A human being is an entity compounded of spirit and matter. After death, the body becomes a decomposing corpse, whereas the spirit continues to live. The death of a human being does not mean his obliteration. Rather, he continues to live in the domain of the Barzakh until the Resurrection takes place. In regard to the degrees of the creation of man, the Qur'an refers to the final stage of existentiation, when the spirit is cast into the body, in the following words:
Then We produced it as another creation. (Sura al-Mu'minun, 14)
A human being is an entity compounded of spirit and matter. After death, the body becomes a decomposing corpse, whereas the spirit continues to live. The death of a human being does not mean his obliteration. Rather, he continues to live in the domain of the Barzakh until the Resurrection takes place.
Several verses allude to life in the world of the Barzakh; for example:
Behind them is a barrier (barzakh) until the day when they are raised up. (Sura al-Mu'minun, 100) ·
There are many more such verses that testify to the reality of life in the Barzakh.
Each person is created with a pure primordial nature (fitra) and with the consciousness of the Divine Oneness, such that were he continuously to develop this intrinsic nature, avoiding all tendencies that militate against it, he would inevitably find his way to the ultimate Truth.
No one has been born sinful, wicked or with malicious intentions. All impurity and indecency arise from contingent factors, being the result of extraneous elements combined with the exercise of free will. Moreover, even negative tendencies acquired through heredity can be overcome by the power of' the human will. together with the right motivation. Thus, the Christian conception of' original sin' in respect of the children of Adam is utterly alien to Islam.
No one has been born sinful, wicked or with malicious intentions. All impurity and indecency arise from contingent factors, being the result of extraneous elements combined with the exercise of free will. Moreover, even negative tendencies acquired through heredity can be overcome by the power of' the human will, together with the right motivation. Thus, the Christian conception of' original sin' in respect of the children of Adam is utterly alien to Islam.
The Holy Qur'an states in this respect:
So set thou thy purpose for religion as a man by nature upright (hanifan)¬ the nature of God (fitrat Allah), in which He created mankind. There is no altering God's creation. (Sura al-Rum, 30)
And the Holy Prophet also states:
'Every child is born in conformity with the primordial nature (al-fitra).'7
7. Shaykh Sadnq, Kitiib al-tauhid (Qom, 1398/1978), ch. 53, hadith no. 9.
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