Re: on original sin

salaam

the parent (or whoever) whispering the adhaan in the ear of a baby is 
not what I would regard as the "shahadah". and when an adult takes 
the shahadah, generally it is only done in front of a witness(es) (in my 
knowledge and experience) when it is someone specifically 
"converting". Otherwise, when  child born into a Muslim family attains 
adulthood and affirms the shahadah, there isnt a ritual and no 
witness(es). But then, there might be cultures where this does happen. 
I'd be interested to know which.

And you are right; I don't see the parallel between the cross for 
christians and the moon-and-crescent for Muslims.

na'eem

On 8 Feb 2004 at 9:30, [email protected] wrote:

> Salaams Na'eem,
> 
> I sure wouldn't force a fit between these two religious
> concepts/rituals. I can see the limits in comparison that you point
> out and I don't dispute them. (I guess I didn't select my words as
> carefully as I tried to originally to communicate that harmony in our
> understandings.)
> 
> Maybe it's just an anecdotal inconsistentcy, a creative memory
> exercise, or just a misunderstanding of my faith but one thing I do
> want to point out (again, IF memory serves me) is that for some
> muslims, shahadah IS a discreet ritual . . . a parent wispering in a
> child's ear early after birth or a person of the age of consent
> declaring it with a witness (usually an imam I assume). I think also
> that some Christians would argue for adult baptisms because of the age
> of consent issue as well . . . or at least they allow a
> child/adolescent/adult to come forward on there own . . . kind of like
> a personal stirring of the free conscience. I remember this from when
> I was younger and black Baptists, kids and others, would talk about
> baptism. See the sites below for more info.