1. Prophet Adam (Part-3)

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**Allah's Warning to Adam and Eve**

Adam and Eve were admitted to Paradise and there they lived the dream of all human beings. Allah permitted them to approach and enjoy everything except one tree, that might have been the Tree of Pain or the Tree of Knowledge. Allah forbade them before they were given abode in Paradise: "0 Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimeen (wrong-doers). " Surah 2: 35

**Adam's Weakness**

Adam and Eve understood that they were forbidden to eat the fruit of that tree. Adam was, however, a human being, and man tends to forget. His heart changes and his will weakens. Iblis summoned all the envy within him and took advantage of Adam's humanity to exploit him. He started to whisper to him day after day, coaxing him: "Shall I guide you to the Tree of Immortality and the Eternal Kingdom?" And he said to them: "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree save you should become angels or become of the immortals." And he (Satan) swore by Allah to them both (saying): "Verily, I am one of the sincere well-wishers for you both." Surah 7: 20-21

Adam asked himself: "What will happen if I eat from this tree? It might truly be the Tree of Immortality." His dream was to live forever in the pure innocence of Paradise. 
 

**Adam and Eve Eat from the Forbidden Tree**

Years went by, and Adam and Eve were preoccupied with thoughts of that tree. Then, one day, they decided to eat of its fruit. They forgot that Allah had warned them not to approach it and that Iblis was their sworn enemy. Adam stretched out his hand, picked one of the fruits, and offered it to Eve. They both ate of the forbidden tree.

Allah Almighty told us: "So he Satan misled them with deception. "2 Surah 7: 22

  Allah also said: Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray. Surah 20: 121

**Old Testament Version - The Forbidden Tree **

According to the Old Testament, Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the forbidden tree. She ate because of the words of the serpent and fed Adam some of it. At that moment, their eyes were opened to the fact that they were naked, and they took the leaves of the fig tree to cover themselves. Wahb Ibn Munabah said that their clothing (before their sin) was made of light on the private parts of both of them.

This story in the Old Testament is a falsification and deception. Allah the Almighty revealed: "0 Children of Adam! Let not Satan deceive you, as he got your parents (Adam and Eve) out of Paradise, stripping them of their raiments; to show them their private parts. Verily he and Qabiluhu (his soldiers from the jinn or his tribe) see you from where you cannot see them. Verily, We made the devils protectors and helpers) for those who believe not. " Surah 7: 27

**Various Stories About Adam and Eve's Mistake**

Again there are old stories about these events. Al-Hafez Ibn 'Asaker narrated that Allah commanded two angels to remove Adam from His holy proximity. So Gabriel stripped him of the crown on his head, and Michael took the diadem from his forehead. Adam thought that his punishment had been hastened and bowed down crying: "Forgiveness! Forgiveness!" So Allah asked: "Are you running away from Me?" Adam replied: "No, my Lord, but I am shy of You."

Abdul Rahman Ibn Amru Al-Awzaiy said that Adam spent one hundred years in Paradise. In another narration it was said that he spent sixty years. Ibn Asaker reported that Adam wept for sixty years for his loss of Paradise and seventy years for his mistake, and he wept for another seventy years when his son was killed.

They left Paradise and descended upon the earth. Adam was sad and Eve was crying. Allah accepted their repentance because it was sincere, and He told them that the earth would be their realm and origin where they would live and die and whence they would come on the Day of Judgment. 
 

Allah the Almighty recounted this third lesson Adam learned in Paradise: And indeed We made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found on his part no firm will-power. And (remember) when We said to the angels "Prostrate yourselves to Adam." They prostrated (all) except Iblis, who refused. Then We said: "0 Adam! Verily, this is an enemy to you and to your wife. So let him not get you both out of Paradise, so that you be distressed in misery. Verily, you have (a promise from Us) that you will never be hungry therein nor naked. And you (will) suffer not from thirst therein nor from the sun's heat."

Then Satan whispered to him, saying: "0 Adam! Shall I lead you to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that will never waste away?" Then they both ate of the tree, and so their private parts appeared to them, and they began to stick on themselves the leaves from Paradise for their covering. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray. Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness, and gave him guidance.

(Allah) said: "Get you down (upon the earth), both of you, together (from Paradise), some of you are an enemy to some others. Then if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My Guidance shall neither go astray, nor fall into distress and misery. But whosoever turns away from My Reminder (i.e. neither believes in this Qur'an nor acts on its orders, etc.) verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection."

He will say: "0 my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)." (Allah) will say: "Like this, Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) came unto you, but you disregarded them (i.e. you left them, did not think deeply in them, and you turned away from them), and so this Day, you will be neglected (in the Hell-Fire, away from Allah's Mercy).

And thus do We requite him who transgresses beyond bounds i.e. commits the great sins and disobeys his Lord (Allah) and believes not in His Messengers, and His revealed Books, like this Quran. etc., and believes not in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of his Lord, and the torment of the Hereafter is far more severe and more lasting. " Surah 20: 115-127 
 

Some people believe that the reason why mankind does not dwell in Paradise is that Adam was disobedient and that if it had not been for this sin, we could have been there all along. These are naive fictions because when Almighty Allah wanted to create Adam, He said to the angels: "I shall make a vicegerent on the earth." He did not say: "I shall make a vicegerent in Paradise."

Adam's descent on earth, then, was not due to degradation but rather it was a dignified descent. Allah knew that Adam and Eve would eat of the tree and descend to earth. He knew that Satan would rape their innocence. That experience was essential for their life on earth; it was a cornerstone of their vicegerency. It was meant to teach Adam, Eve, and their progeny that it was Satan who had caused them to be expelled from Paradise and that the road to Paradise can only be reached by obedience to Allah and enmity to Satan. 
 

Could it be said that Adam and the rest of mankind were predestined to sin and to be expelled from Paradise and sent to the earth? In fact, this fiction is as naive as the first one. Adam had complete free will, and he bore the consequences of his deed. He disobeyed by eating of the forbidden tree, so Allah dismissed him from Paradise. His disobedience does not negate his freedom. On the contrary, it is a consequence of it.

The truth of the matter is that Allah knew what was going to happen, as He always knows the outcome of events before they take place. However, Allah does not force things to happen. He grants free will to His human creatures. On that He bases His supreme wisdom in populating the earth, establishing the vicegerents, and so on.

Adam understood his third lesson. He knew now in a practical way that Iblis was his enemy, the cause of his losing the blessing of living in Paradise, and the cause of his distress. Adam also understood that Allah punishes disobedience and that the way to Paradise has to be through submission to the will of Allah. And he learned from Almighty Allah to ask for forgiveness.

Allah (Swt) accepted Adam's repentance and forgave him. He then sent him to the earth as His first messenger.

  Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah's Messenger said: "Adam and Moses 
argued with each other. Moses said to Adam: Your sin expelled you from Paradise. Adam said to him: 'You are Moses whom Allah selected as His messenger and as the one to whom He spoke directly. Yet you blame me for a thing which had already been written in my fate before my Creation?' Allah's Prophet Muhammad said twice: "So, Adam outclassed Moses."

Umar Ibn Al-Khattab also narrated that Prophet Muhammad said: "Moses said: 'My Lord! May I see Adam who removed us and himself from the Paradise?' So Allah made him see Adam, and he said to him: 'Are you Adam?' Adam said: 'Yes.' And he said: 'Were you the one in whom Allah breathed His spirit, and before whom He bowed His angels, and to whom He taught the names of all things?' Adam answered: 'Yes.' So Moses said: 'What made you remove us and yourself from Paradise?' Adam said unto him: 'Who are you?' He said: 'I am Moses.' Adam said: 'So you are Moses the prophet of the Children of Israel. Were you the one Allah spoke to directly?' Moses answered: 'Yes.' Adam said: 'Why do you blame me for a matter which Allah had predestined?"' So Allah's Prophet Muhammad said twice. "Adam outclassed Moses."

There are many traditions concerning the place of Adam's descent upon earth. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Ibn Abbas said: "Adam descended on land called 'Dihna' between Mecca (Makkah) and Taif." Al-Hassan said that Adam descended in India, Eve in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Iblis in Bodistiman (Iraq), and the serpent in Ashahan (Iran). This was also reported by Ibn Hatim.

Assady related that Adam descended with the Black Stone1 in India (A large black stone set into the wail of the Kaba in Mecca; it is said to have come from Paradise), and he had a handful of the seeds of Paradise. He sowed them in India and they grew into the fragrant tree therein.

Lbn Umar said that Adam descended on As-Safa and Eve on Al-Marwa (As-Safa and Al-Marwa are the names of two mountains in the vicinity of the Sacred House in Mecca; part of the rites of pilgrimage (Hajj) Include pacing between these two hills in commemoration of Hajar's search for water). This was also reported by Ibn Hatim. AbdulRazzaq reported that Abi Musa Al-Shari said that when Allah ordered Adam to descend from Paradise to earth, He taught him the making of everything and provided him with the crops from Paradise.

Abu Hurairah narrated that Prophet Muhammad said: "The best of days on which the sun has risen is Friday. On this day Adam was created, and on this day he was descended to earth."