Passage 11

Passage 11   Sura 2:31-37  Al Baqarah

Translation 

BISMILLAH ARREHMAN ARRAHIM

30               Behold, your Lord said to the angels: “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” They said: “Will You place there one who will create mischief there and shed blood? Whilst we celebrate your praises and glorify your holy (name)?” He said: “I know what you do not know.”

31        And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and said: “Tell me the names of these if you are right.”

32        They said: “Glory to you, of knowledge we have none, save what you have taught us: In truth, it is You who are perfect in knowledge and wisdom.”

33        He said: “Adam! Tell them their names.” When he had told them, Allah said: “Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heavens and earth, and I know what you reveal and what you conceal?”

34        And behold, We said to the angels: “Bow down to Adam”. And they bowed down. Not so Iblis: he refused and he was haughty: he was of those who reject faith.

35        We said: “Adam! You and your wife dwell in the garden; and eat of the bountiful things in it as you wish. But do not approach this tree, or you will run into harm and transgression.”

36        The Satan made them slip from there, and got them out of what they had been in. We said: “Go down, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling place and your means of livelihood, for a time.”

37        Then Adam learnt from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord turned towards him for He is oft-returning, most merciful.         

Teachings

(a)       One important theme in these Ayaat is the prophet-hood of Adam (as). Prophets were chosen by Allah in order to make human beings believe in one Allah (Taheed) and ask them to follow the way of Allah and not to make partners with Him. The first of the series was Adam (as) who was the first human being created out of clay. Another theme is that human beings are superior to any other species in the universe.

The knowledge of Allah is complete and perfect. Whatever knowledge we have is the gift of Allah. We also learn that with the creation of man a struggle between good and evil started and Satan

is the enemy of man.

From the mischief of the whisperer who withdraws.

Who whispers into the hearts of the mankind                 [Sura Al Nas]

We also learn that Allah hates arrogance.  Allah tells us that the real destination of pious people is paradise and this earth is only a testing ground to check who submits to the will of God and who refuses. Allah also teaches us that He is merciful and forgives sins.

(b)       We learn many lessons from these ayaat. The first thing is to acquire knowledge. Knowledge is a great blessing of Allah for the human beings. The knowledge of Quran, Hadith and the worldly knowledge is very important for us to acquire. The Prophet (saw) says: 

“It is obligatory upon every Muslim male and Muslim female to

  acquire knowledge”.

Another lesson is that we should not be arrogant. Arrogance is the habit of Satan and Allah hates arrogance.

“He who has in his heart as much pride as a grain of mustard seed will

  not enter paradise”.

We are human beings and we commit sins. Allah has kept the doors of repentance open to us. We should ask forgiveness of Allah for our sins, and hopefully, Allah will forgive us. We should work hard in this world because this world is the place of hard work.