Home > Surah 35 - The Originator
Introduction to the Verse:
This verse sets forth a fundamental Islamic thesis regarding individual spiritual responsibility, a point frequently utilized by Muslim apologists to argue against the Christian doctrine of Christ's atonement.
The Quran Verse
Surah 35:18:
And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And if a heavily laden soul calls [another] to [carry some of] its load, nothing of it will be carried, even if he should be a close relative...
While this verse explicitly states that guilt cannot be transferred, both the Quran itself and orthodox Hadith literature directly contradict this principle.
The text attempts to reject the biblical narrative of substitutionary sacrifice (Jesus bearing the sins of humanity), yet falls into internal inconsistency by allowing the transfer of sins to scapegoats (Jews and Christians) in its secondary theology.