Islam-beliefs

Who ate from the forbidden tree first?

Adam AS and Hawa RA was tempted by Shaitan

We all probably know that, the first Human created by Allah(swt) was Adam AS and later on Hawa RA was created. Iblees was a very pious Jinn who was once  commanded to prostrate before Adam AS just to show respect (not to worship). All the worship is for Allah(swt) alone and no one else. But, Iblees refused to follow the order of Allah(swt) due to his arrogance and converted to Shaitan.

So, Iblees requested Allah(swt) to be granted to live till the day of Resurrection and promised Allah(swt) to misled Humanity to astray. He was granted such.

Allah(swt) allowed Adam AS and Hawa RA to live in paradise, they were permitted to enjoy everything, except one thing, they were prohibited to go near and eat from a forbidden tree.

Shaitan, was able to tempt Adam AS and Hawa RA to eat from that forbidden tree and as a result was sent to Earth – to live up for a certain amount of time.

Let’s discuss from the Quranic point of view:

It was forbidden to eat from the tree

AND WE SAID, “O ADAM, DWELL, YOU AND YOUR WIFE, IN PARADISE AND EAT THEREFROM IN ABUNDANCE FROM WHEREVER YOU WILL. BUT DO NOT APPROACH THIS TREE, OR YOU [BOTH WILL] BE AMONG THE WRONGDOERS.”

{Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayat 35}

Adam AS and Hawa RA understood that they were forbidden to eat the fruit of that tree. Adam was, however, a human being, and man tends to forget. Human hearts are weak which forgets and changes. Iblis, preoccupied with his jealousy, took advantage of Adam’s humanity to exploit him. He started to whisper to him day after day, coaxing him: “Shall I guide you to the Tree of Immortality and the Eternal Kingdom?” He continued deceiving saying to them: “Your Lord did not forbid you this tree but it will save you making you angels and immortals.” And Satan swore by Allah to them both saying “Verily, I am one of the sincere wellwishers for both of you.”

Weakness of Adam AS (as a human being) was described:

AND WE HAD ALREADY TAKEN A PROMISE FROM ADAM BEFORE, BUT HE FORGOT; AND WE FOUND NOT IN HIM DETERMINATION.

{Surah Ta-Ha: Ayat 115}

Shaitan lied and deceived them to eat from the tree:

THEN SATAN WHISPERED TO HIM; HE SAID, “O ADAM, SHALL I DIRECT YOU TO THE TREE OF ETERNITY AND POSSESSION THAT WILL NOT DETERIORATE?”

{Surah Ta-Ha: Ayat 120}

SO SHATAN WHISPERED TO THEM… “YOUR LORD DID NOT FORBID YOU THIS TREE EXCEPT THAT YOU BECOME ANGELS OR BECOME OF THE IMMORTAL.” HE (SATAN) SWORE [BY ALLAH] TO THEM SAYING: “INDEED, I AM TO YOU FROM AMONG THE SINCERE ADVISORS.”

{Surah Al-A’raf: Ayat 20–21}

Both of them ate from the tree

Years went by, and Adam AS and Hawa RA were preoccupied with thoughts of that tree. Then, one day, they decided to eat of its fruit. They forgot that Allah(swt) had warned them not to approach it and that Iblis was their sworn enemy. So, both of them ate of the forbidden tree as Allah(swt) informed us in the Quran:

AND THEY [I.E., ADAM AND HIS WIFE] ATE OF IT, AND THEIR PRIVATE PARTS BECAME APPARENT TO THEM, AND THEY BEGAN TO FASTEN OVER THEMSELVES FROM THE LEAVES OF PARADISE. AND ADAM DISOBEYED HIS LORD AND WENT ASTRAY.

{Surah Ta-Ha:121}

SO HE MADE THEM FALL, THROUGH DECEPTION. AND WHEN THEY TASTED OF THE TREE, THEIR PRIVATE PARTS BECAME APPARENT TO THEM, AND THEY BEGAN TO FASTEN TOGETHER OVER THEMSELVES FROM THE LEAVES OF PARADISE…

{Surah Al-A’raf: Ayat 22}

Adam AS accepted their fault

…AND THEIR LORD CALLED TO THEM, “DID I NOT FORBID YOU FROM THAT TREE AND TELL YOU THAT SATAN IS TO YOU A CLEAR ENEMY?”  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.”

{Surah Al-A’raf: Ayat 22-23}

They were sent to earth with Shaitan to lead a life for specific time

Allah(swt) ordered them get down to earth as a place of dwelling and enjoyment for a certain period of time to live and after that they shall die, and again will be resurrected.

[ALLAH] SAID, “DESCEND, BEING TO ONE ANOTHER ENEMIES. AND FOR YOU ON THE EARTH IS A PLACE OF SETTLEMENT AND ENJOYMENT [I.E., PROVISION] FOR A TIME.” HE SAID, “THEREIN YOU WILL LIVE, AND THEREIN YOU WILL DIE, AND FROM IT YOU WILL BE BROUGHT FORTH.”

{Surah Al-A’raf: Ayat 24-25}

Let’s see what is the Biblical point of view

According to 1 Timothy, Chapter 2, Verse 14-15

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

According to Genesis 3, Chapter 3

The whole story in this Chapter is as follows:

In short, it mentions that, there was a snake in the Heaven which asked Eve(Hawa), “is there any tree that the God forbade to eat from?”. She replied, yes, we are not allowed to touch any fruit from only one tree in the middle of the Garden, or else we will die. The snake told that, you won’t die, rather your eyes will be opened and you will be like God who know what is good and what is evil. So Eve looked at the fruit and found it tempting and Eve ate from it and also gave some to her husband, Adam. They found themselves naked and tried to hide themselves with the leaves of the Garden. They then heard the sound of God walking in the garden, whilst they were hiding themselves. God called them “where are you?”. Adam replied that he was hiding from God as he was naked. So God asked them, whether they have ate from the tree and Adam said Eve gave him some of the fruit to eat. So God said to Eve, “What have you done?” and she replied that the snake deceived her to eat.

So, God cursed the snake: That, it will crawl on its belly and will eat dust. It will be enemy of the the women, and their offspring; snake will strike humans heel and human will crush its head.

Then God said to Eve: “I’ll greatly increase the pain and labour of your childbearing and childbirth. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.”; and lastly

Then God said to Adam: “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the restricted tree. The ground is cursed and you will have to struggle from the scratch for the whole life to eat from it. Until you are dead and converted into dust as you were made from it(dust).”

Conclusion

According to Bible, Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the forbidden tree. She ate it listening to the serpent(snake) and fed Adam some of it. At that moment, their eyes were opened to the fact that they were naked, and they took the leaves of the fig tree to cover themselves.

This story is found to be a falsification when we look at the Ayats of the Quran. There is nowhere in the Quran where such blame was imposed upon Hawa RA alone. If it was as such, then it should be there in the Quran. Even in the story of Ibn Kathir regarding Adam AS mentions that he was the first to pluck (pick out) the fruit from the tree and shared it with his wife. Quran reminds us the story of Adam AS, Hawa RA and Iblees multiple times in order to warn us regarding the below mentioned facts:

  • How did all these begin?
  • How did we came in this earth?
  • Why are we here and what is our actual purpose of our life?
  • Who is our actual enemy and what is his actual purpose?
  • Who is our maker and how did he make us and protecting us till now?
  • Lastly, it helps us realize that, following Shaitan we actually harms us so we should save ourselves from the Shaitan seeking continuous help from our maker.

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