Saturday, 4 June 2016

The repentant versus the arrogant sinner (Adam vs Iblis)



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.

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