If there is no original sin, then why does everyone have to die? Isn't death the consequence of sin?

Muslims have a very positive view of life and death. Life on earth is
temporary. Death is the door through which one enters into everlasting
life. Muslims do not see death as something scary or frightful. Death
is the way one returns to Allah. God says in the Qur'an:
Say: The angel of death, who has been given charge of you, will carry
off your souls. Then to your Lord you shall all return (Qur'an 32:11).
Muslims hopeful of God's mercy look forward to theday when God will
address them as stated in the Qur'an:
O peaceful and fully satisfied soul, return to your Lord: you are
well-pleased (with your good end) and well-pleasing (in the sightof
your Lord). Join My (righteous) servants and enter my Paradise
(Qur'an89: 27-30).
Viewed in this way, death becomes a joy for the truebeliever. This
view of death was further explained in a saying of the Prophet, on
whom be peace. He said:
Allah loves to meet whoever loves to meet Him.
It is true that no one likes to die. But the prophet, onwhom be peace, said:
When death comes to a believer, he is given good news of the pleasure
of Allah and his gifts. There is then nothing dearer to him than what
is ahead ofhim. So he loves to meet Allah, and Allah loves to meet him
(This was reported by Bukhari and Muslim).
This positive view of death should not imply a negative view of life.
Life should be lived to its fullest, and believers should not wish for
an end to their lives. The prophet said; no believer should wish for
death, for,as long as there is life in you, if you are righteous,
perhaps you may increaseyour good deeds, and if you are sinful,
perhaps given time you may repent (reported by Bukhari).
God in His plan devised this earthly life as a temporary life. The
earth is a testing ground. Those who accept God's guidance in this
life will be given the abundance of God's grace in the next, the
everlasting life. When God decreed for humans to live on the earth, He
declared:
Henceforth there shall come to you guidance from Me now and again;
whoever will follow it shall have neither fear norsorrow, and whoever
will refuse to accept it and defy Our Revelation, they shall be doomed
to the Fire wherein they shall remain forever (Qur'an 2:38-39).
Again, God says that He"created life and death so that He may try you,
which of you is best in conduct" (Qur'an67:2).
God says further:
Indeed We created man from a mixed drop to try him and therefore We
made him capable of hearing and seeing. We showed him the way, whether
to be grateful or disbelieving (Qur'an 76:2-3; see also 90;8- 10).
In this life we should use our God-given faculties to learn and follow
God's message. The Qur'an says that those who end up being punished
for their sins will regret that they neither listened nor used their
brains when God's message had reached them (see Qur'an 67:10).
Incidentally, in the Qur'an it is not said that God warned Adam and
Eve of death if they ate from the forbidden tree. What God actually
said to them was that if they ate from the tree they would become
wrongdoers (see Qur'an 2:35). Given the Qur'anic viewpoint, there is
no reason to consider death as a consequence for sin.

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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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