Adam And Satan (2/2)

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, expelled Satan and got him out of what he once had. Satan got out expelled, cursed and disparaged. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has threatened whoever follows the devil with torment in Hellfire.

Allah, The Most Exalted and Ever-Majestic, has prepared in Paradise – as we have previously mentioned – places to accommodate all His creatures, since the time of Adam (peace be upon him) till the Last Hour befalls. And He has also prepared in Hellfire places to all His creatures, since Adam till the Last Hour befalls. If all creatures obey, Allah’s Blessings in Paradise will be great enough for them all and if all creatures disobey, Allah’s Torment in Hellfire will come upon them all.

Allah willed that Adam and Eve should undergo a practical experience on how they and their offspring can confront the evil insinuations of the devil to be fortified against him, and learn for sure that the devil is a liar in his promises and he only brings evil, misguidance and loss of blessings.

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, says what means:

“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.’”(Surah Al-A‘raf, 7: 19).

From this glorious Ayah we learn that Adam and Eve have dwelt in a paradise or a garden but many scholars said that the meant garden in the glorious Ayah is the Paradise of Eternity in the Hereafter, which drove some orientalists and others to ask: “How can Satan enter the Paradise of those obedient to Allah and whisper evil to Adam and Eve and tempt them into sin? How can Satan, the sinner and the outcast from Allah’s Mercy, who is doomed to eternal torment in Hellfire, enter the Paradise of Eternity?”

And how can Adam and Eve enter the Paradise of Eternity and get out of it? Although Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has decreed that whoever enters the Paradise of Eternity will live in it forever?

We say to them all that you did not understand the importance of “Jannah” (Paradise) in the Noble Qur’an. There is what we call in Arabic language “prevalent usage”; the word has many meanings but is usually used for one, so whenever man says it that meaning specifically comes to mind. From that cause when we hear the word “Jannah” we only think of the Paradise of Eternity, because it is the true Paradise. But Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has used “Jannah” in the Noble Qur’an to refer to various meanings.

Linguistically, Al-Jannah means As-Satir [veil, screen, cover, shelter…], therefore it is used to designate a shady place rich in ample, diverse trees so that when man walks therein these trees shade and conceal him with their interlaced branches from those outside this Jannah, thus they no longer can see him. At the same time he finds in it all the means of living, hence he does not need to get out of it and that is the linguistic meaning of Jannah.

It is not The Paradise of Eternity

If we search the Noble Qur’an we will find that the Noble Qur’an has used the word Jannah for more than one meaning. The Noble Qur’an used it with its linguistic meaning of Satir [veil, screen, cover, shelter…] and with its religious meaning of the Paradise of Eternity. We find many Ayat holding these two meanings as the Saying of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him: “And present to them an example of two men: We granted to one of them two Gardens [1] of grapevines, and We bordered them with palm trees and placed between them [fields of] crops.” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18: 32)

And the Ayah in which Allah says:

“Would one of you like to have a garden of palm trees and grapevines underneath which rivers flow in which he has from every fruit?” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2: 266)

And the Ayah in which Allah says:

“There was for [the tribe of] Saba’ in their dwelling place a sign: two [fields of] gardens on the right and on the left. [They were told], ‘Eat from the provisions of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land [have you], and a forgiving Lord.’” (Surah Saba’, 34: 15).

In all these glorious Ayat Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, used the word “Jannah” to refer to a worldly garden or paradise..

Some scholars said that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, differentiated between the paradises or gardens of worldly life and the Paradise of the Hereafter by using the definitive form (الجنة ) [Al-Jannah] to designate the Paradise of the Hereafter alone and the indefinite word  (جنة) [Jannah] without “ال " (Al: equivalent to the definite article the) to designate worldly paradises or gardens, which is incorrect, based on the fact that a worldly garden is also referred to with the definite article “Al” as in the Ayah in which Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says:

 “Verily, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden, when they swore to pluck the fruits of the (garden) in the morning. Without saying: Insha' Allah (If Allah will).” (Surah Al-Qalam, 68: 17-18)

The speech in the two aforesaid Ayahs is about a paradise or a garden from the gardens of this world. Thus, the two definite letters Alf-Lam “Al” do not mark the word Jannah and serve to make it only designate the Paradise of Eternity.

And here we must pause a little to discuss some opinions that claim that Adam and Eve used to live in the Paradise of Eternity and when they disobeyed Allah, He expelled them from paradise and send them down to live in misery on the earth!

We reply by saying that such opinions are absolutely untrue, because Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, before creating Adam has already assigned his mission in life. Please read the Ayah in which Allah, The Most Exalted and Ever-Majestic, says what means:

“And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority.’” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2: 30)

Thus, before creating Adam the purpose of creating him was his living on the earth and making it a prosperous place and filling it with life.

The second important issue is that if Adam was expelled from paradise because he disobeyed what is our guilt to inherit sin and misery? That would disagree with the Justice of Allah embodied in His Saying, all glory is to Him, which means:

“And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.” (Surah Fatir, 35: 18)

Each person is hold accountable only for his own deeds and will never be questioned about what his parents did, nor his forefathers nor his children, because every man bears only his own good or bad deeds. Hence, it is impossible that Adam lived in the Paradise of Eternity then he was expelled from it because he disobeyed and we bore the consequences of that sin. It is impossible that we inherited that sin and are tortured by it through our expulsion from paradise, because (according to that logic) had not Adam sinned we would have been living in paradise. To such claimers we say that this opinion opposes the Justice of Allah Who never allows that sin should be inherited.

But why did Allah made Adam and Eve live in a paradise after creating them?

We say that there is wisdom behind that, for Adam was created to receive from Allah the Law of ‘Do and Do not do.’ Only through this Law life thrives on the earth. Anything that Allah commands to be done if not done the earth would be corrupted and anything that Allah forbids if done the earth would be corrupted.

Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, placed Adam and Eve in that paradise to put them through a practical experience in applying the Divine Law and to give them a practical warning against Satan’s mission of distorting the Divine Law.

Satan’s mission is to push Adam and his offspring towards committing what Allah has forbidden and turn them away from doing what Allah has commanded. Thus, if Allah says: “Do not drink intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks)” the devil will beautify to mankind drinking intoxicants, and if Allah says: “Perform Salah” the devil will beautify to them abandoning Salah.

Truly, an experience simple in carrying out but is indeed great in its meaning and significance. It was a practice to Adam on what will happen to him when he obeys Allah and what will happen to him when he obeys Satan. Therefore, Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, brought Adam and provided him with all the means of living in a place called “Jannah” and He said to Adam (what means):

“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.’” (Surah Al-A‘raf, 7: 19)

The First Heavenly Laws

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, has clarified to Adam the merits and privileges he will have in this place wherein he shall dwell, saying (what means):

“Indeed, it is [promised] for you not to be hungry therein or be unclothed. And indeed, you will not be thirsty therein or be hot from the sun.” (Surah Ta-Ha, 20: 118-119)

Meaning in this paradise or garden you shall have enough food and you shall never be naked, and you shall never be thirsty nor feel tired; all is permissible to you except one tree which you should not approach nor taste its fruits.

And that is the Law of Allah on the earth: He permits to us too many things and forbids only little. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, warned Adam and Eve against their enemy Satan, saying (what means):

“So We said, ‘O Adam, indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you from paradise so you would suffer.’” (Surah Ta-Ha, 20: 117)

Truly, that was a sufficient warning to be alert and watchful to Satan’s enmity and close one’s ears to his evil insinuations and never to believe his lies.

Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, gave Adam all the elements of life, from food that satisfied the needs of his body without any excrement. Allah, The Most Exalted, nourishes the fetus within its mother’s womb as much as is needed for it to grow without discharge of any excretion. Because food is supplied in proportion to growth, likewise in the paradise the food of Adam was in proportion to need.

We must repeat here that the paradise Adam lived in was not the Paradise of Eternity because eternal life in Paradise would only follow worldly life. It is the reward for faithful following of the Law of Allah in this world, thus it cannot precede worldly life but is subsequent to it.

So, the paradise Adam lived in is a place that embraces all means and requisites of survival. We must notice that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, warned Adam and Eve saying: “But do not approach this tree” and did not only say, “Do not to eat from this tree”…why? Because Allah wants to protect Adam and his offspring from temptation. Had He only said “Do not eat” it would have signified that it was permissible for Adam and Eve to go near the tree and sit beside it and contemplate its fruits, and then they would have been surely seduced by the tasty appearance of the fruits and their color and agreeable odor and consequently eat from it.

But Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, wanted to protect Adam from his own self and from the temptation he might be subjected to and the soul might fail to resist. This protection that Allah wanted to grant to Adam, and to his offspring after him, is the only true protection against sinning. Because the moment you approach a thing forbidden by Allah your soul inclines to it, and perhaps proximity to it might drive you to commit that which is forbidden.

We also observe that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, commands us not to approach the most grievous sins, saying (what means):

“That [has been commanded], and whoever honors the sacred ordinances of Allah – it is best for him in the sight of his Lord. And permitted to you are the grazing livestock, except what is recited to you. So avoid the uncleanliness of idols and avoid false statement.” (Surah Al-Hajj, 22: 30)