Name of Questioner: John
Title: Why Didn't Prophet Muhammad Die for Muslims' Sins?
Question: I want to know why didnt Muhammad die for your
sins?
Date: 22/Nov/2006
Name of Mufti: Sheikh Ahmad Kutty
Topic: Muslim Belief
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be
upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, we would like to thank you for the great
confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help
us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.
First of all, it is to be made clear that the entire concept of
someone dying for our sins is in utter contradiction with the
Islamic view of the nature of man and God. In Islam, every
individual is responsible for his/her own salvation. Everyone, male
or female, can directly approach God without any intermediary of a
prophet, saint or priest.
Answering the question you raised, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior
lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of
Toronto,Ontario, Canada, states:
It seems to me that you are coming from a Christian background. In
order for you to be able to understand the Islamic position, it is
important to be clear about certain points.
First, Islam, unlike Christianity, does not teach
a concept of original sin. Adams sin was his and his alone; and,
according to the Quran (for the Quranic narration of the story of
Adam and Eve, see: the Quran: 2: 30-39; 7: 19-25; 17: 61; 18: 50;
20: 116-122, etc.), God forgave both Adam and Eve when they turned
to God in repentance; accordingly they were once again restored to
divine mercy. Hence, there is no concept of Adam passing on to his
progeny an original sin, and therefore no need for stipulating a
redeemer for such sins.
Second, as there is no original sin, every one is
born into a state of fitrah, a state of natural innocence; sin is
acquired later by our own conscious and willful actions. The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, Every child is
born into a state of fitrah (natural state of innocence.)
(to be continued)