The Qur'an as the Criterion · God's Oneness Guarded
Inherited sin and who carries a burden
In short
- 1.The Bible: through one man sin entered the world, and death spread to all (Rom 5:12, 18).
- 2.The Qur'an: no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another (Q 6:164, 53:38).
- 3.Adam repented, his Lord chose him, accepted his repentance and guided him (Q 20:122).
The claim being examined
Romans 5 teaches that sin entered the world through one man and death spread to all, so that everyone is born under Adam's guilt.
The Islamic position
The Qur'an holds that no bearer of burdens bears the burden of another, and that Adam repented and was chosen and guided.
Analysis
The doctrine of original sin developed principally through Augustine's reading of Romans 5:12-19, and it is the load-bearing wall of substitutionary atonement: if humanity is born guilty and cannot clear the debt, a sinless substitute must pay it, and the crucifixion becomes structurally necessary. Note first that Judaism, reading the same Genesis, never derived inherited guilt from it, and that Eastern Christianity has generally held a lighter doctrine of inherited mortality rather than inherited culpability — the Augustinian version is not the only Christian one. Note second that Ezekiel 18:20 says plainly: "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father." The Qur'an is consistent with that: "No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another, and man will have nothing but what he strives for" (Q 53:38-39, and again 6:164, 17:15, 35:18). Its account of Adam ends in restoration rather than catastrophe: both he and his wife are addressed, both are blamed, both repent — "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves" (Q 7:23) — and "then his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided him" (Q 20:122). Every child, in the hadith, is born upon the fitrah (Sahih al-Bukhari 1385, sahih).
Side by side
| The Bible | Romans 5:12-18 | Sin entered through one man and death spread to all; one man's trespass led to condemnation for all. |
|---|---|---|
| The Bible | Ezekiel 18:20 | The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father for the son. |
| The Qur'an | 53:38-39; 20:122 | No bearer of burdens bears another's burden; Adam repented and his Lord chose him, forgave him and guided him. |
From the Qur'an
أَلَّا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ
That no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another, and that there is not for man except what he strives for.
ثُمَّ اجْتَبَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ وَهَدَىٰ
Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him in forgiveness, and guided him.
From the Bible
Greek
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
Read it in their BibleHebrew
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son.
Read it in their BibleFrom the Sunnah
Every child is born upon the fitrah, then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian.
Sources
Qur'an 53:38-39; 6:164; 20:122 · Ezekiel 18:20 · Sahih al-Bukhari 1385 · Qur'an 53:38-39; Ezekiel 18:20
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