A lesson from history – it all began with Adam

Islamic teachings can be seen as the map by which we can plot the correct course for the manner in which we live our lives. They show us that true blessings lay only in the path of obedience to the Creator, as only He knows what lays ahead and has knowledge of all future events. Indeed, Allah says in the Quran: “And no one would inform you like the one who is All-Aware”.

However, Allah created all men weak, vulnerable to Satan’s temptations and with a tendency to stray from God’s path. Many of us, unable to control our weakness, disobey God, develop negative qualities and false characters. In our God given freedom we continue to confuse wrong with what is right.  In addition, in our arrogance, some of us develop a sense of vengeance and the thought that power is a right and become willing to commit the most appalling acts in order to safeguard any such acquired power or authority.  But, worst of all, and even more dangerous, is that some of us come to think that ‘God is on our side’ and carry out the most heinous of crimes in His name.

This is a world of cause and effect and action and re-action. It is a world in which people must reap what they sow and inevitably face the consequences of all their actions; hence the well known saying  ‘those who live by the sword will die by the sword’. However, Islam directs us to correct the errors of our ways, to act only after reflection and the giving of considerable thought as to the consequences of our actions.

The Quran reminds us of the story of Adam and Eve and Satan (Iblis):

Following their creation, Adam and Eve dwelt in Paradise with the Mercy of Allah and were given the freedom to enjoy a blissful life there. However, they were given one small but important directive: not to approach a particular tree, as to do so would make them wrongdoers. They were further reminded that those who disobey God’s guidance become deprived of His mercy and blessings.

Iblis, in his arrogant belief that He was from better origins (stock) than Adam, refused to obey God's command that he together with all the Angels should bow down to Adam, became jealous of the honour that God had bestowed on him and sought a way to dishonour Adam in the Sight of God and bring him down. He plotted and planned to persuade Adam that it was not wrong to eat the fruit from that tree and said to him: “Adam! Shall I direct you to a tree of eternal life and abiding Kingdom”. S20 V120, Foolishly, Adam obeyed Satan, disobeyed God and went astray.

 Reflecting on this story, we can identify two different factors that played a role in causing Iblis and Adam to go astray and which resulted in both of them incurring the wrath of God.

In the case of Iblis, His sense of superiority over Adam was derived from their two different origins of life. Iblis was created out of fire, Adam out of earth and this was seen by Iblis as a humbler origin and a reason not to honour Adam.  For Iblis, this should not have become the cause of much attention from God in His command that all the angels bow down to Adam.

Iblis regarded his origin from fire as source of pride and argued against God’s wisdom. Hence such attitudes, that cause prejudice, suppression, injustice and wrongdoings, are forbidden in Islam, indeed, any racial consideration or discrimination, based on the colour and origins of men, are un-Islamic and ungodly.

The only measures by which people can rightfully gain high rank or can take pride in are those mentioned in this verse: ‘O people! We have created you all from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Verily the noblest of you in the Sight of Allah is the Most God-fearing of you. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware, S49 V13

However, God demanded obedience and not an argument from Iblis and knew of His plans.  Iblis, in His arrogance and now with a desire for revenge,  took on the task of misleading Adam and his offspring, and became blind to the path of wisdom and salvation. God gave freedom to both Adam and Iblis, with warnings as to the consequences of their actions, but they both misused the concept of freedom.

Adam ignored the warning that he had to obey the guidance of God, which demonstrated the difference between obedience and disobedience and between the blessings of God and His wrath, and not go near 'that tree'.

So what was it that made Adam disobey God? While the warnings from God for Adam were very clear, they were, subsequently, deliberately blurred by Iblis. Although he failed to pay enough attention to the consequence of his deed, very importantly, there was something else that made Adam fixate on approaching the ‘tree’. Take a closer look at the verse in which Iblis addresses Adam about the tree. He said: “Adam! Shall I direct you to a tree of eternal life and abiding Kingdom”. It is this temptation of an ‘eternal life’ and ‘abiding kingdom’ that was misrepresented by Iblis and perhaps that was the reason why God had forbidden him to approach that tree.

It was only the beginning of life for Adam and Eve and possibly the concept of death and the end of life was not yet firmly established in the mind of Adam but, even then, he felt  a compelling temptation to pay attention to it. The life after death comes only from obeying God’s commands and nothing else can prolong it or achieve an eternity of life. It is God’s world, His creation and what He commands will be.

As for the 'abiding kingdom'; who doesn’t want to own the world for ever, where he is a king? For Adam Paradise was at hand, and he was living in it and he was given a promise by the Lord: “Neither are you going to be hungry, nor naked, nor face thirst or scorching heat”.

He was given freedom by the Lord saying: “O Adam! Live in the Paradise, you and your wife and eat abundantly of whatever you wish”. However the temptation of an abiding kingdom is a much stronger concept than purely that of a heaven where he only had to live and enjoy.

These two temptations will forever live on in the children of Adam if they continue to retain the same dreams as their father. Satan (Iblis), in fulfilment of his promise, continues to lure mankind by these two dreams and in the process has been responsible for all the battles, wars, pillage, rape, murder and devastation on earth.  He has also created and encouraged every imaginable negative trait in the characters of human beings and brought them to the lowest of the low.

However, in accordance to the Quranic teachings, there is still one path by which men can regain paradise, their lost place - by returning to God and by showing complete obedience to Him:  “By the Fig and Olive, and by the mount Sanai. And by this city, a haven of peace. Surely We created men in the best mould; then We reverted him to the lowest of the low, except those who have faith and do righteous deeds. Theirs are never-ending rewards. Who, then, can give the lie to you, O prophet, about the rewards and the punishment? Is not Allah the greatest of all sovereigns”? Surah 95