Bismillahir Rahamanir Raheem

(In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful) 
 

The Fall of Adam (p.b.u.h)*:

A Comparative Analysis on, “The Original Sin” 

By: Hanif Mohamed

      Some of the most heated debates in the religious circles centers around man’s supposed need for a Savior, the assumption that God needs a mediator between man and Himself, and maybe the most contested debate of all deals with the concept of the original sin (the idea that all men are inherent sinners because of Adam’s sin). All of these debates stem from this “original sin ideology”. I can’t begin to understand why this irrational idea would have such a great following. This idea states that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God they caused all humans to be damned, and none of us were there to partake in the act of disobedience. Their argument is that because Adam is the father of the human race we inherit his sin. If my father robs a bank will I inherit the title of bank robber, would any rational person hold me responsible for my father’s actions? No! And if anyone did say that I was responsible it would be said of this person, “he is unjust”. Now, it should go without saying that we can never equate anybody or anything with God, but by accepting this ideology we are saying that humans are more just than God. (God Forbid). For God to hold all humans liable for Adam’s sin is unjust. How can this be when God says that he is Adl ¹, the Just? Is it that God is unjust or is people’s perception of God unjust? There are three Monotheistic beliefs in this world and we all agree that Adam was the first man created by God. We all agree that Adam did commit an unadvised act. We also agree that act caused Adam to be placed outside the Garden of Eden and his easy life came to an end. We all agree that Adam was punished but what that punishment entailed is not agreed upon. Was it known to God that Adam was going to commit this act? Or was God surprised? Did the crime merit the punishment that some say was meted out? The way that we view the events of the Garden of Eden give a direct insight on the way that God is viewed in each faith. Each view will call into question Gods attributes of being Al Alim ², the All Knowing; Al Gafur ³, The Forgiving; and Al Adl, the Just. We will review the events that took place in Eden from the Jewish, Christian and Islamic points of view and give what their perception of God is.  
 

The Jewish Perception 
 

      To begin this discussion let’s get the Jewish perception on what God is. According to Our Jewish Brothers, belief in one God is a fundamental Jewish belief. The Shema, a central prayer, states "Hear, Israel: The Lord is God, The Lord is one." The idea of any other God is heretical for Jews. It follows that all prayer and praise can only be directed to God. In Judaism, God has no body, God is non-physical. Any mention of God's body is considered to be metaphorical. Any physical representation of God, such as the Golden Calf, is considered to be idolatry. As God has no body, He has no gender. God is just and merciful. Thus, people can atone for their sins. Via prayer, repentance and giving (tzedakah), people can find their way back into God's favor. God is all knowing. He knows all man’s thoughts and deeds, in the past, present and future. God is all-powerful. The only thing outside of God's control is man's free will ⁴.

      Now that we have established the Jewish perspective of God, it is now time to analyze their view on the events that took place in the Garden of Eden. I must emphasize here that our Jewish brothers do not believe in “the original sin”. As a matter of fact Rabbi Tovia Singer has said, “The term “original sin” is unknown to the Jewish scriptures, and the church’s teachings on this doctrine are antithetical to the core principles of the Torah and its prophets”⁵. Being that the Jews don’t adhere to this doctrine I will only present certain verses that deal with the events that took place in the Garden of Eden. The first of verse is Gen. 2:16 And God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad, you must not eat thereof; for on the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.” According to the commentary given in the Chumash ⁶ by Rabbis, When Adam and Eve were originally created; their natural impulse was to do good. But on the day man would eat of this tree the evil impulses of jealousy, lust, and honor would be aroused within him, making it impossible for him to attain the goal of complete spirituality as long as he was still on earth. Thus man must subdue his base desires through study, thought, and self-discipline to indoctrinate into himself a desire to do good and to have a distaste of doing evil. This verse clearly states that, “on that day you shall surely die” here commentator says ,” this didn’t mean that Adam would die instantly but that Adam would be subject to death, whereas if he had not sinned God would have kept him alive forever.”⁷ The end of this commentary is questionable because in giving an explanation to Gen. 3:24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. The commentators have said, “Man had to be banished from Eden so that he would not be able to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever.”⁸ It may be argued that man was created in the beginning to live forever but the Torah never states that to be the case. Moreover in the commentary of Gen. 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return, For you were dust; the Rabbis have stated, “the implication is that death was not a curse but a natural consequence of Man’s nature. Since he originated from earth it is only natural that that age and deterioration would return him to his origin ⁹.” This view shows that death is inevitable.

      The next few verses will deal with the serpent and his role in the Garden. The Torah says in Gen. 3:1-5; 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' “4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The consensus of the commentators is that the serpent used here was literally a serpent. They differ regarding what force it represented: the Evil Inclination, Satan, or the angel of Death. They said that the serpent used ploys such as, “Is it possible that God forbade you to eat any of the trees? Why would he have created them if they are not to be enjoyed? They say that Eve added to the command of God when she inserted, “you must not touch it.” The serpent used this to his advantage by pushing Eve on the tree making her touch the fruit and said: “just as you did not die touching it you will not die from eating it.” The commentators end with the serpent saying: “God did not prohibit this tree out of any concern for your lives but because He is aware that by eating from it you will attain extra wisdom, and become omniscient like Him. Then you will be independent of Him ¹⁰.The commentators agree that the serpent was literal. They differ concerning what it represented. The serpent they said could have represented the Evil Inclination that pushes man to do evil. This is unlikely because as stated in the previous paragraph: “When Adam and Eve were originally created; their natural impulse was to do good. So it didn’t represent that. The next possible representation is that it could have been Satan. While reading the Torah the fall of Satan hadn’t occurred while Adam was in the Garden so that has to be eliminated. The last of the candidates that the serpent could have represented is the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death is a servant of God doing only his bidding. If the Angel of death coerced Adam into sinning than God would be held responsible for Adams disobedience. I think what really has to be asked here is what problem did the serpent have with Adam? How did the serpent become so wise? Why was the serpent so interested in Adam’s disobedience to his Lord? Our Jewish Brothers didn’t leave us with the direct answers but they were on to something. These questions will be answered later on, God Willing. 
 

      The next groups of verses are pretty straight forward. They are the verses that mete out punishment. The first to be punished was the serpent. Gen. 3:14-15 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. This punishment agrees with the commentator’s consensus that the serpent was a literal serpent. If the serpent had represented any of the other things mentioned earlier it would have been unjust for God to punish the serpent and not the being working through him. The second to be punished was Eve. A part of Eve’s punishment is shared by the serpent, Gen. 3:15-16 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. The last to be punished was Adam. Adam in the Torahs account tried to blame Eve and by him doing that women were looked at as being evil. His punishment Gen. 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Now this ends the punishments for all that were involved in the events in Eden. There is no mention of man being inherit sinners and being damned. Our Jewish brothers have every right not to believe in “original sin” because like they have said, “it is unfounded.” And to show how Merciful and Loving God is, He has said in Gen. 4:7 Surely, if you improve yourself you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it. The Rabbis have summed up the mercy of God in their commentary of this verse, they have said, “Sin rests at the door. At the entrance to your grave, your sin will be kept, i.e., punishment will await you in the future world unless you repent. If you succumb to your to your Evil inclination, punishment and evil will be as ever present as if they lived in the doorway of your house….its desire…the Evil inclination desires continually to entice you, yet you can conquer it – you can mend your ways and cast off your sin. Thus God taught Cain that Man can always repent and God will forgive Him.¹¹” There is just no mention of God teaching this to Adam.

    The final verses to be discussed here are concerning the creation of man. There are two account of mans creation the first is and it took place on the sixth day, Gen. 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. The Rabbis have recorded in the commentary; Let us make man. This preamble indicates that Man was created with great deliberation and wisdom. God did not say, “Let the earth bring forth.” As He did with the other creatures; instead, Man was brought into being with the deepest involvement of Divine Providence and wisdom. 
        And God said to the ministering angels, who had been created on the second day of Creation of the world, ‘Let us make man.”

    When Moses (p.b.u.h.) wrote the Torah and came to this verse (let us make) which is plural and implies that there is more than one Creator, he said: “Sovereign of the Universe! Why do You furnish a pretext for heretics to maintain that there is a plurality of divinities? “Write!” God replied. “Whoever wishes to err will err…Instead, let them learn from their Creator Who created all, yet when He came to create Man He took counsel with the ministering angels.”  Thus God taught that one should always consult others before embarking upon major new initiatives, and He was not deterred by the possibility that some might choose to find a sacrilegious implication in the verse. The implication of God’s response, “Whoever wishes to err,” is that one who sincerely seeks the truth will see it; one who is looks for an excuse to blaspheme will find it.

In Our image, i.e., in Our mold, meaning that God had prepared the mold with which He would now shape man.

After Our likeness. With the power of understanding and intellect.

So God created. Just as Man is unique, so the manner of his creation was unique and exalted. Throughout the chapter God brought all things into being with an utterance, but He created Man with his own hands, as it were.

In His image, in the image of God. Among all living creatures, Man alone is endowed – like his Creator – with morality, reason and free will. He can know and love God and can hold spiritual communion with Him; and Man alone can guide his actions through reasons. It is in this sense that the Torah describes Man as being created in God’s image and likeness ¹².

Just as a side note, remember, God is non-physical. Any mention of God's body is considered to be metaphorical.

To comment briefly on this commentary, I believe that this rules out any thought that the Jews could ever consider a man as being God. The commentators did an excellent job in explaining, “Made in the image of God,” especially when they say that God has no body or shape. This information will prove very useful in the upcoming sections. The other reference to the creation of Man is Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The commentators have said that; “He blew into the nostrils the soul of life. This soul made a Man a living being. Accordingly the life that is unique to Man and which only God could “blow” into him is the rational soul that includes the power of intelligent speech. This is what elevates a human above animal life; the ability, and therefore the responsibility, to use his intelligence in God’s service” ¹³. Man was created for the same reason as all of creation and that is to worship God. God says in Gen 1:31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day”. This was after the creation of man. God has also said of sin Gen 4:7 you can conquer it. If Adam’s son was told that he can conquer sin and Adam is the “Father of us all” why can’t I?

Conclusion of Jewish Perception

    The Jews are strict monotheist. They have shown themselves to trust the One God. And that God is just; he didn’t say that mankind was damned because of Adam. In their doctrine the Jews do show where God is forgiving but the Torah fails to direct Adam and mankind towards acts of worship that would bring us back to God. These things are implied but not stated in the Torah. The Torah gave very little information about the Serpent and why he wanted to lead Adam astray. The Jews perceives Adam as a repentant sinner. They say that his sins caused the rest of mankind to share the fate of his punishment, but we don’t inherit his sin. This disproves the “original sin concept”. The Rabbis’ commentary shows us how our Jewish brothers view these issues. They truly go deep with their traditions in explaining their points of view. This proves why we need to turn to them when trying to understand the Torah. We need to turn to them because it was revealed to them and also explain to them. We pray that God enlightens us all.  
 
 

The Christian Perception 
 

      We will begin this analysis in the same manner as we did for our Jewish brothers by establishing the Christian perspective of God. This task may prove to time consuming. The Christians like the Jews say that they are Monotheistic. But unlike the Jews the Christians don’t have a single universally accepted concept of what God is. The majority of Christians are Trinitarians ¹⁴.  They believe that God exists in a Godhead ¹⁵ consisting of God the Father, the Creator of all, God the Son, Jesus Christ (p.b.u.h), and God the Holy Ghost, the promised Comforter. There is another group of Christians called Binitarians ¹⁶; they reject the Trinitarian view of God. Their claim is that God exist in a dual godhead namely God the Father, and God the Son. They say that while Jesus (p.b.u.h.) was alive he had no divinity. They say, after his resurrection he became apart of the God head as a dual God. It is also their belief that The Holy Ghost is apart of God the Father not an individual entity. The third group is the Unitarians ¹⁷. Their belief is that God is one not two, or three in a godhead. Their belief is the closest to true Monotheism. However there is another group that believes that there is only Jesus. They exert that Jesus is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Each of these groups rejects the other’s views.  These views are also rejected by the Jews and Muslims with the only exception being that of the Unitarians. The Unitarians say that Jesus never claimed divinity, nor did he teach Trinity or Binitarianism. At the core of all these believe that God is the Creator, He is Love, He is Kind, and He is Merciful, Omniscient, and Omnipotent. The questions that arise here are, is He just, all Knowing and or Forgiving?  We will examine these questions according to Christian’s view of the events of the Garden of Eden. 
 

      Seeing that the Christian and Jews follow the same scripture, some of the verses used to analyze the Jewish perspective will now be analyzed to bring forward the Christian perspective. Where the Chumash was used to analyze the Torah the King James Scofield Study Bible 3^rd edition ¹⁸ will be used to analyze the Bible.  One of the differences that will be realized is where the Jews view a situation as metaphorical the Christians may view it as literal. A good example of this can be found in the following verse Gen. 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Here the says, “they heard the sound of the LORD God walking” We established earlier that our Jewish brothers believe any physical mention of God is only to be taken metaphorically, however the majority of our Christian brothers believe that God literally walked through the Garden denoting God has a physical body. This is one the main reasons that Most Christians don’t have a problem with saying God came to earth as a man. Now that we have that out of the way we will begin this discourse. The first verse that we will discuss will be the same one that began the Jewish discourse. Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” According to the Scofield commentators, Man was created in innocence, placed in a perfect environment, subjected to a simple test, and warned of the consequences of disobedience. He was not compelled to sin but was tempted by Satan; he chose to disobey God ¹⁹. This is very interesting. According to the commentary Adam freely chose to disobey God. No where is it mentioned that mankind made the same decision on their on. However Adams eating of the tree was the cause according to Christianity that made man become inherit sinners. Continuing with the commentary, “the seeds of death were planted” with the eating of this fruit, this again implies that men were made to live forever. We will use the same verse in this instance to refute this claimed that was used in the Jewish discourse. Gen. 3:22 that Adam must be expelled from the garden lest he “put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever. Why would there be a need for a tree of life if in mans creation it was determined that he would live forever. The commentators have said, “There was, evidently some virtue in the fruit of this tree which would prolong physical life indefinitely.” There would be no need to prolong a life that was eternal to begin with. The other verse that was examined was Gen. 3:19 “from dust you were made and to dust you will return”. The commentators say that this is a physical death ²⁰, but the Bible itself gives no distinction on the type of death that was being discussed. Adam was made from dust as a needy being. In the Garden of Eden time did exist and we must ask the question again was man the only creation destine to live forever or did his sin cause all to die? This “original sin ideology” seems to be a fallacy when it comes to death because God is the only living that will not die.

      

      Keeping with the format we must discuss the serpent and its role according to our Christian brothers. The same verses will be used to discuss the Christians beliefs on the matter. Gen 3:1-5 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' “4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The commentators here unlike the Rabbis go right to saying that the serpent was used by Satan. Here we have a problem because the Bible never gives the time of Satan’s fall. According again to the commentators, they say, for the fall of Satan refer to Isa. 14:12-14 ²¹ “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Where do these verses establish the fall of Satan? Again they don’t know when Satan was expelled but they keep persisting that the serpent was used by Satan. That too should be questioned because according to them Satan was only called “serpent” in Rev. 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”. Now this is amazing, the Christians are saying that in all of the Old Testament and all the way up to Revelations chapter 12 in the New Testament there is no mention of Satan being the referred  to as a serpent and this was in a dream. Where did this come from? None of the Prophets nor did Jesus Christ himself while he walked this earth make such a statement. It would make perfect sense that Satan used the serpent because it would explain how the serpent became so knowledgeable about God and how to use deception. But that still leaves the question of, why was Satan so interested in Adams disobedience to his Lord? From the Bible all we can do is speculate, this will be addressed later. 
 

   The verses on punishment are what will be looked into now. I hate be redundant but these verses are pretty straight forward. The first to be punished was the serpent Gen. 3:14-15 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. The Christian scholars have stated that the serpent was Satan, Rev. 12:9. We are faced with a problem here. At the end of this section you will find that everyone that participated in the act of Adam and Eve eating from the forbidden tree was punished. Or so we think. If the serpent and Satan was one in the same why didn’t God announce the punishment of Satan? Was the serpent a willing participant in cahoots with Satan? The bible answers this beautifully in Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” This verse shows that the serpent was the most cunning beast, further more it says, “he said to the woman”, showing that the serpent acted on his on. If not the verse should have read like 1Chron. 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. This is the “word” of God. Why would God put emphasis on Satan provoking David to number Israel and not on him using the serpent for his evil bidding? This makes no sense. The serpent was forced to go on his belly and eat dust and Satan if he provoked him gets away without even being mentioned for the part he played, this in unjust!   
 

The next to be punished was Eve, and again a part of her punishment was to be shared with the serpent, Gen. 3:15-16” And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee”. As if this was not enough for a punishment Adam blamed Eve for their disobedience, and the early Church Fathers took it to a worst extreme ²². They place all the blame on Eve for evil entering the world. There are many references that can read to confirm this allegation from priest such as St. Jerome (347 - 419 AD); Ambrosiaster (4^th Century AD); St. Chrysostom etc…I will only quote here from one priest in the interest of time that priest is Tertullian (155-245 AD) who said, “(“Every woman should be ....) walking about as Eve mourning and repentant, in order that by every garb of penitence she might the more fully expiate that which she derives from Eve,-the ignominy, I mean, of the first sin, and the odium (attaching to her as the cause) of human perdition. 
"In pains and in anxieties dost thou bear (children), woman; and toward thine husband (is) thy inclination, and he lord sit over thee." And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too.”

• “You are the devil's gateway!
• you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree!
• you are the first deserter of the divine law!
• you are she who persuaded him (Adam) whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack!
• You destroyed so easily God's image, man!
• On account of what you deserved-that is, death-even the Son of God had to die!”

   “And do you think about adorning yourself over and above your tunics of skins?”

Even after all of this, God never mentioned anything about Eve passing the “sin” to her children while meting out punishment. This opinion, like others are beginning to show who their true authors are. They are the imaginations of the Church. All praises are due to God because it is virtually impossible to find a Church that still holds on to this erroneous opinion. 
 

    The last to be punished was Adam, Gen. 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. There is mention of a curse in the in verse 17, but it is not the curse of inherent sin. The ground has been cursed because of Adams sin. Somebody please come to the rescue of this “original sin ideology”. The punishments are clear, unambiguous and complete. There is no more. Where is the concept of “original sin”? Maybe, it too had it’s origin within the Church’s imagination. I will close this section in the same way I closed this section in the Jewish discourse with Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” The Rabbis explanation of this verse differs from our Christian brother, they have said ²³, “sin, or, sin-offering. In Hebrew the same word is used for "sin," and "sin- offering," thus emphasizing in a remarkable way the complete identification of the believer's sin with his sin offering (compare John 3:14; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Here both meanings are brought together. "Sin lieth at the door," but so also "a sin-offering croucheth at the tent door." It is "where sin abounded" that "grace did much more abound" Romans 5:20. Abel's offering implies a previous instruction (compare Genesis 3:21) for it was "by faith" Hebrews 11:4 and faith is taking God at His word; so that Cain's unbloody offering was a refusal of the divine way. But Jehovah made a last appeal to Cain Genesis 4:7 even yet to bring the required offering.” I took the time to read all the verses given in this lengthy commentary and so not to be biased; I will leave it to the reader to try to make the connection between the verses in the commentary and the given verse. It should be noted all of these verses are from the New Testament none are from the Old and none are cited by Christ. Here the commentators are trying to say that Cain bought forward the wrong offering. This is unfounded because God never mentions what should be given as an offering. They have decided to say because Cain’s offering was unbloody that it was a refusal to divine way. Even at the end of the verse there is no mention of God telling Cain to change his offering. Verses 4- 5 states “4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.” Abel presented his best, could it be possible that Cain didn’t, this will be discussed later. The Christians are pointing to the “blood sacrifice” of Christ. In this whole account of Eden given by the Bible I have yet to come across one verse asking for a blood sacrifice. Remember this, WITHOUT THE CONCEPT OF “THE ORIGINAL SIN” THERE IS NO CHRISTIANITY! 
 
 

    Just as we did in the Jewish discourse, the last verses to be discussed will be those that address the creation of man. Gen. 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. The commentators have said ²⁴, “Man was made in the “image” and likeness of God. This image is chiefly in the fact that man is a personal, rational, and moral being. While God is infinite and man finite, nevertheless man posses the elements of personality similar to those of the Divine Person: thinking, feeling, willing.” At this point they warn that man is a triunity, made up of body, soul and spirit: then continue to say, “but because “God is Spirit” this tripartite nature of man is not to be confused with the original “image and likeness of God” which, being spiritual, relates to the elements of personality”. Most Christians when asked are under the impression that this verse refers to a physical likeness, not personality which is correct. The image of man is a weak and needy image unworthy of the Creator of All. The last verse is Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. This verse has no commentary from the Scofield. This verse just shows again that man is corporal made of dust and to dust he must return. 
 

Conclusion of the Christian Perception 
 

   It is my opinion that a lot of Christians believe in what has been taught to them without any self study. I have talked to them concerning many issues that were raised here and the one that keeps coming to the forefront is “original sin”. God knows his creation and he knew what his creation was and is capable of. When our “parents” Adam and Eve ate of the tree God was not surprised, it was already known by God what they would do, however there was no compulsion. The plan for man’s redemption didn’t take 4000 years (the time from Adam to Jesus) to be realized. According to the Bible, it was at the latest when Cain killed Abel and God assured Cain before he committed that horrible act that if he did good it would be accepted from him Gen. 4:7. According to the information given in this section, the original sin has yet to be proven as a fact. It is an unfounded teaching of the church. I believe that any reader will be able to see the plan of God after this idea of original sin has been completely removed from their minds. This doctrine of original sin shows God as being hardhearted and unforgiving. For men that lived directly after Adam and worked righteousness where are their rewards. If there was no forgiveness before the death of Christ, God is unjust. We will show later from the Bible that God did rewarded his righteous servants by bringing them to heaven with him even before the advent of Christ. I pray that this is received in the spirit that it is given.  
 

The Islamic Perception

      We will follow the same format that was followed for the Jews and Christians by stating the Islamic perception of God. The name of God in Islam is Allah, this word comes from two words al ilah, which means the only One worthy of praise. Allah is the Absolute, t he Originator, the Uncreated Creator, the Evolver and the Sustainer of the world. He is the One without Whom everything will cease to exist. Allah (The Exalted) has said of Himself, in the Qur’an ²⁵, 112:1-4 “Say, He is Allah, the Absolute One, the Needless, the eternally besought of all. He begets not nor was he begotten and there is absolutely nothing that can be compared to Him.” This chapter of the Qur’an sums up the ultimate expression of Monotheism. It holds true to the Jewish perspective of God and refutes any Godhead Theories that have been forwarded by the Christians. Allah has given us ninety-nine names (attributes), in the Qur’an to describe Himself to us. Allah’s Attributes are infinite and they are not separate from Him. He is Adl, Just; Alim, All Knowing; and Gafur, the Forgiving and the other attributes. To worship any other than God in Islam is a great sin; this also includes giving parents, children, or partners to God. The Islamic motto begins with, “There is no God, But Allah.” As in the other analysis we will see if the God of Islam is actually Just, All knowing and Forgiving in the light of the events of Eden.

      The Jews and Christians as stated earlier use the same scripture because the Christians have incorporated the Torah into their Bible. The Muslims Holy book is the Qur’an and it will be used to analyze the Islamic perception of the events of Eden. The Qur’an has more verses on the subject than the Bible, this being the case we will provide and analyze each group of the verses separately according to subject and nearness of material. These are lengthy text but they provide basically the same information given in the book of Genesis. The texts are; H.Q.2:30-39; 7:11-31; 20:115-127. We will break down these verses according to how they match with the bible. Some people may not have a Qur’an so I will provide the entire text of H.Q. 2:30-39 for the readers.

H.Q. 2:30-39, 30 Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." They said: "Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? - whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" He said: "I know what ye know not."31 And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and said: "Tell me the names of these if ye are right."32 They said: "Glory to Thee, of knowledge We have none, save what Thou Hast taught us: In truth it is Thou Who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom."33 He said: "O Adam! Tell them their names." When he had told them, Allah said: "Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and I know what ye reveal and what ye conceal?"34 And behold, We^** said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam" and they bowed down. Not so Iblis :(Satan) he refused and was haughty: He was of those who reject Faith. 35 And We said: O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye freely (of the fruits) thereof where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers. 36 Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. We said: "Get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood - for a time." 37 Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. 38 We said: "Get ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to you Guidance from me, whosoever follows My guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. 39 "But those who reject Faith and belie Our Signs, they shall be companions of the Fire; they shall abide therein."

      Now that we have the text we will analyze the verse that most closely resembles Gen. 2:16 and that verse is H.Q 2:35. We will do a side by side analysis to see what is the same and what is different:  
 

Gen. 2:16 “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad, you must not eat thereof; for on the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.”

H.Q.2:35 And We said: O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye freely (of the fruits) thereof where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers.  
 
 

From the looks of the verses they have a lot in common. They both show that man could eat anything in the Garden with the exception of two trees in the Bible and one not to go near to in the Qur’an. But if we look at the consequences given in each for dealing with these trees there is a big difference. The Bible says, “you shall surely die”, while the Qur’an says,”ye become wrong-doers”.  The Bible commentary on this verse can be found in the Jewish and Christian perspectives by Rabbis and Theologians respectively. Here I will use the commentary of Ayatollah Agha Pooya ²⁶ given in the translation of the Qur’an by Mir Ahmad Ali. Ayatollah Pooya has stated concerning this verse, “With his opposite and complementary companion, Hawwa (Eve), the woman, Adam, the man was given the garden to dwell in, unrestrained. Only a tree was out of bounds.

According to many a tradition, it was not the perpetual heavenly garden. The garden referred to here was an area of expansion, comfort and ease, everything that was needed and desired was available without toil and effort. The out of bound tree is the symbol of temptation, covetousness, envy and greed.” Imam Ali ²⁷ bin Hussein ²⁸ says: “It stimulates desires for the worldly possessions as the ultimate object of life.” The command of Allah was not to go near the tree. Eating the fruit of the tree was not definitely forbidden. Ayatollah Pooya says, “that the command was not to go near the tree. People not knowing the logical aspect of the wording of the command hold Adam a sinner for having eaten the forbidden fruit. The point is that the command was not to go near the tree and there is nothing in the wording of the divine command that to say that it was openly or definitely forbidden also to eat of the tree. Adam in obedience to the divine command did not go near the tree but when the fruit of the tree was brought to him and he was induced to eat of it, he no doubt instead of abstaining from eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, had of it. Adam can never be termed as a sinner who disobeyed the Lord although his eating of the tree involves him liable to the natural consequences of eating the fruit of the forbidden tree.” To put this in laymen’s terms, it’s like a parent telling a child not to go near a hot iron. The command is not, “don’t touch the iron,” but not to go near it. If a child is taken over near that iron by someone else and is induced to touch the iron the parent will naturally be upset because the parent knows the consequences of touching the iron. When it comes time to punish the child the consequences prove to be enough as a punishment and that punishment’s pain can’t be reversed. The parent in this case is advising the child, not laying down a law. The child here will not be considered a bad child; he would have learned a lesson that will stay with him longer than any punishment. Adam’s punishment was to be removed from the lap of luxury, and to be placed in a world of toil and turmoil. This commentary shows that Muslims are not labeling Adam as a sinner let alone blaming him for the damnation of mankind. It is necessary to analyze more verses so that one can get a better understanding of the above statements.

      The serpent was analyzed second through out this work. So we will analyze him here also. As before it will be beneficial to display the verses of Gen 3:1-5 and compare them to the verses given in the Qur’an that deal with the same subject. 7:11-22. 
 

Gen. 3:1-5 Gen. 3:1-5; 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' “4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

H.Q.7:11-22 11 And certainly We created you, then We fashioned you, then We said to the angels: Prostrate to Adam. So they did prostrate except Iblis; he was not of those who prostrated. 12 He said, what hindered you so that you did not prostrate when I commanded you? He said: I am better than he: Thou hast created me of fire, while him Thou didst create of dust. 13 He said: Then get forth from this (state), for it does not befit you to behave proudly therein. Go forth, therefore, surely you are of the abject ones. 14 He said: Respite me until the day when they are raised up. 15 He said: Surely you are of the respited ones. 16 He said: As Thou hast caused me to remain disappointed I will certainly lie in wait for them in Thy straight path. 17 Then I will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right-hand side and from their left-hand side; and Thou shalt not find most of them thankful. 18 He said: Get out of this (state), despised, driven away; whoever of them will follow you, I will certainly fill hell with you all. 19 And  

(We said): O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the garden; so eat from where you desire, but do not go near this tree, for then you will be of the unjust. 20 But the Shaitan made an evil suggestion to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: 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. 21 And he swore to them both: Most surely I am a sincere adviser to you. 22 Then he caused them to fall by deceit; so when they tasted of the tree, their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with the leaves of the garden; and their Lord called out to them: Did I not forbid you both from that tree and say to you that the Shaitan is your open enemy? 

      If we were to revisit the questions that were asked concerning the serpent in the Jewish and Christian sections i.e., what was his problem with Adam? How did he become so knowledgeable? Why was he so concerned with Adam’s disobedience to his Lord? When and why was he expelled from heaven? You will see that our Brothers had no answers to these questions. In the verses from the Qur’an you find no mention of a serpent. What you find is the name Iblis i.e. Satan. According to Ayatollah Makarem Sharazi in his commentary of the Qur’an ²⁹, “Satan is a common noun, that denotes the first devil, as well as all of them or the devilish power; but Iblis is a proper noun, including that very devil who tempted and seduced Adam and Eve. He was not one of the angels but was a jinn in their line as Qur’an testifies. (According to a definition by OXFORD, JINN are supposed to be s supernatural being that is able to appear in human and animal form).” This definition by Oxford lacks the truest meaning of what the Jinn are. In the heavens there were two beings the Angels and the Jinn. The Angels have no freewill; they only follow the command of God and worship Him. The Jinn on the other hand have freewill that’s why Iblis was able to disobey the command of God.

     This passage sheds a lot of light on Satan. And it answers all the questions that were left unanswered. As mentioned above there is no mention of a serpent, but the Satan and his role is thoroughly explained here. The Torah and the Bible missed these points but the Qur’an answers these questions beautifully, it states 7:11-13 “so they did prostrate except Iblis; he was not of those who prostrated. 12 He said: What hindered you so that you did not prostrate when I commanded you? He said (Satan, Iblis): I am better than he: Thou hast created me of fire, while him Thou didst create of dust. 13 He said: Then get forth from this (state), for it does not befit you to behave proudly therein. Go forth, therefore, surely you are of the wretched ones. He said: Respite me until the day when they are raised up.” The Satan here shows that he thought that he was better than Adam; he was the world’s first bigot, and racist. He showed himself to be prideful and haughty, because of this God expelled him from the heaven. When he was leaving he asked God for respite (time before his punishment was executed) to prove that God made a mistake, by honoring Adam above himself. Wow! Satan was truly blinded by his hatred of Adam. It must be noted here what the Islamic traditions say about this hatred. The Bible and the Torah both say creation took six days to be completed and there are some from among them that take six days as being the literal time for the creation. However there are Christians and Jews that say the days weren’t twenty-four hour periods but long periods that lasted many years. The latter is the view shared by Muslims, they also believe the creation of Adam too, took a great period of time. Adam was formed, and cured like pottery before God gave him the gift of life. The Satan and the jinn were already created and watched Adam through his process of creation. Neither the angels nor the jinn knew what Adam was or his purpose. Allamah Tabatabai says in his Mizan (commentary on Qur’an) that Imam Musa Kadhim ³⁰ said concerning this, “Allah created Adam, and he remained for forty years in (that) shape (i.e. a statue without life). And Iblis, the cursed, used to pass by him and say: “Why have you been created?” “Then Iblis said: ‘If Allah ordered me to prostrate before this, I would certainly disobey Him.’ . . . Then Allah said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam’; all of them prostrated; but Iblis showed the envy that was in his heart and he refused to prostrate.” (At-Tafsir, al - Qummi). Allah knew what was in the heart of Iblis and he used Adam as a trail for him. Now Iblis is a constant trail for man. God knew what He created and had full knowledge of what that creation was capable of. Because of Adam the Satan lost his lofty position and he vowed to bring man down from his. Now we see the cause of the animosity, the time of Satan’s fall, and why he was so interested in Adam’s disobedience. As a side note when the Satan asked for respite he asked to be respited to the day man would be raised, showing men would die.

      There are some other points of real interest that are mentioned in the above text that aren’t mentioned in the Torah and Bible. First let’s look at H.Q. 7:16-17, “16 He said: As Thou hast caused me to remain disappointed I will certainly lie in wait for them in Thy straight path. 17 Then I will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right-hand side and from their left-hand side; and Thou shalt not find most of them thankful.” Satan at this point has “laid his cards on the table.” He said he would ambush man on God’s straight path, this shows that the path of God was already established. The next verse says that Satan will come at man from all directions and if we diagram it look at what Satan said he would do to man, The Satan has promised to crucify all of mankind. He has vowed to take us off the path of God and he has pulled out all the stops to achieve his goal. There is something else going on here, Satan has said that God will find most of mankind ungrateful to him. How true this is, look at how man has gone out of his way to take God out of schools and separate Church and State. Governments going out of their way to have Muslim women remove their hijabs (head scarves). We see homosexual marriages are being accepted, while men and women are shacking instead of marrying. These are all signs of man’s ingratitude towards his Lord. He gives us everything without us asking and only prohibits few things so that we can show our gratitude to Him. It is as if we are the ones in cahoots with Satan to prove him right.  We must recognize our enemy and stay far away from him.

      The next verse is also very important 7:18, He said: Get out of this (state), despised, driven away; whoever of them will follow you, I will certainly fill hell with you all. This verse metes out the punishment to Satan and anyone that will follow him. Notice God didn’t damn all of mankind only those who would follow the wishes of Satan. This means man did not come into this world burdened with sin he has pro choice. He is not an inherit sinner.   

      Now to continue the analysis of the Satan i.e. the serpent from the Bible and the Qur’an we will put the verses of deception side by side and discover something very important. 
 

Gen. 3:1-5 Gen. 3:1-5; 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must

H.Q. 7:20-22, 20 But the Shaitan made an evil suggestion to them that he might make manifest to them what had been hidden from them of their evil inclinations, and he said: Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you may not both become two angels or hat you may (not) become of the immortals. 21 And he swore to them  
not touch it, or you will die.' “4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.  
 

both: Most surely I am a sincere adviser to you 22 Then he caused them to fall by deceit; so when they tasted of the tree, their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with the leaves of the garden; and their Lord called out to them: Did I not forbid you both from that tree and say to you that the Shaitan is your open enemy?  
 

Again just at a glance the verses are very similar, but after a close examination we see that Satan went to both Adam and Eve in the Qur’an as opposed to just Eve in the Bible. When you look at verses 7:20-21, it says that Satan wanted to reveal to man what had been hidden of his (man) evil inclinations. The Satan knew that man was naïve to a lot of things like being naked; Man didn’t know that he should have been ashamed of being naked, nor did man know envy or any other evil. Satan wanted to introduce man to his lower animal self. By doing this he knew that he would have a chance of leading man astray. Man now has to constantly battle against this lower self that is why the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) ³¹ has said that the greatest jihad (struggle) is the struggle against the (lower) self. Now Satan ups the ante by saying that, “men could be like angels or immortal,” again pushing the theme of mans mortality. Then, he swears to Adam and Eve that he is a sincere advisor. Notice that Satan never says they (man) will be like God in the Qur’an. He didn’t do this because he knew that Adam and Eve would never believe that they could be like God. He found man’s weaknesses and exploited them; he continues to do so today. His main tool against man is deception. God has assured us of something very special if we do right that will be discussed later.

      Perhaps the most important point of all and the biggest difference in the scriptures can be found in the H.Q. 20:116-117 it says, 116…but not Iblis: he refused. 
117 Then We said: "O Adam! verily, this is an enemy to thee and thy wife. There is no equivalent verse to this in the Bible or Torah. God shows that he did not leave Adam and Eve in the blind when it came to who their enemy was. God said that “Satan was an open enemy to them”. The serpent or Satan in the Bible wasn’t presented as an enemy to man, he was just in the garden as something they didn’t have to look out for. If God had meted out any punishment to man without this information, He would have been unjust. I will draw your attention back to verse 18 where God says, any who follows Satan will be in the hellfire. This is a warning not found in the Bible or Torah. This is why God could and was justified for removing man from Eden.

      These verses encompass so much of what was discussed in the Jewish and Christian sections. Punishments were next, but we discussed those in the previous verses. The Satan was sentenced to hell and anyone that would follow him will be there with him. The next verse that should be examined is Gen. 4:7. For the Jews it spelt instant salvation from the Merciful Lord. The Christians have said that it foreshadowed the advent of Jesus as a blood sacrifice for mans redemption. Neither addressed Adam and how he was to be reconciled back to God. The Qur’an is again unique with 7:23 it shows man regretting his act and seeking God’s forgiveness, H.Q. 7:23 They said: Our Lord! We have been unjust to ourselves, and if Thou forgive us not, and have (not) mercy on us, we shall certainly be of the losers. There is nothing like this in the Bible or Torah, God responds back to Adam in the Qur’an, H.Q. 2:37-38. Compare with Gen 4:7 to see how Adam and Eve were reconciled along with mankind back to God: 
 

Gen. 4:7 Surely, if you improve yourself you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it. Chumash 
 

Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Scofielf King James 
 

H.Q. 2:37-39 37 Then Adam received (some) words from his Lord, so He turned to him mercifully; surely He is Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful. 38 We said: Go forth from this (state) all; so surely there will come to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. 39 And (as to) those who disbelieve in and reject My communications, they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. 

      As mentioned above the Bible and Torah start man’s redemption after Adam. The Qur’an begins with Adam and assures him of God’s Mercy, Forgiveness and Guidance. It says that those who follow the guidance from God will be successful. Those who don’t will be in hell. It is interesting to note here the commentary given by Ayatollah Pooya concerning these verses. In 37 he says, “There was no chance of going back to the dwelling of joy and happiness. They (Adam and Eve) were at the mercy of the Lord. They turned repentant unto Allah. The merciful and oft-forgiving Lord blessed Adam with the most extraordinary words of prayer through which Adam, and after him any one in his progeny (mankind), could invoke the mercy of the Lord. These were the holy names of those highest beings whom Allah had already introduced to Adam. So the oft-forgiving merciful Lord took Adam and his wife under His mercy when they invoked Him through these names.” This shows Gods mercy not only to Adam but to all.

He says in 38, “Now to enter the real paradise, going back to the land of eternal bliss, man must use his intelligence, and make a choice of the right path shown by Allah through the guidance He has made available to man in this world of opposite forces. This guidance was already shown to Adam, which he disclosed to the angels who prostrated themselves immediately, but Shaitan refused to follow it. He is here, as long as the human beings dwell in this world, to lead man astray from the true guidance Allah has made available through His prophets. Those who follow these divinely chosen guides shall walk on the right path, will be safe from fear and grief, and earn the right to enter the heavenly garden.” God willing I will do another analysis explaining how man at every time in his history has had a perfect divinely appointed guide from his Lord and how the last of His prophets was unique because his mission was to lead all of mankind.

Finally he says of 39, “The literal meaning of ayat is sign. Every verse of the Quran is a sign (ayat) because it draws the attention of the reader to its meaning. But Allah's signs, in the perfect sense, are those beings whose holy personalities draw the attention of the human beings to the glory of Allah. Every prophet of Allah, during his time, was a sign of Allah, and the Holy Prophet Muhammad, is the conclusive sign of Allah. Allah gives a fair warning to those who, under the influence of the eternal enemy of man, Satan, go astray from the right path, that their abode will be the fire.” Let me add here that this is not unique to the Prophet Muhammad; all Prophets came with the divine guidance for mankind. Anyone that did not follow the guidance of their Prophet was in loss and suffered for their disobedience. Here are a few examples to prove this point, the people of Noah (p.b.u.h) did not heed his (Noah’s) warning they drowned. The people of Lot (p.b.u.h.) would not stop with their lewd behavior, they were destroyed. The Children of Israel while Moses (p.b.u.h) was receiving the commandments began to worship the golden calf and as a result 70,000 were destroyed. What makes Prophet Muhammad unique is that his mission was to the whole of mankind for eternity, while all the other Prophets were sent to a particular people for a particular time. Even Jesus (p.b.u.h) testifies that he wasn’t sent to all of mankind, Matt.15:24 “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

       The last subject that was discussed in the other sections was the creation of man. The Qur’an is full of verses that deal with this subject; however there is no mention of man being created in the image of God. This is because as stated earlier God has no image. I will put the verses or parts of verses from the Bible and Qur’an discussing the creation of man.

Gen. 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: H.Q. 95:4 “We have indeed created man in the best of moulds”.  

      Ayatollah Pooya has commented on this verse, “There is no fault in Allah's creation and there is no stigma of original sin. To man Allah gave intelligence, faculties of observation, judgment and action with free will and discretion. As the chosen representative of Allah man was exalted higher than the angels. Allah's creation is so perfect that there is no room for any change or alternation. If man keeps himself safe from pollution and corruption, safeguards himself against evil with full awareness of laws made by Allah and follows the divine guidance, which he can do by using the freedom of choice and action given to him, he reflects in his character the divine attributes of Allah and reaches the highest level of perfection.³²” This commentary agrees with Our Jewish Brother’s in their commentary re-stated here, “Man alone is endowed – like his Creator – with morality, reason and free will. He can know and love God and can hold spiritual communion with Him; and Man alone can guide his actions through reasons. It is in this sense that the Torah describes Man as being created in God’s image and likeness.” It also agrees with Our Christian Brother’s commentary that says, “This image is chiefly in the fact that man is a personal, rational, and moral being. While God is infinite and man finite, nevertheless man posses the elements of personality similar to those of the Divine Person: thinking, feeling, willing.” At this point they warn that man is a triunity, made up of body, soul and spirit: then continue to say, “but because “God is Spirit” this tripartite nature of man is not to be confused with the original “image and likeness of God” which, being spiritual, relates to the elements of personality”. We are in agreement here, so I will continue with Gen. 2:7 
 

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

H.Q. 15:28-29, 28 Surely I am going to create a mortal of the essence of black mud fashioned in shape. 29 So when I have made him complete and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down making obeisance to him. 

Ayatollah Makarem Sharazi says about verse 28, “The Arabic word, ``SALSÄL'' means clay or dry mud, usually used in pottery. It is earth in general, as representing the elementary particles of the human body.” It’s very important to note what he says for 29, “the importance of Man is not for his shape and body, but it is for the breathing of God's spirit into the body of man³³ .This holy spirit has given him the superiority over other creatures, even the angels.” This spirit of man is intangible and it holds the key to man’s success. Again, here we are in agreement with our Jewish Brothers in their commentary, “He blew into the nostrils the soul of life. This soul made a Man a living being. Accordingly the life that is unique to Man and which only God could “blow” into him is the rational soul that includes the power of intelligent speech. This is what elevates a human above animal life; the ability, and therefore the responsibility, to use his intelligence in God’s service.” The Christians in the Scofield didn’t give a commentary. This ends the creation of man as far as analyzing the verses are concerned. I pray that any non-Muslim that reads this would pick up the Qur’an and see what else it has to say about the creation of man. I close with, H.Q. 22:5 O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, (consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (our power) to you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs). This beautiful verse shows the life cycle of man, and shows how God brings the dead earth back to life. He will also bring us back to life.

Conclusion of the Islamic Perception

      It was my intention to try to fill the gaps that were missing from the Torah and Bible’s story of Eden, by giving the reader the Islamic view on the subject. It is my humbled opinion that many of the questions posed earlier and not answered, were answered here through the Qur’an. The Muslims perception of God would not allow him to believe that The All Merciful Lord of the universe would allow the actions of one man to damn all of humanity. There is no room in Islam for, “the original sin”. Through this discourse it can be seen that God is Just, All Knowing and Forgiving. He did not leave man without a way of return to Himself. I’ll end with a few familiar verses to show the Justice of God, H.Q. 2:37-39, “37 Then Adam received (some) words from his Lord, so He turned to him mercifully; surely He is Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful. 
38 We said: Go forth from this (state) all; so surely there will come to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. 39 And (as to) those who disbelieve in and reject My communications, they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. May God continue to shower His Mercy on us.

Conclusion of, The Fall of Adam (p.b.u.h.)

  Some of the most heated debates in the religious circles centers around man’s supposed need for a Savior, the assumption that God needs a mediator between man and Himself, and maybe the most contested debate of all deals with the concept of the original sin (the idea that all men are inherent sinners because of Adam’s sin). All of these debates stem from this “original sin ideology”. Through research and prayer this discussion has come to an end. Man has had a Savior before his existence and that Savior has never left him nor has He forsaken him. That Savior is God Himself and He has shown his Mercy to man by giving us guidance and forgiveness. He has assured, we will not fear nor will we grieve if we follow His guidance. His mediators are the Prophets that He sent down to man as perfect examples ³⁴. They too are a Mercy unto us. The original sin has very little to stand on at this time. Earlier I said, “We will show later from the Bible that God did rewarded his righteous servants by bringing them to heaven with Him even before the advent of Christ.” Here’s the Proof, Gen 5:24 “And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].” The Scofield commentators have said, “Enoch taken away so that he did not see death ³⁵”. The Amplified Bible writer’s said, “God took Enoch home with Him.” The Bible also says,  “2 Kings 2:11, And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” The Scofield commentators have said to refer back to the commentary of Gen. 5:24. These men that were “sinners” were taken to heaven with God, so there had to be some type of reconciliation for man with God. God has shown us through the Bible that if we do good we will be accepted Gen. 4:7. He let us know that He is Just from this verse; He lets us know that He is Forgiving in this verse. We need only to go the Qur’an to explain how he had known His creation and knew without acquiring knowledge what man would do. God allowed Satan to tempt man after He had told man Satan was his enemy. There was another item that was promised to be discussed at a later time and it was this statement, “He found man’s weaknesses and exploited them; he continues to do so today. God has assured us of something very good that will be discussed later.’ The Qur’an says 15:39-42 (Satan) said: "O my Lord! because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong,-40 "Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy Grace)."41 (Allah) said: "This (way of My sincere servants) is indeed a way that leads straight to Me. 42 "For over My servants no authority shalt thou have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee." God has said,” Satan has no authority over those of us that are his sincere servants.” We are only influenced by Satan if we allow ourselves to be. We as humans like our “Father” Adam are responsible for our own actions and we must follow the laws and commands that God had given us to follow. There are some that say that the Qur’an is just a copy of Jewish and Christian scriptures, it is my desire that the non Muslim reader sees that is not the case. Although the subject matters are the same the Qur’an has much more detail and fills in what is missing from the Torah and Bible. This is not coincidental it was planned this way by God Almighty the proof of this can be seen in Biblical prophecy. The prophecies deals with a Prophet that will come and his command will be required to be adhered to. The first is Duet18:18-19 God says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from amongst their brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 If anyone does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name, I Myself will call him to account.” This verse speaks of a prophet from amongst the brothers of the Israelis; God says that he will put His words in his mouth; this prophet will speak in the name of God; God will call those to account that will not listen. This prophecy is for none other than the Prophet Muhammad, He is from the brothers of the Israelis, the descendants of Ishmael. He never said anything of himself only what he heard. Read the Qur’an all but one chapter begins with In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. He is the last Prophet, sent to all of mankind and God has required obedience to him. The next prophecy is from Jesus who says in John 16:7-14 “Never the less I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of Judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes he will guide you into all truths. He will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. He will bring glory to me by taking what was mine and making it known to you.” This verse echoes the same prophecy as the previous verse. Our Christian Brothers say that this Spirit of Truth is the Holy Spirit as in the trinity; But the Holy Spirit has always been here according to the Bible. This Comforter is a man that God would put his Spirit on and he will only speak what God tells him. This Comforter has been described in Isa. 42:1-10   1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.    4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.” 5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “ I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. 8 I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”10 Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, this whole chapter describes a man that will judge the gentiles and sing a new song to the Lord. See who this man is and reap the benefits of obeying God and his Apostle. This Apostle is Muhammad, the beloved of God, may God continue to bestow His blessings on him and his progeny. Amen

This is the notes section. Because a lot of readers may not have the resources that were used in this document I will provide as many on-line references as possible.

Notes:

* p.b.u.h. or p.b.u.t- these letters carry the meaning of peace be upon him or them. This

    should be uttered any time you see or hear the names of Prophets or Imams.

1. Adl- Just – 1.acting with fairness and impartiality, 2. done, pursued, or given in     

    accordance with what is morally right, 3. valid or reasonable.

   Adl (Islamic) is an attribute of Allah (God) meaning God is the most Just. According to

    Nasir Makaram Sharazi in Lessons about Allah, Prophet, Justice, Leadership and   

    Resurrection page 220, “The meaning of God’s justice is not to remove the rights of a

    person nor give the rights of one to another nor to discriminate between people. He is

    Just in all senses of the word...” “Oppression, whether it be the taking away of a             

    person’s rights or by giving the rights of one to another, or wastage and discrimination,

    does not exist in the pure Essence of God. He never punishes a person who does good.

    He never encourages a person who does evil, no one will be held responsible for the

    sins of another.“

2. Alim- All- Knowing- aware of things and able to act cleverly and judge shrewdly.  

    having knowledge, information, or understanding.

    Alim (Islamic), Yasin Al-Jabouri in Allah, The Concept of God in Islam page 45,

   “When applied to the Almighty, is the One that Who is most Knowing: surely His

     knowledge encompasses everything in existence even before anything begins to exist.

    Nothing at all can escape His knowledge. He is the One, Whose knowledge is

    inclusive, be it apparent or hidden, minute or magnanimous. He knows its beginning

     and its end, what is above or underneath it, and what results there from.” It must be

     noted that God doesn’t acquire knowledge through trail and error it is apart of his

     essence.

3. Forgiving (Al-Gafur) - willing to forgive, especially in most circumstances.

    Al-Gafur (Islamic) Al-Jabouri in Allah, The Concept of God in Islam page 38,

    Is God veiling of one’s sins, and His forgiveness by granting him His favor and mercy.

   The One Who has manifested what is beautiful and veiled what is ugly in the life

    of this world and Who does not inflict His penalty on him in the life hereafter. He is

   the One that forgives sins veils shortcomings wipes out the sin by accepting one’s

   repentance. He is the One Who forgives the sins though they may be great, and He

    veils them though they may be numerous.

4. Reference website www.sullivan-county.com/./os.htm

5. Reference website http://judaism.about.com/od/beliefs/a/god.htm or The Book of

   Jewish Concepts, Philip Birnbaum, Hebrew Publishing Co. New York, 1964

6. Chumash one name given to the Pentateuch in Judaism. The word comes from 

   chamesh, the Hebrew word for "five", because of the Five Books of Moses that

    comprise the Torah. The more formal term is "Chamishah Chumshei Torah," "The

     Five Fifths of the Torah. in Hebrew means five and is referred to as the Torah. The

    Chumash that is being referenced here is, “The Chumash, The Stone Edition”

    Mesorah Publications, Ltd. 1998

7.  Chumash page 13

8. Chumash page 19

9. ibid

10. Chumash page 15

11. Chumash page 21

12. Chumash page 8

13. Chumash page 11

14. Trinity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity

15. Godhead- Webster Meridian- divine nature or essence of God.

16. Binitarian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binitarianism

17. Unitarian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarianism

18. King James Scofield Study Bible 3^rd edition Oxford University Press Inc. New York,

      NY 2002…on web 1917 edition http://www.studylight.org/com/srn/

19. Scofield page 5

20. Scofield page 8

21. Ibid

22. http://www.womenpriests.org/traditio/sinful.asp

23. Scofield page 10

24. Scofield page 4

25. Qur’an (literally recitation) the sacred text of Islam, believed by Muslims to record

      the revelations of God to Muhammad. The last revelation to man from God.

**. Arabic like Hebrew has different forms of plurals. There is a plural of numbers and 

      plural of respect. When referring to God in the Torah and Qur’an the plural of respect

      is used. No Jew or Muslim has ever accused the other of worshipping or having more

      than one God.

26. The Holy Qur’an, With Special Notes from Ayatullah Agha Haji Mirza Mahdi Pooya

      Yazdi: Translated By S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali Third Edition 2002. Tahrike Tarsile

      Qur’an, Inc. 80-08 51 ST. Avenue Elmhurst, New York 11373. Online

      http://www.al-islam.org/quran/ (see commentary on given verses 2:30-39)

27. Imam Ali ibn Hussein the fourth of 12 Imams (guides) of the Family of Muhammad.

28. Imam Hussein the third Imam from the Family of Muhammad.

29. Ayatullah-al-Ozma N. Makarem Sharazi, The Holy Qur’an Text, translation and 

      Commentary. Online http://www.makaremshirazi.org/books/english.htm

      (see commentary on given verses 7:11-22)

30. Allamah Tabatabai, Al-Mizan, An Exegesis of the Qur’an. Online

      http://www.almizan.org/default.asp (see commentary on given verses 7:11-13)

31. Prophet Muhammad, the Last Messenger of God sent to all of mankind. Please see his

      biography online http://al-islam.org/glance/ . This is a comprehensive biography

     detailing the life of the Prophet of Islam.

32. http://www.al-islam.org/quran/ (see commentary on verse 95:4)

33. http://www.makaremshirazi.org/books/english.htm (see commentary on verse

     15:28-29)

34. Unlike our Christian brothers, Muslims believe that all Prophets were sinless. The

     reason for God to send perfect sinless men was to ensure Divine Justice would

     be observed. If plain ordinary men could not live the plan of God perfectly, and show

     others how to do so, God would have no right to punish us. Therefore he sent Prophets

     (men) to be the example for men.