Part 31

and say, ' Let us ask somebody to intercede for us with our

Lord : So they wi il go to Adam ~ and say, 'You arc the fa ther

of all the peopl e; and A ll ah crea ted you with I-li s Own I-lands,

and ordered the angels to pros trate to YOll , and ta ught you the

names of all thin gs. ' (1) He reco rded the Iwdeelll in full.

( Th en I k showed them to the angels and sa id. ' Tell Me th e

names of these if you arc truthful ' ." ) (Soora h AI-Saqarah

AI-Hasan AIBasri said, "W hen Allah wanted to create Adam

~~ . th e ange ls sa id, ' Ou r Lord wi ll not create a creation except

th at we arc mo re kn ow ledgeab le than it.' Thus they were put

to trial and that was w hy All ah sa id, ( · . .. ifyou are truthful .' )

(Saara" AI-Baqara" 2: 3 1)

( They (ange ls) said, ' Glory be to You , we have no knowledge

except what you ha ve taught us. Ver il y, it is Yo u, the AII-

Kn ow ing, Most Wise'''' ) (Soorah AI-Saqarall 2:32) Tha t

is, no Oll e can encompass anythin g from Your Know ledge,

except w hat You have taught ; You are far above that. Th is is

as All ah says, ( And th ey will neve r compass anythi ng of Il is

Know ledge except that which li e will s. ) (So orah AI-Baqarah

l ie sa id , ' 0. Adam! Inform th em of the ir names,' and when

he had info rm ed them of lheir names, li e sa id, 'Did I not (ell

you lhat I know the gllClih (un seen) in (he heave ns and the

Earth. a nd ( know wha l you revea l and what you have been

concealing'?"' ) (SoOJ'all AI-Baqclmh 2:33) That is, I know the

( I) Narr.Jlcd by AIl3ukhari (4476) and Muslim (193).

146 II'l/flI lias Bj!C!1/ 5md Rj!gllrdillg Ille Crealio/l ojfldlllll

secrets j ust as I kn ow the apparent things. It was also said that

H is Words: ( " and I know what you re\'ca l. .. " ) re fer to th ci r

saying, ( " Will YOli place there in those who w ill make mischief

therein and shed blood, - while we glorify YO LI with praises and

thank s (Exalted bc You above all that they associate wi th You

as partn crs) and san cti fy You: ' (SoOl·all AI-Baqal"all 2:30).

T hi s was what th ey did openly.

As fo r Hi s Words: ( "a nd what you have been concea ling'!"

) (SoOl·all AIBaqarall 2:33), wha t is refe rred to here is the

say ing of Iblees, w he n he co ncea led w ith in his heart arrogance

and be li ef in hi s superiority over Adam ~' . Th is was sa id

by Sa'eed Ibn Juba ir, Muj a hid, As-S udd i, Adh -Dhahhak a nd

Ath-Th awri; and it was the pre ferred opinion of Ibn Jareer At -

( A nd (remember) when We said to the angel s: ' Prostrate

you rse lves be fore I\dulll .' And they prostr.l ted except Iblees.

he refused and was proud. ) (Soorall AI-Baqarah 2:3 4) Thi s

is a grea t honor bes towed by A llah on Adam ~ , when He

created him with Hi s l'land and breathed into him Hi s Spirit,

as He, Most Hi gh. says, ( "So. whcn I have fashioned him

co mpl etely and breat hed into him (Adam) thc soul whi ch I

c reated for him. then fall (you) down prostrating yoursel ves

unto him .") (Soorall A I- !-lijl" 15:29) So these were fo ur honors:

Hi s c reatio n of him wit h Hi s Hand, Hi s breat hing into him of

Hi s Spi rit. His command to th e ange ls to prostrate before him

and Hi s teach ing him the names of (a ll) th ings.

In anot he r Ve rse, He says, ( And surely. We c rea ted you (yo ur

rath er Adam) and then gave you shape (t he nobl e shape o f a

human be ing), then We told the angel s. ·Prostrate to Adam.·

and they prostra ted. ex cept Iblccs. he refused to be o f those

who prostra ted. (Allah ) said , ' WhO! preven ted ),Oll (0. Iblees.)

"'Imr /ltfS Been Said Regarding the Creatioll oJAdam

, ~ . 147 .

tlmt you did not prostra1e. when I comma nded YOu?' Ib lecs

said, ' I am beller than he (Adam), You c reated me from fire.

ami him You created from clay' ." ) (SoOl'ol1 AI-A 'roJ7: 11 , 12)

A I-Ha san AI-Ba sr; said , " Iblccs lI sed qiya,\' (ana logy) and he

was the first one \0 do so." Thi s statemcnt has an auth cnti c

chain o f narra ti ons . Ibn Secree n sai d, "The first to usc qiyos

was Iblees, and th e sun and 11100n would not be worshipped if

not fo r qiyas." Both of these sta tements we re reported by Ibn

The meaning of thi s is tha t he com pared him se lf wi th Adam

~ and considered that he was superior to Adam ~ , and thus

refused to prostrate him, in spite of th e fac t th at he and all

o f the angels had been commanded to do so. But analogy in

th e presence of evidence is invali d. In addition, it is in itself,

in valid, because mud is more beneficial than fire: mud has the

qualities of wisdom, forbearance, patience and assurance and

mud is whe re pla nts grow, flour ish, increase, and provide good.

To the contrary, fire has the qual ities of bumin g, recklessness

In addit ion, All ah hon ored Adam ~ by c reating him with

Hi s I-land and breathi ng into him Hi s Spirit. Thi s is why He

cOlllmanded the angels to prostrate before him , as He says, (

And (re member) whcn your Lord sa id to the ange ls: ' I a m go ing

to create a man (Adam) from sounding clay of altered black

Sl1100th mud' :' ) - up to the Words of All ah, Most High: ( And

veri ly, the c urse shall be upon you ti\1 th e Day of Recom pense

(i,e, the Day of Resurrec ti on). ) (Soora" AI-Nijl" 15:28-35) He

deserved thi s from Allah, Most Hi gh, because he in sisted that

Adam ~ was inferior to him and beliltled him, wh ile claim ing

lh at he himself was superior to him, in sheer oppositi on to the

Comm and of All ah a nd in defi ance of the tn ll h.

148 11"/ (It lieu Beell Soi" Regardillg ,lte eret/lion of Adalll

In SoO/oall AI-Kalif, Alla h says, l ie di sobeyed the Co mmand

of his Lord. Will you then take him (Iblccs) and hi s oITs prillg as

pro tec tors and helpers rath er than Me wh il e th ey arc i.!Jlcmics to

you? What a n cvi I is the exc hange for th e ::(fIiIllU OII (po lythe ists.

and wrongdoers. ctc.) , (Soora/t AI-Kahl 18:50) ThaI is, he

aba ndo ned o bedi ence to A ll ah, de liberate ly, obsti nately an d

arrogant ly refus ing to com ply w ith His Com mand. Iblees was

deceived by his fi ery nature and substance into believing th at he

was superior to Ada m ~~ because of him having bee n c reated

from fi re, when he shoul d have known better. Imam Muslim

narra tes in hi s Saheeh, all the aut ho rity or ' A' islmh (may A ll ah

be pleased with her), who report cd from the Messenge r of

A ll ah ~ Iha l he sa id: "The ange ls were crea ted from li ght, the

jinll were c reated from a smokeless fl ame of fire, and Ada m ~

was created from what has been described to you." (l)

. Abd ull ah Ibn Mas·ood .... 'A bdu ll ah Ibn ·Abbas ... a group

of the Compan ions ~ Sa'ced Ibn AI-Musayyib and others sa id

tha t Iblees was th e leader of the ange ls in the earthly heave n.

In one narrat ion a ll ributed to 'A bd ull ah Ibn ' Abbas 4>, he sa id

Ihnt hi s name was 'Azazeel, wh ile in another narration , it was

ascri bcd to him th at he said that his nam e was A I-I-Iarith . An-

Naqqash sa id that hi s agnomen was Abu Ka rdoos. 'Abdu ll ah

Ibn 'Abbas ~ said: " He was from one of the tribes o r the angels

wh ic h was known as AI-Jill". They were the gua rdians of the

Gardens and he was th e most cminent of them and the grea test of

the m in know ledge. I-Ie had fOllr wings, bu t A ll ah lra nsformed

hi m into a curse." In SOOl'all Sac/, He says, ' (Remcmber) w hen

yo ur Lord sa id to 1hc angels: ' Trul y. I am go ing to create man

from clay.' So w h ~ n I ha vc f:\shi ollcd him and brca thed into

him (his) sou l crea1t:ci by Mc. then you fa ll down prostrate him.

So Ihc angels prostratcd thclllsclycs , all of them: excep1 Iblecs.

( I) The wkhreej for Ih is has already been given.

Wltalllm Bel.!li Said /?{,/::lInlil1g lhl' ( 'Il! lIIiOIl OJl e/lIlII 149

li e was proud and W<lS Olll: Drill !.: di sbe li evers. (A llah) sa id , ' 0 .

Iblcl!S (Sa tan)! What prc\"t~llIs YOli from prost rati ng yo ufsdf

Ihe o ne whom I IMVC e re,lIed wi th My bo th I land s'! Arc you 10 0

proud (to prost rate A dam), or arc you oll e o f the hi gh ex alt ed'!"

( lb lccs (Saltln]) said .. ,' am bCI1l.:r th an he: YO li creat ed me from

fi re. ami YO li created him fro m d ay.' (A llah ) sa id. ' Theil go