Left totheir own, children will grow up instinctively seeking the one
true God, Allah. However, environmental influences and parents turn a
child away from the pure, natural state. A saying of the prophet, on
whom be peace and the blessings ofGod, confirms this. It says that
each child is born in anatural state just as, for example a baby
animal is born without any brand on its body; then the owner brands it
with his own mark. Similarly, parents too would give a newborn their
own religious identity (see Sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English, vol.8,
no.597 and Sahib Muslim, Eng. Trans. vol 4, no. 6423).
The saying "every child of Adam is a sinner" means that every human
being isa sinner, sin being an inevitable outcome of a fallible human
nature. No matter how righteous a person is, he or she may at times
disobey God through ignorance or forgetfulness. The prophet, on whom
be peace, meant to emphasize that the best person is the one who seeks
forgiveness for his or her sins. Furthermore, he said that one who
repents from sin is like one without sin. God says in the Qur'an that
He will replace the evil deeds with good for those who repent,
believe, and do righteous deeds (see Qur'an 25:70).
Another saying of the prophet indicates that God actually intended
that humans will be a species that commit sins so they can turn to Him
and He would forgive them (see Sahih Muslim, Eng. Trans., vol.4, nos.
6620-2). This is a much better explanation than the popular conception
according to which God atfirst sees that humans are good, then God
discovers that they are wicked and so, being sorry that He made them
in the first place, God eventually decides to wipe them off the face
of the earth; but then he changes His mind again and lets them
eventually procreate and fill the earth although they are still sinful
as ever. The better explanation is that God knew in advance that we
would sin, and we turned out just the way God planned. God does not
discover new things - He knows everything always.
So, simply put, the Islamicbelief is that people are not born in sin
but they will eventually commit sins for which they shouldsincerely
repent, and God will wipe out their sins. People do not inherit
sins.Sin is something you do wrong. You couldn't have done anything
before youwere born, therefore you were born without sin. The Qur'an
teaches that God does not hold us responsible for what others did
before we were born, and no innocent person would carry the guilt of
another (see Qur'an 4:111; 6:164). This coincides with our own sense
of justice. No one considers it right to blame children for the sins
of their ancestors, or to punish the innocent so that the guilty may
go free.
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