Saad Tasleem – Did Jesus Die For Our Sins

			Imagine that a man committed robbery and then passed away. So the court decides to punish him by
imprisoning his children, all of them, male and female, young and old, for the rest of their lives.
Does that make sense? You have to see how similar that scenario is to the Christian concept of
original sin, which states that since Adam disobeyed God, all of humanity is obligated to atone for
his mistake. And in their place, Jesus has taken that burden as their Savior. The question here
remains the same. Does that make sense? In Islam, Adam and Eve realized their mistake when they ate
from the tree. They felt remorse repented, begged God to forgive their sin. God accepted their
		

			repentance and forgave them, leaving no sin to pass down to future generations upon their death. So
then, what is the purpose of sending Christ in Islam, Jesus was not sent to die as an atonement for
sin. Rather, he's a messenger from God sent to guide mankind and invite them to worship God alone.
Consequently, we understand that people are only responsible for their own sins. The Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him, taught us that people are born with a pure nature. Human beings are born
inclined to worship God alone. Everyone is born pure without guilt or sin. God then gives people
freewill so they can choose between right and wrong. Once a person reaches maturity, they are
		

			responsible before God regarding what they chose to do. God Almighty says in the Quran, whoever
chooses to be guided, it is for their own good and whoever chooses to stray. It is to their own
detriment. No soul will bear the burden of another. Therefore, Islam deals with sin through the
concept of repentance. If a person is sincerely repent from sin, regrets it and resolves to not
return to that sin, God forgives them and accepts their repentance. The true path to salvation is
the commitment to follow God's command and abstain from what God has prohibited