Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 23 Issue 5

Volume XXIII Issue V Version I 11 Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 ( ) A © 2023 Global Journals A Quranic Concept with Universal Appeal: The Innate Monotheistic Disposition ( Fitra ) authority of the Scriptures and proclaiming their "very high antiquity". 38 The question of original sin For the Qur'an, just as human beings are not justified, because of their fitra , in invoking the responsibility of the generations that preceded them to excuse their shortcomings, it would be absurd for them to gather, for the same purpose, a transmissible original stain. Indeed, admitting the existence of an innate disposition to monotheism and all that it implies renders null and void all theories relating to an original fault, since it is inconceivable that man are born with two opposing predispositions that cancel each other out. Thus, if it is accepted that the first parents may have committed a severe fault, despite their innate disposition towards monotheism and all the virtues it entails, it is out of the question to envisage that their descendants are affected by a harmful ontological state transmitted in the form of original sin. Since it is not possible here to set out all the data concerning the sin of Adam and his female alter ego , we will simply point out that nowhere does the Qur’an mention or even suggest anything about a transmissible stain. The most evident proof that, according to its teaching, this concept has no foundation is the verse (Q 7, 27) which presents this fault, not as a handicap transmitted to all, but as a misstep of the first couple simply liable to be reproduced by anyone at any time, and against which God warns: "O sons of Adam! Do not let the Devil tempt you as he did on the day he took your parents out of the garden, tearing off their clothes so that they could see their nakedness". In this way, the Qur’anic text openly attacks the dogma of original sin, which some people use as a pretext for their unacceptable behavior: (Q 7, 28) "We have given demons as friends to those who have no faith (in God, here in the sense of doubting His goodness) ( lâ yu'minûn ) (29) When they commit a terrible act ( fâhisha ), they say: "We found that our fathers had qualified themselves by this same act. God has ordained that it should be so for us". Thus, the Qur'an proposes to correct the concept of original fault by reminding mankind that God has never deprived them of anything, but on the contrary, He endowed them with the garments and spiritual finery that they will be able to wear on the Day of Judgment, such as piety and natural monotheism. 39 It clearly demonstrates that the fault of the First Parents has done nothing to alter this divine provision, which is 38 Pierre Monat, the editor of book IV of Institutions divines (Sources chrétiennes, n° 377, Le Cerf, 1992) refers, in his introduction, p. 15 and note 5, to the Fragmentum Fuldense of the Apologeticum (19, 1). 39 Spiritual adornment ( zînat-Allâhi ) "belongs to believers during their life in this world, but especially on the Day of Rising ( yawm al-qiyâma , which will be the Day of Resurrection for them)" (Q 7, 32). unchangeable by nature. Their descendants, therefore, are not born with any handicap or original blemish. On the contrary, they are endowed with the most beautiful and noble spiritual aptitudes, for God does not punish children for the faults of their parents, as confirmed in particular by the Qur’an abrogation of the tenth plague of Egypt. 40 It follows that human baptism with water has no raison d'être, as humans are born in a state of absolute purity. The Qur’an replaces it with the notion of "God's baptism" ( sibghat Allâh ). This baptism is purely spiritual, in line with this declaration of Ephrem : "He has made it clear about the last heralds who baptize in the Spirit that they are greater than he who baptized in water (John)", 41 and reflects the sacramental nature of the administration of fitra . This baptism by God is therefore definitive, and its effects immutable, to the extent that man's heart remains accessible to the Good, whatever faults he may have committed, and he will always be able to return to God by following the path indicated by his fitra as ‘Abd al-Karîm al-Jîlî clearly understood. 42 A certain precariousness of the human condition is conducive to keeping fitra active. The notion of fitra provides at least part of the answer to a crucial theological problem that raised at every period and in every philosophical and religious circle, from antiquity to the present day: why do human beings find themselves subjected to more or less terrible trials throughout their lives? The relationship between the two motives is shown in the two verses that immediately follow the " fitra verse" (Q 30, 33 and 34) (33) And when evil afflicts people, they call upon their Lord, returning to Him repentant. (34) And if He gives them a taste of mercy from Him, behold, some of them give their Lord partners. This verse itself refers, by verbal and thematic analogies, to a parabolical story whose most likely 40 In the Qur’an there is no mention of plagues, but of "signs" (Q 17, 101): "We gave Moses nine clear signs ( ayât ). So ask the Children of Israel, when he came to them and Pharaoh said to him: "O Moses, I think you are bewitched" and in (Q 27, 12) "Put your hand in the opening of your tunic. It will come out white and without any harm. This is one of the nine signs ( ayât ) to Pharaoh and his people, for they are truly perverse people". These signs are not all the same as those cited in the Bible, the most important of which is the death of the eldest sons of the Egyptians. 41 Ephrem of Nisibe, Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron ; Commentaire de l’Evangile concordant ou Diatessaron, introduction, traduction and notes by Louis Leloir, Sources chrétiennes n° 121, Paris, 1966, p. 177. 42 This mystical author in fact mentions the existence in Hell of a door adjoining the part of Paradise called the "garden of fitra ". Through this opening, those who reach the required state of purity after a certain period of time pass directly from one (p; 103) to the other, as one enters this garden by right, by virtue of fitra alone. Al-insân al-kâmil , Muhammad ‘Alî Subayh edition, 2 volumes, 1 volume, Cairo, undated, p. 34. hermeneutical threshold is a passage from Lactantius' Divine Institutions : the example of the ship in distress.