Original SIN or Original INNOCENCE

Assalaamu alaikum [peace be to you],

EDIT:
Know that this article is not aimed to attack Christians or try to explain their doctrines (you can learn that elsewhere). here, I merely try to explain the Islamic stance regarding a certain subject.
Yet someone made allegations that I am lying regarding what the original sin is, so I thought it is necessary for me to quote the definition from what I believe to be trustful sources:
From Encyclopedia Britannica [link]
"original sin, in Christian doctrine, the condition or state of sin into which each human being is born; also, the origin (i.e., the cause, or source) of this state. Traditionally, the origin has been ascribed to the sin of the first man, Adam, who disobeyed God in eating the forbidden fruit (of knowledge of good and evil) and, in consequence, transmitted his sin and guilt by heredity to his descendants."
From the Catholic Encyclopedia: [link]
"Original sin may be taken to mean: (1) the sin that Adam committed; (2) a consequence of this first sin, the hereditary stain with which we are born on account of our origin or descent from Adam.
From the earliest times the latter sense of the word was more common, as may be seen by St. Augustine's statement: "the deliberate sin of the first man is the cause of original sin"..."
From Theopedia Encyclopedia of Christianity [link] :
"Original sin is the doctrine which holds that human nature has been morally and ethically corrupted due to the disobedience of mankind's first parents to the revealed will of God. In the Bible, the first human transgression of God's command is described as the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden resulting in what theology calls the Fall of mankind. The doctrine of original sin holds that every person born into the world is tainted by the Fall such that all of humanity is ethically debilitated, and people are powerless to rehabilitate themselves, unless rescued by God."
I remind you that these definitions are not made by me or by Muslims.
End of EDIT.

EDIT2:
I'm told that Eastern Christians differ from Western Christians. and I understood that they reject the concept of original sin. if this is true, then keep in mind that this article is not about all what is/supposed to be labeled as Christian. it's mainly about what's known as the Original Sin, a concept which is believed by many who consider themselves as Christians.
End of EDIT2.

WERE YOU BORN SINFUL?

You must have heard it said that we were born in sin - and perhaps you even believe that... But let's think about that for a moment and see what Islam has to say about such concept:
Would the Just God blame you for a sin you never committed?
Would He hold you responsible for what someone else did?
Definitely not!
In fact, God's final testament teaches that you are responsible for ONLY your own actions. You cannot sin until you do something wrong. And you certainly could not have done wrong before you were even born.

Yet we often meet people who say that we are somehow born in sin. Could that possibly be true?
They say that the first human being, Adam, sinned and through him sin entered the world; and now sin corrupts everything, including every newborn baby. Can you believe that human beings are condemned before they do anything? Which judge would condemn people for crimes they never committed? A just judge cannot do that except by mistake.

But what about The God? Would He make such a mistake?!


AND WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY?
We cannot imagine such false ideas about The God. He is Just. therefore He holds you responsible for what you do, and He does not blame you for what the first human being did.

Rationally considered, it would be the height of injustice to condemn the entire human race for the sin committed thousands of years ago by our first parents.
Sin is a willful transgression of the law of God or the law of right and wrong; hence, the responsibility or blame for it must lie only on the person committing it and not on his children.
It is a grave injustice to consider man sinful at birth.
Islam condemns the dogma of Original Sin and regards children as pure and sinless at birth. Sin, it says, is not inherited but is something that one acquires by doing what he or she should not do and by failing to do what he or she should do.


WHAT IF I ALREADY SINNED?
But, even after you do wrong, The God is always willing to forgive. In the Qur'an, he is called Ar-Rahmaan (the Most Gracious) and Ar-Raheem (The Most Merciful). The God is full of loving kindness, Grace and Mercy. And guess what? He loves to forgive! He is willing to forgive ANYONE who turns to Him and seeks forgiveness*. This means that if you did something wrong you can still turn back to The God and He WILL forgive you, if you sincerely decide to give up that sin.

The last prophet of Islam -peace be upon him- tells us that Allah Almighty said:
"O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and put your hope in Me, I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you would seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with sins that are close to filling the earth and then you would meet Me without ascribing any partners with Me, I would certainly bring to you forgiveness close to filling it."

Isn't this refreshing to know?
Isn't it wonderful to know that even if we lived a whole life of sin but we decide now to change our lives and obey The God He would forgive us this minute?
And that's just between us and God. We don't need any priest, monk or confession box, and we don't need anyone to suffer for our sins.


CAN YOU REFUSE?
Can we resist the loving kindness that The God is offering us?
The God wants us to know about His love. He wants us to know that He is Just. He wants us to know the truth about Him so that when we turn to Him we know to Whom we are turning. But there is so much misinformation about The TRUE God.
But then, where can we get correct information about the true God? Indeed The God told us about Himself in His final book: The Qur'an. We owe it to ourselves to read and consider what The God has to say about Himself and then judge whether it is rational or not. logical or not, acceptable or not.
Shouldn't you be reading God's book?

Here's God's message to you in His book:
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدۡ جَآءَكُم بُرۡهَـٰنٌ۬ مِّن رَّبِّكُمۡ وَأَنزَلۡنَآ إِلَيۡكُمۡ نُورً۬ا مُّبِينً۬ا
"O mankind, there has come to you a conclusive proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light.
فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱعۡتَصَمُواْ بِهِۦ فَسَيُدۡخِلُهُمۡ فِى رَحۡمَةٍ۬ مِّنۡهُ وَفَضۡلٍ۬ وَيَہۡدِيہِمۡ إِلَيۡهِ صِرَٲطً۬ا مُّسۡتَقِيمً۬ا
So those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him - He will admit them to mercy from Himself and bounty and guide them to Himself on a straight path".
^{translation of Qur'an 4:174-175}
The Qur'an is God's final book, which He revealed for the guidance of all humankind.


WHAT ABOUT ADAM'S SIN?
As for the sin of Adam, the Qur'an tells us that he repented for his sin.
The God revealed to him words with which to repent, which He then accepted from him. The God said in the Qur'an:
فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَـٰتٍ۬ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡهِ‌ۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
“Then Adam received Words [of forgiveness] from his Lord, and He accepted his repentance. Verily, He is the One Who repeatedly accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.”
^{translation of Qur'an 2:37}
Through God’s acceptance of Adam’s repentance, Adam was cleansed of the sin which he committed.
Even if we were to say that Adam did not repent, that stain is not passed on to further generations. Make no mistake about it:
Allah clearly states:
وَلَا تَكۡسِبُ ڪُلُّ نَفۡسٍ إِلَّا عَلَيۡہَا‌ۚ وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ۬ وِزۡرَ أُخۡرَىٰ‌ۚ
“…No person earns any [sin] except against himself [only], and no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another…”
<sup>translation from Qur'an 6:164


from an article by Abdarraouf Shakir [link] with some changes</sup>


I hope this was beneficial.


^{*who turns to Him and seeks forgiveness:
Must we turn to the God and seek his forgiveness in order to get it? can't he just give it to us without us asking for it?
Well, imagine forgiveness is a strawberry cookie. a man is holding a plate full of strawberry and cherry cookies. he goes around and gives people cherry cookies. and then he calls "Who wants strawberry cookie? Who wants strawberry cookie? raise your hand and the cookie is yours"
if you want a strawberry cookie, will you raise your hand or not? you are a healthy person who can raise his/her hand and keep it up for an hour. and your hand is not chained down. will you raise it and get the cookie?
you will certainly do. the same thing goes with the God and his forgiveness. the God gave us a lot of blessings out of his mercy and love. he also gave us the freedom of choice, we can seek his forgiveness or we can be stubborn and think we don't need it. God's forgiveness and mercy are two ingredients for salvation, But only those who humble themselves and seek them will get them.}


IN THE DRAWING:
The Arabic words are Ar-rahmaan (to the right) and Ar-Raheem (to the left). they are both two of God's names and attributes in Islam. they are written here in Artistic Thuluth calligraphy script.



If I am right, it is from the God. if I am wrong, it is from myself.