Sayyidina Adam and Repentance
وَلَقَد خَلَقناكُم ثُمَّ صَوَّرناكُم ثُمَّ قُلنا لِلمَلائِكَةِ
اسجُدوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدوا إِلّا إِبليسَ لَم يَكُن مِنَ السّاجِدينَ
قالَ ما مَنَعَكَ أَلّا تَسجُدَ إِذ أَمَرتُكَ ۖ قالَ أَنا خَيرٌ
مِنهُ خَلَقتَني مِن نارٍ وَخَلَقتَهُ مِن طينٍ
قالَ فَاهبِط مِنها فَما يَكونُ لَكَ أَن تَتَكَبَّرَ فيها فَاخرُج
إِنَّكَ مِنَ الصّاغِرينَ
قالَ أَنظِرني إِلىٰ يَومِ يُبعَثونَ
قالَ إِنَّكَ مِنَ المُنظَرينَ
قالَ فَبِما أَغوَيتَني لَأَقعُدَنَّ لَهُم صِراطَكَ المُستَقيمَ
ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِن بَينِ أَيديهِم وَمِن خَلفِهِم وَعَن
أَيمانِهِم وَعَن شَمائِلِهِم ۖ وَلا تَجِدُ أَكثَرَهُم شاكِرينَ
قالَ اخرُج مِنها مَذءومًا مَدحورًا ۖ لَمَن تَبِعَكَ مِنهُم
لَأَملَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنكُم أَجمَعينَ
وَيا آدَمُ اسكُن أَنتَ وَزَوجُكَ الجَنَّةَ فَكُلا مِن حَيثُ شِئتُما
وَلا تَقرَبا هٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكونا مِنَ الظّالِمينَ
فَوَسوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيطانُ لِيُبدِيَ لَهُما ما وورِيَ عَنهُما مِن
سَوآتِهِما وَقالَ ما نَهاكُما رَبُّكُما عَن هٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلّا أَن تَكونا
مَلَكَينِ أَو تَكونا مِنَ الخالِدينَ
وَقاسَمَهُما إِنّي لَكُما لَمِنَ النّاصِحينَ
فَدَلّاهُما بِغُرورٍ ۚ فَلَمّا ذاقَا الشَّجَرَةَ بَدَت لَهُما
سَوآتُهُما وَطَفِقا يَخصِفانِ عَلَيهِما مِن وَرَقِ الجَنَّةِ ۖ وَناداهُما رَبُّهُما
أَلَم أَنهَكُما عَن تِلكُمَا الشَّجَرَةِ وَأَقُل لَكُما إِنَّ الشَّيطانَ لَكُما
عَدُوٌّ مُبينٌ
قالا رَبَّنا ظَلَمنا أَنفُسَنا وَإِن لَم تَغفِر لَنا وَتَرحَمنا
لَنَكونَنَّ مِنَ الخاسِرينَ
قالَ اهبِطوا بَعضُكُم لِبَعضٍ عَدُوٌّ ۖ وَلَكُم فِي الأَرضِ
مُستَقَرٌّ وَمَتاعٌ إِلىٰ حينٍ
قالَ فيها تَحيَونَ وَفيها تَموتونَ وَمِنها تُخرَجونَ
يا بَني آدَمَ قَد أَنزَلنا عَلَيكُم لِباسًا يُواري سَوآتِكُم
وَريشًا ۖ وَلِباسُ التَّقوىٰ ذٰلِكَ خَيرٌ ۚ ذٰلِكَ مِن آياتِ اللَّهِ لَعَلَّهُم
يَذَّكَّرونَ
يا بَني آدَمَ لا يَفتِنَنَّكُمُ الشَّيطانُ كَما أَخرَجَ أَبَوَيكُم
مِنَ الجَنَّةِ يَنزِعُ عَنهُما لِباسَهُما لِيُرِيَهُما سَوآتِهِما ۗ إِنَّهُ يَراكُم
هُوَ وَقَبيلُهُ مِن حَيثُ لا تَرَونَهُم ۗ إِنّا جَعَلنَا الشَّياطينَ أَولِياءَ
لِلَّذينَ لا يُؤمِنونَ
“And We have certainly created you, [O mankind], and
given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, "Prostrate to
Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees.1 He was not of
those who prostrated. [Allāh] said, "What prevented you from prostrating
when I commanded you?" [Satan] said, "I am better than him. You
created me from fire and created him from clay [i.e., earth]." [Allāh]
said, "Descend from it [i.e., Paradise], for it is not for you to be
arrogant therein. So get out; indeed, you are of the debased." [Satan]
said, "Reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected." [Allāh] said,
"Indeed, you are of those reprieved." [Satan] said, "Because You
have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them [i.e., mankind] on
Your straight path. Then I will come to them from before them and from behind
them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them
grateful [to You]." [Allāh] said, "Depart from it [i.e., Paradise],
reproached and expelled. Whoever follows you among them – I will surely fill
Hell with you, all together." And "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife,
in Paradise and eat from wherever you will but do not approach this tree, lest
you be among the wrongdoers." But Satan whispered to them to make apparent
to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said,
"Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or
become of the immortal." And he swore [by Allāh] to them, "Indeed, I
am to you from among the sincere advisors." So he made them fall, through
deception. And when they tasted of the tree, their private parts became
apparent to them, and they began to fasten together over themselves from the
leaves of Paradise. And their Lord called to them, "Did I not forbid you
from that tree and tell you that Satan is to you a clear enemy?" They
said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us
and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers." [Allāh] said,
"Descend, being to one another enemies. And for you on the earth is a
place of settlement and enjoyment [i.e., provision] for a time." He said,
"Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be
brought forth." O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to
conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness
– that is best. That is from the signs of Allāh that perhaps they will
remember. O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your
parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing1 to show
them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you
do not see them. Indeed, We have made the devils allies to those who do not
believe.” (Al-A’raf 7: 11-27)
We all know that Sayyidina Adam
was the first person created by Allah jalla wa ‘ala and that he lived in Jannah
with his wife Hawwa for a period of time. Right after he was created, Allah
ordered the angels along with Iblis the Jinn, who was amongst the angels, to
prostrate before Adam (peace be upon him (PBUH)). They all prostrated except
for Iblis because he felt he was more superior since he was created from fire
while Adam (pbuh) was created from clay. Thus, Iblis was the first ‘racist’ to
exist in the universe. He felt himself to be better than Adam just because he
was made of something he thought to be superior. Because he refused to
prostrate before Adam, Allah cursed him and banished him from Jannah. But
before he left, he asked Allah to give him respite until the Day of Judgment
and Allah granted him that request so he could mislead as many of the children
of Adam as possible because he felt Adam was the cause of his banishment from
Jannah. So what did he do? He plotted a plot to get Adam and his wife out of
Jannah too. Allah had told them to eat whatever they wanted in Jannah except
for the fruit from the forbidden tree. But Iblis whispered evil thoughts into
their hearts and minds, promising them with a false promise, that if they ate
the fruit from the forbidden tree, they would become immortal.
After whispering and whispering
many times, Adam and his wife fell for his trick and ate the forbidden fruit. At
once, their clothes disappeared from their bodies and they quickly started
covering themselves up with the leaves of Jannah. That was what Iblis wanted
all along! To expose their private parts. And this is what he continues to do
to this today i.e. turn people naked even though they have plenty of clothes to
wear! Iblis loves shamelessness and that is the first consequence of Adam
(pbuh) following his advice. Then what happened? Allah banished Adam and his
wife from Jannah because they disobeyed His command. So you see what Iblis did
there? He provoked them towards a minor disobedience namely eating a forbidden
fruit, which resulted in them becoming naked and hence their removal from Jannah.
That is how he tricked our Father, and that is how he continues to trick all of
us because he wants none of us to enter Jannah but instead rot in the Fire of
Hell with him. He whispers into our minds to do small acts of disobedience,
which get bigger and bigger, not infrequently leading to sins which are related to nakedness or shamelessness - whether it be through our speech or actions - and ultimately our disqualification from entering
Jannah, for Jannah is only fit for those who obey their Lord and guard their
chastity with the beautiful clothes Allah has bestowed upon us.
Now what happens after Adam and
his wife were banished from Jannah is what makes this story so intriguing. Both
Adam (pbuh) and Iblis disobeyed Allah. Both were banished from Jannah as a
result. The difference though is that Iblis blamed Allah for misleading him,
whereas Adam and his wife admitted their mistake and repented. Iblis was
arrogant, while Adam was humble. And because of that, Adam was forgiven and
shall enter Jannah again, while Iblis will remain cursed forever until he
enters the Fire of Hell.
So the main moral of this story
is, we should always admit our mistakes and repent to Allah for Allah loves
those who repent, since it is a manifestation of their humility and dependence
on him. On the flipside, Allah dislikes those who are arrogant and worse, blame
others when they have committed a mistake because of their arrogance. Indeed
Allah despises those who are arrogant. And Allah has placed the love of
humility and hate for arrogance even in the hearts of man. So if we are humble
and admit our mistakes, not only will Allah love us but the people around us
will love us too. On the other hand, if we are arrogant and always blame others
for own mistakes, not only will we be cursed by Allah, but also the people
around us and the rest of creation.
It should be noted too, that the
nature of the sins committed by Iblis and Adam (pbuh) were different. Iblis
disobeyed Allah out of arrogance, while Adam disobeyed Allah because of
weakness. So arrogance is a dangerous trait, because not only it makes us
disobey Allah, it makes us far removed from His mercy thereafter as Allah blackens
our hearts so we refuse to admit our mistakes and commit further sins. But if
we commit a sin because of weakness, then Allah is Most Forgiving provided we
quickly turn to him in repentance.
May Allah make us repentant
sinners like our Father Adam (pbuh), and may He protect us from being arrogant
sinners like Iblis.
