Original Sin in Islam and Christianity: Fitrah and the Fall

Islam does not teach that every child inherits Adam’s guilt as the child’s own fault. Qur’an 30:30Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalSo direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allāh upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allāh. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source tells people to hold the fitrah, the nature on which God created them. Sahih al-Bukhari 1358 says every child is born on that natural faith and that the parents turn the child. Qur’an 2:37Qur’an 2:37 · Saheeh InternationalThen Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.Qur’an 2:37 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says Adam received words from his Lord and that his Lord accepted his repentance. Romans 5:12Romans 5:12 · King James VersionWherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:Romans 5:12 · King James VersionOpen source says sin and death entered through one man and death passed to all, because all sinned. Those are different accounts of what a birth already carries.

Key Points

• Qur’an 30:30Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalSo direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allāh upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allāh. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source (1), Saheeh International, says to adhere to “the fitrah of Allāh upon which He has created [all] people,” and that there should be no change in the creation of Allāh.
• Sahih al-Bukhari 1358, in Muhsin Khan’s English, reports the Prophet: every child is born with a true faith, and the parents convert him to Judaism, Christianity, or Magainism. (2)
• Qur’an 2:37Qur’an 2:37 · Saheeh InternationalThen Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.Qur’an 2:37 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says Adam received words and his Lord accepted his repentance. Qur’an 7:23Qur’an 7:23 · Saheeh InternationalThey said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers."Qur’an 7:23 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source is Adam and his wife asking forgiveness. Qur’an 20:122Qur’an 20:122 · Saheeh InternationalThen his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided [him].Qur’an 20:122 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness.
• Romans 5:12Romans 5:12 · King James VersionWherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:Romans 5:12 · King James VersionOpen source (3): death passed upon all men, “for that all have sinned.” Psalm 51:5Psalms 51:5 · King James VersionBehold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.Psalms 51:5 · King James VersionOpen source (4) is David’s line about his own conception.
• The Catholic paragraphs on a transmitted sin that is not a personal fault are already quoted on Do Jews Believe in Original Sin?. (5)
• Qur’an 6:164Qur’an 6:164 · Saheeh InternationalSay, "Is it other than Allāh I should desire as a lord while He is the Lord of all things? And every soul earns not [blame] except against itself, and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, and He will inform you concerning that over which you used to differ."Qur’an 6:164 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source and the Gospel’s account of the cross are compared on Is the Atonement Unjust?. This page does not repeat that essay.

Fitrah, in the Qur’an and in Bukhari

Qur’an 30:30Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalSo direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allāh upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allāh. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source tells the hearer to set his face toward the religion, inclining to truth, and to hold the fitrah on which God created people. Saheeh International puts “Adhere to” in brackets, the translators’ supply, and it prints fitrah rather than a longer English gloss in the sentence itself. The verse calls that nature the correct religion and says most people do not know. It does not say the child is born guilty.

Sahih al-Bukhari 1358 is a longer entry. Ibn Shihab’s words about offering the funeral prayer for a child come first. Then Abu Huraira narrates the Prophet. Muhammad Muhsin Khan’s English on sunnah.com gives the Prophet’s words this way:

Every child is born with a true faith (i.e. to worship none but Allah Alone) but his parents convert him to Judaism or to Christianity or to Magainism, as an animal delivers a perfect baby animal. Do you find it mutilated?

Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh International

Qur’an · accepted by Muslims

The parentheses are Khan’s. “Magainism” is the spelling on that page. Abu Huraira then recites the fitrah verse, which Khan’s note ties to 30:30. The report’s picture is a sound birth, and a change that comes from the parents’ religion, compared with an animal born whole and later mutilated. It is not a sentence about a guilt the child already committed in Adam.

Which Muslims Accept Which Hadith? is the label for a sunnah.com narration: Sunni collections are not automatic authorities for every Muslim. The fitrah verse in the Qur’an remains for a reader who does not take Bukhari.

Adam Forgiven in the Qur’an

Qur’an 2:37Qur’an 2:37 · Saheeh InternationalThen Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.Qur’an 2:37 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source: “Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.” The brackets mark “some” as supplied. The verse says the repentance was accepted. It does not say the rest of humanity still carries the act.

Qur’an 7:23Qur’an 7:23 · Saheeh InternationalThey said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers."Qur’an 7:23 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source gives Adam and his wife the prayer: they have wronged themselves, and if God does not forgive them they will be among the losers. Qur’an 20:122Qur’an 20:122 · Saheeh InternationalThen his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided [him].Qur’an 20:122 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source: “Then his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided [him].” Forgiveness in these verses is God’s acceptance of Adam after Adam’s own words. Qur’an 39:53Qur’an 39:53 · Saheeh InternationalSay, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."Qur’an 39:53 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source widens the same mercy: God forgives all sins, and the servants who have transgressed should not despair. Does Allah Love Sinners? stays with that mercy.

Qur’an 4:31Qur’an 4:31 · Saheeh InternationalIf you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your lesser sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise].Qur’an 4:31 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says that if people avoid the major sins they are forbidden, God will remove their lesser sins and admit them to a noble entrance. The verse distinguishes major and lesser sins. It does not say every sin has the same weight, and it does not define a ranked list beyond that line.

Is the Atonement Unjust? quotes Qur’an 6:164Qur’an 6:164 · Saheeh InternationalSay, "Is it other than Allāh I should desire as a lord while He is the Lord of all things? And every soul earns not [blame] except against itself, and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, and He will inform you concerning that over which you used to differ."Qur’an 6:164 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source and Qur’an 53:38Qur’an 53:38 · Saheeh InternationalThat no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of anotherQur’an 53:38 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source, that no bearer of burdens bears another’s burden, beside the Christian account of the cross. A reader who wants that comparison should use that page. The point here is narrower. The Qur’an can say Adam was forgiven and still say, in 30:30 and in Bukhari 1358, that the child begins on the sound nature.

What Romans and the Psalm Say

Romans 5:12Romans 5:12 · King James VersionWherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:Romans 5:12 · King James VersionOpen source: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The verse names one man, names death as the thing that spread, and gives a reason: all sinned. Romans 5:18–19Romans 5:18–19 · King James Version^5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. ^5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.Romans 5:18–19 · King James VersionOpen source sets that one trespass beside one act of righteousness, and the disobedience of one beside the obedience of one, so that many are constituted sinners and many are constituted righteous. The “one” in the obedience is Christ. What Does the Bible Say About Salvation? follows that contrast through. Is Jesus God? is who that Christ is. The comparison is not between a forgiven Adam and a neutral child only. It is between Adam and Jesus.

Psalm 51:5Psalms 51:5 · King James VersionBehold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.Psalms 51:5 · King James VersionOpen source: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” David is speaking about his own beginning, in a psalm about his own sin. The line does not use the later phrase “original sin.” It does say the iniquity reaches the shaping and the conception, which is more than a parent’s later teaching. Bukhari 1358 puts the change in the parents’ converting the child. The psalm puts sin at the conception itself.

The Catholic Catechism’s paragraphs 404 and 405, on a sin transmitted by propagation that is not a personal fault in Adam’s descendants, are printed on Do Jews Believe in Original Sin?, next to Maimonides. (5) That page is the intra-Christian and Jewish wording. This page does not paste it again. The Christian claim beside the fitrah report is the one Romans states in the verses above, and the one the Catechism page already quotes: what is received from Adam is real, and the undoing of it is Christ, not a second chance that leaves the child untouched.

Grace in the Bible is the word for that gift. Salvation by Scales of Deeds or by Grace? is the last-day weighing the Qur’an also teaches, set beside the same grace.

Where Christian Traditions Differ

Christians who confess the Trinity agree that Adam’s sin affects every descendant. They do not describe that effect in the same words.

• Catholic. The Catechism says original sin is called sin “only in an analogical sense: it is a sin ‘contracted’ and not ‘committed’ - a state and not an act.” It “does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants,” and human nature “has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded.” (5)
• Eastern Orthodox. The Orthodox Church in America answers that “while everyone bears the consequences of the first sin, the foremost of which is death, only Adam and Eve are guilty of that sin.” Orthodox writers often call this ancestral sin. (8)
• Reformed. The Westminster Confession says that, Adam and Eve “being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity,” and that by this corruption “we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good.” (6)
• Wesleyan. The Methodist Articles call original sin “the corruption of the nature of every man,” by which man “is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil.” Article VIII adds that no one can turn to God without “the grace of God by Christ preventing us,” the grace that goes before. (7)

The real differences are these. Westminster says Adam’s guilt is imputed; the Catechism says the inherited state is not a personal fault, and the Orthodox answer says only Adam and Eve are guilty. Westminster says the nature is “utterly” disabled for good; the Catechism says it is wounded, not totally corrupted. The Methodist article stands with the corruption of nature and places the first turn to God in grace that comes before it. All four still teach that every child needs the grace of Christ. None of them is the fitrah of Bukhari 1358.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Muslims Believe in Original Sin?

The Qur’an and Sahih al-Bukhari 1358, as quoted here, do not. They teach a sound creation, Adam’s accepted repentance, and a child born on the fitrah. Romans 5:12Romans 5:12 · King James VersionWherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:Romans 5:12 · King James VersionOpen source teaches that death passed to all through one man’s sin.

What Is Fitrah in Islam?

In Qur’an 30:30Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalSo direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allāh upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allāh. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.Qur’an 30:30 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source it is the nature on which God created people, which Saheeh International leaves as fitrah. In Bukhari 1358 the Prophet’s report, in Khan’s English, calls the birth a true faith that parents then change.

Are All Sins the Same?

Qur’an 4:31Qur’an 4:31 · Saheeh InternationalIf you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your lesser sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise].Qur’an 4:31 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source speaks of major sins and of lesser sins that God removes when the major ones are avoided. The verse itself is the distinction.

Keep Reading

Romans 5 and Psalm 51 are the biblical texts. Do Jews Believe in Original Sin? quotes the Catechism. Is the Atonement Unjust? quotes the “no bearer of burdens” verses. What Does the Bible Say About Salvation? is the Christian account of how that death is answered.