Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 35
35. As a rule, what one gets through heredity does not call for any hard work. For example, our eyes are a hereditary gift. We had no hand in the matter. We, therefore, have to undergo no exercise in seeing with our eyes, nor does the process entail any labour or hard work. We start seeing automatically. Similarly, the tongue is a hereditary gift to us and speech is an automatic function with us. Or, look at hands and feet; they start moving of their own accord, for, we received them as hereditary gifts. . VIRTUE AND VICE SELF-ACQUIRED. If sin were an hereditary acquisition, it should have not entailed any physical exertion on the part of man and thus the way of sin would have not been an uphill task. For, the powers that are transmitted through heredity call for no exertion. But Allah says that He made two uphill ways. . That is to say, that if one wanted to keep up virtue, he would have to exert himself for it and if he chose to persist in sin, he would likewise have to put in effort in that direction. Therefore neither virtue nor sin is a hereditary gift. One has to exert in acquiring them. In other words each is self-acquired. If sin were transmitted through heredity, neither the first lie nor the first theft would call for any exertion. But when one speaks his first lie, his face becomes pale and similarly when one commits his first burglary, he goes about hiding and it so happens that his movements, very often betray him, making people suspect him of the offence. A story very much in currency in our country of a Brahmin accidentally killing a cow is an illustration in point. Under the law in force at the time, a Brahmin found guilty of killing a cow ran the risk of