Brief Comparative Study Of Sin & Salvation In Islam & Christianity (Part 1)

INTRODUCTION Islam and Christianity control half of the world's population, if not more. These religions claim the presence of divinely revealed sources of truth in the form of the Quran, the Hadith, and the Bible.

A brief foundational outlook on the teachings of sin and salvation in Islam and Christianity are discussed here. The specific intent is to highlight the points of convergence and divergence of these subjects, so to encourage the reader into a deeper understanding leading to a lifetime decision about his faith, practice, and eternal destination.

If both the Quran and the Bible are divinely revealed truths, then consistency should be the hallmark of the treatment of the subjects of sin and salvation. Any inconsistent or contradictory revelation of these subjects will reveal a vulnerability in either Islam or Christianity.

REVELATION IN ISLAM

Comprehending the treatment of sin and salvation will lead us to explore the assurance of salvation revealed in the Islamic worldview. This section will highlight the subjects of sin, salvation, and the assurance of salvation, as revealed in the Quran and the Hadith.
SIN Norman Giesler and Abdul Saleeb quote the European Islamicist Stanton to emphasize the principal Islamic terms for sin, which are khati' ah, ithm, and dhanb.1 Sin, in Islam, is the willful violation of a known or a given law.2

Islam also teaches that man, as a finite creature, will be imperfect. Man becomes a sinner when he decides not to avail the means of perfection available to him.3 Quran implies that since man was created weak, it is quite typical for him to sin, "Allah would make the burden light for you, for man was created weak."4

It is noteworthy that Islam does not condemn a man for any of his childhood sins.5 Furthermore, "The Quran also teaches that the first sinner was Adam (Surah 2:35), and yet the general belief of Moslems to-day is that all prophets, including Adam, were without sin."6
ORIGIN OF SIN It was Satan who, in the beginning, misled Adam and Eve to disobey Allah by tasting the forbidden tree (Surah 7:12-22). "Soon after the entrance of Adam and Eve into the garden, Satan began his mission of leading humankind astray. Man's first parents were deceived by Satan and were eventually expelled from heaven (7:20-25)."7
TRANSMISSION OF SIN Chawkat Moucary describes the Quranic teaching of the transmission of sin as follows: 8From the perspective of the Qur'an, sin has consequences only for the one who commits it, for 'no liability of one soul can be transferred to another' (6:164, 17:15, 35:18, 39:7, 53:38). This is why Adam's sin is seen to have had no repercussions on his descendants. Adam repented and God accepted his repentance (2:36-37). According to Faruqi, Adam's disobedience was simply a misunderstanding of what was good and what was not: 'Adam, therefore, did commit a misdeed, namely thinking evil to be good, of ethical misjudgment. He was the author of the first human mistake in ethical perception, committed with good intention, under the enthusiasm for the good. It was not a "fall" but a discovery that it is possible to confuse the good with the evil, that its pursuit is neither unilateral nor straightforward.' All human beings, according to Islam, are born in a state of moral purity. Our disobedient acts do not fundamentally alter our status: although disobedient, we remain God's servants and are able to compensate for our bad deeds by doing good works.

Islam teaches that sin can be acquired but certainly not inborn in the human being. "Therefore if man rightly uses those special qualities which he has been endowed with, he can easily avoid sin. Sin is not inevitable, because man is not sinful."9

MAJOR AND MINOR SINS "Some say there are seven great sins: idolatry, murder, false charge of adultery, wasting the substance of orphans, usury, desertion from Jihad, and disobedience to parents."10 Islam also teaches that there are smaller and lighter offenses; all these will be forgiven easily if men steer clear of the great sins.11 Surah 4:48 speaks about an unforgivable sin termed Shirk (the sin of association), "Lo! Allah forgiveth not that a partner should be ascribed unto Him. He forgiveth (all) save that to whom He will. Whoso ascribeth partners to Allah, he hath indeed invented a tremendous sin."12
SOVEREIGNTY OF ALLAH However, "committing a major sin does not mean that a person is no longer a believer; in this world he is regarded as a believer whose faith is lacking; he is a believer because of his faith and an evildoer because of his major sin. In the Hereafter, he will be subject to the will of Allah; if He wills He will forgive him and if He will He will punish him."13 Even though there are major and minor sins, Allah is sovereign over all insomuch that He judges to forgive and penalize.