Original sin in the Hebrew Bible

4:123"(This) shall not be in accordance with your vain desires nor in accordance with the vain desires of the followers of the Book; whoever does evil, he shall be requited with it, and besides Allah he will find for himself neither a guardian nor a helper"

 

Many verses of the HB are used to defend this doctrine, including 

Ps51"I was shapen with iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me". 

David states he was created with/in sin (the letter used to indicate ‘in’ can also mean ‘with’) and cites the reason; he is the product of sin, and this implies that parents pass onto the children's genes not only a physical but also a spiritual baggage. This creates an inclination towards sin, not that the person is an accountable sinner simply due to that defect, in accordance with verses like Deut24:16 clearly stating that none is punished for the sins of the ancestors. That inclination to sin, not the state of being a sinner, can be overcome using freewill as seen in Cain's story. David in that passage recognizes his inclination to sin due to his innate spiritual defects, expresses his sorrow for his sin with Batsheba, and pleads for mercy on account of that sinful impulse. 

In line with the story of Cain who was told by God to make the right choice by himself, because it was within his reach, the same David similarily recognizes that uprightness of heart is a condition that can be achieved by the righteous, who can thereafter keep himself from sin 

Ps18:22-23"All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin" Ps32:11"Be happy in God, and rejoice O righteous. Cry out in joy, all upright of heart" 

and by the one who freely 

Ps34:14"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it". 

This does not agree with the Christian notion of inherited sinfulness that can never be overcome by humans alone and their own freechoices and deeds, hence the necessity of a global sin offering incarnated by Jesus. In fact the NT even speaks of John's parents being upright in God's sight for their righteousness and blameless observance of the Law Lk1:6.

Another verse used is 

Gen8:21"I will not continue to curse again the ground on account of man, since the inclination of the heart of man is evil from his youth". 

It doesnt say "at birth" as implied by the proponents of the sinful nature doctrine, it says "youth" because children are predominantly selfish until they mature. Maturity coincides with the development of the good inclination, at which point Man is considered responsible and possessing free will. 

Job11:12 says, "man is born a wild mule" but adults can do better. Sometimes Prov20:9 is quoted, in disregards of 

20:7"He who walks in innocence is righteous, fortunate are his sons after him". 

Prov20:7-9 speak of how an honest person can find a misdeed in his past. However, innocence and righteousness are not fictional.

Jer5:1 is cited to prove no righteous person exists for no righteous was found in Jerusalem's public places yet Ps79:2 when describing Jerusalem's siege says there were righteous people in Jerusalem at that time, only they were not found in public places.

Jer13:23 is clearly an exaggeration by the prophet, meaning that change requires serious effort. In fact in every chapter, Jeremiah tells the people to correct their behavior on their own without preconditions so to argue he meant that none could do it, would be an absurdity. Another verse is 

Jer17:9"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure" 

other translations say 

"The heart of man is desperately wicked who can know it". 

So if man's heart is doomed to wickedness, how will Jesus' sacrifice solve the problem? There is no exceptional clause anywhere in or near the verse. This also is a case of exageration, for Jeremiah clearly calls his addressees to mend their ways and in fact the next verse states that God looks in each person's heart "to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve". There is good just as there is an evil tendancy and man must, on his own, choose the former, or in God's words to Cain concerning his sinful self 

Gen4:7"you must rule over it".

While Adam is created by God in His image, Adam begets Seth in Adam's image Gen5:1-2 after having being stained by the sin. Supposedly, the Divine image was negated yet Gen6:5 says (after the Flood) that the image of God is the reason for the prohibition of murder.

Often used is also 

Ecc7:20"There is no righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins"

 to prove that unless one attains absolute perfection (which he cannot), all is lost. Yet when one looks closer at the verse, it actually says 

"There is no RIGHTEOUS person..who never sins". 

The person who does a sin is still righteous.

There are different types of sin in the Torah:

Pesha - An intentional sin, committed in deliberate defiance of God
Ovon - A sin of lust or uncontrollable emotion, done knowingly but not done to defy God;
Cheit - An unintentional sin, the word comes from an arrow that misses its target. The result may have ramifications, but the act was not done with malice aforethought.

Most of the time they are defined through context (an act of rebellion against God or pesha is not the same as an unintentional sin or chait)

The sin commited by Adam and Eve was cheit, because it was neither a pesha nor an ovon. God then gave them the opportunity to repent: he asked Adam "Where are you?" God knows all things so his intention was to give Adam an opportunity to admit what he had done wrong, which they didnt: Eve blamed the serpent (not a regular snake, but a snake like creature whom Torah says was very intelligent, that could communicate (like other beasts are made to speak in the HB) and that implicitly could have stood erect prior to being inflicted with the divine curse. It is worthwhile noting, snakes have muscles that could be used for walking, they even have the right genes to develop limbs. In pythons the gene is sometimes triggered causing small claws to protrude from their skin: They are beginning to develop limbs) and Adam blamed Eve. 

God doesnt punish anyone immediately after eating from the tree, because it was a cheit type of "sin" or mistake as seen from its use in Judges20:16. It is after the immature finger pointing and refusal to take responsibility and repent that God sends everyone out of the garden meaning what really caused their banishement was their stubborness and refusal to repent, otherwise they would have been sent away right after eating from the tree. Therefore the real sin was not eating the forbidden fruit (cheit, mistake) rather it was the fact of not taking responsibility and refusal to repent. 

Then God curses the serpent with "arur atah" which is never used next when He addresses Adam and Eve. God tells them "arurah ha'adamah", cursed is the earth/ground. This speaks of the earth/ground that Adam will have to work - but God does not curse Adam nor Eve. 

This is the major point lost by Christians, God did not curse (arur) Adam nor Eve by causing them to unwillingly inherit a sinful nature to their descendants; they were punished (not cursed = arur) with the pain from childbirth, subjugation of women to men, and having to work for food. 

This has nothing to do with sin or cursing man with a sinful nature. 

As to Gen3:15, the seed of Eve spoken of, refers to mankind in general because God here is addressing Eve. 

Similarily in Gen16:7 Hagar's seed refers to her Ishmaelite descendants because she is being addressed, not Abraham. The passage of Gen3 isnt figurative and its plain reading is obvious, refering to the enmity between serpents and humans. Some Christians like to see in that passage an allegory of Jesus' utter defeat of Satan, which obviously didnt happen. Satan is still active even among those that are most adamant in their belief in him, such as Paul 1Thess2:18. Paul also made the false prophecy that this anticipated defeat shall happen very shortly Rom16:20. 2000 years later, sin still exists, even among those that accepted Jesus, just as it remains a threat to those that sincerely repent 1Jn1:8,3:8-9.

Whether man is a sinner by nature or not is immaterial to Judaism since it teaches the way to repentance and reconciliation with God.
The Torah says man has an inclination towards evil from youth not birth Gen8:21 but that doesnt make everyone a sinner from birth, having inherited Adam's sin, nor does it mean one is in a state of being from which he must be "saved". In fact even the non Jewish king of Tyre was found to be 

Ezek28:15"perfect in your ways from the day you were created until wrongdoing was found in you". 

Each person is accountable for his own sins and can find the way to forgiveness through sincere repentance and resolve in walking aright Ezek18:20-22,Deut24:16,2Kings14:6,Jer31:30,Job34:23. The passages often used in support of the transmissibility of sins, from father to son for example as in the context of the punishement of the Israelite nation throughout Jeremiah and Ezekiel, disregard the statements in those same books, saying that the son who does not walk in the footsteps of the sinful father is never punished for the latter's sins, only those who follow the sins of the parents are punished Ezek18:17-19.

Moral responsibility only applies after reaching maturity Deut1:39,James4:17. Man chooses to sin Isa66:3-4, against his good nature Eccl7:29, just as he can 

Ps34:14"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it". 

This is illustrated through the story of Abel and Cain. 

In 

Gen4:7"Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you? If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is lying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it" 

God speaks to Cain and tells him that good and evil are his choices and that he should choose good. God tells Cain that he can master evil and avoid falling in sin, it is an advise to choose the right path or face the consequences of sin. There are therefore 2 possibilities depending on Cain's choice.

If God tells him that he must master evil it means it is in his capability, that there is no sinful nature unwillingly imposed on him preventing him from doing any type of good and following a command from God, otherwise why would He tell him to master his evil thoughts, why would God tell him to do something impossible to him and punish him for failing. 

Later, Cain chooses to sin by killing his brother. This was done out of his freewill, and his failure to master his evil tendency does not mean that he didnt have the ability to do any good. If it was the case, God would not have told him that good and evil were his own choices, nor order him to master evil or face the consequence of his sin. 

The most prevalent theme in the Jewish scriptures is that God relates to people according to their deeds, both good and bad. The sinful nature of man does not cancel out any good that we do, the actions of men find favor in the eyes of God Gen26:4. David is pointed as an example of righteousness that others should follow 1Kings11:38. This does not mean that he was sinless - he wasn’t. But it does mean that his sins did not nullify the good that he did.

 God chose to save life on this planet through the handiwork of the righteous Noah. Noah’s ark, which was built by Noah’s obedient action, was the means through which God recreated the world. The message is clear 

Prov10:25"And the righteous one is the foundation of the world".

Just like in Islam, freewill is a foundation of Judaism. From the very beginning, mankind's original design already included the capability of free will. The textual proof of this in the HB is that God issued a commandment to Adam; God doesnt issue pointless commandments and - if mankind lacked the free will to obey or disobey - then every commandment would be pointless. 

Deut30:19"I call heaven and earth to bear witness this day, for I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you and our children may live"

Lamentations3:38"Evil and good come not from the mouth of the Most High. Why then should a living man complain, a strong man, because of his sins?"

 this explains that if a person chooses evil and fails to heed the call to righteousness, he has no cause to complain, for the decision is his alone.

Ps24 explains that man is given a pure heart also Gen8:21 says that mankind has an "evil inclination" (evil in their heart, which is not a sin) from their youth, not from birth. This verse also lifts the curse put on the earth by God meaning the only curse left was the one on the serpent, Adam and even were never cursed. 

The Hebrew Bible explains that sin comes as a result of not following God's commandements, one cannot be born "sinful". It isnt a hereditary disease that is transferred from a father to his son. There is not one single prophet or prominent personality in the Hebrew Bible (who dwell at length upon the iniquities of the Israelites) who saw in the story of the Tree of Knowledge any special “sin” that is worth mentioning.

When God tells Adam if he eats from the tree "you will surely die" it has nothing to do with eternal damnation to him and his progeny, if Adam obeyed God, he could remain in the Garden, enjoying a close relationship with God. However, should he disobey, he is to die. In the next chapter, the penalties of this 'death sentence' are announced and they are the banishement from the garden and a life of toil and sorrows. In biblical terms, becoming distanced from God is tantamount to death (deut30:15-20). Its a spiritual death or "cut off".

If taken literally it still doesnt hint to any eternal damnation: "you will surely die" (mot tamut) describes a process of death. "mot" is the state of death while tamut = ata-mut is how you (ata') will get there, it indicates the beginning of dying, an ingressive sense. In other words, if they would have eaten the fruit, then Adam and Eve would have begun to die and would return to dust as indicated in context in 

Gen3:17 "all the days of your life”,

 and 

"by the sweat of your brow you will eat bread. Finally (or until) you will return to the ground, for it was from (the ground) that you were taken. You are dust, and to dust you shall return "

 it is a process of death which begins from birth. A more proper translation would be 

"unto death you will die”.

The rabbis teach that before eating from the tree it was easy to tell the difference between good and evil, like black and white. 

If Adam and Eve had waited, God would have given them permission to eat of the tree (when they were mature enough to understand it,after Shabbat). But by choosing they gained the knowledge before they had the wisdom to control it, resulting in a difficult distinction of good and evil, which is why man is more inclined towards evil but can MASTER it. It is also interesting that while the serpent was cursed Adam and eve were not cursed.

The fact is that trinity needs the illogical and immoral original sin to open the way to Jesus, who was part of a great plan from the heavenly father to redeem mankind from the stain burdened on all because of Adam and Eve's desobedience.

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (4)

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (4)

It is important noting, the Quran repeatedly says both Adam and his wife were simultaneously mislead, by Iblis and not by oneanother 7:20. It even specifically points to Adam's misguidance 20:120 while it never mentions his wife alone in that context. The prophet said 

"were it not for Eve, no woman would ever betray her husband".

It is always important not to try and read too much into a quote made a very long time ago, detached from its direct context. Especially if it is done in ignorance of the established patterns related to the subject, as are found in the Quran and the vast corpus of ahadith. The statement doesnt say what was the nature of Eve's betrayal although it is assumed it has to do with the incident of the tree. It doesnt speak of ingrained sinfulness or bad behavior, neither does it generalize Eve's action as affecting all women. It simply says, if a woman betrays her husband then it is somehow connected to Eve's betrayal of Adam. We will never establish the chain of events linking our current experiences and actions all the way to Adam and Eve. But this hadith tells us the connection exists. Eve established a pattern that was perpetrated to all her female descendants, the same way one learns a behavior from his parents, who got it from their parents and so on.

No blame or anger were expressed on anyone or anything, following their repentance and complete forgiveness. No curses were inflicted as senselessly allegedly done by God in the Biblical account, much less on women Gen3. 

The Quran for example strikes right at the idea of the process of pregnancy being a cursed punishment, simply through its wording, calling the womb "al-rahm". The word stems from the same root describing God's most manifest attribute of rahman. The throes of pregnancy or childbirth, if experienced, arent in anyway an evil punishment, just like other physical processes involving pain that humans may experience everyday arent curses. Although the pain of labor is what most women worry about, it actually is an important component of childbirth. It incites women to find their own ways of facilitating birth, instinctively guiding the laboring woman into positions and activities in response to what she feels, increasing the strength and efficiency of the contractions and encouraging the baby to settle in and move down the birth canal, protecting the muscles of the birth canal and perineum and the baby as he is born. 

When the pain is entirely removed, the feedback system is disrupted and labor is likely to slow down and become less efficient, besides the other known complications of suppressing it using modern techniques such as an epidural injection. As labor progresses and pain increases, endorphins (much more potent than morphine) are released in increasing amounts. The result is a natural, not total, decrease in pain perception. On the other hand, the rising level of endorphins also contributes to a shift from a thinking, rational mind-set to a more instinctive one. Endorphins create a dream-like state, which actually helps women manage the tasks of birthing. Inner experiences become more important than the external environment. As labor progresses and the pain of labor increases, women “go into themselves,” become much less aware and, at the same time, much more focused on the work of labor, and are able to tap into an inner, instinctive wisdom.

Another angle through which the Quran demonstrates mankind's potential to spiritual success, through this very mistake of Adam and Eve, is by presenting the story also from the perspective of Iblis. His disobedience was due to wilful rebellion, leading him to more obduracy even after his confrontation with God. But Adam and Eve, whose transgression was a mistake immediately felt shame, accepted the consequences of their transgression, took full responsibility for their act and began seeking God's forgiveness. Consequently, they found God merciful. 

Although the Bible casts the major part of the blame on Eve who was deceived first and then tempted Adam 1Tim2:14, thus paving the way for the severe misogynism of Judeo-Christian scriptures, the account in both the Quran and the HB shows it was forgetfulness and negligence that made them disobey God's command. As to misogyny, nothing in Islam remotely resembles what is found in Judeo-Christian texts and traditions, whose background is, as already stated, the events of the garden painting Eve as the first to sin, then leading Adam to sin, and because of that was condemned to be "restrained" through subjection to the rule of her husband forever Gen3. Prior to the modern era, that notion was interpreted as warranting physical punishment for marital disobedience, in both Jewish and Christian traditions. In Christian texts, through the writings attributed to Paul, male rulership is associated with physical coercion in case of disobedience. This includes disobedience of subjects to their ruler, slaves to their masters, children to their fathers, and by obvious analogy, wives to their husbands. Rom13:1-5,Titus2:9-10,Eph6:5,Heb12:5-11,1Tim3:4,Ex21:20-21,Prov23:13-14,20:30,13:24 etc. 

Further reading answering Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited"

- Acts17apologetics denounce mysoginy; Islam says women are inferior to men?

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (3)

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (3)

When after a while in the garden, Adam and his wife eventually approached the tree, Iblis began convincing them that 

20:120,7:20"Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or that you may (not) become of the immortals". 

He was implying that Allah was deceiving them by wishing them to remain weak and mortal creatures, and that he was their well wisher. He could show them how to rise above their ingrained weaknesses. The tree in itself had no particular powers but was the bait through which his evil purpose could be achieved.

The object being 

7:20"to reveal to them what was hidden from them of their shamefulness". 

This shows that from the begining, mankind is ingrained with a sense of shame for which he feels the need to cover, and that it is contrary to human nature for one's private parts to be openly exposed. This denies the distorted Judeo-Christian image most often represented in arts, of Adam and Eve walking around naked in the garden. It is interesting to note that the account does not give the intricate details of how, through the medium chosen by Iblis, Adam and Eve's shamefulness, ie nakedness were exposed. This is highly relevant for the timeless applicability of the lesson of not exposing one's shamefulness inapropriately 

7:22"So, he (Satan) lured them with falsehood. So, when they tasted the tree, their shamefulness/nakedness became revealed to them". 

Mankind have always been enticed to expose their private parts inapropriately, in many different circumstances, even religious 

7:27"let not the Shaitan cause you to fall into affliction as he expelled your parents from the garden, pulling off from them both their clothing that he might show them their nakedness, he surely sees you, he as well as his host, from whence you cannot see them". 

And it is interesting to note, knowing how widespread and normal the sight of one another's shameful body parts has become, that the Quran places that objective as the most primary goal of Iblis.

After the account of Adam and Eve and the manner by which they were deceived into exposing their nakedness, Allah turns to mankind, saying that 

7:26"We sent down to you clothing to hide your nakedness". 

Allah attributes here to Himself the ability to cloth oneself in order to give it a blessed aspect, considering how it diametrically opposes the evil entities' most basic desire for mankind. It is "sent down" by God, a phrase used for rainwater, or even revelation. Through the term "reeshan" the verse then mentions the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong in using that clothing for embelishment. 

The Quran in general doesnt deny the use of means of all sorts with the objective of beautifying one's appearance, and at all circumstances, including during worship. This sharply contrasts with the corrupt notion of associating piety with disregard for physical appearance and hygiene, as is often the case whether in Judaism, Christianity or the pagan religions. But it immediately strikes a balance by stating that the primary goal of clothing is to guard from moral and spiritual corruption so this factor of embelishment should not be wrongly channeled 

35:12,7:31"O'children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer, and eat and drink but do not act extravagantly; verily He does not like the extravagant (ones)". 

Therefore no type of clothing is better from that perspective than the clothing of taqwa/God-consciousness. Man is thus told to keep his garments in a state of purity 74:4. The "provisions of God-consciousness" are used in the same sense in 2:197. This shows that an Islamic "dresscode" is one that is clean and pure, provides sufficient covering for spiritual and physical protection, is agreeable aesthetically without evoking arrogance. It is in this light that one should understand the prophetic saying 

“God has cursed those women who add hair extensions, practice tattooing and those who have themselves tattooed, those who reshape their eyebrows, and those who create a space between their teeth artificially to look beautiful, and hence changing the features created by God". 

These practices are no different from any other allowed beautifying practices such as make-up and henna. The difference is that the practices mentioned in the hadith were, according to the Arabic traditions of the time, indications of a woman’s lack of chastity. Therefore, the prohibition of these practices was actually aimed at preventing promiscuity or the violation of the woman’s honor when people associate her with such traits.

The whole passage therefore ends with a warning to mankind 

7:27"O children of Adam, let not the Shaitan cause you to fall into affliction as he expelled your parents from the garden, pulling off from them both their clothing that he might show them their private parts".

After they ate from the tree and saw that their condition didnt change as promised to them by Iblis (they didnt become immortal angels), Adam and Eve realized their transgression as often happens when a sincere person comes back to his senses after a mistake or a sin, or when caught doing something wrong. They realized the importance of God's advise in regards to Iblis. Iblis was certainly not their well wisher as he was trying to portray himself. He had instead deceived them into inappropriately showing their nakedness 

7:20-2"So, the shaytan whispered/waswasa to the two of them..And he swore to them both: Most surely I am a sincere adviser to you. So, he lured/fadallahuma them with falsehood.." 4:120"He gives them promises and excites vain desires in them; and the Shaitan does not promise them but to deceive". 

From a linguistic perspective, dallahuma stems from d-l-w used for the dangling of the bucket in a well to pull out water from it. It implies the anticipation of good results since succeeding in getting water is a good result and good expectation. It is also used in the context of animal hunting, slowly making it approach, attracted by a bucket at the end of a rope which is progressively drawn closer. Through the use of this word, as well as of waswasa, what transpires is that Iblis' deception succeeded only after many persistent and gradual exhortation. All this was possible because of their forgetfulness of God's advise 

20:115"nasiya/he forgot, and We found no firmness of purpose in him". 

What both Adam and his wife forgot was God's warning as regards Iblis' intentions towards them 

"Surely he is your open enemy". 

They genuinely thought he was their well wisher. That situation might have occured some significant time after God's warning as regards Iblis and the tree where he was lurking. Negligence and forgetfulness of a warning typically occur in such a manner, after a lapse of time. Their misdeed made them of the "thalimeen". The word means "to oppress". In the Quran it can be used for oppressing another or oppressing oneself. It is the latter that is meant for Adam and Eve because in Quranic terminology, all sins, deliberate or not, are considered a harm to the self. It was not rebellion and willful transgression that made Adam and Eve sin. Their subsequent feelings of shame and remorse even before God confronted them testifies to this fact (contrary to the example in 2:54). Allah Himself states it was forgetfulness of his warning that lead them to be prone to Iblis' whisperings. Their sin was not preceded by repeated and willful transgressions, revealing a rebellious tendency, as seen in 6:44,32:14.

All this reinforces the fact that their transgression was unintentional and the Quran declares that unintentional sins are mistakes 2:225,33:5. This paralells with the HB's account of the incident that eating from the tree was not a deliberate sin, but a mistake (cheit).

 As their senses came back to them, they realized what his true purpose was, and now knowing that the exposition of one's private parts is an unnatural, evil inspired deed, began immidiately piling up tree leaves upon themselves and sewing them 

7:22"he mislead them through deceit; so when they tasted of the tree, their private parts became manifest to them, and they began to cover themselves with pieced-together leaves from the garden".

 As stated in the HB 

Gen3:7"And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves and made themselves girdles". 

They were then called out and confronted for their transgression 

7:22"Did I not forbid you both from that tree and say to you that the Shaitan is your open enemy?". 

They were told that although they had now lost all advantages they had in the garden in regards to general physical comfort, they would still find provision on the Earth until an appointed time 2:36,7:24. Adam and Eve accepted the consequences of their disobedience and took on themselves the full responsibility of their act, and immidiately asked God to forgive them 7:23. In the Bible, they began immaturely fingerpointing eachother and refused to repent after which God banished them from the Garden.  

This actually is one of the Quran's lessons from the story, when you blame Allah (as for example many do today when pointing to the alleged incompatibility of pre-knowledge and freewill, and as many did in the past as in Muhammad's time) you are like Iblis. But when you express genuine, humble curiosity you are like the angels who become worthy of being educated by God Himself. Another positive response is taking responsibility for a mistake, as did Adam and Eve, and thus earned God's guidance, were shown the way to His mercy, taught how to invoke His forgiveness 

2:37,7:23,20:122"Then his Lord chose him, so He turned to him and guided (him)" 

(as a side note, the HB speaks of there being proper ways to seek forgiveness from God, and the possibility of not knowing that proper way Isa47:11). 

Because of both their ability to take on responsibility, their forgiveness came without delay as denoted with the particle "fa" 2:37. It is also worthwhile to note the use of talaqqa in 2:37 in regards to the guidance of Adam. It is a word denoting a pleasant encounter, it is used in the Quran in the context of the angels receiving the righteous' soul at death and also welcoming the dwellers of heaven. This further stresses that God did not resent Adam following the incident, Adam met his Creator with pleasant words. 

This sums up the Creator's interraction with the first human vicegerents.

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (2)

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (2)

What causes happiness in this world is following the guidance laid down by God and constantly remembering Him 

13:28,22:77,64:16,20:123"..then whoever follows My guidance, he shall not go astray nor be unhappy".

 One is free to accept or not that guidance. That very freedom of choice, perceived by the angels when Allah originally stated His intent of creating a mortal on the earth 

"Will you place in it one who would spread corruption in it and shed blood"

 that potential for good and evil, constantly reiterated in the Quran explains God's statement 

2:36,38,7:24"God said, ‘GO FORTH (ihbitoo), SOME OF YOU (ba’dukum) will be enemies of others. And for YOU (wa lakum) there is an abode on the earth and a provision for a time". 

Here Allah plainly states, with the use of the plural for Adam and his wife, that among all of mankind, there will be SOME enmity. This enmity will result, as stated earlier, from rejecting God's guidance, whether it is the innate guidance towards uprightness and the knowledge of a Creator, which the Quran says every human being possesses, whether it is  the guidance present in all aspects of creation pointing to an intelligent, purposeful design, or the guidance sent through revelation. 

On the other hand whenever guidance is recognized and acted upon, then mankind "shall not go astray nor be unhappy". There is therefore in the Quranic account of creation no place whatsoever for unconditional, senseless and indiscriminate condemnation upon anyone. On the contrary, the incident is concluded with forgiveness and spiritual guidance. 

The Christian belief on the other hand is that there was no forgiveness, sin became ingrained in human nature and transmitted to Adam's progeny. On top of that, God, instead of sending the solution to that "problem" in the shape of Christ's atoning death, establishes a long line of prophethood and laws to be followed. This divinely decreed deceptive crooked system was bound to fail in the face of human depravity, for several thousands of years, until the issue of salvation was finally resolved with the crucifixion.

This theology appeals to people who have despaired of life, themselves and God. It is toxic, as it crushes the person's self esteem, making him yield to dark thoughts of hopelessness in oneself, and it is satanic as it discourages the building of a relationship with a merciless, unloving God. Hope is therefore found elsewhere, neither in God nor man, but in an intercessor that fixes the defects of both so as to reconcile them. He is a sinless man and a merciful, loving God, both in one since the divine cancels sinfulness and the human cancels mercilesness and unlovingness. His divine nature makes this man capable of perfect deeds thus pleasing God and restoring His hope in man, his human nature makes this God capable of dying, and through this self-sacrifice, capable of showing love and mercy, thus pleasing man and restoring his hope in God.

Once more, Adam and his wife would have eventually left the garden with or without comitting their mistake. In both cases, their temporary stay in the garden would have served its purpose. In both cases, their descent to earth would not have been by way of punishment, since they were forgiven following their mistake. 

The circumstances of their departure however could have been more honorable, had they successfully asserted their will against Iblis. Some ahadith reflect this, when they describe Adam's sin as the reason for mankind's expulsion from the garden. These reports do not speak of punishing mankind for Adam's sin, rather only say what triggered the descent to earth. 

"Moses argued with Adam and said to him (Adam), 'You are the one who got the people out of Paradise by your sin, and thus made them miserable". 

"You are Adam who led people astray and brought them out of the Garden". 

All that is suggested is that Adam, through his sin led people astray from the garden, where life was easy, unto a life of toil. But again, life on earth was something Allah had intended for mankind since before the creation of Adam. Moses here had no grounds to blame Adam for that decree. The most he could have blamed him for, was for disobeying a divine command, which he doesnt 

"you blame me for a thing which Allah had ordained for me before He created me?." Allah's Messenger further said, "So Adam overcame Moses by this Argument".

Within the HB account itself, just as is made clear in the Quran 2:30, the primary purpose for which Adam and Eve were created, was to fill the earth and rule over the living creatures Gen1:28-29,2:5. They were created from the ground of the earth (not heaven) Gen2:7-8. Adam and Eve's "immortality" was tied to eating from the Tree of Life, which they could freely access as the Garden of Eden's caretakers Gen2:15-17. Since their "immortality" was conditioned on their staying in the Garden of Eden, it means that they were actually mortal human beings who were able to benefit from the privilege of eating the fruit of the Tree of Life to stay alive indefinitely. Their transgression, marked by the eating from another tree, the tree of knowledge, which imbued them with consciousness of both good and evil resulted in their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. With that expulsion, their ability to eat from the fruit of the Tree of Life stopped. Had they kept eating from the tree of life, now that they are aware of not only good, but also evil, the result could have been that spiritually degenerate people and criminals might live forever. That is why they were only forbidden from the Tree of Life after their transgression Gen3. A type of angel, an angel of destruction, the cherubim was tasked with guarding the garden's entrance to prevent that eventuality.

Thus the result of their expulsion is that they eventually died. 

Despite certain important variations, many fundamental aspects remain in the HB and parallel with the Quranic account, including the fact that it must have been God's plan from the beginning to ultimately place mankind on the earth, as His vicegerents. The main areas where the Quran disagrees with the Torah is that in the latter, the knowledge of good and evil were concealed from man in a "tree of knowledge" whereas the Quran clearly states that this spiritual feature is ingrained and hardwired in man. Mankind was meant to live on the earth, was put in a situation of potential transgression in the garden, given commands to abide by, what sense does it then make for him to be ignorant of good and evil?

According to the interpolated HB, when man ate from the tree of the knowledge of good an evil, man "became like one of us", against God's will and desire. According to the Quran, which by the way omits the idea of a "tree of knowledge", that inner distinction of good and evil was already ingrained in mankind's spiritual fabric when Allah "breathed into man of his spirit". Allah in sura Shams, defines it as "He inspired the soul with the knowledge of evil and good", meaning Adam was meant to "become like us" even before he was introduced to the garden and its trials. The HB still contains elements of this reality when it states that man was created in the "image of God".

We thus see the Quran giving a consistent, comprehensive picture of creation from the beginning. Mankind were made mortals from the start 2:30 so as to allow them to be tested in their spiritual resolve and ultimately held accountable in the afterlife 

67:1-2"Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent - who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving". 

All tools are put at man's disposal to pass this test; both inner and outward. Senses of spiritual perception to derive the higher meaning from the constant processes of this universe, and direct guidance through chosen individuals who communicate the will of the Creator. All these arrangements do not necessitate that man will succeed, or else there would be no test. Rather man was created as a volitional creature, with a neutral spiritual nature 30:30 that is shaped and developed according to one's moral choices throughout life 91:7-10. Death is therefore not an accident, nor is mankind of flawed spiritual disposition. In the Christian model, the purpose of man was redefined in the course of history. Although he was first made to live forever in heaven, man's disobedience sent him to this world and caused him to wander aimlessly as all his thoughts and deeds became stained with sin. At one point God created a device to compensate for that inherent human flaw, which is a divine sacrifice, thereby giving man a new purpose; accepting Jesus' sacrifice.

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (1)

Sam Shamoun "Original Sin in Islam Revisited" (1)

The purpose of Adam and Eve's garden was meant to delineate some fundamental points regarding humanity's life trials. They had to assert their spiritual potential, freely against Iblis, their declared enemy. He promised to be their spiritual adversary prior to them entering the garden 15:39,17:62. God in turn warns them both about him, once they enter the garden, by pointing to Iblis who was present with them 

20:117"This is an enemy to you and to your wife". 

Iblis later addresses them both, not through suggestions but with a speech in the manner of a dialogue exchange 7:21.   

They could go wherever they wanted but were advised by God not to approach a certain tree where the devil was lurking 2:35-39,7:19-25,20:115-127. They were practically explained that although they were created free, this freedom is limited. They must learn to do without some of the things existing in this world for their own good. 

The trial had nothing to do with eating from the tree or not, nowhere does the Quran speak of not eating from the tree. The Quran speaks of not approaching the tree to avoid interracting with the devil and possibly fall for his deception. Herein lies a fundamental lesson in regards to the trials of life. What may seem like an innocent step towards a know forbidden and morally harmful situation may easily suck one into actively taking part of it. That notion is pervasive throughout the Quran, as it warns in different contexts not to "approach the limits". The issue comes up in 2:187 when ending the discussion on the rules of fasting. Or when confronted to situations where one may easily slip into sin, such as living in an evil society or inapropriately intimate with a member of the opposite sex outside those allowed, or any other similar situation 6:151,17:32. This delicately alludes to the reality that the involvement in sin is always gradual, requiring certain pre-requisites.

Another thing to note is that the nature of the tree isnt specified. This is because the purpose is the prohibition itself, no matter the type of tree. The command was issued to train mankind to abide by their limits, to rise above their impulses and desires. To reach that goal, something had to be identified as forbidden.

Here it would be appropriate to discuss the location of the garden. 

When Adam, Eve and Iblis were told to 2:36,38,7:24"ahbitu" from the Garden, it does not necessarly mean they were sent from Heaven down to Earth. 

The root is H-B-T and it means to descend/to go down/to decrease. In Adam and Eve's case it may a priori equally mean to physically descend to a lower place (such as downhill) or metaphorically from a place superior in certain aspects to another place of lesser importance. In 2:61 for example the Israelites are told to ahbitu to Egypt implying their return to their state of slavery which they preferred to their freedom during exile, because they werent satisfied with the food they were given on their journey. This "descent" can even include both aspects, a place downhill and of lesser importance. 

Adam and Eve's garden was a place of comfort that could easily be made available on Earth not necessarly in Heaven. That comfort translates into protection from the major difficulties man faces in the outside world when left on his own to survive, such as the heat of the Sun, and neither would they have to toil to feed, cloth or shelter themselves because the answer to these needs were easily made available 20:118-9. This is why 20:117 says they will not feel hunger or thirst, it is refering to these needs in their extremes, not that they will not need to eat or drink 

7:19,2:35"And We said: O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the garden and eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish". 

In contrast, the Quran always refers to the foods of Heaven as sources of delight, subtly alluding to them meant for pleasure rather than nutrition, since its immortal dwellers will be free from the need to replenish their physical needs through diet 37:40-6. Adam and Eve's garden is called janna, a word used in the Quran for wordly gardens and the gardens of Heaven. But Heaven is a place where no evil thoughts or unrightious people can enter contrary to Adam and Eve's garden where the devil was. Janna stems from J-N-N and this means hidden because the Garden hides things by its vegetation.

Also, Heaven is an eternal abode from where none of those who enter it can be expelled 10:108,15:48. But we are told Adam and Eve were always meant to go to the earth, prior to even their creation. 

In God's plan they were meant to be His temporary trustees on the earth, not in Heaven, and as mortals who would live and die on the "turab" from which they originated 2:30,35:39,38:71. It is precisely this aspect of their nature, their mortality, that Iblis seized upon to lure them into transgression, promising them immortality 7:20,20:120. 

Humanity's goal was thus always to live on earth, Adam ad Eve's garden was therefore a temporary abode, just like the world outside the garden where they and their descendants are meant to exercise their vicegerency for a decreed time until they are returned to Allah for account.  

After the incident of the tree, their sincere repentence and God's forgiveness, they were not kept in the Garden but sent to earth through a reiteration of the order to leave the garden that was stated prior to their repentance 2:36-8. Their repentance was accepted and they were nevertheless made to leave the garden, meaning it was not by way of punishment but as a matter of course, in accordance with God's original purpose for mankind to live and die on the earth. Had not the order to leave been repeated after their repentance was accepted, one would have erroneously concluded that Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden because of their mistake. The couple being expelled from the garden had therefore nothing to do with a fall at all, and was God's plan from the beginning as demonstrated earlier. 

As a grammatical observation, the Quran consistently uses the plural "ahbitu" when the order of eviction is issued to Adam, Eve, Iblis. In 20:123 it uses instead the dual "ahbitaa" but then follows with "jamiaan" which must include 3 or more entities. This means the aformentionned dual "ahbitaa" pointed to at least one composite unit among the 2; Adam and Eve were one unit, Iblis the second unit. There are others such examples scattered in the Book, of the  Quran flawlessly maintaining its literary consistency, even when breaking a grammatical pattern  

20:123"He said: Get forth you two/ahbitaa therefrom, all (of you), one of you (is) enemy to another. So there will surely come to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, he shall not go astray nor be unhappy". 

 

Back to the account itself. When they ate from the tree and began covering out of shame, Allah calls them out 7:22. 

20:121,7:22"Did I not forbid you both from that tree and say to you that the Shaitan is your open enemy?" 

At that point, Adam knew they had to seek Allah's forgiveness 7:23. What triggered that situation for mankind was Adam and his wife's disobedience. Again, that situation would have occured anyway, as per God's initial plan of placing a mortal on the earth. The trigger however could have been different. Because of their taking full responsibility, humbly asking for forgiveness, God showed Adam soothing words of prayer, consoling and forgiving him 2:37. Despite the spiritual will not return to their state of ease in the garden. They will be made to live on the earth for an appointed time 2:38,20:122.

The garden was thus an earthly transition place where man got acquainted with his self and his future responsibilities resulting from his capacity of freewill, this is why Iblis was allowed to play a part in it and why temptation was made possible. The time spent by Adam and Eve in their garden was to demonstrate the fundamental method in which the will would have to assert itself for a human being; by defeating evil suggestions 

20:117"O Adam! This is an enemy to you and to your wife; therefore let him not drive you both forth from the garden so that you should be unhappy".

 God is warning them, He does not want them to leave the Garden through the satan's deception because it would result in a state of spiritual unhappiness 2:36,38. Iblis only desires that they live in a state of unhappiness and misery, the inevitable result of disobedience to God. But the Merciful declares that even in this life of toil on earth for which mankind was originally made, they can achieve the very happiness that they had in the garden.

Sam Shamoun "Ramadan: One of the Names of Allah???!!!" (2)

Sam Shamoun "Ramadan: One of the Names of Allah???!!!" (2)

Seeing God's name as so sacred that it shouldn't be mentioned is condemned as a great injustice in the Quran 2:114. The remembrance of God, praising Him by His name and attributes is an important part of a worshiper's rituals, continuously commanded in the Quran 

87:1"Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High". 

See here how the Quran immidiately corrects and elevates Judaism's defective monotheism. And this is why Muslims do not call Allah their "father". There is no exclusivist relationship between the God of all creation, and the Muslims.

Another forceful way the Quran does so is when it revisits the events at the "burning bush". In the Quran God reveals Himself to Moses, with words evoking universal, indiscriminate Lordship, words which Moses would later communicate throughout his prophetic career whether in his confrontation with the Egyptian elite, or the Israelites; He is the One Lord besides Whom there are none, the Lord of all worlds/aalamin, a word encompassing in its meaning all human beings in all ages. He will gather and judge every soul indiscriminately based on its individual merit 20:12-16,28:30. The version of the HB again reveals the deep inclination pervasive throughout the Jewish writings, for monolatry and its depiction of an ethno-centred tribal deity 

Ex3:6"I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob". 

In the account of the Queen of Sheba's encounter with the prophet Solomon, the queen is quoted 

27:44"My Lord i have been inflicting much wrong on myself. Now I submit myself with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds". 

In the racially prejudiced and monolatrous mindset of the scribes of the HB, this queen who had nevertheless recognized Solomon's wisdom, who had left her land, abasing herself to come and seek knowledge from another king, recognized and blessed the ethno-centric "Lord your God" and His "eternal love for Israel", but inexplicably remained a heathen 1Kings10. After all, you do not want some far away nation to come and claim their rights in the land as part of the "chosen race". The NT in Lk11 similarly doesnt indicate whether she eventually abandoned her polytheistic ways, but hints at her being higher in righteousness than the Jewish contemporaries of Jesus. It is also interesting how in the Biblical account, she praises the tribal "Lord your God" while in the Quran she submits herself, together with Solomon, to one and the same God, Lord of all worlds. 

This is the consistent Quran pattern of exposing and correcting the manipulations of the scriptures of the past.

Similarly in contrast to Ex34:14 neither did Moses report God's name as "the jealous One" nor did he call Him a jealous God (in Numbers 5:14 the same word is used for human jealousy between spouses). Moses instead said that 

14:8"if you disbelieve, you and whoever (is) in the earth together, then indeed, God is Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy". 

God is Omnipotent and is not in any need of His servants or their worship. This is a major Quranic theme, again in contrast with the pervasive Biblical depiction of God as the jealous husband, going after a treacherous Israelite bride that prostitutes itself to other gods. The Quran makes it clear, it is His servants that need Him. Therefore, He has absolutely no requirement to be jealous. Further, all beautiful and best names belong to Him 

7:180,20:8"Allah, there is not god but He. His are the very best names". 

The best name is one that possesses the pure and sheer reality of perfection without any mix of its opposite. For example life without death or dominance without defeat 

17:110"Call upon Allah or call upon the Beneficient, whichever you call upon, He has the best names". 

"HE" refers to the divine Essence, which is not restricted to any name, like Allah or al Rahman/the Beneficient, so long as such a name is the most superior and perfect like the 2 names given in the verse to illustrate -Allah, and al Rahman/the Beneficient-. Also, each and every one of those names refers exclusively to the same Divine Essence. Whether the Essence is addressed as Allah, al Rahman, al Athim, al Ghafur etc. it is still one and the same Being worthy of worship that is being called upon. This is how the Quran intricately and comprehensively restores mankind's original monotheism.

Allah is the only true deity 2:255,23:116-117,37:95-96,59:22-24,112:1-4. 

As shown earlier, He can be named by absolutely any name, so long as it is the "best of names", which includes among others, Allah. He isnt restricted to any name or any number of names and all the scholars agree that Allah's names are unlimited so long as they are the best. 

There is a prayer by the prophet in which he calls upon Allah by the name He has chosen to reveal to mankind, and those He kept in the unseen 

"I ask You by every name belonging to You which You named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with You..".

99 out of these names are special in the way they affect our existence. When the prophet urged the people to pay heed to those names, he said those who ahsaa ha/assimilates and applies them -not merely memorize them, see Quran 18:12- in the worship and in everyday life is deserving of a great reward. These Divine Names, which punctuate so many Quran verses inform us about the moral quality that human beings must strive to embody. The believer becomes a vessel of mercy, justice, etc.  Naming Allah doesnt imply knowing Allah, or encompassing Him, or giving Him a similitude. Humans exist, but nothing like Allah, who ever-exists. Anyone has experienced mercy or existence, but not to perfection and infinity. The names of Allah dont describe the reality of His attributes, but tell us that He possesses a particular attribute to perfection. To clarify further, the name "all merciful" doesnt describe the reality, the essence of Allah's infinite mercy. It tells us that He possesses the concept of mercy, which we have experience of, to perfection, which we cannot fathom.

As a side note, the report saying Ramadan is a name of Allah, and that one should therefore not say "ramadan has arrived" but instead "the month of ramadan has arrived, is known to be very weak. There are countless ahadith where the prophet refers to this month as simply ramadan 

"The prophet said; Umrah during ramadan is equal to hajj".

To limit God's names would be in effect a restriction on His majesty and God can never be contained, neither physically nor linguistically 

17:110"Call upon Allah or call upon, Al-Rahman; whichever you call upon, He has the best names". 

The most obvious of these attributes is His attribute of Rahma, or mercy. Al rahman is the most intensive form of rahma. This is because Allah is the most merciful and this is why the attribute of mercy is the only one said to be "written" upon God 

6:12,54"your Lord has written mercy on Himself". 

Rahman stems from R-H-M meaning WOMB. In order to imagine the implication of the meaning, one has to picture the womb and what it does to the fetus. It nurtures, protects, provides warmth, love etc.

Sam Shamoun "Ramadan: One of the Names of Allah???!!!" (1)

Sam Shamoun "Ramadan: One of the Names of Allah???!!!" (1)

In the Bible, both Christians and Jews are told to fear their God so much that the uttering of His name became taboo.

When the Israelites feared they might die if they continued to experience revelation and so asked of Moses to step in and be their intermediary with God, they were told that it is precisely the awe of God that humbles a person and prevents him from sin, keeps evil away, makes him walk aright and perform justice 

Malachi2:5-6,Prov19:23,Ex20:16-17"in order that His awe shall be upon your faces, so that you shall not sin". 

The same is stated in the Quran 79:40. As the psalmist states, the one wo performs justice and rigtheousness can only be one whose 

Ps119:120"flesh bristles from fear of You, and I dread Your judgments". 

Ezra to whom part of the book of Chronicles is traditionally attributed to, states, while recalling the prophet David's prayer 

1Chr16:30"Quake before Him, all the earth.."

To fear God reverently is actually among the 613 commandements revealed at Sinai Deut6:13,10:20 and reiterated time and again by the prophets 1Sam12:24-5, including Solomon, the wisest of all prophets who stated when concluding the last book attributed to him that fear from, and servitude to God is the whole purpose of man's existence Ecc12:13-14. In fact the whole of creation has been arranged in such a way so as to result in fear of God for the spiritually aware, who cannot but perceive God's all-encompassing grasp in the functioning of all existence Ecc3:14.
His father David before him echoed that universal purpose, it is every human's duty, to be inculcated from the youngest age 

Ps34:12,Ps33:8"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him". 

He also stated, in the context of a time where all nations will be brought low before the Jewish people and either convert to Judaism or die 

Ps2:11"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with quaking". 

God fearing is a precondition for divine acceptance and guidance Ps25:12, one of the prime qualities of the righteous believer Ex18:21, up to the most respected, upright leaders of a community 2Sam23:3 and prophets 

Isa8:13,Ps5:8,Ps34:10"Fear the Lord, His holy ones". 

The love of YHWH certainly has degrees, it is directly proportional to the servant's fear, not love, of Him. Fear of God is the pre-condition to wisdom itself, as well as discipline, uprightness and true knowledge, and to gaining God's praise and acceptance Ps111:10,112:1,Prov1:7,8:13. David also stated that 

Ps19:10"the fear of the Lord is pure" 

and hence the absence of that fear is often equated with disbelief Jer2:19. This is why a time will come where those that do not fear God will be considered worthless and deserving a severe chastisement. Those that feared Him, more particularily His chastisment, will be saved and rewarded Mal3:5,20,Ps85:10,Prov28:14. As the Quran equally states, fear of God, when kept in view in one's daily life and actions, inevitably leads to reward in the Hereafter 55:46,76:5-10,79:40-1.

It will be the fear of God that will animate the mythical messianic figure that will come at the end of times to restore justice and righteousness Isa11:2-5 and it is the fear of God, carved into the hearts of the Jews at the end of times that will make them walk the straight path forever Jer32:38-40. 

The fear, awe and reverence to God is so deeply rooted in the teachings of Judaism that they may not pronounce what they have construed as His actual proper name

Deut28:58"fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord, your God". 

Because those consonants cannot be pronounced, the Jews apply the biblical instruction of making God Himself, throughout the HB, does not identify any word as His unique, proper name. It is the Jews that have identified these 4 consonantal letters YHWH (the Tetragammaton) as such. The instruction to fear the name YHWH creates difficulties within the text and its interpretation. For example HaShem, Elohim or Adonai replace these 4 consonants whenever they appear in the text. When describing the sacred Ark of the Jews, and speaking of the inscription on it representing these 4 letters, the author of 2Sam6:2 refers to "the name" so as to avoid pronouncing the word.

The biblical instruction of making God's name known to the world is reinterpreted in the sense of making His fame, reputation known. Knowing "about" God is achieved by showing the manner in which His attributes manifested in the world and throughout history. The text however shows that the name was known in ancient times, without any restrictions Gen4:1, just as was the case in the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Gen15:7,17:1,22:14,28:3,13,35:11. 

Later however, due to the high awe, and reverence towards the name, the priests forbade the laymen from uttering it, and preserved it among their own descendants. This of course is an unfounded traditional claim, since nobody today can claim to known the correct spelling of the 4 letters, even among those who trace their lineage to the priestly clan. Legend says that the mystery shrouding the correct spelling of the name will continue until the Messianic era where the 4 consonants will be made known to all, and without any restriction.

In Lev24:10-16 there is the story of someone who attempted to pronounce it 

"..the son of the Israelite woman pronounced the [Divine] Name and cursed it.. Any man who curses his God shall bear his sin.  And one who NOKEV the Name of the Lord, shall be put to death; the entire community shall stone him; convert and resident alike if he NOKVO the [Divine] Name, he shall be put to death."

The verb NAKAV apears in many instances, including Gen30:28,Num1:17,Isa62:2 and never means to blaspheme or curse but is equivalent to "saying" or "calling". It is purposefuly mistranslated as "blaspheme" in Christian Bibles that seek to bypass the total restriction concerning the utering of God's name. In fact the very plain reading of the verse reveals the important fact that the person commited not 1, but 2 sins, and that he was not actually executed for cursing God's name, but for pronouncing it. The person pronounced, then cursed the name. For the cursing, the sentence was that he shall "bear his sin" meaning that no atonement would be possible for him and he will carry the burden all throughout his life until it is dealt with by God after his death. For the sin of pronouncing the name, the sentence was that he should be put to death.

In addition to due reverence, there are other pragmatic reasons to avoid pronouncing the 4 letters. It only consists of consonants, which can only result in an incorrect pronunciation to anyone who tries. There is nothing more insulting than mispronouncing someone's name, let alone one used for God. The pronunciation "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" is based on that used by some of the Church Fathers but even among biblical scholars there is no certainty at all in this matter which is why most prefer to render it simply as YHWH without the vowels. In fact the pronounciation "Yahweh" is a Christians blunder, who took the vowelization which Jews use for ADNY (The aleph has the vowel "ah", the daled has "o", the nun has "ah" and it ends with a yud = AhDoNahY) and applied it to YHWH (They gave the first "ah" to the Y, then the "o" to the H, and finally the last "ah" to the letter vav = YaHoVah, regularily pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah).

Sam Shamoun "Was Aisha really only Nine?" (7)

Sam Shamoun "Was Aisha really only Nine?" (7)

It is important to keep in mind, that books of hadith, especially Bukhari and Muslim, are stronger in reliability than the books of history such as those of Tabari, ibn Ishaq and others. This isnt the point of contention, although it is also important to add, some of the narrations in these 2 books, were already regarded with suspicion starting with the generation of Bukhari and Muslim’s teachers, then their peers, then those who came after them through Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar and others.

In Islam, the one and only text pledged to be safeguarded from corruption and which Muslims are required to believe as divinely protected, free from error is the Quran. All the rest, the Quran has repeatedly urged mankind to look at with reason and sound judgement. Disregarding Hisham ibn Urwa's bias and weakness for argument's sake, the matter here is comparing authentic reports going back to a single person, Aisha, with many independant contradicting clues from the authentic hadith themselves as well as the books of history. Of course none of the clues by themselves are sufficient to prove that Aisha's estimation of her age of engagement and marriage was wrong. But the concurrence of all those clues together is a strong piece of evidence towards Aisha being mistaken in the report of her own age.

Again, we only have Aisha's word for it.

Today, even among the most educated people living in rural areas, personal information like precise age is a matter of approximation. This in itself does not compromise a person's intellectual capabilities. In the absence of documentation, if one is not born in a landmark year then they can loose track, so establishing a precise age is something impossible to do. If one looks at works of biography, including al Dhahabi's Siyar i3lam al-nubul, we see that birth dates, which were important in the authentication of hadith transmission, are almost always disagreed upon, even for the most famous personalities. The prophet humbly stated, following a memory lapse "I am only human like you; I forget as you forget". He was here referring to nothing less than the pillar of religion, which is prayer, something he was wholeheartedly dedicated to in his daily life. If it happened to him in such a precisely memorized matter, then what would prevent even the staunchest dogmatist to objectively evaluate Aisha's statement in light of so many conflicting evidences, made towards the end of her life about her age, which is a matter known for its uncertainty among the ancient people?

That is why one might still accept the hadith's authenticity, that Aisha did truly believe her marriage age was as stated in the sahih, but it still does not prove that she actually knew the reality of the matter, and neither does such confusion compromise her reliability in terms of hadith transmission. That is why the early hadith scholars did not deem it important to cross examine this specific information transmitted by Aisha. 

It is only when someone makes the ridiculous claim that the age of 9 is a 100% certainty, and uses it to fuel hatred, lies and ignorance that Muslims must present an accurate, honest, overall picture of the matter. Besides, to argue that the issue regarding the age of Aisha is in response to Western cultural values is to ignore what was already stated centuries before concerning criticism in the shia literature of Umar wanting to marry Ali's daughter, with the criticism being that she was young and he was too old. Whether the narration is fabricated to make Umar look bad by shia is irrelevant, the reality is, it still attests to a stigma that would have to exist to make Umar look bad.

Further "western" values are perpetually changing. Western critics of Islam saw no problem with Aisha's age of marriage since it was something they practiced themselves. From the advent of Islam and its numerous opponents that hated Muslims and the prophet, these enemies whose lies and calumnies are well documented in Islamic literature, to the 7th century Byzantine Anti-Muslim polemics, followed by the Christian smearing campaigns against the prophet during the crusades and medieval times, then the renaissance and enlightenment period and its unabating hatred of Islam, to the orientalists of the 18th-19th centuries, not a single critic targeted this particular issue. The reason is simple; marriages to prepubescent girls were perfectly acceptable and legal up to the 1900s but usually not consummated prior to puberty. Contrary to modern times where such a thing would and should be seen as revolting, childhood was understood as ending with puberty. Mental maturity and social responsibility were attained much earlier. The concept of adolescence itself, seen as a transitional phase between childhood and adulthood (approx. 10 to 19years old) is a modern creation of the late 19th century.

REFERENCES

(1)Tabari's Tarikh "Abu Bakr married during the pre-Islamic period Qutayla bint Abd al-Uzzaand from this marriage Abdullah and Asmaa' were born to him. He also married Umm Ruman bint Amir during the pre-Islamic period and from this marriage Abd al-Rahman and Aisha were born to him. All of these four children were born to his two wives that we mentioned in the pre-Islamic period."
(2)"According to 'Abd al-Hamid b. Bayan al-Sukkari-Mu-hammad b. Yazid-Ismail (that is, Ibn AN Khalid)-'Abdal-Rahman b. Abi al-Dahhak-a man from Quraysh-'Abd al-(Rahman b. Muhammad: 'Abd Allah b. Safwan together with an-other person came to 'A'ishah, and 'A'ishah said (to the latter), "0so-and-so, have you heard what Hafsah has been saying?"" He said, "Yes, 0 Mother of the Faithful." 'Abd Allah b. Safwan askedher, "What is that?" She replied, "There are nine special features in me that have not been in any woman, except for what God be-stowed on Maryam bt. Imran." By God, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions." "What are these?" he asked. She replied, "The angel brought down my likeness; the Messen-ger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was con-summated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin, no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to him when he and I were in a single blanket ; I was one of the dearest people to him; a verse of the Qur'an was revealed con-cerning me when the community was almost destroyed;'s I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken (that is, died) in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself."
(3)Nawawi, Kitab Tahdhib al-asmaa wal-lughaat
(4)al qurtubi and ibn abbas
(5)Bukhari's Kitab-ul-Kafalat "Once the Muslims started to face trials, Abu Bakr left toward Abyssinia, until he reached Barak al-Ghimad and met Ibn al-Dughna"
(6)Ibn Abi Asim in his al-Aahaad, al-Tabari in his Tarikh, al-Bayhaqi and many others;"Khawla said to Abu Bakr: “The messenger of God sent meto ask for Aisha’s hand in marriage.” He said to her to her: “Wait,” then he went out. UmmRuman mother of Aisha said to her: “Mut`im bin Adi had asked for her hand for his son. By God, Abu Bakr has never made a promise that he broke later.” Abu Bakr went to Mut`im bin Adi while his wife was there, mother of the young man. She said: “O Ibn Abi Quhafa (i.e. O Abu Bakr), perhaps you will require our companion [[referring to her son?]] to apostatize toyour religion if he marries your daughter.” Abu Bakr said to Mut`m bin Adi: “Yes, what do yousay?” He said: “She says such and such.” So he left them, his heart content that the promise hethought he had made was no longer in force"
(7)see Al Khattabi in his book A`laam al-Hadith "Regarding his saying tanquzaan, naqz means to skip or jump, but I consider itto have been tazifraan, and zafr means to carry heavy containers, and thecontainer itself is called zifr".
(8)he married Fatima bint al Mundhir when she was 9 (al-Muntazam and Tarikh Baghdad)
(9)See Mishkat al-Masabih, Imam Wali-ud-Din Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Khatib. Also,Ibn Abd al-Barr in his al-Isti`aab and Ibn Asaakir in Tarikh Dimashq narrate from two chainsfrom al-Asma`i from Ibn Abi al-Zinad that he had said: “Asma bint Abu Bakr is about ten year older than Aisha.” And this is a good (jayyid) isnad
(10)Ibn al-Athir corroborates in Usud al-Ghaaba: "Abu Nuaym says: "She was born before the calendar by 27 years." Ibn Abdal-Barr says in al-Isti`ab: "Asmaa' died in Mecca in the month of Jamadi al-Ulain the year 73 AH. She died when she had reached 100."
(11)Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b AND Ibn Kathir's Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah AND And Abu Nu`aym says in his Ma`rifat al-Sahaba in his article on Asmaa’: She was born before the start of the Islamic calendar by 27 years, and she died in 73 AH in Mecca days after her son Abdullah bin al-Zubayr was killed when she was 100 years old. Ibn kathir adds that despite her advanced age, Asma had still maintained her mental capacities.
(12)hadith found in Muslim and Bukhari 

(13)Sunan abu Dawud