The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 284
284 Essence of Islām II no doubt that with the exception of one fruit Adam ate everything in the garden and so he must have eaten meat. This also shows that animals were killed before the sin of Adam. Even apart from this, Adam drank water, for eating and drinking go together, and research has estab- lished that every drop of water contains thousands of germs. Thus there can be no doubt that before the sin of Adam, millions of germs used to die. One is, therefore, compelled to affirm that death is not the fruit of sin and this refutes the thesis of the Christians. [Kitāb-ul-Bariyyah, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 13, pp. 72-74] According to their principle, the Christians attach no importance to righteous conduct; in their view the atonement of Jesus is a sufficient means for the attain- ment of salvation. We have shown that the atonement of Jesus did not rescue the Christians from sin, nor is it true that because of the atonement every vice has become permissible for them. There is, however, one further matter which is worthy of note, that reason proves that righteous conduct has an effect that bestows the fruit of salvation upon the pious. Even the Christians acknowl- edge that vice has an effect whereby a person guilty of it is condemned to hell forever. If that is so, one has to make allowance for the corresponding law of nature that good also has an effect and that he who practices it can become heir to salvation. Was Jesus Free from Inherited Sin? Another objection we had put forward was that the expiation that the Christians set forth is opposed to the eternal Divine law of nature. There is no instance in the law of nature that to safeguard the inferior the superior might be put to death. We have before us the Divine law