4 Key Differences Between Islam and Christianity on Humans and Sin

While Muslims and Christians agree that man is a created being who owes worship and obedience to God, they differ in their view of man and sin in several ways. In order to communicate the gospel and a person’s need to embrace the Savior, Christians need to understand these differences.

Here are four questions about our humanity that a Christian and a Muslim would answer differently.

Are People Created in God’s Image and Likeness?

Christians believe that God created humanity in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26–27). Consequently, humanity uniquely reflects something of the glory of God. Humankind, both male and female, forms the apex of God’s creation, endowed with capacities that separate us from the remainder of creation. Being made in God’s image invests mankind with immeasurable dignity and provides the basis for social ethics ranging from our speech to one another (James 3:10–11) to prohibitions against murder and thus the prescribed use of judicial death sentences (Gen 9:5–6).

Muslims reject the idea that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Islam teaches that Allah is wholly other than his creation. Nothing in creation shares Allah’s glory or likeness. And in contrast to being found “good” at his creation, the Quran teaches that man was made with a weakness (Sura 4:28).

Where Does Sin Originate?

Muslims and Christians also differ on the origin and meaning of sin. The Bible teaches that Adam, who represented all of humanity, committed the first sin when he broke God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16–17; 3). When Adam committed that sin, all of humanity fell into sin with him. “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). The Bible goes on to report that “consequently . . . one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people” and “through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners” (Rom. 5:18–19).

Adam’s disobedience produced several tragic consequences. First, Adam’s sin introduced death into the world as the penalty of sin. Second, Adam’s sin plunged all of humanity into sin with him and into God’s condemnation of all humanity. Third, Adam’s sin profoundly corrupted the nature of mankind, so that man not only sins but also is a sinner. In fact, man is not a sinner because he sins, he sins because at his root he is a sinner. Sin is not only what we do, it is who we are. And for this reason, the Bible teaches that man is a slave to sin (Rom. 6:6, 15–20; 7:25).

One of the primary tasks Christians have in sharing the gospel is demonstrating the seriousness of sin for all people.

But the Islamic view is quite different. The Muslim account of man’s creation does not include any significant emphasis on Adam’s fall or the fall of all humankind into sin with Adam. Adam is not said to have sinned against God but to have made an ethical mistake. Muslims consider unjust the idea that one person’s sins should be accounted to another person in any way. The Quran teaches that “no liability of one soul can be transferred to another” (Sura 6:164; 17:15; 35:18; 53:38).

So Muslims deny original sin. Most define sin as simply disobeying Allah’s will. This disobedience comes from man’s weakness and ignorance, but not from a corruption in his nature. Though Muslim scholars and clerics disagree on how to define the categories, Muslims do believe in minor and major sins.

Does Sin Offend God?

Another way Christians and Muslims differ in their understanding of sin has to do with the object of sin. Who is sinned against? Chawkat Moucarry helpfully summarizes the Islamic understanding when he writes, “Islam teaches that our sins cannot offend our Creator, who stands too far above us to be directly concerned by our disobedience.”[1] The Quran maintains that the person who sins “does evil to himself ” (Sura 65:1).

Sin is not only what we do, it is who we are.

But the Bible teaches that our sin is against God Himself. In our sin and sinful nature, we prove ourselves to be hostile toward God, alienated enemies to God (Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:21). Our sin personally affronts God. King David could say to God after his adultery with Bathsheba, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps. 51:4). Far from being dispassionately unmoved by sin, God is grieved by our sins (Gen. 6:5–6). And in His justice, God promises that He will not leave sin unpunished (Exod. 34:7), not even unintentional sins (Lev. 4).

How Serious Is Sin?

Sin is significantly less serious in the Muslim view than in the Christian one. Sin rests lightly on the Muslim conscience because Muslims view sin primarily as weakness not wickedness, as general transgression not ungodly treason, and fail to see how it dishonors God precisely because it occurs in and through those made in God’s image. But sin is such a terrible offense against God that the only thing able to assuage His holy anger toward us is the sacrifice of His only Son (Rom. 3:25).

This means that one of the primary tasks Christians have in sharing the gospel is demonstrating the seriousness of sin for all people.

[1] Chawkat Moucarry, The Prophet and the Messiah: An Arab Christian’s Perspective on Islam and Christianity (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2001), 99.