Adam and Eve did not know of good and evil. They were innocent. They did not know of deceit, anger, lust or evil. The serpent lied to them but they would not have known that the serpent's intents were not good. They couldn't have known, so they believed what the serpent said. This isn't Adam and Eve's fault.

God gave them free will, but they expressed free will without a knowlage of good or evil.
Without knowing evil, how could they have sinned?

On the contrary, Allah explicitly warned them as narrated in the Qur'an:

We said: "O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression." (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:35)


Sin is the result of disobedience against God's command.

In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow himself to be seduced. (Surah Ta Ha 20:121)

But then after committing sin, Adam as the first Man and Prophet, remembered God and repented immediately afterwards.

So by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies. And their Lord called unto them: "Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you?" (Surah Al-A'raaf 7:22)

They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost." (Surah Al-A'raaf 7:23)


Afterwards, Allah forgave them for their sins, but the remainder of their mortal lives they had to come down to live on Earth, as per the original purpose of their creation, which was to become the vicegerent on Earth.

Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:37)


So the concept of Original Sin has no bearing in Islam. Though Adam 'alayhissalaam (peace be upon him) did commit sin, he immediately repented afterwards, and Allah did forgive him for his transgression. The reason why he and his wife were sent down to Earth was perfectly in accordance with Allah's Original Divine Plan.

Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." They said: "Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" He said: "I know what ye know not." (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:30)

Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.We said: "Get ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to you Guidance from me, whosoever follows My guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:37-38)


wallahu 'alam bissawab

barney, i see your point but how would they have learned to obey god, if not by disobeying?
also, i'm pretty sure that in the qur'an it is the shaytan who is the tempter and not the poor maligned, yet exceedingly marvelous and blessed creature - the serpent. eve doesn't take the rap either, which is cool.

this is an interesting quote because i see the story as a metaphor for the beginning of man's separation (estrangement) from god.

In this situation obedience is good, disobedience is bad. If you do not understand the concept of good and evil then disobedience has no meaning to you.
You would not say a rat that killed another rat is bad because rats have no concept of good or evil.

Yes, as Muslim Knight pointed out, the sin was in their disobedience to Allah's command. Apparently, they were forbidden from only one thing yet they were misled by Shaytan to disobey. As Snakelegs pointed out, the Qur'an doesn't teach that the serpent or Eve was responsible for Adam's downfall.

Previous to Adam and Eve's disobedience Shaytan disobeyed Allah's command to prostrate before Adam. He refused out of his arrogance as he felt he was better than Adam because he was created from fire while Adam was created from clay. After being cursed, Shaytan asked for and was granted reprieve until Judgment Day. He promised to lead astray as many of humans as possible.

In Islam, we don't bear this "original sin" committed by Adam, rather we are responsible for our own sins. We are born as pure as "driven snow", but commit sins after reaching the age of discernment between right and wrong.