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In last week’s Al-Baqarah (17), we asked: Is Adam’s descent from Paradise to Earth a penalty? We said it was not; even before the quit notice out of Paradise, Adam repented and sought pardon from Allah, and Allah forgave him.
There is no penalty after Allah’s forgiveness, as we shall see. So, by the expulsion, Adam was told to take his destined place on earth as Allah’s vicegerent because Allah had said before the creation of Adam that He would create a vicegerent on earth and not in Paradise.
On earth will be your dwelling place and your means of livelihood – for a time.” This is reassurance to Adam and his progeny that life on earth is temporal, which will end after some time, and that they will return to the abode of eternity, Paradise.
37 Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.
What were the words that Adam learnt?
- They said: Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If Thou forgive us not and have not mercy on us, surely we are of the lost! (Al-A’araaf)
Adam was inspired to say these words. He uttered them, and they were accepted.
In another source, the words of inspiration to Adam were:
How perfect You are O Allah, and Praise is for You, Blessed is Your Name and Exalted is Your Majesty. O Allah, there is nothing which deserves to be worshipped besides You. I have wronged myself, so forgive me; no one forgives sins but You.
Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.
Even where a servant sins a thousand times in a day while his heart is full of remorse, sincere repentance and genuine commitment to not repeating the act on each occasion, and he turns to Allah for forgiveness, Allah shall relent towards him. Allah will not be bored with granting forgiveness to His bondsmen. If you sin and turn to Allah, Allah will say:
Abu Huraira said that God’s messenger told of a man who committed a sin and said, “My Lord, I have sinned, so forgive me.” His Lord replied, “Does my servant know that he has a Lord who pardons sin and punishes for it? I have pardoned my servant.” After remaining [obedient] for such time as God willed, he committed a sin and said, “My Lord, I have sinned, so forgive me.” His Lord replied, “Does my servant know that he has a Lord who pardons sin and punishes for it? I have pardoned my servant.” Then, after remaining [obedient] for such time as God willed, he committed a sin and said, “My Lord, I have committed another sin, so forgive me.” He replied, “Does my servant know that he has a Lord who pardons sin and punishes for it? I have pardoned my servant, so let him do what he likes.”
(Bukhari and Muslim.)
Mishkat al-Masabih 2333
This pardon is limitless, provided such a servant observes the condition of repentance as mentioned earlier; Allah will surely forgive him if he falls into the same pit a hundred times in a single day.
Repentance is created in the servant’s heart by Allah:
- And to the three also (did He turn in mercy) who were left behind: when the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for them, and their own souls were straitened for them till they bethought them that there is no refuge from Allah save toward Him. Then turned He unto them in mercy that they (too) might turn (repentant unto Him). Lo! Allah! He is the Relenting, the Merciful. (At-Taubah, 118)
He turned unto (forgave) them in mercy that they (too) might turn (repentant unto Him). His forgiveness came first before they sought pardon.
In Islam, you don’t confide your sin to a fellow mortal; you run to God, Who is already aware of what is revealed and what is concealed, and report yourself and ask for His forgiveness. There is no barrier between the servant and his Lord in sin, repentance and forgiveness.
Another thing we need to look at is the change in address from dual to single form.
Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been.
Both of them, Adam and Eve, were admitted into Paradise; both sinned and were expelled from Paradise. But when it came to apportionment of blame, Hauwa’s name was omitted. Allah just said:
Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him;
And in Taa Haa, the situation is clearer:
- Then they twain ate thereof, so that their shame became apparent unto them, and they began to hide by heaping on themselves some of the leaves of the Garden. And Adam disobeyed his Lord, so went astray. (Taahaa)
There is no mention or reference to Hauwa as if she was blameless. This is an honour to womanhood in the Qur’an. No portion of blame is allotted to her for deceiving the man into eating the forbidden tree or for leading him to disobey and go against his Lord’s command. Nothing of the kind was mentioned. Women should be proud of this and trumpet this fact for the world to hear that in the Qur’an, the woman was not apportioned blame for eating from the forbidden tree!
Compare this with: And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (Genesis 3:17)
The events leading to Adam and Hauwa’s expulsion from Paradise are to be accepted as revealed and explained in the Qur’an. Your mind will definitely conjure up a number of questions, but try to keep your attention on one thing: Allah had planned for Adam and Hauwa to live here on earth. Whatever happened was just a means to this inevitable end.
Allah said to Adam:
- It is (vouchsafed) unto thee that thou hungerest not therein nor art naked,
- And thou thirstest not therein nor art exposed to the sun’s heat. (Taahaa)
So, Adam knew from this that he was in the Garden of Eternity, but Satan came to them and said:
- But the Devil whispered to him, saying: O Adam! Shall I show thee the tree of immortality and power that wasteth not away? (Taahaa)
That was the bait that Satan used. What is this craving in man for eternity and immortality? And how can one who is already in the Garden of Eternity be deceived through the bait of a tree of eternity, which Allah has forbidden him from eating? And can man blame Satan for causing him to go astray?
Satan has no power over you. He only makes sin alluring to you, and you commit it. That is why when people who are condemned for their sins will point accusing fingers at Satan, and he will reply to them:
- And Satan saith, when the matter hath been decided: Lo! Allah promised you a promise of truth; and I promised you, then failed you. And I had no power over you save that I called unto you and ye obeyed me. So blame me not, but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can ye help me. Lo! I disbelieved in that which ye before ascribed to me. Lo! for wrong doers is a painful doom. (Ibrahim)
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