Islams Treatment of the Sinful Nature of Man

Someone asked How come Islam does not deal with the sinful nature of man? First of all, I must ask, 'Where did you get the incredibly erroneous notion that Islam does NOT deal with the sinful nature of man?' If you are a Christian, then know that one of the chief differences between Islam's view and that of Christianity (or at least some branches of it) is that Islam reaffirms that every person is born without sin and upon a natural state and that it is the parents or the environment that takes a person away from that pure state and due to that he becomes sinful or misguided. We do not believe, in our concept of the sinful nature of man, that man is born evil. Rather, because the soul is erratic and because human beings are created with weaknesses, we tend to easily follow that which fulfills our lusts and whims but that is not necessarily what is good for us or moral or correct or pleasing to the Creator. That brings us to treating that sinful 'nature' of man in Islam. That is the main point of Islam. First, is to bring a person into the full realization that they are a creature and not the Creator and are thus in total need of Him and not the other way around. That they have a single All-Knowing and All-Wise Creator who alone deserves to be worshipped - which means obeyed, loved, depended upon, sought for forgiveness and guidance and mercy. That One Single Creator, the Provider and Sustainer of all life after bringing it into existence, is beyond any weakness and shortcoming of any sort, nor does He have the needs of His creation but is totally independent of them. It is His right to legislate and command or forbid, and thus His right to reward and punish. He knows all that is, all that is to be and the innermost thoughts of the first and last of His creation. When a person fully realizes all this and understands that it is his Lord alone upon Whom each and every matter rests, and that he will be accountable before Him in a Hereafter for those things done and believed in this life, there is no greater reformer or regulator of one's character and no greater motivator for a person to conform themselves fully to that which he understands is the will and pleasure of that Lord and to stay away from sin. That is the true meaning of 'Muslim'. Disbelief, corruption, sinfulness, and disobedience become hated to the believer and such people are guided. They love God with the utmost love and do not only fear His punishment but want to gain His love, protection, and guidance and hate to displease Him. Muslims do not ascribe to the belief of unconditional love, that is, that God loves us no matter what we do. No. Indeed we know that He hates us to disbelieve, commit oppression and injustice, arrogance, laziness, deceit and other sins. His hatred of those things is not like our hatred of one another due to race, ethnicity, status, wealth, jealousy, popularity, etc. because it affects us in some way. He is not jealous like a person who has the need to be loved, cared for, looked up to etc. Indeed, there is so much disbelief, ingratitude and sinfulness in the world that we hardly deserve the huge blessings that He bestows upon us daily and in every moment. Despite all that wrongdoing and sinfulness and undue hatred between one another - which certainly deserves punishment - He nevertheless gives us air to breathe, water to drink, hearts that beat, five senses, souls and brains and the ability to make choices. Yet we are still ungrateful and heedless.

The greatest of all His blessings is that He has not left us to wander about clueless or left us to our own arrogance and ingratitude but instead He has sent us guidance in the persons of the prophets and Messengers, who came with revelation and the best of character to guide their people to the light and the right way. They brought not just laws and dos and donts, but they led by example, first teaching them Who their Lord and God was and their rights and responsibilities towards Him, reminding them of His bounties and blessings and great reward for their obedience, and warning them of His punishment and displeasure for disobedience. This is the Islamic belief about these men who were sent as examples of the best and most noble character. Muslims find it extremely offensive and unreasonable that which some other religions attribute to men of God whom they allege committed crimes such as incest, murder and the like. A greater offense is to allege that any of them would call to the worship of themselves or to be elevated to the position of deities or sharing power or characteristics with God. No, they showed people Who and how to worship, the importance of repentance and humility, the highest and most noble values. All that they did was for the benefit of mankind so they could live and prosper and fulfill their role as creatures put on earth to worship their Creator. If we reject that, then the responsibility is ours. We do not completely ascribe to the belief in 'Original Sin'. Meaning that, although we acknowledge the sin of Adam and his wife Eve, we do not believe that all of mankind is thereafter doomed or destined to sinfulness or that the burden of the sin of the father is placed upon his children who have not committed it. We are not taught, nor do we believe, that women are cursed or evil by nature due to the sin of their mother Eve. In fact, we believe that they both were forgiven. What we do believe is that the originator of a sin, especially if he or she is not repentant from it, bears the burden of all those who follow them in that. Thus the first murderer bears the responsibility of his crime and that of those who commit the same thereafter. However, the concept of repentance, seeking forgiveness and mercy is uppermost in Islam and we are taught that the love and mercy of the Creator, far outweighs His anger and wrath and that He loves to forgive. Thus the characterization of Muslims only believing in a harsh and unmerciful and wrathful God is a total myth only perpetrated by the ignorant or the prejudiced and quite often, the dishonest. All of the above are basic and fundamental teachings and beliefs that can be found in the source texts of Islam, which are the Qur'aan and the authenticated reports of actions and statements of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him and all the prophets and messengers before him). It is sickening and disgusting to see and read the criminal slander and character assassination being carried out by so-called 'religious' men upon the person of the Prophet Muhammad who was of the highest of character and who did nothing but confirm the way of the great men who went before him among his brother prophets and messengers. Through Him, God finalized, perfected and corrected that which had been forgotten, corrupted or distorted of the previous messages. As Muslims, we never disrespect or malign the prophets and messengers, even if other religions attribute to them that which we do not. The practices of Islam, after belief, are prayer, fasting, giving charity and performing Pilgrimage. Each of these practices in and of themselves contain the elements needed by every person to reform themselves and keep away from sin, to be conscientious of their duties to God and thus feel remorse and repentant when they do indeed fall into error or weakness of faith. 2

Constant and sincere prayer (Salaah) indeed keep a person away from sin and only due to shortcoming in it is why one may still commit sins regardless. We humble ourselves at least five times a day, seeking forgiveness, reminding ourselves, praising our Creator, expressing our thankfulness and gratitude to Him, seeking His guidance for ourselves and others and asking for wisdom and strength. Fasting (Saum) is a protection and a means of further discipline and a time for reflection and repentance. It not only involves withholding sensual pleasures from one's self like eating, drinking and sex, but we are to keep our eyes and tongues from that which is sinful and harmful or that leads to sins. To keep from slander, vulgar speech, anger, ogling the opposite sex is all a part of fasting. We are thus more mindful, sympathetic and sensitive to those who do not have sufficient food, drink or enjoyment of the pleasures of this world, and as a result we are more grateful for what we have and more generous to those with less. Giving charity (Zakat) keeps us from the great sin of greed and selfishness and allows us to know the gratification of helping our fellow men and makes us keen to earn wealth lawfully, since criminal or sinful gain is without blessing. Pilgrimage (Hajj) combines all of the above since we must spend, pray, exert ourselves physically and be very conscious spiritually the entire time while simultaneously making no distinctions between one another based upon the superficial matters like wealth, beauty, status and power as we normally do in every day life. Hajj is is a great humbler and equalizer when one sees themselves as just one of the millions who are indistinguishable from one another and the wise person understands his insignificance, smallness and weakness and marvels at how each of us is singly chosen to survive from among the billions of sperm cells produced by our fathers, to come into being for some purpose by the same Creator Who will gather us all together again on a Final Day and show us what our deeds were worth. He will justly reward or punish as is deserved and we have no fear of injustice in the least, but pray that we gain His mercy and forgiveness for our many sins. So, after having stated all the above, I hope that you have gained some clarity about the belief of Muslims and what Islam proscribes as a treatment of sinfulness in man. Basically, ALL of Islam treats this problem with the most effective, and comprehensive and multi-dimensional of cures touching all aspects of our lives, if only we would adhere to its tenets with sincerity and knowledge, and indeed Allah guides to the Straight Path whom He wills. Abdul-Qaadir Abdul-Khaaliq