This story demonstrates the Islamic conception of man according to which man participates fully in the human state, not through the many activities with which he usually identifies himself but by remembering his theomorphic nature. And be- cause he is always in the process of forgetting this nature he is always in need of revelation. In Christianity man has sinned, having sinned his nature has become warped; it having become warped he needs a miracle to save him. Through baptism and the sacraments this wound in his soul is healed and by participa- tion in the life and sacrifice of Christ he is saved. In Islam, however, there is no original sin. There is no single act which has warped and distorted human will, ftather, man by being man is imperfect, only God being perfection as such. Being imperfect man has the tendency to forget and so is in constant need of being reminded through revelation of his real nature. Therefore, although the starting point of the conception of man in Christianity and Islam is different the end result is in this sense the same, in that both believe in the necessity of revelation to save man.

Ideals and realities of Islam On page 29 Monday, November 5, 2012 @ 1:54pm