Changes

=== Islam ===

=== Islam ===

In [[Islam]], sin is very simple: anything that runs counter to the will of [[Allah]] (Arabic for [[God]]). In Islam, sin is simply an act, never a state of being.

In [[Islam]], sin is very simple: anything that runs counter to the will of [[Allah]] (Arabic for [[God]]). In Islam, sin is simply an act, never a state of being.

 

Islam recognizes five gradations of sin, in order of severity:

Islam recognizes five gradations of sin, in order of severity:

# Ascribing a partner to God. Thus this one special instance of [[blasphemy]] is held worse than any other sin a man can commit.

# Ascribing a partner to God. Thus this one special instance of [[blasphemy]] is held worse than any other sin a man can commit.

In Islam, permanent reconciliation cannot come in life. Instead, at death, a person has his "good deeds" measured against his "bad deeds" (sins). If the good outweighs the bad, then the person must walk a tightrope over a lake of fire in order to cross into heaven. Islam, however, offers one important exception: any person who dies ''in the course of an act that advances the Muslim faith'' gains automatic entry into heaven, regardless of any prior sins he has committed. The usual, and some Muslims (particularly the [[Wahhabism|Wahabbi]] sect) say the only, context for such a death is ''[[jihad]]'', literally ''holy [[war]]''. Furthermore, ''jihad'' is a ''physical'' war against non-adherents to Islam.

In Islam, permanent reconciliation cannot come in lifnon-adherents to Islam.

Other Muslims will say that ''jihad'' is not physical at all, but refers instead to a personal struggle that every Muslim must engage in continually against sin and the temptations thereto.

Other Muslims will say that ''jihad'' is not physical at all, but refers instead to a personal struggle that every Muslim must engage in continually against sin and the temptations thereto.