ISLAM IS… ISBN 0-9719158-0-6 Copyright ... - Islam Tomorrow

The Story of Adam and EveThe story of Adam and Eve is told in the Qur'an. Although it issimilar in many ways to what is found in the surviving remnantsof the previous scriptures, some important principles differ.God announced to the angels that He was placing a new specieson earth. God created Adam (), fashioning him from clay. Hebreathed the soul into Adam (), taught him the names of allthings, and created from the same soul his wife, Eve. God allowedthem to dwell in Paradise with free will. God said to theangels, “Bow down to Adam” (They did so in a form of respect,not worship). Satan was present among the angels, though he wasnot one of them. He was of the jinn, 16 a race of beings, possessingfree will, that God created before Adam () from a smokelessflame of fire. When God ordered the angels and those intheir company to bow down to Adam (), they all did so exceptSatan, who refused out of pride and arrogance, claiming to bebetter than Adam () because he was created from fire, whereasAdam () was created from clay. Indeed, Satan was the first racist.Satan fell from God’s grace. God, The Reckoner, condemnedhim for his disobedience, but Satan, the accursed, asked God togive him respite until the Day of Judgment (resurrection), so hecould make Adam () and his descendants unworthy. Satansaid, “Verily I will mislead them and surely I will arouse inthem vain desires.” God granted him this respite as a trial forhumanity. God knows what Satan knows not. It is important tonote that there is no way Satan could ever ‘war’ with God, be-16 The jinn were created before Adam; they have free will. Disobedient jinnsare demons. They live here with us in some manner by which they can see usbut we cannot see them unless they choose to make themselves appear. Sorcery,which is forbidden in Islam, is also performed through them.36