Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 27
27 ! is insignificant. Citing this instance, Allah the Excellent, has pointed out that what people call sin is in fact an "excess" i. e. , going beyond limits. Just as winds that times move boats from one end to the other, turning at into storms, so do the powers, which inhere in man for his progress and benefit, getting out of control assume the form of sin. In other words sin is a storm of passions. . Excess of wind beyond a limit is termed typhoon. Its tempo below a certain limit is useful and produces beneficial results. . As an example, take the eyes of man which God, the Almighty gave man to see and which serve him day and night. If a check-up were made even in the case of the worst character, of the sum total of his activities of a single day, to see how many times he misused his eyes, it will be found that he made rightful use of his eyes some two hundred times and improper use of them but once. He was engaged in house-cleaning for a time; he met with friends somewhere and was at work labouring with industry. All these chare he did with his eyes putting them to a rightful use. But once awhile. If his eyes he happened to ogle at a strange woman. were dead, he would, undoubtedly, not have been capable of this improper act but he would not be able to do a proper deed either. God, therefore, says that the popular conception of sin is wrong. The definition of sin as conceived by people is erroneous. It is understood to be a bad thing in itself; while the truth of the matter is that it is only the deficiency or excess of powers created in man for his progress and benefit that makes a sin. As, for instance, extravagance is the extreme form of charity, and niggardliness is the extreme degree of the desire to conserve property. The world has little chance of prosperity without the elements of