Chapter Four

Adam’s Guilt….And
Satan’s Guilt

We have
concluded the last chapter by stating that Satan wormed his way into the
temptation of Adam from the direction that Allah is The Ever-Mighty, The
Ever-Rich, Who, by His Sovereign-Self, is richly beyond need of any of His
creatures. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says in the Divine Hadith(7)
concerning that meaning: 

“Were
the first of you and the last, the living and the dead, the green and the
withered (i.e., the young and old; or the obedient and disobedient; or those
who have knowledge and those who are ignorant) had the heart of the man most
pious among My servants, that would not add to My Kingdom a mosquito wing. And
were the first of you and the last, the living and the dead, the green and the
withered had the heart of the wickedest among My servants, that would not
decrease from My Kingdom a mosquito wing. And were the first of you and the last,
the living and the dead, the green and the withered to gather at one highland
and every man amongst you ask all he wishes for and were I to grant each
supplicant what he asked for, it would decrease nothing from My Kingdom, any
more than when one of you passes by the sea and immerses a needle into it then
raises it (back) to himself. This is because I am the Most Generous, the
Glorious, Do whatever I will. My Giving is words and My Torture is words.
Truly, My Command, when I will a thing, is only to say to it, ‘Be!’ and it is!”  

Thus, from the
door of the All-Mightiness of Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, Satan
crept to misleading Adam. Satan succeeded to convince Adam that Allah has
prohibited him from eating of the tree because He does not wish him goodness,
for us to beware of Satan’s stratagem in temptation. For definitely, there is
no goodness in a seeming goodness that leads to Hellfire and disobedience, and
there is no evil in a seeming harm that leads to Paradise and obedience to
Allah.

Satan tried to
depict evil to man as goodness. Therefore, he presented to Adam the act of
disobedience as benefit. So, when Adam ate from the tree and committed the sin,
Satan fled!The question
that crosses the mind at this point is why did Allah, all praise and glory is
to Him, forgive the disobedience of Adam and did not forgive the disobedience
of Satan? Adam disobeyed and Satan disobeyed, Allah pardoned the first and
accepted his repentance, and He cursed the second and made him eternally
abiding in Hell. What is the difference between the two guilty acts? 

The answer is
that when Adam and Eve disobeyed Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, they
did not persist in disobedience, and did not try to reject the decree of the
Decreer. They did not say, “Your Judgment is untrue,” as Satan did when
he proclaimed, “I am better than him (Adam). You created me of fire, and You
created him of clay.” (7: 12) They never did that but they admitted their guilt and
begged Forgiveness and Mercy from Allah. Regarding this, Allah, all praise and
glory is to Him, says (what means):

“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.’” (Al-A‘râf , 7: 23)

These are the words that Adam and Eve both said after disobedience.
Their words meant: O Lord Your Word is the Truth and Your Judgment is the
Truth but we failed to oblige our weak selves to abide by the Law, thus we
indeed wronged ourselves, we walked in the path of perdition and we beg from
You forgiveness and mercy. And if You do not bestow them upon us, we shall
certainly be among the losers who have lost their own selves on Resurrection Day.

Thus, Adam and Eve begged that Allah would relent towards them.
Regarding this incident, The Truth, all praise and glory is to Him, says (what
means):

“Then Adam
received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it
is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.” (Al-Baqarah, 2: 37)

Repentance occurred in three stages: the first stage is that Allah
legislated repentance. The second stage is that when they showed repentance He
accepted it from them. And the third stage of repentance is by not reverting to
sin. Some people fail to comprehend the Saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is
He, which means:“Then He
turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of
repentance, the Merciful.” (At-Taubah, 9: 118)

Some people may ask: if Allah has relented towards them so why were they
obliged to repent? The answer is that Allah’s Legislation of repentance had to
precede repentance itself…His Saying, “He turned to them so they could
repent,”  means that He
legislated for them repentance.

He said to them that if you committed a sin or a guilt repent; and as
long as Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, asked them to repent they
should turn to Him in repentance and Allah will accept it from them.

The legislation of repentance is not only a mercy towards the sinner but
also to the community at large. Had Allah, all glory is to Him, closed the door
of repentance then whoever has committed sins would sink deeper in sins, as
long as repentance is not accepted. And as long as a sin leads to eternity in Hellfire,
then whoever commits one sin will consequently fill his life with sins, for
there is no hope for him in ever winning Paradise. So, he will decide to take
his share of worldly life, and consequently the whole community will suffer
because every sinner will sin even more.

The entire humanity suffers from the spread of sin and not only the
individual. Thus, by legislating repentance, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He,
has mercy on the entire humanity against the spread of sins. Because the first
sin does not cast man eternally into Hellfire, provided that man repents and
returns to Allah. Therefore, man should never persist in sin but he should
hurry to righteousness and repent to Allah and perform more good deeds, to have
his sins forgiven. This way hope in attaining Paradise remains and also remains
the wish for goodness, thus the community prospers and it becomes filled with
blessings. Indeed, repentance is a mercy on the entire humanity.

But Satan rejected the Commands of Allah and he worsened it by his will
to lure mankind into sin. He said as the Noble Qur’an relates to us (what
means):

“[Satan]
said, ‘Because You have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them 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].’” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 16-17)

Satan did not admit his sin, but rather he insisted on it and threatened
that he would do such and such things, a persistence in disobedience. On the
other hand Adam and Eve admitted their sin which is a very important point that
we should heed, so that people who dare and sin beware of. They should not
justify disobedience or sin by contradicting the Command of Allah, claiming
that time or circumstances have changed.

For example, to the dealers in bank interests, which involves a
suspicion of usury, we say: do not claim that Ribâ (usury) is not
unlawful and that taking interests is an international system and that the whole
world transacts business through it and that time has changed…to the end of
what we hear nowadays. By such words of yours you remove yourself from the
domain of Allah’s Mercy to the domain of expulsion from His Mercy, all praise
and glory is to Him.

But rather say: O Lord, we have failed to overcome ourselves, please
forgive us and have mercy on us. This way you have accused yourself of
weakness, negligence and injustice and you have kept yourself within the domain
of belief. But by rejecting the Judgment of Allah and by claiming that Ribâ
is not unlawful you have walked out of belief to disbelief, Allah forbid.When man commits a sin he should neither try to justify its commission
nor defend it and claim that it is lawful. Nor say that circumstances have
changed and that the legal ruling must have also changed. Because this involves
a rejection of Allah’s Command, which pulls man out of belief to disbelief, and
from mercy to damnation. And that is the difference between the sin of Adam and
that of Satan.

Satan disobeyed and was puffed up with pride, whereas Adam disobeyed but
he admitted his sin. When Adam and Eve confessed their guilt, Allah taught them
the way of repentance. Had not Allah, The Most Exalted and Ever-Majestic,
taught them, they would not have known how to repent. For repentance occurred
by an inspiration from Allah, all praise and glory is to Him:

“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.’” (Al-A‘râf , 7: 23)

Then Allah, Whose Majesty reigns Supreme, said (what means):  

“(Allah)
said: ‘Get down, some of you an enemy to some others. And for you on the earth
is a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time.” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 24)

We should observe the Ayat that relates to us the act of descent. In
another Ayah, The Truth, all praise and glory is to Him, says (what means):“(Allah)
said: ‘Get you down, both of you, together, some of you are an enemy to some
others.’” (Tâ-Hâ, 20: 123)

And in another Ayah, Allah says (what means):

 

“We said, ‘Go
down from it, all of you.’” (Al-Baqarah, 2:38)

The addressees are Adam, Eve and Satan, and enmity here is preexistent
between mankind and Satan. But His Saying, “Get you down, both of you,
together, some of you are an enemy to some others,” shows that enmity is
between two parties: Adam and Eve are one party, and Satan is the other party.
So, we have two groups: Adam, Eve and their offspring are one group against the
group of Satan and his offspring. All the Ayat perfectly agrees.

We have to understand that when Allah says, “Some of you are an enemy
to some others,”  there will be
a struggle and enmity between the offspring of Adam and the offspring of Satan,
and that the struggle (between the two parties) will last as long as worldly
life continues only and will not extend to the Hereafter. But as to the devil
and man, there is a lasting struggle as long as the lifetime of each in this
world, and not the lifetime of this world. When the devil dies or man dies the
struggle between them comes to an end.

A
Struggle in Worldly Life

The struggle between the devil and man – as we have previously said – is
a period limited by the life of both and does not extend after death and does not
exist in the Hereafter.

Afterwards, The Truth, all praise and glory is to Him, advises the
Children of Adam against Satan to protect them from him, saying (what means):

“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 Allah that perhaps they will remember” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 26)

The speech in this Ayah is addressed to every soul from the Children of
Adam, because every soul has a battle and an enmity with the offspring of
Satan. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, draws our attention that He has
sent down to us a Law from Heaven that covers our shameful parts and screens
them. Sending down necessitates that a thing descends from a place high, and
all good things on the earth have come down from Heaven. Garments are made from
the yield of the earth and earthly produce only comes forth with rain that
falls down from Heaven.

We have to learn that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has sent down
the Law to cover the defects of mankind, and the defects of communities. If we
abided by the Law, no defects or sins would appear in us and the community
would be homogeneous and united. As if the rain that Allah has sent down from
Heaven gives us from the earth the clothing that hides our physical shameful
parts and a garment of moral values that hides our spiritual defects. Over and
above this, He gave us ornaments as fine clothes, a kind of luxury and
pleasure. 

As if Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has given us delights in this
world and made them lawful to us and has given us the Law to cover our moral
flaws. So, if the material garment covers the bodily private parts in the life
of this world, then the garment of piety and righteousness will conceal our
shameful deeds from any disgrace in the Hereafter. The garment of piety by
which we guard ourselves against the Anger of Allah, all praise and glory is to
Him, is far superior to the material garments. Therefore, Allah, Blessed and Exalted
is He, says about it (what means):

“But the
clothing of righteousness – that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that
perhaps they will remember.” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 26)

Hence, the garment of piety – which is far superior to worldly garments
because they guard us against the Anger of Allah, Whose Majesty reigns Supreme,
is one of the Signs of Allah, for us to know that we are created of matter and
morals. Just as the material side has physical shameful parts that appear when
we take off our clothes, also the spiritual side has shameful defects that
appear at impiety. Then comes the solemn warning from Allah, all praise and
glory is to Him:

“O children
of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from paradise,
stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts.”  (Al-A‘râf, 7: 27)

 

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, warns us against the trial of
Satan. If we succeed in this trial no corruption will occur, it only occurs if
we fail in the trial. The trial is neither evil or good, but it is a test that
brings you goodness if you succeed and evil if you fail in it.

This way warning against the devil came through a practical experience
lived by Adam and Eve before they came down to the earth. An experience of
obeying the entrusted duty of “Do and Do not do”. The trial, as is the
case with the enjoined duty, included a command and a prohibition. The command
dictated that Adam can eat from everything in the garden wherein he lived, and
the prohibition dictated that he should not draw near one tree in this garden.

Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, informed Adam that Satan is an enemy
to him, and that he would cause him to fall into error. But in spite of this
warning Adam and Eve ate from the tree and their private parts appeared, for us
to learn that any obedience to the devil never brings goodness.

Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, wants us to know that in Adam are
two factors: the factor of humanity that may do right or err, disobey and
repent, and the factor of prophethood that is infallible. Therefore, we must
pay heed to the part of the Ayah saying (what means):

“And Adam
disobeyed his Lord and erred.” (Tâ-Hâ, 20, 121)

Which is human nature. And the Saying of The Most Exalted, which means:

“Then his
Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided [him].” (Tâ-Hâ, 20,
122)

Which is the guidance with which the prophets from the offspring of Adam
would be sent. Therefore, we should not wonder saying: how did Adam disobey his
Lord while being a prophet, because the disobedience of Adam happened before
prophethood.

After disobedience came prophethood and guidance. Thus, humanity is
divided into two: prophets who convey to people the Law on behalf of
Allah,  who are infallible; and others
to whom Allah conveys His Law, who obey, disobey and repent. No one should say
or claim that Adam descended to the earth because of his disobedience, because
Allah has created him and his offspring to live on the earth and has forbidden
them and warned them against the temptation of Satan, in His Saying, “O
children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you,”  this warning is addressed to mankind. Allah, The Most Exalted
and Ever-Majestic, did not command Satan not to tempt the Children of Adam. Had
He thus ordered Satan he would have diverged from his mission in life and life
would not have been an abode of trial as Allah willed for it to be, causing the
creatures given the power of free choice either to enter Paradise or Hellfire,
we seek refuge with Allah from the latter.

Therefore, the trial of Satan that mankind is put though is part of what
Allah has decreed in worldly life. But some people wonder about the Saying of
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, (which means):

“And Abraham
instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], ‘O my sons,
indeed Allah has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you
are Muslims(8).’” (Al-Baqarah, 2: 132)

The prohibition here is for mankind and the question is: do people have choice
in death? Can they specify its time, date and place so that they can only die
while they are Muslims? The answer is that the Truth, Blessed and Exalted is
He, wants to draw our attention to the fact that death comes suddenly at any
moment, so you have to be Muslim all the time, so that death never suddenly
overtakes you, except while you are Muslim.

Allah, praise and glory is to Him, wants us to know that the trial of
Satan expels us from the blessing of assignment (enjoined duties) that would
lead us to the Paradise of Eternity in
the Hereafter. Afterwards, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says (what means):

“Indeed, he
sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them.” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 27)

This part of the Ayah means that the devil sees us but we do not see
him, and that gives him the power of exercising temptation. Because as long as
we cannot see him, we cannot know from where he will come or notice that he is
whispering evil to us.

 

But did Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, desert us alone with Satan, to
lure us and lead us astray? Or did He create protection for us?

By His Justice, Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, granted us
protection against diabolic insinuations and from all this evil. This
protection can only be through close abidance by the Law of Allah. Whoever
adheres firmly and sincerely to the Law of Allah, the devil will never be able
to reach him nor tempt him. Therefore, we find a confession of Satan that he cannot
approach those who are loyal to Allah and hold fast to His Law, because such
people are protected against him by their abidance by the Law of Allah in the
glorious Ayah saying (what means):

“[Iblees]
said, ‘By your might, I will surely mislead them all, except, among them, Your
chosen servants.’” (Sâd, 38: 82-83)

Then, comes the Saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, which means:

“Indeed, My
servants – no authority will you have over them, except those who follow you of
the deviators.” (Al-Hijr, 15: 42)

Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has guaranteed protection to every
servant who sincerely believe in Him and who sincerely worship Him. Allah, The
Most Exalted and Ever-Majestic, guards the believers against satanic
temptation. Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, says about the description
of the believer (what means):

“Indeed,
those who fear Allah – when an evil thought comes to them from Satan, they
remember [Allah] and at once they have insight.” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 201)

  

This means that when Satan comes to the pious, believing servants of
Allah, Allah never leaves them, but He makes them remember His Law, only then
do they see the truth and they return to closely following the Law. As if the
one who follows the devil is like the blind, who sees nothing thus move
confusedly, stumbling and falling. Satan strives to blind the sight and
insight, to keep us from seeing the truth and the Signs of Allah in His
Universe, and be only in the dark.

The Truth, Blessed and Exalted is He, presents to us this picture while
depicting to us the followers of Satan in the Hereafter in the Ayah saying
(what means):

“He will say,
‘My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?’ [Allah] will
say, ‘Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you
this Day be forgotten.’” (Tâ-Hâ, 20: 125-126)

Thus, the mission of Satan is to make people blind to the Signs of Allah
in the universe and deprive them from perceiving the greatness or mightiness of
The Creator, all praise and glory is to Him. Blindness to these signs makes man
forget his submissiveness to Allah and makes him regard worldly life as an end
and not only as a means to the Hereafter. This way man tries to take from
worldly life all he can, be it lawfully or unlawfully. For as long as there is
only worldly life for him, his goal is to seize of it all it can offer either
lawfully or unlawfully. The thing most important for him and his gauge of
success is what he realizes of desires and whims, thefts and bribes etc.

Such a group of people when comes to the Hereafter, Allah raises them up
blind, seeing nothing, stumbling and falling. When they shall ask about the
reason of this blindness after being endowed with eyesight in worldly life,
Allah will answer them saying that they were surely blind in worldly life. They
truly had eyes but they did not see with them the proofs, evidences, signs,
revelations of Allah is His Universe, therefore they gave free reign to sin and
disbelief. And as they forgot the Signs of Allah in the life of this world,
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, will forget them in the Hereafter, so
they will not attain His Mercy on that Day. Therefore, Allah, all praise and
glory is to Him, says (what means):

“And whoever
is blind in this [life] will be blind in the Hereafter and more astray in way.”
(Al-Isrâ’, 17: 72)

Blindness in this glorious Ayah does not mean loss of sight but rather
means loss of insight by which man sees the Signs of Allah that urge him to belief
and obedience to the Divine Law.

From the Mercy of Allah is that He exposed before us the ways of Satan
and how he lures mankind, and He has clarified how Satan stealthily steals in
the human soul and the wiles by which he leads man into error. Allah has
clarified all this to warn us against satanic inlets into the human soul in
order to bar all these inlets so that Satan never approaches our souls….so what
are these inlets?