You said that every child of Adam is a sinner. Does that mean we are born with sin?

No. Muslims believe that every child is born in a pure, natural state.
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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If God is loving, kind, and merciful, why would He punish anyone in Hell?

Due to a slight misunderstanding, many people see this as an
unresolvable contradiction. This question has troubled them to the
point of driving them away from religion altogether. The
misunderstanding begins with the assumption that God loves everyone,
even sinners. Then it becomes difficult to explain why God would
punish sinners.Some people attempt to explain their way around this by
saying that God loves the sinner but hates the sin. This explanation
would have been good enough if God would punish the sin and save the
sinner. Instead, God will punish the sinner, so the problem remains.
To survey the problem a little further, consider the following quote
from Matthew's Gospel: You have heard that it was said, 'Love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.' ButI tell you: Love your enemies . . .
(Matthew 5:43-44).
Now, this passage indicates that it is a good thing to love one's
enemies. It follows, then, that God, being infinitely good, must love
His enemies too. But then, why would He punish them? Why, for example,
would God torment some of His creatures day and night for ever and
ever in a lake of burning sulphur if He loves them? (see Revelation
20:10)
The Qur'an resolves this problem by indicating quite clearly that
although God is full of loving kindness He does not love sinners who
refuse to change. We know from the Qur'an that Allah does not like the
following categories of people:
� mischief makers
� treacherous ingrates
� proud people
� prodigals
� rejecters of God's message.
It presents, therefore, no difficulty in the mind of a Muslim if God
punishes such people. On the other hand, it makes more sense that God
will not treat the good and bad in the same manner. Therefore we must
all try our best to do what pleases God, and seek His forgiveness for
our failings. The Qur'an tells us that Allah loves the following
categories of people:
� those who do good
� those who repent for their sins
� those who keep themselves clean
� those who fulfil their pledges and are consciousof Allah
� those who are steadfast on the right path
� those who trust in Allah.
Let us therefore ask God to make us deserving of His infinite love.

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Learn from this man, he is the best

When Mu'aawiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Salami came to Madeenah from the
desert, he did not know that it was forbidden to speak during the
salaah. He relates: "Whilst I was praying behind the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), a man sneezed, so
I said 'Yarhamuk Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you).' The people
glared at me, so I said, 'May my mother lose me! What is wrong with
you that you are looking at me?' They began to slap their thighs with
their hands, and when I saw that they were indicating that I should be
quiet, I stoppedtalking (i.e., I nearly wanted to answer them back,
but I controlled myself and kept quiet).
When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) had finished praying - may my father and mother be sacrificed for
him, I have never seena better teacher than him before or since - he
did not scold me or hit me or put me to shame. He just said, 'This
prayer should contain nothing of the speech of men; it is only tasbeeh
and takbeer and recitation of the Qur'aan.'"Source: Saheeh Muslim,
'Abd al-Baaqi edn., no. 537.
May Allah give us the beautiful qualities of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

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When to Start Ordering the Young to Fast

The young is told to start praying when they are seven year old and
they are to be punished for notperforming prayer when they ten,
according to Sunnah. Does the same rule apply for fasting?
The young boy is ordered to fast when he reaches the age of 7 is if he
is physically capable of bearing it. (Some Muslim scholars that he
should bephysically reprimanded if he does not fast by the age of 10,
which is the same rule that is applied to prayer; refer to Al Mughni
3/90). The boy will get a reward for fasting and his parents will get
a reward for teaching him well and guiding him to that whichis good.
Al Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwadh (may Allaah be pleased with her) said about
fasting 'Aashouraa' at the time when it was mandatory to fast it and
not voluntary: we used tomake our young boys fast, and we made them
atoy made out of wool. If one of the boys cried [wanting] food, we
wouldgive him [the toy to distract him] until it was time to break the
fast." (AlBukhari Fath # 1960). (Ashouraa is the tenth dayof the month
of Muharram. Although fasting this day is now voluntary the majority
of Muslims usually fast.) Some people are quite lenient and lax when
it comes to making their children fast. A situation may even arise
where theyoung child feels enthusiastic and chooses to fast and is
physically capable of doing so, then his father or mother orderhim to
break his fast claiming that it is out of sympathy. Little do they
know that real sympathy is in stressing the importance of fasting and
teaching the child about it. Allaah said in Surat ul-Tahreem
(interpretation of the meaning): "O you who believe! Ward yourselves
and your families off froma fire (Hell) whose fuel is of men and
stones, over which are appointed angels stern and severe, who do not
disobey the commands they receive from Allaah, and execute that which
they are commanded." We must pay extra attention to theyoung girl when
she first starts fasting after she reaches puberty. There is a
possibility that she will fast while she has her period (the first
time) out of shame or shyness, and end up not making up thedays later
on.

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