in the soul and is perplexing in the breast, even if people give you a decision in its favour.” (Mishkat al-Masabih, Kitab al-buyu’, Hadith 2774)
(5f-i) Is the law of conscience not enough? Why revealed law?
We know that man has been created in God’s ‘ image and likeness ‘. As such he is superior to all other creatures and has been blessed with many excellent instincts and faculties. The master of all these instincts and faculties is his power of judgement, reasoning and rationality which is embedded in his conscience. None of our instincts, desires and faculties are evil in themselves. It is the use of these instincts and faculties in the light of reasoning and rationality that makes a man good or bad. What we call good morals, is the use of these faculties and instincts at appropriate occasions and in a proper way, exercising our power of judgement and reasoning.
A person who is not guided by the dictates of reason in his conduct and ignores the call of his conscience is like a child or a madman who has poor or no power of reasoning; and whose actions are just movements under some natural impulses which cannot be counted as good or bad ‘morals’. To say that, however, is not to deny that a man’s conscience may be influenced by some external factors; or he may deliberately ignore and suppress the call of his conscience for some ulterior motives. He may also change his opinion about right or wrong after gaining more knowledge and experience.
But all the same, the fact remains that at a given time and under given circumstances, every person does use the faculties of his conscience to decide what is right or wrong for him to do in his day-to-day affairs of life.
Early man could lead a relatively peaceful and innocent life by regulating and disciplining his natural inclinations and passions under the law of conscience. But when life advanced in different fields; and conflict in cultures and clash of civilisations took place, it became difficult for a man to decide what was right or wrong only based on his conscience. Complicated and confusing situations arose when his judgement faltered and his reasoning failed him, and he needed divine help to solve his difficult problems and to guide him in the harsh and hostile circumstances prevailing in the world around him.
Moreover, leading an innocent and harmless life under the dictates of his conscience is not the only purpose for which the man has been created. Even quite a number of animals are innocent and harmless. Man has been created to dominate and subdue the world, and being in the image of God, he is expected to assimilate the divine attributes, reflect them in his person and establish a living relationship with his Creator. And this he could not achieve through his conscience alone. (Tafsir-e-Kabir by Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Vol. 9, ed. 1986, Surah Ash-Shams, Ch, 91, V. 8, pp. 33-34)
To achieve this goal his faculties of reasoning, rationality and knowledge needed to be polished, improved and advanced to tremendous heights through divine revelation. Divine revelation, therefore, is complementary, and not contradictory, to the faculties of conscience. The Holy Quran, the only revealed book preserved in its pristine purity, does not teach any doctrine which we may have to follow against our better judgement and contrary to our conscience and rational thinking.
(5g) – Sin cannot be inherited
Another important aspect of sin is that it cannot be inherited. Sin is a crime against God. It is wilful disobedience of divine laws and as such it has legal implications. As in the case of a crime, it involves a fixture of responsibility, judgement and conviction; and such legal liabilities cannot be inherited. Moreover, sin belongs to the field of ‘faith and works’, and the matters belonging to this field cannot be inherited by our children. They are born innocent and it is the environment that brings about change in their behaviour, good or bad.
If sins were to be inherited, then all our teachings and training programmes to improve the conduct and moral behaviour of children would become useless. It is a common observation that the children of good parents sometimes get spoiled and those of bad parents turn out to be very virtuous. The concept of inheritance of sins is also rejected by the Holy scriptures which proclaim that everyone will be accountable for his deeds and no one can be punished for the sins of the other. The Prophet Jeremiahas says:
“But every one shall die for his own sin; each man who eats sour grapes his teeth shall be set on edge”. (Jer. 31:30)
And the Prophet Ezekielas is even more elaborate. He says:
“But if this man begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done, and fears and does not do likewise… he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live”. (Ezek.18:14-18) And again he says: “The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father for the iniquity of the sons; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die”. (Ezek.18:20,21)
The Holy Quran fully supports the above-mentioned Biblical statements. It says:
“And whoso commits a sin commits it only against his own soul.” (Surah An-Nisa’, Ch.4: V.112)
And again we read:
“Now, if you do well, you will do well for your own souls; and if you do evil, it will only go against them.” (Surah Bani Isra’il, Ch.17: V.8)
“He who follows the right way follows it only for the good of his own soul: and he who goes astray, goes astray only to his own loss. And no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another.” (Surah Bani Isra’il, Ch.17: V.16)
And then it is said:
“Whoso does right, it is for his own soul; and whoso does evil, it will only go against it. And thy Lord is not at all unjust to His servants.” (Surah Ha Mim As-Sajdah, Ch.41: V.47)
(5h) – The inheritance of sinful inclinations
The above-mentioned references from the Bible and Quran point out the fact, in very clear terms, that a son cannot inherit the sin of his father, nor can he be punished for his father’s wrongdoings. However, it may be argued at this stage that we do inherit some sinful inclinations; and that sin is said to be a disease and some diseases are inherited.
In this respect, we may explain that it is not only the bad inclinations that we inherit; we equally inherit the good inclinations too. Only inclinations cannot make us good or bad. It is only when we decide to follow a particular inclination, exercising our judgement in the light of divine law, that we can be sinful or righteous as the case may be. As far as disease is concerned, it is only the physical effects of the disease which can be inherited and not its responsibility.
If a child is born with a disease or defect, he cannot be held responsible for it; and his parents cannot curse, condemn or punish him for it. Sin is not a physical disease but a spiritual one which involves our intention, decision and responsibility, resulting in the curse and displeasure of God. It is, therefore, a disease with ‘medico-legal’ liability which cannot be inherited by our children. That is why children are born innocent, holy and worthy of the Kingdom of God as we are told that:
“Every male that opens the womb shall be called Holy to the Lord”. (Lk.2:23)
And Jesusas said:
“Let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, shall not enter it”. (Mk.10:15)