Part 3

Later Allah said, فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنُ عَنۡہَا Then the Shaitân (Satan) made them slip therefrom. See that Allah holds both of them (Adam and Hawa) responsible. When it comes to obeying Allah, both have equal responsibility and both were in the wrong. This is different from Christian narrative, because they believed that Eve was the one who tempted Adam to eat from the tree. To the extent that they say: the root of all ‘evil’ is Eve (evil from eve). They put the blame on Eve (Hawa). But in Islam, both of them was equally responsible for that mistake.

Then Allah said: وَقُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ۬‌ۖ We said: “Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. They have to come down to earth. But is that the lowest you can go? It’s not the lowest. Because the lowest is the Hellfire. So that means that there are two levels of descent. This means that they just went down to the middle level (the earth). If it was a punishment, then the level that they have to go to is Jahannam. This means that Adam and Hawa were not sent to earth as a punishment. We have to understand and remember this because many people do not understand this.

So both of them were sent to earth, the middle level. And when you are sent to the middle level, you can either go back up or you can go lower down, right?

Allah sent Adam and Hawa down to earth, but He said in the ayat, ٱهۡبِطُواْ meaning it’s plural (more than two). So who does it mean here? Some ulama’ are of the opinion that it’s Adam, Hawa and Iblees. And it was added بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ۬‌ۖ enmity between yourselves, meaning that they would be enemies to each other. But if you have been paying attention, it’s just not Adam who was there when Allah introduced humanity to the angels. We were also there, do you remember?

When Allah said ٱهۡبِطُواْ (go down all of you) it also means us, all of us. And we in fact will be enemies to each other, right? That’s why man will become enemy to another man; and vice versa. Man to man, woman to woman, man to women, man and satan altogether. And Satan will cause animosity amongst siblings, remember the first murder on earth? And also women will become enemies to each other when they hate each other’s guts. Even when they are in the same family (or may be, ‘because’ they are in the same family, who knows?).

And unfortunately syaitan has managed to create this oppression, this hatred, sometimes in the name of Islam. There are some people who use the name of Islam and say the most satanic things. Some people even use Islamic reasons to oppress women. Of course they have to misuse the understanding of the religion to achieve this. They have distorted the religion that made the sunnah of the Prophet the opposite of what it’s supposed to be.

And this is the tragedy of the Ummah. The worst propaganda against Islam is done by the hands of the Muslims themselves, knowingly or unknowingly. We have so much of it that it makes us sick. See how we made enemies between each other, while both thinking that they are defending the religion. Who gives you the licence to judge a person’s heart? And what made it worse is that it is being done by people that have religious standing in the community.

So when Allah says that you will be enemies to each other, don’t just think that it’s just between believers versus kuffar, that’s too simplistic. We are living in the time where people using the name of Islam to say terrible, horrible things. And as a result, they push people away from Islam. Because there are things that are attributed falsely to Allah and to the Prophet. And that made the name of Islam bad in the eyes of the non-Muslims, isn’t it?

And this is our fight. The fight to claim back the book of Allah and try to do justice to Sunnah of the Prophet. To snatch it back from the hands that oppress in the name of Allah and the Prophet. How dare they? Unfortunately this is happening everywhere that it is sickening.

But enough venting and let’s get back to the issues at hand. And Allah continues, وَلَكُمۡ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مُسۡتَقَرٌّ۬ وَمَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ۬ and for you on the earth shall be a resting-place and enjoyment for a season. The word ‘istiqrar’ means to stay and to stay with peace. It also means to find coolness. In contemporary English, as a human being sent to the earth, you will find on the earth a place to chill, literally.

And you will find enjoyment and utility. It’s until a given time. So there will be something that we will enjoy and find relaxation on earth. But it’s not permanent. Unfortunately some people think that their money will make them eternal. As Allah says in Humazah:3 يَحْسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ أَخْلَدَهُ thinking that his wealth will make him live forever! Allah does not want you to condemn your worldly life, don’t take it wrongly.

Some Muslim got this wrong idea that we cannot enjoy this dunya. What Allah tells us not to do is to enjoy this world so much that you forget about the akhirah, that’s all. That you forget that this world is only temporary. Please study the life of the Prophet. He lived in Madinah in the time of war. But he did live his life. He didn’t put down those sahabas that enjoy this world. He’was fighting, yes but at the same time, he enjoyed this world as well. Who are you to be more hardcore than the Prophet and sahabahs? Remember that Allah gives this worldly life for us to enjoy and afterwards to thank Allah. How can you thank Allah if you don’t use His blessings on us?

Remember when the visitors came to see Prophet Ibrahim? Did he not serve them fat meat? That’s dunya, isn’t it? So remember that we are not supposed to condemn this world, but we need to live in it in a balanced way, that’s all. Allah wants happiness for the believers in both worlds. So appreciate the gifts that Allah gives us. Remember that Allah takes pride in the beautiful world that He had created.

That’s why Adam is being told to use the مَتَـٰعٌ in this world. He’s not being punished, remember? But Adam has seen Jannah already. This world is nothing compared to Jannah. You cannot imagine the sadness that he felt.

So Allah said, فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَـٰتٍ۬ Then Adam learnt from his Lord certain Words. Adam came into contact with certain words from Allah. Look at how Allah used the words here. Allah could have said that He ‘revealed’ the words but instead He used the word: تَلَقَّىٰٓ. This word means stumble, come into contact; it’s usually used in Arabic when you come upon a treasure, something valuable. What are those words?

The words are mentioned in A’raf:23 رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ “O our Sustainer! We have sinned against ourselves -and unless Thou grant us forgiveness and bestow Thy mercy upon us, we shall most certainly be lost!“ Allah Himself taught Adam these words and when he said it, Allah accepted his repentance.

Allah is saying when you accept your mistake as your personal responsibility, and repent, Allah will come close to you. Because after Adam mentioned those words, Allah said (Baqarah: 37): فَتَابَ عَلَيۡهِ‌ۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ and He relented toward him, verily He! He is the Relentant, the Merciful. Allah is saying here that even if you did something wrong that caused you to be expelled from Jannah, it doesn’t mean that Allah does not love you. No human being has been removed from the mercy of Allah. As long as you are on earth and you are not dead, Allah may still accept your repentance.

Then Allah said: قُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ مِنۡہَا جَمِيعً۬ا‌ۖ We said: get ye all down from here. But He also adds, فَإِمَّا يَأۡتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّى هُدً۬ى and if there cometh unto you a guidance from Me, which means ‘if and when’ they receive the guidance from Allah. Who is ‘they’? Adam and his progenies (that means us). فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَاىَ فَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡہِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ then whosoever shall follow My guidance, –no fear shall come on them, nor shall they grieve. Of course, Adam was afraid because of what he did. But Allah says here that He will remove that fear and get rid of the sadness so long he and his progeny take the guidance seriously.

That’s two things that Allah will take away: fear and sadness. That is the promise of Allah to us. So if you don’t want fear and sadness in your life, then what must you do? Obviously follow Allah’s guidance. In our case, this refers to the Qur’an. It is Allah’s remedy for fear and also for sadness. And remember that this promise was made to Adam and the ultimate fulfilment of that promise comes with the revelation of Qur’an.

By the way, what is the beauty of Jannah? More than anything else, it’s the removal of fear and sadness. Sadness is something that happened in the past and fear is something that might happen in the future. Both these will be removed in Jannah. And the same joy that you will experience in Jannah, Allah can also bring it to you here on earth. Of course if you follow the guidance from Allah. That means that you will experience it while you are on the road to Jannah. That is the promise of Allah to us and what a beautiful promise it is.

An important side note here. What about the fear of Allah? That is a valid fear, right? And we do have a sense of sadness over the sins that we have made, right? Then why did it say that they will have fear and sadness? Ulama’ says that it means that you will not be overrun with fear and sadness. Yes you will experience fear and sadness but it will not overwhelm you. Allah will give the strength for you to move on.

That means that we can have valid fear for our kids, for our parents, for akhirah and sadness over the things that have passed, but Allah will not let that sadness bury you in emotions. Because if it does, it will paralyse you. Allah will keep that emotion in check and what will keep it in check? It’s the book of Allah.

But unfortunately there are people that are angry and subsequently explain the Qur’an in anger; and there are those that are too relaxed and they explain the book of Allah in that manner. And there are those that are afraid and they interpret the Qur’an in that way as well. This is not right. Instead, we have to come to the book of Allah submissively. If you come to it with bias, then you will have a prejudice towards it.

Remember that the Qur’an will give you what you came for. If you come to it for guidance, it will give you guidance. If you come to it with a bias, then it will give you the bias that you were looking for. Remember that you have to follow the guidance and the guidance doesn’t have to follow you.

Then Allah says وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَكَذَّبُواْ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَآ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ أَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ‌ۖ هُمۡ فِيہَا خَـٰلِدُونَ “And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs – those will be companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.” Allah is saying here that the only rescue is if we follow Allah’s guidance. If you deny it, and you fall into doubt, then there is no help left for you.

So where is the juicy part? Remember that the story we are reading now comes from Surah Baqarah. It’s a long surah and it’s not only about Adam and when you read this long surah, you’d think that it has completely random subjects, right? It moves from one subject to another subject and then to another subject. But actually, everything is connected in the Qur’an and you cannot understand the Qur’an in isolation. Allah put these verses together for a purpose.

Our job now is to figure out what the story of Adam is doing in Surah Baqarah. What’s the connection? What benefit does it serve? In the study of tafseer, this is called ilm al-bayan. One of its subject matters is to understand how the ayats of the Qur’an are organised.

To understand this, let’s look at the overview of Surah Baqarah briefly. The first part of the surah (part 1) talks about the believers and compares it with the non-believers and the hypocrites. When you get to the very end of the surah (part 9), there’s a dua and that dua is the dua to protect the believers from falling into hypocrisy and helps the believers against the non-believers. See the connection?

Part 2 of the surah is what we just studied (the story of Adam) and the essence of the story is about Adam who was given all of Jannah but Satan caused him to slip as a result of greed. He has all of Jannah except that tree and the incentive that Satan promised him was staying in Jannah forever, remember? And greed and living forever goes together, right? As we’ve seen before: يَحْسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ أَخْلَدَهُ thinking that his wealth will make him live forever! So this part 2 is about Adam and how greed can destroy humanity and keeps us away from Jannah.

And if you go to part 8 of this surah, it begins with ayat about spending in the path of Allah. Then there’s an ayat about Riba’ (interest). So part 8 is about the best thing that you can do with your money (in the path of Allah) and the worst thing that you can do with it (riba’). It is followed by verses about business. So part 8 verses teach us about controlling greed. Again, do you see the connection? Special attention here to ayah 268 which again relates to Satan ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنُ يَعِدُكُمُ ٱلۡفَقۡرَ وَيَأۡمُرُڪُم بِٱلۡفَحۡشَآءِ‌ۖ Satan promised you with poverty and orders you to immorality. This is what he did with Adam. He promised Adam bankruptcy and getting out from Jannah if did not follow his ‘advice’, and once Adam made the mistake, their clothes were removed and Satan continues to command humans to shamelessness.

So part 2 and part 8 are connected. You follow so far?

Moving on. Part 3 of the Surah is about the laws that Allah gave to Bani Israel and how they kept breaking Allah’s law. Now compare to Part 7. It has the list of laws that Allah gives to the Muslim Ummah. From the laws of Hajj to divorce, about eating and all that. One is about the law to the Israelites and the other is the law to the Muslims.

Part 4 is where it was told that Prophet Ibraheem passed his test from Allah. And Part 6 is telling us that this ummah will be tested. So both these parts are about tests. One for the Israelites and one for us.

What’s left? We’ve looked at part 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9 of Surah Baqarah. Right in the middle is Part 5 is where Allah told us that the Qiblah is changing. The center of Islam and all humanity is the Qiblah and the center of Surah Baqarah is about Qiblah. The Qiblah is changing from the qiblah of the Bani Israel to the qiblah of the Ummah of Muhammad. Just like the beginning of the Surah is about Bani Israel and later part is about the Ummah of Muhammad. And in the middle is about the Qiblah.

So that’s the overview of Surah Baqarah in brief. Let’s get back to the original discussion of this writing. The story of Adam is in Part 2 and we know that he is our father. And immediately after that is the part about Bani Israel (Children of Israel) as a nation. The next part is about Ibraheem and he is also a father. And the part after that is about our nation and we have a qiblah of our own. So the topic is about a father (Adam) and after that a nation (Children of Israel) and after that about a father again (Ibraheem) and later about another nation (our nation, Children of Ismael). So the formula is Father – nation – Father – nation.

Now look at this: One father will be compared to one nation. So Adam will be compared to Bani Israel (The Israelites). How? Check this out. We’ve learnt that Adam was being sent to the earth as a Khalifah. And the only other prophet that has been described as a Khalifah is from Bani Israel which is Dawud a.s. as told in Sad:26 يٰداوودُ إِنّا جَعَلنٰكَ خَليفَةً فِي الأَرضِ O David, indeed We have made you as a khalifah upon the earth. 

Remember that there were two complaints about humans from the angels when Allah said that He wanted to make humans as khalifah on earth? That they will cause corruption and spill blood, right? And what did the Israelites do? وَقَضَيۡنَآ إِلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسۡرَٲٓءِيلَ فِى ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ لَتُفۡسِدُنَّ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مَرَّتَيۡنِ And We conveyed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture that, “You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice (Isra’:4). The angels said that humans will cause corruption and who proved them correct? The Israelites.

The second complaint of the angels is that humans will spill blood. What did the Israelites do? ثُمَّ أَنتُمۡ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ تَقۡتُلُونَ أَنفُسَكُمۡ Then, you are those [same ones who are] killing one another (Baqarah:85). What the angels feared was fulfilled by the Israelites.

What happened when Adam and Hawa made their epic mistake? They were told to come down to earth from Jannah قُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ مِنۡہَا جَمِيعً۬ا‌ۖ We said, “Go down from it, all of you. And we have already explained that the reason is because of greed. Now look at what the Israelites did. While they were in the desert, they were given Manna and Salwa. But they were not satisfied with it. The said, وَإِذۡ قُلۡتُمۡ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نَّصۡبِرَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامٍ۬ وَٲحِدٍ۬ فَٱدۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُخۡرِجۡ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ مِنۢ بَقۡلِهَا وَقِثَّآٮِٕهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِہَا وَبَصَلِهَا‌ۖ And [recall] when you said, “O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions.” (Baqarah:61). It’s because of greed, isn’t it?

And because of that Moses said to them, ٱهۡبِطُواْ مِصۡرً۬ا فَإِنَّ لَڪُم مَّا سَأَلۡتُمۡ‌ۗ Go down into [any] settlement and indeed, you will have what you have asked.” Again, the same word ٱهۡبِطُواْ was used with Adam and the Israelites.

Remember when Adam entered Jannah and was told to eat anywhere that he liked? وَكُلَا مِنۡهَا رَغَدًا حَيۡثُ شِئۡتُمَا and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. The same thing was told to the Israelites in Baqarah:58 وَإِذۡ قُلۡنَا ٱدۡخُلُواْ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلۡقَرۡيَةَ فَڪُلُواْ مِنۡهَا حَيۡثُ شِئۡتُمۡ رَغَدً۬ا And [recall] when We said, “Enter this city and eat from it wherever you will in [ease and] abundance. Here you can see the similarities of the words used.

What was the gift that Allah gave Adam when he was on earth? Words right? تَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَـٰتٍ۬ Then Adam learnt from his Lord certain Words. And the words were about his acknowledgement that he did wrong. And what was told to the Israelites when they entered the city? وَٱدۡخُلُواْ ٱلۡبَابَ سُجَّدً۬ا وَقُولُواْ حِطَّةٌ۬ and enter the gate bowing humbly and say, ‘Relieve us of our burdens.’ But where Adam acknowledged his mistakes, the Israelites did not. They were given one word (whereas Adam got more words) but even one word they didn’t manage to handle and even changed it, ridiculing their prophet and Allah. فَبَدَّلَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ قَوۡلاً غَيۡرَ ٱلَّذِى قِيلَ لَهُمۡ But those who wronged changed [those words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them (Baqarah:59).

When the angels made their complaints, Allah told them, قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ Allah said, “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.” and immediately they backed down. But the Israelites talked like they knew more than Allah and Allah rebuked them قُلۡ ءَأَنتُمۡ أَعۡلَمُ أَمِ ٱللَّهُ‌ۗ Say, “Are you more knowing or is Allah?” 

Remember when Allah said to the angels (and to Iblees)? وَأَعۡلَمُ مَا تُبۡدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمۡ تَكۡتُمُونَ And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed. And what did the Israelites do? They hid the revelations. إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكۡتُمُونَ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبِ Indeed, they who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book (Baqarah:174).

What did Iblees refuse to do? Sajdah, right? Israelites not only do not want to do sajdah, they even didn’t want to do ruku’ (which is something less than a sujood). That’s why they are being told to do that in Baqarah:43 وَٱرۡكَعُواْ مَعَ ٱلرَّٲكِعِينَ and bow down with those who bow down. 

So now we can see that Adam is compared with the Israelites. The angels made a complaint that human beings are not up to the task as a khalifah. Then Allah gave long narratives about the Israelites who were supposed to be the chosen nation, that were given so many prophets, and so many chances, and yet they proved that the angels were right, didn’t they? So far, we’ve seen that the angels were right in their complaints about human beings.

Later, Allah mentioned the story of another father, Ibraheem a.s. Who was also tested. Adam was tested and he failed temporarily and later recovered. Whereas the Israelites were also tested and they continued to fail again and again. Then Ibraheem was tested and he passed. We mentioned before that Baqarah is about father – nation – father – nation. And the similar things about them is test and test. Ibraheem was tested with colossal things and he completed the test as mentioned in Baqarah:124 وَإِذِ ٱبۡتَلَىٰٓ إِبۡرَٲهِـۧمَ رَبُّهُ ۥ بِكَلِمَـٰتٍ۬ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ‌ۖ And [mention, O Muhammad], when Abraham was tried by his Lord with commands and he fulfilled them. That’s how great Ibraheem was and that’s why we are called the religion of Ibraheem.

Who’s next? Us! Allah said that he will test us next. وَلَنَبۡلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىۡءٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡخَوۡفِ وَٱلۡجُوعِ وَنَقۡصٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡأَمۡوَٲلِ وَٱلۡأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٲتِ‌ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient (Baqarah:155). So now it is our turn to be tested. When Allah told that He wants to create humans on earth, it created a question inside the mind of the angels. And that question is not answered by the doings of the Israelites. Because they are a disappointment to the legacy of their father, Ibraheem. They were supposed to uphold the legacy but they failed. But the legacy of Ibraheem must be upheld. So who will uphold it? I think that you can guess it by now.

By the way, the legacy of Ibraheem is built on the foundation of the Ka’bah. This was mentioned in Baqarah:127 وَإِذۡ يَرۡفَعُ إِبۡرَٲهِـۧمُ ٱلۡقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ ٱلۡبَيۡتِ And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House. This means that he did not build it from scratch because the foundation is already there. But where did the foundation come from? It was from Adam, who started the project. So the first father started the project and the second father finished the project.

And Ibraheem has two kinds of children: Ishaq on one side and Ismail on the other side. From Ishaq came the Israelites and we already knew that they had failed and didn’t do justice to the house.

And now it’s the turn of the children of Ismail, the Muslims turn to uphold it. And we are the final ummah that walks on this earth. There’s no more ummah after us, right? And thus we are supposed to be the answer to the angels from Allah when He answered to them,  أَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ He (Allâh) said: “I know that which you do not know.” This means that Allah knows the Muslims and the Ummah of Muhammad. Allah trusts us to show what humans can do, that we can take care of the earth and there will be those who will rise to the occasion when the time comes.

So we have a huge responsibility on our shoulders.

Now to close this long writing, let’s look at the ending part of the surah. Towards the end, we learn that Ibraheem turned to Allah and asked Him how He gave life to the dead. وَإِذۡ قَالَ إِبۡرَٲهِـۧمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِى ڪَيۡفَ تُحۡىِ ٱلۡمَوۡتَىٰ‌ۖ And [mention] when Abraham said, “My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.” (Baqarah:260). In the beginning, angels and Iblees asked their questions. And now it’s about the question of the Ibraheem. And Allah proceeds to show Ibraheem how He brought life to the dead.

And in the previous verse, Allah told the story of a prophet who passed through a town and he saw that it was completely ruined and he couldn’t see how Allah can bring it back to life. أَوۡ كَٱلَّذِى مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرۡيَةٍ۬ وَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحۡىِۦ هَـٰذِهِ ٱللَّهُ بَعۡدَ مَوۡتِهَا‌ۖ Or [consider such an example] as the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, “How will Allah bring this to life after its death?” And Allah made him dead for a hundred years and later brought him back to life. Again, it’s about bringing the dead to life.

Why are these stories important? So many people think that this ummah is dead. That there is no hope left for us. And it’s true isn’t it that there’s so much corruption, disobedience, fitnah, hatred, ignorance and all. The list is endless. It seems that we can be considered as ‘dead’ in a way. But Allah says that He gives death and He also gives life. So why don’t you believe that this ummah of ours can be brought back to life? This is a matter of iman. Don’t think that there’s no hope left for us. We must believe that there is still hope. Yes, you may not be able to see now, but we must put our trust in Allah’s plan.

And lastly, let’s look at two scenes in Suratul Baqarah. One is in the beginning and another one at the end. In the beginning, we learn about a man brought down to earth from Jannah. When he was sent to earth, Adam was told to look out for guidance.

And at the end of surah, there are two ayats of Surah Al Baqarah where our Prophet received it after travelling from earth to meet Allah in the Heaven (Isra’ Mi’raj). So the surah begins with a human being going down to earth and as the surah concludes with another man ascending to receive revelations. Descent in the beginning and ascend at the end.

And what Allah says in that verse? ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ‌ۚ The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers (Baqarah:285). In the Arasy (Throne of Allah), Allah mentioned the ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ‌ۚ which is us. Why? Because we are the answers to the angel’s question. Again, remember that we have a huge responsibility on our shoulders. May we be the ones that are involved in fulfilling it.

The End.

Part 2 

The next section is called: Adam and angels are taught

Allah says in Baqarah:31 وَعَلَّمَ ءَادَمَ ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءَ كُلَّهَا And He taught Adam all the names (of everything). Allah taught Adam all manner of names, leaving nothing at all out. The word ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءَ can be translated as ‘names’, but it can also means ‘qualities’. That’s why we say the Names of Allah is الْاَسْمَاۤءُ الْحُسْنٰى. It’s not just names, but the qualities of Allah, right?

So Adam was taught the name of things and the qualities of things. It means that Adam was being taught the languages. Because all languages boil down to nouns. A child, when it learns things, will try to understand its name first. And names are nouns, right? So nouns are the basis of not only one language, but all languages that exist in this world. The first creature that was taught this massive vocabulary is Adam.

And we his children are taught some languages and it’s actually the child of the languages that Adam already taught. And it was taught by Allah Himself. So this means that all languages are taught by Allah via revelation. Not a language that exists on earth that is not from Him, because all language goes back to parents, which goes back to further parent and eventually you end up with Adam a.s. and Adam is taught languages by Allah. And this also teaches us that all languages are supposed to be honoured because it was taught by Allah. You shouldn’t make fun of any language and dialect.

The other implication is about terminology. All sciences have their own terminology, right? In other words, what was given to Adam is the basis of all human intellectual development. All of it was handed to this man so that he could pass it down to his children. This is how science improved over time. Our forefathers jotted something down and gave it a term. And people after them improved it further, based on that term that was written down.

It means that humans cannot move upwards without the basis put down by the previous generations that defined the things. The development of human knowledge in every field is part of the plan of Allah that began with Adam a.s.

So when you study physics, biology, medicines, finances or whatever else, you actually continue to study what was initially given to Adam a.s. So you can’t say that learning deen is the only knowledge that has to do with Allah, whereas all sciences have to do with Allah! You yourself come up with that division, not Allah.

The book of Allah actually wants us to dive into the knowledge of this world and learn about everything. Allah says in Hud:61 هُوَ أَنشَأَكُم مِنَ الأَرضِ وَاستَعمَرَكُم فيها He has produced you from the earth and settled you in it. In modern Arabic the word استعمر actually means to colonise. But in old Arabic, it means Allah put you on earth and He wants you to develop and enhance the world. How are you going to enhance the earth if you don’t study sciences?

For example, agriculture happens because humans learn how to irrigate water. From there cities are developed. None of these would develop without science. Where do you think that the islamic civilizations come from? Unfortunately we have developed this secular thinking that divides religion and sciences apart, thinking that secular knowledge is not important. Whereas in this story we learn that Allah gave Adam secular knowledge first. Allah didn’t mention about worship yet to Adam, did He?

Unfortunately the ummah has reached an intellectual stagnation that we divided the knowledge of religion and knowledge of science. Or we can say between the ‘knowledge of revelation’ and the ‘knowledge of creation’. Here we learn that Adam has been given the honour to learn the knowledge of creation. That’s the knowledge of all kinds of things. Allah even didn’t limit to the knowledge of creation only because Allah says وَعَلَّمَ ءَادَمَ ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءَ كُلَّهَا where the كُلَّهَا means everything, even abstracts ideas and concepts.

It’s remarkable what Adam has been given. And even some amongst us were given some special knowledge. Some of us are very poetic, some very artistic, and have a real knack for history, some with languages, some in sciences and others in medicine.

So whatever that you are good at, that’s actually a fraction of the knowledge that has been granted to Adam. The knowledge has been given to Adam and he has passed it down to us. So don’t feel bad for knowing the knowledge of dunya. When you’re good at it, it’s a gift from Allah. Remember that it has been passed down to you.

So the first meaning of ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءَ is the name of things. The second meaning can be taken from this hadith:

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ آدَمَ مَسَحَ ظَهْرَهُ فَسَقَطَ مِنْ ظَهْرِهِ كُلُّ نَسَمَةٍ هُوَ خَالِقُهَا مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ عَيْنَىْ كُلِّ إِنْسَانٍ مِنْهُمْ وَبِيصًا مِنْ نُورٍ ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى آدَمَ فَقَالَ أَىْ رَبِّ مَنْ هَؤُلاَءِ قَالَ هَؤُلاَءِ ذُرِّيَّتُكَ فَرَأَى رَجُلاً مِنْهُمْ فَأَعْجَبَهُ وَبِيصُ مَا بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ فَقَالَ أَىْ رَبِّ مَنْ هَذَا فَقَالَ هَذَا رَجُلٌ مِنْ آخِرِ الأُمَمِ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ يُقَالُ لَهُ دَاوُدُ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ رَبِّ كَمْ جَعَلْتَ عُمْرَهُ قَالَ سِتِّينَ سَنَةً قَالَ أَىْ رَبِّ زِدْهُ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً ‏.‏ فَلَمَّا انْقَضَى عُمْرُ آدَمَ جَاءَهُ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ فَقَالَ أَوَلَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعُونَ سَنَةً قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُعْطِهَا ابْنَكَ دَاوُدَ قَالَ فَجَحَدَ آدَمُ فَجَحَدَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَنَسِيَ آدَمُ فَنَسِيَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَخَطِئَ آدَمُ فَخَطِئَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ ‏.‏ وَقَدْ رُوِيَ مِنْ غَيْرِ وَجْهٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏.‏

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “When Allah created Adam He wiped his back and every person that He created among his offspring until the Day of Resurrection fell out of his back. He placed a ray of light between the eyes of every person. Then He showed them to Adam and he said: ‘O Lord! Who are these people?’ He said: ‘These are your offspring.’ He saw one of them whose ray between his eyes amazed him, so he said: ‘O Lord! Who is this?’ He said: ‘This is a man from the latter nations of your offspring called Dawud.’ He said: ‘Lord! How long did You make his lifespan?’ He said: ‘Sixty years.’ He said: ‘O Lord! Add forty years from my life to his.’ So at the end of Adam’s life, the Angel of Death came to him, and he said: ‘Do I not have forty years remaining?’ He said: ‘Did you not give them to your son Dawud?'” He said: “Adam denied, so his offspring denied, and Adam forgot and his offspring forgot, and Adam sinned, so his offspring sinned.” Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3076. Grade: Hasan (Darussalam)

Everyone of us was there and shown to Adam. Previously we have said that Adam has been told our names, right? Adam has also been told our qualities as well. Like a good father should know about his children, right? So here we can see that the meaning of ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءَ could also means our names. The student of Arabic can appreciate this because Allah continues the verse with ثُمَّ عَرَضَہُمۡ عَلَى ٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ then He showed them to the angels. The dhomir (pronoun) هم is not used for things, but used for humans. It is because Adam was taught the name of human beings and later the humans were shown to the angels.

Then Allah asked them: فَقَالَ أَنۢبِـُٔونِى بِأَسۡمَآءِ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ and He said, “Tell Me the names of these. Can you name all these people and tell me their qualities? The angels cannot answer Him. Allah asked them this question because they asked Him the question first, asking why He’s putting a new khalifah on earth. So now Allah is telling them what kind of khalifah that this human is going to be. Do you even know their names, do you even know their qualities, o angels? No, they said that they don’t know.

Basically Allah is saying that the angels cannot accuse the humans are going to make those mistakes because that is premature thinking. You cannot judge humans based on what the previous creature has done. Guess what? That principle does not only apply to angels but it also applies to you and me. If somebody messed up in the past, it doesn’t mean that their children are going to mess up too in the future.

And if Muslims have made mistakes in the past, it doesn’t mean that the latter generation will do the same. Unfortunately we developed a depressed feeling about our future based on our past histories. Whether it is about ourselves or about our ummah. Muslims do this, right? And not only about the Muslims, but about the non-Muslims as well, right? We hear people say, “oh these kuffars, they will always be like that!”. Do you get a guarantee from Allah that they will always be like that?

Look at the Quraish. Yes, in the past there were the lots that attacked Rasulullah. But it’s the same Quraish that gave us Khalid ibn Walid and the other great companions. So don’t judge people from their past. The angels themselves were taught that this is not the correct way of thinking. And so by extension, we are being taught that it’s not the correct way of thinking.

Were the jinns before us were taught the sciences and the technologies? No, it’s only taught to human beings. So when humans become the khalifah on earth, they will do amazing things. Humans will take the raw materials on earth and will invent things, design and create things. You can see that this has been happening, right? See where we have become. The potentials has been shown throughout history.

When Allah asked them, at the end Allah says إِن كُنتُمۡ صَـٰدِقِينَ if you are truthful. This can mean two things. Allah is challenging the angels and saying that their concern is not accurate. And number two, it’s about their tasbeeh and taqdis. And Allah is letting the angels know that amongst these human beings, there will be those that will declare Allah’s perfection and purity in a way that even the angels can’t reach.

Case in point: On the day of judgement, when all are silent, Rasulullah will be given the right to speak. Our Prophet will praise Him in a way that Allah has never taught anyone else. So his tasbeeh, hamd and taqdis will be more and better than even the angels. So Allah is telling the angels not to underestimate this human because in their rank are also prophets.

Look at the hadith above about Dawud. Dawud caught Adam’s eye and he gave 40 years of his life to Dawud, remember? If you study Dawud in the Qur’an, what do you find? What made him special? He was given the ability to be in harmony with nature. He used to sing praises to Allah and the mountains and the birds joined him. He used irons to create armour, meaning he is advanced in knowledge. He was also given governance that was not given before to other prophets.

In other words, he was actually really taking care of the earth. And he’s a special khalifah. And because of that, when Adam sees Dawud, he was so impressed and because of that that he thinks that Dawud should stay on earth longer. Because Adam knows the qualities of his children, remember?

Back to the angels when Allah asked them. They answered قَالُواْ سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ They (angels) said: “Glory be to You. The angels said that Allah is too perfect. But when do you say tasbeeh? When you say something inappropriate. This means that they are backing off understanding that they are way out of line when they question Allah’s decision.

And they continue لَا عِلۡمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمۡتَنَآ‌ۖ we have no knowledge except what you have taught us. You only taught us about the jinns. We knew about the jinns but we didn’t know about the humans. We will never question your judgement again. إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ Verily, it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise.

Despite being close to Allah, they recognize their limits and maintain their humility. But what about us? You who are a student of knowledge and have taken seminars after seminars, courses after courses and now you are the most knowledgeable among your friends. And unfortunately you are also the most uptight and the most arrogant amongst your friends. And you are the most judgemental amongst them, too.

Actually the more knowledge you have, you should be more down to earth. That is the sign of knowledge and the angels recognize this. So the angels have been taught not to judge prematurely. So when you meet other people and you don’t know anything about them, you should not be rushing to pass judgement.

And now Allah turns to Adam. قَالَ يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ أَنۢبِئۡهُم بِأَسۡمَآٮِٕہِمۡ‌ۖ He said: “O Adam! Inform them of their names. Allah told Adam to tell the angels about the names of humans, which are us. So not only Adam knows our names but the angels know too. And consequently, Allah send guardians to us based on our particular problems. Because they are taking care of us. And for that they need to know about our qualities and our problems.

And after Adam told the angels of the names, Allah says قَالَ أَلَمۡ أَقُل لَّكُمۡ إِنِّىٓ أَعۡلَمُ غَيۡبَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ He said: “Did I not tell you that I know the Ghaib (unseen) in the heavens and the earth. Allah mentioned the earth because the questions from angels are about the earth, right? And this verse is beautiful when Allah says about the skies and earth because Adam is made in two parts: his physical body is from the earth and his roh comes from the sky.

So some of his qualities not only from dirt but from the roh, something so incredible. So don’t underestimate humans because they are not animals, instead they are very special. Animals only procreate and eat but humans have so many potentials. We have the ability to create, to love, to show gratitude, justice, beauty, think beyond greed, develop brotherhood and all that.

But unfortunately we can see in the entertainment industry there’s a celebration to turn you into not more than an animal. Just look at the songs that have vulgar contents. Who thinks like this? Dogs and other animals. This is so sad because Allah has shown how great we are, but some of us are changing this into something bad. We’re living in times when the animal side is being celebrated. It’s the side without the roh involved. This is the tragedy of the time, because of the destruction of the human souls.

And look at the arts nowadays. It has become so inhuman. Remember the islamic arts in the past? It’s about symmetry because it is inspired by the verses of Allah that says that He created everything in order. So the Islamic artists in the past tried to emulate this by using the concept of symmetry in their paintings. But the arts these days are full of vulgars. It is disturbing when we look at it.

So Allah has said that He knows the unseen of the skies and the earth. And regarding humans, it’s about the potential that He put in us. It’s beautiful because human beings do have goodness inside all of us.

And Allah continues وَأَعۡلَمُ مَا تُبۡدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمۡ تَكۡتُمُونَ and I know what you reveal and what you have been concealing. The angels must have been confused because they didn’t hide anything from Allah. Why is Allah saying this? They didn’t know that amongst them is the jinn that has been promoted that has been hiding his feelings all along. Allah called him out. It hasn’t happened yet but Allah is already hinting about it. His refusal to do sajdah hasn’t happened yet but Allah already knows what he will do.

Iblees had hesitation about Adam but he kept it inside his head. He is already jealous. There are some people in life that are jealous of you even before they know you. Why? Because they feel threatened by your existence. Just because you exist and somehow you take away their position or their grandeur.

Unfortunately the ugliest thing is when even the Islamic speakers are jealous of each other. Those that are supposed to elevate the ummah but they are the ones that fell into the trap of syaitan. This is when your group is from another masjid, another a rival Islamic school. They bicker amongst each other. They think that because they are doing Allah’s work, then they are right and they are the best.

When this happens, they are no better than Iblees. Remember, Iblees himself has done Allah’s work. His pride is to get the recognition for his services to Allah. So if you are doing Allah’s work but you fell into this pride thing, then you have what Iblees had all along.

Why do you think in the Qur’an Allah highlighted the bad things that the scholars of Israelites did? Because they also had their status and because of that, they became arrogant. And we have to watch out so that we don’t become the same thing. If you think that the only way your work is to be appreciated is by putting down the work of others, then you have some serious problem in your hand. If you do, then you are no different than Iblees.

Unfortunately in the Muslim community there’s a lot of people who likes to put other people down. Do you think that you are doing something for the ummah? This must change. Nonsense should be ignored. And the person that likes to spread nonsense and make people waste time by it is Syaitan. So don’t follow the footsteps of syaitan.

Then Allah continues, وَإِذۡ قُلۡنَا لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ ٱسۡجُدُواْ لِأَدَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓاْ And (remember) when We said to the angels: “Prostrate yourselves before Adam.” And they prostrated. There are two popular meanings for this act. One, it’s as a sign of respect to Adam. It’s allowed in previous syariah.

But there’s another opinion which is not in conflict with syariah. If you study the meaning of sajdah, it happens when something amazing happens. When Allah does something amazing, you turn into sajdah. For example, when the staff of Moosa eat the snake, the magicians fall into sajdah. When the Christians listened to the recitation of the Qur’an, they fell into sajdah. When the Quraish came to debate Rasulullah and they heard the ayat of the Qur’an, even the Mushrikoon of Quraish fell into sajdah.

When the brothers of Yusuff saw their brother that they had put into the well and now became an important person, they were so amazed with the plan of Allah that they fell into sajdah as well.  Now when Adam was created and initially the angels had some questions about him, and later when Allah showed him to the angels, they were amazed and they also fell into sajdah. It is when the roh was put into the human body. It was such an incredible miracle of Allah that the angels were so amazed by it.

But Iblees has a problem with that. إِلَّآ إِبۡلِيسَ except Iblîs (Satan). He saw that Adam was made from dirt and he didn’t even acknowledge the roh that Allah has put into Adam. Thus he refused to prostrate to Adam even though Allah has told everyone to do that.

There’s a problem with the English translation of this ayah. Look at this sentence: ‘all the students came except Kareem’. Doesn’t that mean that Kareem is also a student? So if Allah said that all the angels did sajdah except Iblees, doesn’t that also mean that Iblees is also an angel? But wasn’t he a jinn?

This is the beauty of the Arabic language. The word فَسَجَدُوٓاْ means they (the angels) made sajdah. And if Iblees was a part of the angels then the word would be like this ​​فَسَجَدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِبۡلِيسُ (ibleesu and not ibleesa) where the dhommah is put on the word Iblees. But if the person does not belong in the same group, then we put nasb on the name and that’s why the word is like this: فَسَجَدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِبۡلِيسَ.

Now let’s put this into simple English for easy understanding: all the students came except Ustaz Nouman. Now, does Ustaz Nouman from amongst the students? No, right? Yes he belongs in the class but he’s not bunced into the same group. And you only know the difference because we added the word ‘ustaz’. But in Arabic, you don’t have to do that. You can just change it’s harakah and you’d know that he’s not in the same group. And that’s why for Arabic people, this verse is not a confusion. This is why you need to learn Arabic and know the meaning of rafa’, nasb and jarr.

For some people, learning Arabic is hard and it can be pretty boring. Most would want to get straight to the juicy stuff. But to get there, you need to get there step by step.

And Allah said that Iblees أَبَىٰ وَٱسۡتَكۡبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ he refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers. Now we learn that sometimes people refuse because of arrogance. Sometimes people refuse because of ignorance. Sometimes people refuse because of anger. Sometimes it is because of sadness, or fear. But when you refuse because of arrogance, then there’s no hope for you. You’re done. And that’s why Iblees was a kafir and there’s no hope for him ever. And the word كَانَ مِنَ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ means that he was always has been amongst the disbelievers.

Now Iblees has refused to do sajdah. And in Surah A’raf Allah explains in detail the reason why. But Allah wants to focus on something else in Baqarah. Allah keeps the attention on Adam here. In A’raf the attention is more on Iblees.

So now Allah turns to Adam وَقُلۡنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسۡكُنۡ أَنتَ وَزَوۡجُكَ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ And We said: “O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise. The word ٱسۡكُنۡ means live in harmony. You and your wife. And it didn’t say في الجنة (in Jannah) but only ٱلۡجَنَّةَ with no harf here. Usually when you say you live somewhere, you’d say I live ‘in’ Dallas etc. But the word ‘in’ is not here. Why?

Because the word في (in) would take away the vastness of Jannah. Adam was not told where he could live in Jannah because he can live anywhere in Jannah. The entire endless horizon of Jannah and he can settle anywhere.

By the way the word سكن means someone is moving and he stops. And he starts moving again. And stop and move again. If you stay somewhere and are not planning to move anywhere, there’s other words for that. So we already know that Adam will not live in Jannah forever and now we know that Adam will explore Jannah all over the place. One castle to the other castle and hang and hang around Jannah. The beauty was captured in the word ٱسۡكُنۡ.

So who’s with Adam? Hawa his wife, right? But Allah did not say أسكنا (both of you stay) but He gave the instruction to Adam only. In other words, Allah only addressed Adam and not the wife. It’s because only the head of household is addressed when the matter of settling down is mentioned. The head of the house is being honoured with that.

The other meaning can be taken from the word ٱسۡكُنۡ as well. In another verse Allah says وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا And among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind so that you might incline towards them (Rum:21). So that you can find peace from them. And from Adam, Hawa was created.

This teaches us that the peace of the household is the man’s responsibility. Sometimes the wife will get mad and say something really bad but this is the time that the husband must establish peace. You’re gonna stay calm, hear what the wife wants to say and not take it to heart. You just say: yes. Do not turn around and reply, never-never do that. Let it go. Because when it comes to maintaining peace, it’s the man’s responsibility. You cannot expect that from her.

And sometimes it’s hard. But it’s part of our job. لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا literal translation is, so that you become peaceful towards her. It means that your tranquillity is directed towards your wife.

And the verse transitioned وَكُلَا مِنۡهَا رَغَدًا حَيۡثُ شِئۡتُمَا and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein as wherever you will. Here Allah addressed both of them. When it was about responsibility, Allah handed it to Adam as the head of household. But when it comes to rights and the gift of eating, He gave it to both of them directly.

And when it comes to prohibition Allah says وَلَا تَقۡرَبَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ but come not near this tree. Again Allah addressed both of them directly. Because this is a matter between them and Allah and the husband cannot get in the way and the wife cannot get in the way. Because you’re doing it for Allah. There are some husbands that tell their wives not to wear hijab; there are wives that stop their husbands from praying in the masjid. And these are not right. When it’s between you and Allah, no human being can get in the way, no matter what.

And this balance is sometimes hard to maintain. Sometimes when you want to obey Allah, you have to disobey your husband. But between husband and Allah, you have to please Allah more.

By the way, the command was: ‘don’t come near the tree’. It’s not: ‘don’t eat from the tree’. There are certain prohibition in Islam that you’re not supposed to go near them at all. Let alone doing it. Allah didn’t say: don’t go near pigs. Only don’t eat them. But there are evils that Allah says don’t even go near it. Like don’t go near zina; don’t go near the property of the orphans; don’t go near multiple shameless stuff (fawahish).

So there are places that we shouldn’t even go to. Like going to clubs because we already know what’s happening there. Don’t go watch that movie because you already know its rating. Don’t go to the basketball games because there are cheerleaders dancing.

Allah then gave the advise فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ or you both will be of the Zâlimûn (wrong-doers). By the way, in the end, did they go alone to the tree or did they go together? Together, right? Because sometimes husband and wife make mutual decisions and sometimes the mutual decisions are bad ones. For example, both of them decided to enter into questionable business together. Some decided to take questionable student loans for their children. One cannot blame the other, because both of them are responsible.

If they go to the tree, then they will become from those that do wrong. But wait, there’s no one else, is there? So who are those that do wrong? It’s a pretty strange question. Here Allah is telling Adam and Hawa that some of their kids will do wrong and they should not be amongst them.

Continue to Part 3

Nouman Ali Khan – Story Night – Title: Fallen

Part 1 

Here’s the landscape that we are going to cover in this writing. It’s a huge topic so we need a map to navigate it. We are going to cover the story of Adam a.s. This story is covered 7 times in the Qur’an but there are two places that it is covered in more details that is Surah Baqarah and Surah A’raf. But both of those stories are not the same. What Allah highlights in Baqarah was not highlighted in A’raf and what was highlighted in A’raf was not highlighted in Baqarah. Today we are looking at how the story unfolds in Surah Baqarah specifically.

We are looking at these stories and let Allah tell the story to us. It’s different compared to hearing the stories coming from other sources. Or when you mix the stories and tell it in one sitting. Now we want to see how Allah tells the story Himself.

Allah begins in almost unexpected place in Baqarah:29 هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ جَمِيعً۬ا  It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on earth. This means two things: whatever Allah created on earth is for you altogether. Not a thing he put on earth, not a service for human beings. All the resources on earth were made for human beings.

The second meaning is that the resources are made for all of you. All human beings should share all the resources. Human beings become greedy and some parts become greedy. There’s no part of the cities in a country that get more resources and more benefit than other neighbourhoods in the cities. This ayah actually tells us how to use the resources that Allah has already provided for us on earth. We have to learn how to live with each other. And it’s only for the Muslims only.

Then Allah continues ثُمَّ ٱسۡتَوَىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَسَوَّٮٰهُنَّ سَبۡعَ سَمَـٰوَٲتٍ۬‌ۚ then He turned to heaven and made them into seven skies. Before this He said that He made the earth for us and now He’s talking about the skies. He divided the skies into seven layers. And at the end of the verse He said He is the All-Knowing وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىۡءٍ عَلِيمٌ۬ and of all things He hath perfect knowledge. He started with earth and later made a switch to the skies. We would have thought that it got nothing to do with us, but actually both of these places got to do with human beings.

The first part is that He made the earth for you and when He mentioned the skies, He wants to point to Jannah which is in the sky. عِندَهَا جَنَّةُ ٱلۡمَأۡوَىٰٓ Near it is the Garden of Abode; Najm:15. This verse is about the event of Rasulullah going for his mi’raj which was to heaven.

And you all know the story of Adam a.s. Did it begin on earth or in heaven? The story of Adam a.s. began in Jannah. So this is the first part of this story: ‘Heaven or Earth?’

Allah said in Baqarah:30: وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬‌ۖ Behold thy Lord said to the angels: “I will create a khalifah on earth.” He’s telling all the angels about the human. Humans were not made yet at that time but Allah already told the angels that He is creating this thing, called the human beings to be on earth. So before Adam was even created, the plan was always that humans were designed to be on earth. Because some people were taught that our parents Adam and Hawwa were having a great time in Jannah and because they were tricked by the was-wassa of the Devil, they were punished and sent to earth. Here we learn that the Qur’an is telling us that they were planned to be put on earth all along from the beginning. So it’s not a punishment. So we were supposed to live on this earth and verse Baqarah:29 already mentions that the earth was made for us as a gift, remember? So for Muslims they should know that this dunya is not a curse.

How can we understand this? Let’s hear an analogy to understand. There’s a man who works in a company. His boss sent an email to the entire company that he is sending this guy to another state. The only person who didn’t get the email is the guy himself. The next week the guy came to the office 30 seconds late. His boss calls him and tells him that because of that, he is being sent to another state. Is that fair, just because of 30 seconds late? Remember that all the other staff already knew that he was being sent to another state. In fact, one of his friends even told him that he’s being sent to another state.

So we know that he is being sent not because of that 30 seconds late, but it was the plan all along from the beginning, right?

So Adam a.s. already knew that he was being sent to earth. Iblees already came to him and told him that. Iblees tricked Adam a.s. that if he wants to keep staying in Jannah, he must eat from the forbidden tree. Because he claimed that only the angels and the permanent resident can stay in Jannah forever and Adam is neither of those. And by eating from the tree, Adam and Hawwa can either be angels or become a permanent resident. So the reason that Adam and Hawwa ate from the tree is because of the issue of transfer to earth.

The question many people asked is this: If Allah has already decided what we are going to be and where we are going to end, so how is it our fault? Isn’t this all a set up?

The question of predestination is the oldest question in philosophy. The first human being ie. Adam could have asked this question directly to Allah, right?

Let’s look at another analogy. There’s this person who works in a company and he started at the lowest position in the company, let’s say as a janitor. And he got promoted to security guard, later to front desk and later office manager. And he keeps getting promoted and after 40 years in the company, he’s now the Vice President of the company. There’s only one position higher than him that is the President.

One day the President walks into his office with a little kid with a baseball hat, 16 year old. The President said that that kid is the new VP and he needs to give his chair to the kid. Please get us some coffee.

What do you imagine will happen next? Surely he’s going to be mad, right? He would be kicking and yelling? And if you hear this story, who do you sympathise with? This is a hard question. Of course the VP, right?

But we’re not talking about the VP, right? We’re talking about Iblees. He worked his way up to the ranks of the angels. He helped to eradicate the jinns from earth because of their wrongdoings. And suddenly Allah made the announcement to the angels to prostrate to Adam. Excuse me? What did he do? I’ve been doing the work for so long with so many services.

Was Adam honoured by Allah? Yes. Iblees has also been honoured by Allah at one point, right? Adam was given a position and Iblees were given a position. Adam eventually disobeyed Allah and Iblees also later disobeyed Allah, right? So they have something in common up until now. But there’s one difference. When Adam was demoted to earth he could have asked the question: “O Allah, you have always intended to send me to earth, so could this be my fault?” But did he ask that question? No, he didn’t.

Iblees could also ask a logical question: You made me from fire and You made him from dirt. So what is his worth?

Both of them are in a position to make a logical question to Allah. And yet one of them is cursed forever and the other one, the door of hope remains open. Why? Because of this, they decided that whether things make sense to me or not, I have to trust the wisdom of Allah. If there’s a fault, it’s my own and I have to take personal responsibility.

But Iblees on the other hand, blamed Allah when he messed up. So when you blame Allah, you are following the sunnah of Iblees. And when you mess up and put the responsibility on yourself, then you are following the sunnah of Adam a.s. That’s the difference between these two.

Now let’s take a step further. Remember that the earth is not a curse from Allah. The Christians creed is that the earth is a punishment and the humans were born into sin. This is not the concept in Islam. Allah honours us by putting us on earth. He wants us to live well on earth and to make our way to heaven.

Again on the question that many people ask about predestination. Some said that if all has been predestined, then why are we at fault when we do anything wrong? If we can take a shoe and throw it at the person who asked, would he be offended? Who do you think he would be angry with? Surely the guy who throws the shoe, right? But can the guy in return say: that was the qadr of Allah. Allah decided that you are going to be hit by the shoe.

But of course that guy would stay mad at the thrower. He wants the thrower to take personal responsibility. And if he can accept that, why doesn’t he want to take personal responsibility for his wrongdoings? Adam decided to eat from the tree, and he took personal responsibility and repented to Allah. Compare this with the Devil who did wrong but he didn’t put the blame on himself, but he blamed Allah instead.

Now let’s enter into the second portion of this topic: what is the meaning of ‘Khalifah’?

Since he’s putting us as khalifah on this earth, so we need to understand what it means? There are many meanings to the word but we are only highlighting 3 here.

The first meaning is ‘successor’. If a principal of a school retires and a new one takes over, that new principal is the successor to the previous principal. So he is a khalifah in a sense. Another example is if a grandfather passed away and the oldest uncle takes his place as the head of the family. He is also a khalifah. He is the one left behind in charge.

So this means that Allah will put somebody to be in charge of the earth. We are taking this task from the people before us and when we leave this earth, we will pass this responsibility to the ones after us. Allah says in Al-An’am:133 using the same word origin as ‘khalifah’: وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفْ مِن بَعْدِكُم مَّا يَشَاء كَمَآ أَنشَأَكُم مِّن ذُرِّيَّةِ قَوْمٍ آخَرِينَ And thy Sustainer alone is self-sufficient, limitless in His grace. If He so wills, He may put an end to you and thereafter cause whom He wills to succeed you – even as He has brought you into being out of other people’s seed.

The second meaning that we can use for the word ‘khalifah’: someone left to their own devices.

Let’s say we are leaving the house and we leave our child in charge, he is a caliph. Because he is in charge. In those times he has the freedom to do whatever he wants. We might give him the dos and don’ts but we’re not there to check, right?

So a khalifah means someone who has a choice to do anything. They can do what they are supposed to do, but they can also do otherwise. The decision is in their hands. So this is what Allah has given us. He has given us the freedom to make the choice. Allah does not force it on us. He does not force us to pray, to tell the truth every time, to do good or not, all these are up to us to decide.

The third meaning: stewardship. Someone that is given the responsibility by someone else. Not just to take the place of somebody but to take the responsibility. And it’s different from taking ownership. Because you are given the responsibility and later you will have to pass it to someone else later, so you don’t own it. Human beings that are here on earth and understand the meaning of khalifah would also understand that they own nothing. Allah alone owns the earth and the skies. We think that we own our clothes and shoes, but eventually we have to return all those things. Because we are going to die and we don’t bring all those to the akhirah. And while we at it, we also don’t own our physical body, right? Even this body that we live in will testify against us on the day of judgement.

Thus all three meanings above can explain the meaning of the khalifah that is being handed to us. It’s a powerful responsibility and the announcement were given to the angels in heaven. In fact the angels were in shock when they were told about it.

That brings us to part 3 of our discussion: the angels complained.

Before humans lived on this earth, there was a huge population of jinns on earth. And they are just like human beings were left on earth and they are also the khalifah. It means they have choices and because of that, they have messed up. And eventually Allah decided to end it and sent armies of angels to wipe them out. And one of the jinn that has done good so much that he was elevated to the rank of the angels and he had joined the angels in fighting the jinns. They drove the jinns into the ocean and order was restored on earth.

And now Allah said that putting another khalifah on earth. That has the responsibility and also freedom of choice and the angels are now in shock. They just had an intense war to wipe out the jinn and now they are hearing another group of khalifah is on the way? And they asked the question أَتَجۡعَلُ فِيہَا مَن يُفۡسِدُ فِيہَا وَيَسۡفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ They said: “Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood? And this is exactly we humans had done, right?

But they did not know us yet, right? How did they know that we are going to do these? It’s based on the experience with the jinns. Because they know that when Allah creates a creation that has choice, then this creation will end up making the wrong choice every time.

And they add something else وَنَحۡنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمۡدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ‌ۖ while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You. The angels are saying that they’re the ones that are not going to mess up. So why the need for another creature?

This raises a few questions, right? Doesn’t it sound like the angels are praising themselves? Aren’t they putting themselves in a higher position and putting the humans in a lower position? Doesn’t it sound like they are advertising themselves? Doesn’t it sound like arrogance? But wait, isn’t arrogance the problem of the Devil? Interesting, right?

So we have these difference of outcomes:

Adam could have asked the question, but he didn’t;

Iblees could have asked the question, and he did;

Angels had questions and they asked.

So we understand why the angels asked the question that they asked. But what about their marketing of themselves?

What does tasbeeh mean? In Arabic language, it is said when you hear or say something blasphemous. If somebody said Allah has a son, the response to that is subhanallah. Meaning when you do something that takes away the perfection of Allah, you are supposed to say subhanallah. It’s to remove those that are not supposed to be said about Allah. That is the act of ‘tasbeeh’.

Actually when the angels could not understand why Allah is putting human beings on earth as khalifah, and then they asked Allah, they immediately thought that they went too far. So they are not praising themselves, but they are declaring to Allah that even though they asked this question, they did not mean to question His perfection. You are perfect, even though we cannot understand Your act.

They were actually scared when they asked that question. But they asked nonetheless.

And what does taqdis mean? It means declaring Allah’s purity? What’s the difference with tasbeeh (declaring Allah’s perfection)? And now what’s the difference between perfection and purity?

Perfection is about every attribute of Allah. The mercy of Allah is perfect, His justice, His wisdom, all of those and more is captured when we say tasbeeh.

But purity has to do with goodness. In other words, fairness is part of goodness, justice is part of goodness, so does mercy, eliminating evil is part of goodness. So when the angels did taqdis to Allah, they were not attributing evil to Allah. Because Allah is too perfect and too pure for them to insinuate that He is doing something evil. The question is just because they’re confused, that’s all.

Angels do not disobey Allah in whatever He tells them to do. They never do outside what Allah commands. But they do ask questions to Allah. So here we learn that asking questions to Allah is not a disobedience.

Unfortunately all over the world, where a person of a higher position is teaching, it almost seems like the students cannot ask questions. Those that ask will be put down. It’s as though they are committing blasphemous acts when they question their teacher. Is this the correct understanding?

The Devil questioned Allah; and the angels as well, right? But there’s a big difference between them. It’s the way of asking the question. When you ask a question because you want to understand but not questioning the position of Allah, then you are asking the kind of questions that are allowed, much like the angels did. But when you ask a question, questioning the motive of Allah, questioning His perfection, then you are wrong. Even the tone they ask will show that they are questioning Allah.

You are not discouraged to ask, but you are discouraged to ask with the wrong attitude. At the end of the day, the thing that makes Satan as Satan is his attitude. So young people should be allowed to ask questions but young people should be fairly warned, if you have the wrong attitude in your question, you are not offending the teacher, but you are offending Allah with that kind of questions.

And this teaches us as teachers, if even the angels are allowed to ask Allah, then anyone should be open to be asked and to be questioned by anyone. It should be an open society. Unfortunately that is not the case in so many places in the world.

So when the angels questioned Allah, what was Allah’s response? قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ He (Allâh) said: “I know that which you do not know.” Allah knows something about this khalifah that you the angels don’t know. It’s as if Allah is saying to the angels: You think that this one is going to be like the last khalifah, right? But there’s something different about this one.

And Allah will tell them what it is.

Continue to Part 2

Translation in Malay Language

Oleh Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan

BAHAGIAN 3

Maka, apakah modus operandi syaitan? Seperti telah disebut dalam (Al-Hijr: 28), Allah telah menjadikan manusia sebagai makhluk yang secara semulajadinya dengan kulit terdedah tanpa perlindungan, kerana kalimah (بشر) bermaksud kulit yang terdedah. Dan sebelum itu, telah disebut yang Iblis telah dimalukan, maka Iblis akan menggunakan asbab kulit manusia untuk memalukan mereka.

Oleh kerana kulit kita terdedah, maka semenjak dari Adam lagi sehingga keturunan seterusnya, manusia mencapai status penghormatan dengan menutup kulit mereka dengan pakaian. Haiwan tidak memerlukan ini. Ini adalah soal maruah kita. Dan Iblis amat memahami akan perkara ini. Dia tahu untuk menjatuhkan maruah manusia adalah dengan mendedahkan kulit mereka.

Apakah tujuan Iblis membisikkan was-wasa kepada Adam dan Hawa? (Al-A’raf: 20)

لِيُبْدِيَ لَهُمَا مَا وٗرِيَ عَنْهُمَا مِنْ سَوْءٰتِهِمَا

agar menampakkan aurat mereka berdua (yang selama ini) tertutup

Kalimah سَوْءٰتِ bermaksud ‘kehodohan’. Hodoh di sini, bukanlah bermaksud tubuh manusia itu hodoh pula. Tidak. Ia telah dijelaskan sebelum ini yang tubuh manusia adalah suatu kesenian dan amat cantik.

Namun begitu, apabila pakaian manusia dilucutkan tanpa izin Allah, maka di sinilah ia menjadi hodoh. Ia adalah hodoh kerana ia adalah suatu perbuatan yang melanggar perintah Allah. Sesuatu yang begitu indah pada mulanya boleh berubah menjadi hodoh dan buruk secara rohani, bukan? Maka, inilah perancangan Iblis: Melucut pakaian manusia dan ia merupakan suatu kemenangan kepada mereka jika ini berlaku. Matlamat Iblis adalah meniupkan was-wasa kepada mereka, supaya akhirnya pakaian mereka dilucutkan daripada mereka.

Apakah yang terjadi kepada Adam dan Hawa? Iblis telah berjaya memperdayakan mereka dengan helah:

وَقَالَ مَا نَهٰىكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ اِلَّآ اَنْ تَكُوْنَا مَلَكَيْنِ اَوْ تَكُوْنَا مِنَ الْخٰلِدِيْنَ

Dan (syaitan) berkata, “Tuhanmu hanya melarang kamu berdua mendekati pohon ini, agar kamu berdua tidak menjadi malaikat atau tidak menjadi orang yang kekal (dalam syurga).”

Inilah bisikan dan godaan Iblis untuk menipu Adam dan Hawa. Tetapi, mengapakah malaikat yang disebut di sini?

Dia berkata: Tuhan hanya tidak mahukan kamu berada di sini (di Jannah). Ingatkah kamu yang Dia akan meletakkan kamu di dunia? Kalau kamu nak tahu, dunia tidak sama seperti Jannah. Di sana nanti terdapat pelbagai masalah dan kesusahan. Jannah saja tempat terbaik yang tiada masalah tetapi kamu hanya tinggal di sini sementara sahaja, bukan? Tetapi sebenarnya… malaikat dapat tinggal kekal di sini, tahu tak? Maka, kamu perlu menjadi malaikat untuk kekal tinggal di Jannah. Dan untuk menjadi malaikat, kamu perlu makan daripada pohon ini.

Terdapat sesuatu yang halus di sebalik kata-kata Iblis ini. Iblis tidak mahu Adam dan Hawa rasa cukup dengan menjadi manusia. Dia mahukan mereka teringin menjadi sesuatu yang lain. Walhal, kejadian manusia cukup sempurna sehinggakan malaikat berasa kagum. Maka, di sini mengajar kita bahawa tidak perlu untuk menjadi orang lain kerana kita sudah cukup sempurna dan kita telah menjadi makhluk yang duduk teratas, bukan?

Kita telah diberikan darjat yang tinggi. Dan siapakah yang tidak mahu tinggal untuk selama-lamanya di Jannah? Tetapi untuk berada kekal di sana adalah dengan berada di dunia terlebih dahulu, jalani kehidupan di atas jalan yang lurus supaya kita ini layak mendapat ganjaran Jannah. Hanyalah itu caranya, tiada jalan pintas lain.

Adam dan Hawa telah makan daripada pohon terlarang itu, tetapi janganlah kita menyalahkan mereka pula. Dan untuk mengatakan disebabkan perbuatan mereka itu menyebabkan kita diletakkan di dunia. Tidak. Itu adalah kisah yang ditulis di dalam Bible manakala di dalam Qur’an Allah telah menjelaskan dari awal lagi yang Adam memang akan diturunkan dan menjadi khalifah di bumi. Berada di bumi bukanlah suatu hukuman.

Iblis telah memperdaya Adam dan Hawa untuk datang hampir dan semakin hampir kepada pohon terlarang itu seperti yang Allah terangkan di dalam (Al-A’raf: 22)

فَدَلّٰىهُمَا بِغُرُوْرٍۚ

dia (syaitan) memujuk mereka dengan tipu daya.

Dan salah satu sebab berjayanya tipu daya ini adalah kerana Iblis telah bersumpah seperti di dalam (Al-A’raf: 21)

وَقَاسَمَهُمَآ اِنِّيْ لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النّٰصِحِيْنَۙ

Dan dia (syaitan) bersumpah kepada keduanya, “Sesungguhnya aku ini benar-benar termasuk para penasihatmu,”

Bisikan syaitan selalu kelihatan bagaikan mereka mengambil berat terhadap kita, menjaga kepentingan kita demi kebaikan kita, kononnya.

Kalimah (فَدَلّٰ) berasal daripada دلو yang bermaksud baldi atau timba. Dalam sesetengah masyarakat pemburu, mereka menggunakan timba untuk memburu haiwan. Mereka akan meletakkan makanan di dalam timba dan apabila haiwan nampak makanan itu, mereka akan bergerak ke arahnya, mereka akan menarik timba itu perlahan-lahan menghampiri mereka. Apabila sudah dekat, haiwan itu senanglah ditangkap. Perbuatan menarik secara sedikit demi sedikit itulah yang dipanggil دَلّٰوَ. Dan apabila anda meletakkan timba di dalam perigi pun, anda akan menariknya ke atas secara perlahan-lahan, bukan?

Maka, di sini mengajar kita, Iblis tidak memperdaya kita secara terus, tetapi perlahan-lahan, sedikit demi sedikit. Dia akan memperdaya kita melakukan sesuatu yang kelihatan tidak salah pun, namun akhirnya baru kita sedar: “Apakah telah aku lakukan ni? Bagaimana aku sampai di sini?” Itulah cara cilik Iblis. Tidaklah dia terus mengarahkan kita melakukan perkara haram, tetapi sebaliknya dia lakukan secara perlahan yang akhirnya menjerumuskan kita ke dalam kemusnahan.

Kembali kepada kisah tadi. Akhirnya Adam dan Hawa merasakan (buah) daripada pohon itu.

ذَاقَا الشَّجَرَةَ

mereka merasakan (buah) pohon itu,

Dan Iblis telah berjaya memperdayakan mereka. Kedua-dua mereka sekali, kerana jika Iblis hanya memperdayakan salah seorang sahaja, maka mereka akan saling mengingatkan di antara satu sama lain. Oleh itu, dia perdayakan kedua-dua dalam waktu yang sama. Mereka berdua sedar bahawa apa yang mereka lakukan adalah salah tetapi masing-masing tidak mengingatkan satu sama lain kerana keduanya telah terpedaya.

Kita perlu fahami ‘peperangan’ dengan Iblis ini. Iblis tidak pernah berhenti dan tidak akan berhenti. Sampailah kita mati. Satu-satunya cara untuk menghentikan rancangan Iblis ini hanyalah dengan mengingatkan satu sama lain akan kalam Allah. Atau jika anda ada kekuatan dan kesedaran, untuk mengingatkan diri sendiri.

Akan sentiasa ada dua kata-kata di dalam fikiran kita: Sama ada kata-kata Allah atau kata-kata was-wasa daripada Iblis. Jadi mana satu yang anda mahu ada dalam fikiran anda? Kata-kata Allah tidak akan muncul secara automatik ke dalam benak kita, sebaliknya kata-kata was-wasa Iblis akan sentiasa ada kerana dia tidak akan pernah berhenti. Maka, kita perlu berusaha dengan lebih kuat untuk terus menerus meletakkan kata-kata Allah ke dalam fikiran kita.

Oleh hal yang sedemikian, kita haruslah sentiasa berpesan-pesan saling mengingatkan di antara satu sama lain, sebagaimana firman Allah dalam (Al-Asr: 3)

وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ ەۙ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ ࣖ

serta saling menasihati untuk kebenaran dan saling menasihati untuk kesabaran.

Kata-kata Iblis bagaikan kegelapan sebaliknya kata-kata Allah adalah cahaya. Jika kita tidak hidupkan cahaya itu, maka kita akan terus berada di dalam kegelapan. Makin lama semakin gelap. Ia akan tetap berlaku sama ada kita suka atau tidak. Sejak asal lagi, manusia berada dalam kesesatan. Seperti yang disebut di dalam Qur’an (Al-Asr: 2)

اِنَّ الْاِنْسَانَ لَفِيْ خُسْرٍۙ

sungguh, manusia berada dalam kerugian,

Jika kita tidak melakukan apa-apa pun, sememangnya kita sudah berada dalam kesesatan dan kerugian.

Apakah kata-kata Allah itu? Itulah Al-Qur’an. Qur’anlah yang seharusnya sentiasa berada di dalam hati dan minda kita kerana Iblis sentiasa membisikkan ke dalam hati dan minda kita. (An-Nas: 5)

الَّذِيْ يُوَسْوِسُ فِيْ صُدُوْرِ النَّاسِۙ

yang membisikkan (kejahatan) ke dalam dada manusia,

Dan hanya dengan kata-kata Allah sahajalah yang dapat membersihkan fikiran kita daripada was-wasa syaitan.

Namun begitu, dalam kehidupan ini, adakalanya apabila kita mahu melepaskan diri kita daripada genggaman syaitan, mereka yang dekat dengan kita pula yang tidak bersedia. Bukanlah bermaksud mereka ini syaitan, tetapi mereka juga sedang bergelut untuk melepaskan diri mereka. Kita hendaklah mengajak mereka dengan penuh kasih sayang dan sentiasa mengingati di antara satu sama lain.

Sekarang kembali kepada kisah tadi. Sebaik sahaja Adam dan Hawa memakan (buah) daripada pohon itu, pakaian mereka terus terlucut daripada badan mereka.

 بَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْءٰتُهُمَا

tampaklah oleh mereka auratnya,

Bertelanjanglah mereka dengan serta merta, tanpa seurat benang. Cepat-cepat  mereka menutupi aurat mereka.

وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفٰنِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِنْ وَّرَقِ الْجَنَّةِۗ

maka mulailah mereka menutupinya dengan daun-daun syurga.

Tergesa-gesa mereka berlari mendapatkan daun-daun dari pokok di syurga dan menutupi aurat mereka dengannya.

Allah tidah pernah mengajar mereka untuk menutupi aurat mereka itu, tetapi Allah telah masukkan naluri semulajadi kepada manusia untuk menutupi diri mereka itu. Allah terapkan ke dalam naluri kita untuk berasa tidak selesa apabila aurat kita terdedah. Tetapi Iblis mahu kita lupakan perasaan ini. Iblis mahu kita berasa seronok dan bangga untuk mendedahkan badan kita kepada orang lain. Syaitan akan berkata: “Kamu ada badan yang cantik, kenapa harus tutup pula? Tunjuklah pada satu dunia!”

Anda sedarkah siapa yang tiada sedikit pun rasa malu untuk menunjukkan aurat mereka? Binatang! Dan ingatkah betapa Iblis mahukan kita berasa diri kita tidak lebih dari binatang? Tidak lebih daripada sekadar tanah sahaja? Itulah agenda Iblis kerana dia mahukan cahaya roh kita akan terus malap sedikit demi sedikit.

Kemudian Allah bertanya kepada Adam dan Hawa:

وَنَادٰىهُمَا رَبُّهُمَآ اَلَمْ اَنْهَكُمَا عَنْ تِلْكُمَا الشَّجَرَةِ

Tuhan menyeru mereka, “Bukankah Aku telah melarang kamu dari pohon itu

Perlu diingatkan di sini, sebenarnya boleh sahaja Allah menghalang mereka ketika mereka mahu menghampiri pohon itu, bukan? Tetapi Allah tidak buat begitu. Sehingga ketika mereka menyentuh buah itu sekalipun, tidaklah Allah menahan mereka. Hanya ketika mereka telah merasa buah tersebut barulah Allah menyeru dan bertanya kepada mereka.

وَاَقُلْ لَّكُمَآ اِنَّ الشَّيْطٰنَ لَكُمَا عَدُوٌّ مُّبِيْنٌ

dan tidakkah Aku telah mengatakan bahawa sesungguhnya syaitan adalah musuh yang nyata bagi kamu berdua?”

Lupakah kamu yang Iblis akan datang kepada kamu dari setiap arah?

Bayangkan betapa terperanjatnya Adam dan Hawa pada waktu itu. Mereka ketika itu berada di dalam keadaan yang sangat memalukan kerana tidak berpakaian. Dan sekarang ditegur pula oleh Allah sendiri! Maka, inilah yang manusia akan hadapi sepanjang hidup kita sehingga hari pembalasan. Akan berlakunya saat di mana kita akan buat salah, dan waktu itu kita akan berada di dalam kebingungan dan kita akan amat berharap agar kita dapat mendengar kata-kata Allah ketika itu. Ini berbeza dengan keadaan Adam dan Hawa, mereka dapat mendengar secara terus kata-kata Allah kepada mereka. Tidak sama dengan kita, kita hanya dapat mendengar kata-kata Allah hanyalah melalui Qur’an. Kita perlu membukanya dan membacanya sendiri.

Apakah jawapan mereka? (Al-A’raf: 23)

قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَآ اَنْفُسَنَا وَاِنْ لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُوْنَنَّ مِنَ الْخٰسِرِيْنَ

Keduanya berkata, “Ya Tuhan kami, kami telah menzalimi diri kami sendiri. Jika Engkau tidak mengampuni kami dan memberi rahmat kepada kami, nescaya kami termasuk orang-orang yang rugi.”

Ini adalah doa popular yang harus kita sentiasa ingat. Apakah maksud rugi itu? Rugi kerana telah kehilangan kebenaran yang telah Engkau berikan.

Ketika mereka berdua berdoa, mereka masih lagi berada di syurga. Mereka telah melakukan kesalahan dan Allah telah menegur mereka, dan mereka terus meminta ampun. Mereka belum lagi diturunkan ke dunia pada waktu itu. Di sini Allah mengajar kita bahawa apabila manusia benar-benar memohon keampunan, Allah akan terus mengampuninya. Maka, sebelum Adam dan Hawa diturunkan ke dunia, Allah telah mengampuni mereka. Ini bermakna mereka tidak diturunkan ke dunia sebagai hukuman, bukan? Kerana mereka telah diampunkan Allah sebelum turun ke dunia. Jadi tidak benarlah pendapat yang mengatakan mereka berdua diturunkan ke bumi kerana kesalahan mereka itu.

Kenapa pula mereka diletakkan di dalam Jannah terlebih dahulu, kemudian diletakkan di dunia pula? Ia adalah sebagai ujian. Ini kerana di Jannah terdapat banyak perkara halal manakala hanya ada satu sahaja perkara haram. Begitulah keadaan ujian. Ia bermula dengan yang mudah dahulu. Dengan ujian mudah begitupun Iblis berjaya memperdayakan ayah dan Ibu kita. Sekarang Allah telah menghantar mereka ke dunia di mana terdapat lebih banyak perkara haram berbanding halal. Di dunia inilah ujian sebenar bermula.

Terdapat lebih banyak perkara Iblis dapat perdayakan kita di dunia ini. Maka, jangan sesekali berasa selamat daripada tipu daya syaitan. Jangan katakan syaitan tidak ada apa-apa. Jangan perasan syaitan tidak dapat memperdaya kita, sebab kita kuat. Kita kena ingat, ayah dan ibu kita adalah manusia yang kuat dan mereka mendapat arahan secara terus daripada Allah sendiri. Dan pun begitu, mereka sendiri telah terpedaya dengan helah syaitan. Mereka kenal siapa itu malaikat, siapa itu Iblis malah dapat melihat dengan mata mereka sendiri. Tetapi mereka masih juga dapat diperdaya oleh syaitan.

Mereka juga telah terlupa kerana itu adalah sifat manusia. Maka dengan sifat lupa inilah syaitan telah memperdaya kita semua. Lupa, serta tidak menggantikan kata-kata syaitan dengan kata-kata Allah. Inilah caranya syaitan menghancurkan manusia. Penawarnya sudah ada, cuma jika kita tidak mengambilnya, Iblis akan memusnahkan kita.

Pohon itu adalah latihan ujian yang mudah sebenarnya. Ia adalah untuk menyediakan Adam dan keturunannya di dunia ini. Kedua ayah dan ibu kita telah diberikan latihan untuk menyiapkan diri mereka dan diri kita. Apa yang dapat kita belajar di sini adalah betapa mudahnya kita boleh terperangkap dengan perancangan Iblis. Adakah dia terlalu hebat setakat cerita ini? Tidak. Langsung tidak. Tetapi adakah dia konsisten? Sudah tentu. Dan kita hanya boleh melawan konsisten dengan konsisten (istiqamah) juga. Itulah yang harus kita ambil daripada kisah ini.

Allah kemudian telah mengampuni mereka dengan berfirman (Al-A’raf: 24)

قَالَ اهْبِطُوْا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ ۚوَلَكُمْ فِى الْاَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَّمَتَاعٌ اِلٰى حِيْنٍ

(Allah) berfirman, “Turunlah kamu! Kamu akan saling bermusuhan satu sama lain. Bumi adalah tempat kediaman dan kesenanganmu sampai waktu yang telah ditentukan.”

Siapakah ‘kamu’ yang Allah maksudkan dalam ayat ini? Kita semua. Terdapat banyak tafsir untuk ayat ini, tetapi salah satu daripadanya adalah Adam menjadi musuh dengan Hawa. Kenapa? Kerana tidak saling mengingatkan di antara satu sama lain berkenaan pokok itu. Kadangkala, Iblis akan berhelah agar kita mengeluarkan kata-kata jahat namun kadangkala helahnya adalah dengan berbisik agar kita mendiamkan diri sahaja (padahal kita seharusnya menegur ke arah kebaikan).

Kita hanya tinggal di dunia ini sementara sahaja untuk memenuhi takdir kita. (Al-A’raf: 25)

قَالَ فِيْهَا تَحْيَوْنَ وَفِيْهَا تَمُوْتُوْنَ وَمِنْهَا تُخْرَجُوْنَ 

(Allah) berfirman, “Di sana kamu hidup, di sana kamu mati, dan dari sana (pula) kamu akan dibangkitkan.”

Sekarang Adam telah diturunkan ke bumi. Tapi kisah ini tidak tamat di sini sahaja. Sekarang Allah bercakap dengan kita pula. Di mana? Masih di Jannah. Kita masih di Jannah ketika itu, masih belum diturunkan ke dunia lagi. (Al-A’raf: 26)

يٰبَنِيْٓ اٰدَمَ قَدْ اَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ لِبَاسًا يُّوَارِيْ سَوْءٰتِكُمْ وَرِيْشًاۗ وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوٰى ذٰلِكَ خَيْرٌۗ

Wahai anak cucu Adam! Sesungguhnya Kami telah menyediakan pakaian untuk menutupi auratmu dan untuk perhiasan bagimu. Tetapi pakaian takwa, itulah yang lebih baik.

Di sini Allah mengingatkan kita tentang pakaian. Dan Dia mengajar kita tentang 2 jenis pakaian: Pakaian pertama dimaksudkan adalah pakaian yang diperbuat daripada bahan-bahan seperti kapas dan sutera; manakala pakaian kedua iaitu yang lebih penting adalah takwa. Takwa bermaksud kalam Allah.

Dan Dia terus mengingatkan kita,

ذٰلِكَ مِنْ اٰيٰتِ اللّٰهِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُوْنَ

Demikianlah sebahagian tanda-tanda kekuasaan Allah, mudah-mudahan mereka ingat.

Semoga kita terus ingat pesanan Allah ini yang telah Dia sampaikan ketika kita berada di alam arwah. Ini kerana pakaian adalah sangat penting, begitu penting sekali sehingga Allah mengingatkannya ketika kita masih berada di alam roh di Jannah lagi. Allah berpesan sebagaimana wahyu-Nya telah diturunkan dari langit, maka begitu jugalah pakaian ini diturunkan. Maka, jagalah perkara ini sebaik mungkin. Jaga maruah kita dengan pakaian ini.

Allah berfirman lagi (Al-A’raf: 27)

يٰبَنِيْٓ اٰدَمَ لَا يَفْتِنَنَّكُمُ الشَّيْطٰنُ كَمَآ اَخْرَجَ اَبَوَيْكُمْ مِّنَ الْجَنَّةِ يَنْزِعُ عَنْهُمَا لِبَاسَهُمَا لِيُرِيَهُمَا سَوْءٰتِهِمَا

Wahai anak cucu Adam! Janganlah sampai kamu tertipu oleh syaitan sebagaimana halnya dia (syaitan) telah mengeluarkan ibu bapamu dari syurga, dengan menanggalkan pakaian keduanya untuk memperlihatkan aurat keduanya.

Berjaga-jagalah dengan Iblis serta pengikut-pengikutnya. Iblis telah berjaya memperdaya ibu dan bapa kita dan dia pasti akan cuba melakukan perkara yang sama kepada kita. Kejayaannya itu membuktikan yang dia adalah ancaman terhadap untuk kita. Dia akan menyerang kita dengan cara ini setiap waktu dan ketika tanpa jemu.

Sementara kita masih hidup di bumi ini, Allah telah menggariskan beberapa hukum untuk kita, bukan? Hukum tentang zakat, harta, ibadah, pemakanan dan sebagainya. Tetapi hukum manakah yang paling Allah tekankan, yang akan diperdayakan oleh Iblis? Ia adalah hukum aurat. Hukum tentang pakaian. Maka, jelas di sini kita mesti betul-betul mengambil pengajaran dan fokus tentang hukum pakaian kerana Iblis mahu aurat dan maruah manusia terdedah.

Kita sekarang hidup dalam masyarakat dipenuhi dengan media sosial, di mana sumber kelucahan terlalu mudah untuk didapati. Tahap pendedahan anak-anak kita terhadap sumber terkutuk ini amatlah berleluasa dan statistiknya amat mengejutkan serta membimbangkan.

Kita juga kena ingat yang Iblis sentiasa memerhati kita

اِنَّهٗ يَرٰىكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيْلُهٗ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا تَرَوْنَهُمْۗ

Sesungguhnya dia dan pengikutnya dapat melihat kamu dari suatu tempat yang kamu tidak dapat melihat mereka.

Mereka sentiasa mencari peluang untuk memperdaya kita dan membisikkan was-wasa ke dalam hati dan minda kita. Dan terdapat di antara kita yang telah terperangkap dengan bisikan dan helah mereka ini

اِنَّا جَعَلْنَا الشَّيٰطِيْنَ اَوْلِيَاۤءَ لِلَّذِيْنَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ

Sesungguhnya Kami telah menjadikan syaitan-syaitan itu pemimpin bagi orang-orang yang tidak beriman.

Mereka adalah jenis yang tidak kisah mendedahkan aurat mereka kepada orang lain tanpa rasa segan silu.

Syaitan begitu mudah memenangi peperangan ini. Kenapa? Kerana kita jauh daripada wahyu Allah. Satu-satu cara untuk memenangi peperangan ini adalah dengan menggantikan bisikan dan kata-kata Iblis dengan kata-kata Allah. Perangi kegelapan dengan cahaya. Tanyakan diri anda sendiri: Berapa banyakkah Qur’an ini menjadi sebahagian daripada hidup anda?

Kemudian Allah telah berbicara tentang tamadun yang lalu agar kita belajar daripada kesilapan mereka.(Al-A’raf: 28)

وَاِذَا فَعَلُوْا فَاحِشَةً قَالُوْا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهَآ اٰبَاۤءَنَا وَاللّٰهُ اَمَرَنَا بِهَاۗ

Dan apabila mereka melakukan perbuatan keji, mereka berkata, “Kami mendapati nenek moyang kami melakukan yang demikian, dan Allah menyuruh kami mengerjakannya.

Mereka mendakwa bahawa apa yang mereka lakukan itu adalah perkara yang biasa mereka lakukan dalam budaya mereka, perkara normal sahaja yang telah diamalkan sejak turun temurun sejak sekian lama. Mereka menyangka itulah yang Allah mahukan kerana semua orang mengerjakannya.

Tetapi nenek moyang siapakah yang kamu ikuti itu? Kerana bukankah nenek moyang kamu yang sebenarnya adalah Nabi Adam? “Oh, saya hanya ikut adat budaya keluarga saya sahaja.” Salah! Adat budaya kamu juga adalah Adam. “Saya ikut tradisi sahaja.” Silap! Adam jugalah sepatutnya tradisi kamu. Ayat-ayat yang baru sahaja kita pelajari inilah Allah menerangkan tentang asal, adat, budaya, sejarah, dan tradisi kita yang sebenar-benarnya.

Jangan gunakan Allah sebagai alasan dan hujah kamu. Kamu tidak boleh menggunakan nama Allah semata-mata ingin melakukan perkara terkutuk kamu itu.

قُلْ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَأْمُرُ بِالْفَحْشَاۤءِۗ

Katakanlah, “Sesungguhnya Allah tidak pernah menyuruh berbuat keji.

Adakah kamu menipu di atas nama Allah dengan perkara-perkara yang sendiri tidak mengetahuinya?

اَتَقُوْلُوْنَ عَلَى اللّٰهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُوْنَ

Mengapa kamu membicarakan tentang Allah apa yang tidak kamu ketahui?”

Jangan! Jangan sesekali lakukan itu!

Dan amat menarik sekali apa Allah firmankan selepas itu (Al-A’raf: 31)

 يٰبَنِيْٓ اٰدَمَ خُذُوْا زِيْنَتَكُمْ عِنْدَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ

Wahai anak cucu Adam! Pakailah pakaianmu yang bagus pada setiap (memasuki) masjid

Maka, kita hendaklah memakai pakaian yang indah setiap kali kita solat.

Kebiasaannya, bilakah kita memakai berhias memakai pakaian yang indah? Biasanya ketika ada acara istimewa seperti majlis graduasi, perayaan atau keraian, bukan? Ini menunjukkan pakaian indah dipakai ketika meraikan sesuatu atau ketika kita diraikan kerana dihargai atau diiktiraf. Dan harus diingatkan yang malaikat diperintahkan oleh Allah untuk sujud kepada manusia apabila ia diiktiraf.

Maka oleh sebab itu, kita sepatutnya berhias diri berpakaian indah ketika melakukan sujud. Ini kerana sujud itu seharusnya mengingatkan kita tentang pengiktirafan Allah terhadap kita. Ia merupakan suatu acara yang cukup istimewa dan kita seharusnya berhias dengan berpakaian indah. Sujud terhadap Adam itu telah berlaku di syurga dan perintah berkenaan pakaian juga telah diwahyukan di syurga. Alangkah indahnya apabila kedua-dua perkara yang berlaku di syurga dilakukan bersama!

Puak Kristian dan Yahudi memandang kehidupan di dunia ini sebagai hukuman dari Tuhan kerana kesalahan Adam dan Hawa. Tetapi kita telah jelaskan bahawa bukan begitu tujuan Allah. Semenjak dari awal lagi Allah telah menetapkan yang manusia akan hidup di bumi (malah sebelum kita dijadikan lagi), dan bukan kerana kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh Adam dan Hawa.

Allah telah berfirman di dalam ayat-ayat-Nya sebelum ini yang Dia telah berikan kesempurnaan (kestabilan, keseimbangan) kepada kita untuk hidup di dunia ini.

Namun begitu, adakah kita mempunyai keseimbangan itu? Kita mungkin berkata yang kedua ibubapa, ahli keluarga kita dan ramai lagi di antara kita bergelut dalam kemelut permasalahan di dunia ini. Negara kita, malah mana-mana negara Islam pun tidak stabil. Maka, kestabilan dan keseimbangan apakah yang Allah maksudkan di sini? Bukankah sejarah membuktikan dunia ini sentiasa dalam keadaan tidak stabil dan huru hara sana sini?

Dengar baik-baik dan ini adalah rumusan keseluruhan kisah ini. Terdapat dua dunia: Dunia luaran dan dunia dalaman kita. Dunia luaran adalah ujian yang paling susah Allah berikan kepada kita. Sebab itulah kita boleh lihat terlalu banyak ketidakstabilan di luar sana, di seluruh dunia. Sebab itu jugalah, para nabi yang merupakan manusia yang paling dicintai Allah, mereka telah melalui terlalu banyak ketidakstabilan dan ujian sepanjang hidup mereka.

Namun bagi mereka yang berada di jalan Allah, Allah telah letakkan sesuatu di dalam diri mereka iaitu roh dan juga kata-kata-Nya yang merupakan wahyu dan cahaya. Ini adalah dunia lain yang berada dalam fikiran kita. Gempabumi, runtuhan, bala bencana mungkin berlaku di sekeliling mereka, namun dalaman diri mereka tetap  stabil. Segala-galanya mungkin bergoncang di luaran, namun dalaman mereka tetap tenang. Hinggakan kita mungkin berasa hairan bagaimana mereka ini boleh mencapai ketenangan sebegitu di sebalik huru hara yang berlaku di sekeliling mereka? Inilah seperti apa yang telah Allah firmankan dalam (Al-Ahzab: 22)

وَلَمَّا رَاَ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ الْاَحْزَابَۙ قَالُوْا هٰذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا اللّٰهُ وَرَسُوْلُهٗ وَصَدَقَ اللّٰهُ وَرَسُوْلُهٗ ۖوَمَا زَادَهُمْ اِلَّآ اِيْمَانًا وَّتَسْلِيْمًاۗ

Dan ketika orang-orang mukmin melihat golongan-golongan (yang bersekutu) itu, mereka berkata, “Inilah yang dijanjikan Allah dan Rasul-Nya kepada kita.” Dan benarlah Allah dan Rasul-Nya. Dan yang demikian itu menambah keimanan dan keislaman mereka.

Di sini Allah menceritakan kisah para sahabat yang sedang menghadapi pasukan tentera kafir yang bilangan mereka berganda-ganda lebih ramai. Walaupun kemungkinan akan kalah dan mati sangat tinggi, namun oleh kerana tahap keimanan mereka terhadap Allah dan Rasulullah yang begitu tinggi, maka mereka dikurniakan rasa ketenangan yang amat dalam.

Seorang ulamak pernah berkata, ketika seorang mukmin mula mahu berada di jalan Allah, Iblis dan bala tenteranya terus tahu dan bersedia memporak perandakan hidup orang mukmin itu dan orang-orang yang rapat dengannya. Inilah cara Iblis semenjak dahulu. Dan kita, yang telah ingin berada di jalan Allah ini, maka harus berusaha keras untuk mencari ketenangan itu di dalam diri kita. Dan letakkan sepenuh pengharapan dan pergantungan kita hanya kepada Allah. Ini kerana jika kita mencari ketenangan itu selain daripada Allah, maka kita akan dapati diri kita semakin jatuh dan kecewa. Sebaliknya, carilah ketenangan itu di dalam kata-kata Allah dan biarkan Allah ‘bercakap’ dengan anda.

Ingatlah, anda bukan seorang yang gagal. Anda tidak mewarisi kegagalan atau sifat-sifat buruk daripada keluarga anda. Ya, anda mungkin mewarisi rupa mereka tetapi bukan sifat mereka. Sifat buruk tidaklah diwarisi melalui darah. Setiap roh telah ada sebelum darah dijadikan. Dan setiap roh adalah unik. Setiap roh adalah tanda kehebatan Allah. Anda tidak akan dihakimi berdasarkan pencapaian orang lain. Inilah pertarungan di antara anda, Iblis dan kata-kata Allah. Itu sahaja. Apa yang paling kita mampu lakukan hanyalah tolong menolong di antara satu sama lain.

Akhirnya, kita akan berhadapan dengan Allah secara bersendirian (An’am: 94)

وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُوْنَا فُرَادٰى كَمَا خَلَقْنٰكُمْ اَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ

Dan kamu benar-benar datang sendiri-sendiri kepada Kami sebagaimana Kami ciptakan kamu pada mulanya,

Maka, kita harus berjalan di jalan-Nya berseorangan dan tiada sesiapa yang akan menjalaninya untuk kita.

Inilah kisah Adam dan Iblis. Dan anda boleh lihat ia mungkin berbeza daripada apa yang anda fahami selama ini. Sekarang kita sudah jelas tentang permainan Iblis dan hubungkait kita dengannya. Dan kisah ini memberikan kita harapan bahawa kita boleh mendapat hubungan yang mendalam dengan kata-kata Allah dan ia akan membawa kita ke jalan yang lurus. Iblis mahu kita berputus harap dengan Allah, dan kita mesti tahu yang ini adalah tidak benar sama sekali. Malah Firaun telah mendapat peluang untuk bertaubat sehingga akhir hayatnya. Begitu juga kita.

Oleh Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan

BAHAGIAN 2

Seperti yang telah difahami sebelum ini, syaitan telah dijadikan daripada api, dan ini bermaksud yang mereka ada keupayaan untuk ‘membakar’ dan ‘menyakiti’ orang lain. Malangnya, kita pun tidak terlepas daripada melakukan perkara sedemikian. Kadangkala ada di antara kita gemar mengeluarkan kata-kata kesat atau sindiran atau apa sahaja yang boleh menyakiti hati dan perasaan orang lain. Sebagai contoh, ketika dalam pertengkaran, kita akan sehabis boleh mencari perkataan yang paling menyakitkan supaya pihak lawan itu sakit hati. Kebiasaannya perkara ini terjadi ketika kita marah, dan bukankah sifat marah itu adalah sifat syaitan?

Di dalam Qur’an, diletakkan tentang kemarahan dan keangkuhan bersama. Sebab itulah mereka yang ada sifat suka marah juga mempunyai sifat angkuh. Angkuh bukan sahaja bermakna seseorang itu merasakan dia lagi hebat daripada yang lain, tetapi ia juga membawa maksud yang seseorang itu merasakan yang dia sentiasa betul. Mereka tidak boleh ditegur dan sikap mereka: “Siapa kau berani nak tegur aku?”

Keangkuhan tiada tempatnya di syurga sebagaimana firman Allah dalam (Al-A’raf: 13)

قَالَ فَاهْبِطْ مِنْهَا فَمَا يَكُوْنُ لَكَ اَنْ تَتَكَبَّرَ فِيْهَا

(Allah) berfirman, “Maka turunlah kamu darinya (syurga); kerana kamu tidak sepatutnya menyombongkan diri di dalamnya.

Ini bermaksud turunlah kamu dari langit kerana ketika itu kita berada bersama Iblis di langit.

Namun kita kena ingat, yang kita manusia memang dijadikan untuk menjadi khalifah di bumi. Ini adalah pemahaman yang berbeza di antara kita dan puak Kristian yang menganggap kita telah diturunkan ke bumi sebagai hukuman. Sebenarnya kita telah dijadikan untuk tinggal di bumi semenjak awal lagi, lihat (Al-Baqarah: 30). Walau bagaimanapun, pada permulaannya Adam telah diletakkan di kedudukan yang tinggi di syurga.

Iblis adalah makhluk yang sangat angkuh. Dia telah ditunjukkan dengan segala kehebatan dan kelayakan manusia untuk menjadi khalifah di bumi, tetapi oleh kerana kedegilannya dan keangkuhannya itu, dia tidak dapat mengubah fikirannya itu. Di sini kita dapat fahami bagaimana Qur’an menjelaskan keangkuhan تَتَكَبَّرَ Iblis telah menghalangnya dari membuat keputusan yang baik dan kebenaran tidak dapat merubahnya.

Keangkuhan juga bermaksud iri atau hasad. Perasaan hasad timbul apabila melihat orang lain mendapat sesuatu dan merasakan kitalah yang patut mendapatkannya. Ia juga adalah sifat yang mahukan sesuatu yang telah menjadi milik orang lain. Ini juga bermaksud ‘insecurity’ (rasa tidak selamat atau terjamin). Perasaan ini semua bercambah menjadi keangkuhan.

Selain daripada itu, keangkuhan juga berpunca daripada rasa keperluan untuk membandingkan diri dengan orang lain. Perkara ini terlalu banyak berlaku pada hari ini dan ia amat  berleluasa sekarang di media sosial. Manusia berlumba-lumba menunjukkan kebahagiaan mereka sedangkan realitinya mereka tidak bahagia pun. Mereka cuma mahu tunjukn kepada dunia yang kononnya mereka bahagia di lensa media sosial. Jika kita juga terperangkap dalam medan perbandingan ini, maka kita akan mengalami masalah besar. Lagi memburukkan keadaan apabila kita tercari-cari dan ternanti-nanti orang lain melakukan kesalahan atau mengaibkan atau kegagalan. Kita biarkan diri kita membaca segala komen-komen saling mengutuk dan mengeji di antara satu sama lain. Ini adalah kerana perasaan kita yang mahu berada di atas orang lain.

Fenomena ini adalah suatu penyakit. Kita kena ingat, ada banyak cara untuk meraih kedudukan tinggi. Pertama adalah dengan melakukan kebaikan, maka kita akan dinaikkan darjat dan mendapat pengiktirafan. Namun begitu, ada yang mengambil jalan pintas untuk ‘naik’ dengan menjatuhkan orang lain pula.

Iblis sudah merasakan bahawa dia berada di kedudukan yang lebih rendah daripada Adam dan dia rasa dia tidak mampu menyaingi Adam lagi. Maka, dia menggunakan taktik menjatuhkan Adam. Inilah masalahnya apabila kita membandingkan diri kita dengan orang lain. Apabila kita rasa kita tidak mampu untuk menyaingi orang itu, maka kita akan cuba menjatuhkannya pula, bukan? Sebab itulah Allah berfirman di dalam (An-Nisa’: 32)

وَلَا تَتَمَنَّوْا مَا فَضَّلَ اللّٰهُ بِهٖ بَعْضَكُمْ عَلٰى بَعْضٍ ۗ

Dan janganlah kamu iri hati terhadap kurnia yang telah dilebihkan Allah kepada sebahagian kamu atas sebahagian yang lain.

Oleh itu, janganlah kita suka membandingkan rupa, harta, wang ringgit, ilmu dan sebagainya. Semua ini adalah penyakit dan akan memusnahkan diri sendiri sahaja.

Disebabkan keangkuhan inilah, Iblis telah dibuang dari syurga dan Allah telah berfirman dalam (Al-A’raf: 13)

فَاخْرُجْ اِنَّكَ مِنَ الصّٰغِرِيْنَ

Keluarlah! Sesungguhnya kamu termasuk makhluk yang hina.”

Kalimah مِنَ الصّٰغِرِيْنَ bermaksud di antara yang kecil. Ia bukan sahaja bermaksud kecil dari segi saiz, tetapi ia bermaksud: tidak penting, tiada nilai, tiada penghormatan. Iblis telah berasa begitu hina sekali, maka apakah yang dia mahu kita rasakan? Sudah pasti perkara yang sama!

Oleh hal yang demikian, di sini kita dapat mempelajari bahawa Iblis tidak mempunyai kuasa langsung. Dia kecil sahaja sebenarnya, bukannya besar dan berkuasa pun. Di akhirat kelak, dia akan berkata kepada semua pengikutnya yang dia hanya mampu berbisik sahaja, tidak lebih daripada itu. Sekarang kita semakin jelas, jin  yang paling hebat iaitu Iblis sendiri menyatakan yang dia tidak mempunyai kuasa ke atas kita. Dia hanya mampu berbisik. Ini telah diterangkan di dalam (Ibrahim: 22)

وَمَا كَانَ لِيَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّنْ سُلْطٰنٍ اِلَّآ اَنْ دَعَوْتُكُمْ

Tidak ada kekuasaan bagiku terhadapmu, melainkan (sekadar) aku menyeru kamu

Dan Allah juga telah berfirman di dalam (Isra’: 65)

اِنَّ عِبَادِيْ لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطٰنٌۗ

“Sesungguhnya (terhadap) hamba-hamba-Ku, engkau (Iblis) tidaklah dapat berkuasa atas mereka.

Ini adalah kerana manusia mempunyai roh. Syaitan hanya mampu membisikkann was-wasa kepada manusia, tetapi tidak dapat mengawal mereka. Kalaulah kita dapat dikawal oleh mereka, maka bolehlah kita menyalahkan mereka, bukan? ‘Oh, aku telah lakukan perkara ini kerana syaitan yang telah mengawal diriku!’ Namun, itu bukanlah yang berlaku. Pilihan tetap berada di tangan kita. Dan kita tidak dapat menyalahkan syaitan di atas perbuatan dosa kita di akhirat kelak.

Oleh kerana Iblis adalah kerdil sebenarnya, maka dia mahu kita percaya yang dia adalah besar dan berkuasa. Maka, jika kita dengar sesetengah orang berkata, syaitan sungguh kuat dan mereka tidak mampu melawannya, ini adalah tidak benar sekali. Syaitan yang mahukan kita berasa begitu. Kita kena ingat yang syaitan adalah lemah. Apabila kita mengucapkan istirja’, ia sudah cukup melemahkan mereka dan mereka mesti lari meninggalkan kita.

Kemudian Iblis telah berkata (Al-A’raf: 14)

قَالَ اَنْظِرْنِيْٓ اِلٰى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُوْنَ

(Iblis) menjawab, “Berilah aku penangguhan waktu, sampai hari mereka dibangkitkan.”

Ketika itu, dia telah menunding jari ke arah kita, kerana kita berada di situ. Maksudnya ‘mereka’ di dalam ayat ini bermaksud kita. Maka, dia tahu tentang hari pembalasan dan kita pun juga tahu. Sebagai khalifah, kita diberikan pilihan, tetapi kita hendaklah membuat pilihan yang benar dan tepat. Jika kita membuat pilihan yang benar secara berterusan, dan terbabas maka hendaklah kita segera bertaubat. Kita akan dinilai di hari pembalasan dan jika kita lulus maka Jannah lah tempat kita.

Itu adalah ujian untuk hari pembalasan nanti. Dan itu adalah ujian terbesar yang Allah jadikan untuk kita. Dan ia merupakan amanah yang paling besar kerana Allah telah memberi amanah kepada kita di muka bumi ini. Dan Dia telah berikan amanah ini kepada kita setelah menawarkannya kepada makhluk yang lain. Ini dapat dilihat di dalam firman-Nya (Al-Ahzab: 72)

اِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْاَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْاَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَاَبَيْنَ اَنْ يَّحْمِلْنَهَا وَاَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْاِنْسَانُۗ

Sesungguhnya Kami telah menawarkan amanat kepada langit, bumi dan gunung-gunung; tetapi semuanya enggan untuk memikul amanat itu dan mereka khawatir tidak akan melaksanakannya (berat), lalu dipikullah amanat itu oleh manusia.

Mereka tidak sanggup menerima amanah itu kerana mereka tahu yang jika mereka gagal, maka akibatnya adalah Neraka. Namun begitu, kita manusia menerima amanah tersebut dan kena ingat yang kita dilengkapi dengan roh, iaitu cahaya yang ada perhubungan dengan Allah. Roh inilah kekuatan kita. Dan kerana itulah kita sebenarnya yang mampu untuk menggalas amanah dan ujian ini berbanding makhluk lain. Kita mempunyai kualiti itu dan mampu untuk lulus ujian ini dengan cemerlang.

Namun adakah semua yang ada kemampuan akan melaksanakan? Contohnya seorang pelajar yang pandai, dia mungkin berusaha mengulangkaji dan mungkin tidak. Ini adalah keputusannya. Dia mungkin ada kemampuan itu, tetapi tidak semestinya dia akan melakukannya. Maka begitulah juga dengan amanah yang Allah berikan ini. Allah memberikan potensi dan peluang yang sama kepada semua manusia, tetapi bukan semua manusia menggunakan peluang itu.

Setiap manusia diuji. Kita telah fahami kenyataan ini di alam roh. Kita sudah tahu apa yang kita akan hadapi di dunia ini. Kita tahu kita akan diuji tetapi kita tetap menerimanya kerana kita tahu inilah sahaja jalannya ke Jannah. Kita harus melalui ujian dan lulus ujian tersebut untuk ke Jannah. Kesemua daripada kita telah setuju secara rela sebelum kita dilahirkan. Dan sebab itulah kita dilahirkan ke dunia ini. Jika kita tidak bersetuju maka kita tidak akan dilahirkan. Oleh sebab itu, jangan sesekali anda berkata: ‘Aku tak pernah minta dilahirkan ke dunia ini.’ Sebenarnya kita telah diberikan pilihan dan roh kita telah setuju untuk menerimanya. Maka, itulah sebabnya kita sekarang berada di bumi ini.

Iblis telah berkata (قَالَ اَنْظِرْنِيْٓ اِلٰى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُوْنَ) yang merujuk untuk semua manusia. Iaitu Iblis minta tangguh sampailah kita semua akan dibangkitkan kelak. Maka, di sini jelas menunjukkan yang Iblis bukan hanya bermasalah dengan Adam tetapi dengan seluruh manusia. Ini semua berpunca daripada kebenciannya yang mendalam yang tidak berpenghujung terhadap semua manusia. Kita biasa mendengar istilah ‘kelaparan tiada had’ (insatiable hunger). Iblis pula mempunyai kebencian yang tiada had, tidak berkesudahan.

Baginya tidak cukup Adam sahaja yang gagal, tetapi dia mahu seluruh manusia gagal dan akhirnya ke neraka sepertinya. Dia sasarkan setiap daripada kita dan seboleh-bolehnya menjauhkan kita dari jalan ke Jannah. Dia mahu buktikan kepada Allah bahawa kita semua tidak layak ke Jannah. Iblis diberikan peluang dan masa untuk membuat hanya itu; untuk membuktikan yang dia adalah betul.

Dan ini adalah salah satu daripada sifat Iblis. Jika dia ditegur ketika melakukan kesalahan, dia tidak boleh menerimanya dan sedaya upaya akan membuktikan yang dia betul. Sebahagian manusia juga ada sikap sebegini, bukan? Ada kehendak dalam dirinya untuk membuktikan dia sentiasa betul. Dia mesti dilihat sentiasa betul kerana ia adalah bagaikan suatu kemenangan baginya. Dia tidak boleh menerima kritikan, tidak boleh kalah dalam berhujah.

Malah lebih teruk lagi Iblis menyalahkan Allah pula (Al-A’raf: 16)

قَالَ فَبِمَآ اَغْوَيْتَنِيْ

(Iblis) menjawab, “Karena Engkau telah menyesatkan aku,

Iblis menyalahkan Allah kerana baginya, Allah yang telah menyebabkannya sesat. Inilah kesalahannya yang paling nyata, iaitu menyalahkan Allah. Sebagaimana kebanyakan manusia yang kebiasaannya suka menyalahkan orang lain tanpa menyalahkan diri sendiri.

Apakah yang Iblis akan lakukan untuk membuktikan yang dia betul? Dia akan duduk berada (menghalang) di jalan yang itu:

لَاَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيْمَۙ

pasti aku akan selalu menghalangi mereka dari jalan-Mu yang lurus,

Di sini menunjukkan bahawa Allah telah beritahu kepada kita semua tentang jalan yang lurus itu, iaitu jalan ke Jannah. Iblis akan berada menunggu di situ untuk menghalang manusia melaluinya. Iblis akan mengganggu sesiapa sahaja yang melaluinya. Bukan sahaja dia hanya duduk-duduk di situ, tetapi dia juga berkata:

ثُمَّ لَاٰتِيَنَّهُمْ مِّنْۢ بَيْنِ اَيْدِيْهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ اَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَنْ شَمَاۤىِٕلِهِمْۗ

kemudian pasti aku akan mendatangi mereka dari depan, dari belakang, dari kanan dan dari kiri mereka.

Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan semua arah ini? Apabila dia berkata (ثُمَّ” لَاٰتِيَنَّهُمْ مِّنْۢ بَيْنِ اَيْدِيْهِمْ) kemudian pasti aku akan mendatangi mereka, ia bermaksud di hadapan mereka. Ia bermaksud dia akan menghalang manusia daripada melangkah ke arah jalan lurus. “Kamu… tidak… akan … melepasi! Contohnya, dia akan menghadirkan perasaan takut di dalam diri manusia yang sedang berjalan ke arah jalan yang lurus. Dia timbulkan perasaan ‘was-wasa’: “Nanti apa orang akan kata?”, “Oh, betul sekarang kau baru nak solat?”, “Eh, nanti kau nampak pelik nanti!”, “Rilek lah, kau masih muda.”, “Nanti kau akan sorang-sorang…”

Begitulah caranya Iblis tidak akan mahu manusia mengambil jalan yang lurus. Dia akan sedaya upaya menghalang; atau dia akan berdiri di jalan itu dan akan menunjukkan jalan-jalan lain yang kelihatan lebih indah daripada jalan yang lurus itu. Untuk setiap jalan yang halal, masih terdapat banyak lagi jalan-jalan lain yang haram, bukan? Maka, dia akan tunjukkan jalan-jalan haram itu dengan segala bentuk keindahan.

Dia juga akan menarik manusia dari arah belakang (وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ). Ini kerana, kebiasaannya apabila manusia melangkah menuju ke arah jalan yang lurus, mereka akan meninggalkan sesuatu yang buruk di belakang mereka, bukan? Mereka telah melakukan dosa, perkara yang buruk dan mereka tidak mahu melakukannya lagi dan mahu mula bergerak ke hadapan jalan yang lurus. Tetapi, Iblis akan menarik mereka ke arah belakang dan mengingatkan mereka dengan segala dosa-dosa mereka itu: “Bukankah seronok dapat buat benda-benda tu semua?”, “Agaknya apa lah kawan-kawan lama dulu tengah buat sekarang eh?”, “Baik aku hubungan mereka, supaya nanti aku bagi dakwah la kat diorang.”

Emosi manusia masih lagi terikat dengan perbuatan lama itu. Maka di sinilah, Iblis cuba menariknya ke belakang. Atau dia juga akan mengingatkan manusia tentang dosa-dosa itu dan berkata: “Kau ingat kau siapa? Kau ingat Allah nak terima taubat kau ni selepas segala apa yang telah kau buat tu?”

Dari arah kanan (وَعَنْ اَيْمَانِهِمْ) bermaksud dia membiarkan manusia melakukan kebaikan (ya,  Iblis membiarkan kita melakukan kebaikan). Kemudian dia membiarkan kita berbangga dengan kebaikan kita itu, kononnya kita lebih hebat dan layak untuk menghakimi orang lain. Mungkin kita rajin ke kelas pengajian agama, atau sudah mula mengajar agama, maka mulalah kita berasa hebat daripada orang lain. Sebenarnya inilah yang paling menakutkan dan ujian paling hebat. Takabbur adalah ujian yang paling menakutkan.

Selain dari itu, Iblis akan tonjolkan satu sifat baik tentang diri anda, dan membuatkan anda rasa ‘selamat’: “Eh walaupun kau tak solat, kau tetap rajin sedekah, kan?”, “Memanglah apa kau buat tu salah, tapi kau tetap buat benda baik lain,  kan? Dah tu apa nak susah hati sangat? Kau memang dah selamat dah tu, kau memang baik lah…”

Dan dari arah kiri (وَعَنْ شَمَاۤىِٕلِهِمْۗ) bermaksud tanpa rasa bersalah apabila telah melakukan dosa. Dia akan bisikkan: “Ala… kau kan manusia biasa, biasa lah tu…”, “Semua orang buat silap lah, kau janganlah rasa bersalah sangat…”, “Bukannya haram-HARAM sangat apa kau buat ni, haram sikit jer, sekurang-kurangnya takdalah kau bunuh orang pun…” Di sini perlu diingatkan: Jika anda ingin membandingkan diri anda dengan sesiapa yang lebih buruk daripada anda, anda pasti temuinya kerana akan selalu sahaja ada orang yang lebih buruk daripada anda. Jadi jangan guna hujah ini.

Apa yang menakutkan ialah perbuatan ‘tak lah teruk sangat’ itu lama kelamaan akan berubah menjadi perbuatan ‘eh mana ada teruk, ‘teruk sangat ke?’, ‘Eh tak paham lah! Tak boleh kah aku nak hidup normal yang bahagia sikit?’

Dan selepas semua ini, Iblis berkata:

وَلَا تَجِدُ اَكْثَرَهُمْ شٰكِرِيْنَ

Dan Engkau tidak akan mendapati kebanyakan mereka bersyukur.”

Kenapa pula Iblis berkata begini? Kita mungkin fikir dia akan berkata: “Ya Allah, Kau akan tahu manusia tidak akan patuh kepada-Mu.” atau “Kau akan dapati kebanyakan mereka akan lupa.” Tetapi mengapakah pula Iblis mahu membuktikan yang manusia tidak mahu bersyukur? Bersyukur dari segi apakah itu?

• Bersyukur dengan kedudukan paling tinggi yang Allah telah kurniakan. Mereka tidak akan menghargainya.
• Bersyukur yang Allah telah berikan ujian paling hebat untuk memberi peluang kepada mereka mendapat ganjaran terhebat iaitu Jannah.
• Bersyukur yang Allah telah bercakap secara terus dengan mereka.

Apabila kita tidak bersyukur, maka kita akan dapati diri kita tidak berguna. Apabila rasa diri tiada guna, maka apa sahaja nikmat yang diberi bagaikan tiada makna apa-apa. Kita bagaikan tidak dapat merasa dan melihat nilai nikmat tersebut. Contohnya orang yang dalam kemurungan. Percubaan kita untuk menggembirakan dirinya bagaikan tiada guna. Cubalah bawa dia ke restoran yang mewah dan hidangkan dia dengan segala makanan yang paling lazat. Dia tidak akan dapat menghargainya, tidak dapat menikmatinya, tidak nampak menilai nikmat yang diberikan kepadanya itu. Ini kerana mereka berasa diri mereka sudah tiada nilai.

Tiada apa-apa yang dapat membahagiakan diri mereka. Sebab itulah Iblis sentiasa menjatuhkan diri manusia. Selalu membiarkan manusia hanyut dengan perasaan rendah diri, hilang harga diri dan lama kelamaan dia akan hilang segala-galanya. Dia akan seringkali mengeluh, serba serbi tidak kena sahaja. Pernah anda bertemu orang sebegini?

Dan untuk mereka yang seperti ini, Allah telah tegur di dalam (Al-A’raf: 18)

قَالَ اخْرُجْ مِنْهَا مَذْءُوْمًا مَّدْحُوْرًا ۗ

(Allah) berfirman, “Keluarlah engkau dari sana (syurga) dalam keadaan terhina dan terusir!

Keluarlah kamu dari sini, kamu telah dimalukan, dihinakan. مَّدْحُوْرًا bermaksud dihancurkan. Seperti bola kertas, direnyuk-renyuk hancur. Ini adalah tentang Iblis yang ada pemikiran yang buruk di dalam dirinya. Pemikirannya sendiri yang menghancurkannya. Tiada sesiapa yang melakukannya tetapi dirinya sendiri.

Sekarang, apakah yang terjadi jika Iblis bertaubat? Kadangkala datang persoalan sebegini. (Ustaz, macam mana eh kalau iblis bertaubat?) Walaupun Iblis tidak akan bertaubat, tetapi kalaulah dia bertaubat, maka Allah akan terima taubatnya. Namun, itu tidak akan berlaku kerana Allah sendiri telah mengatakannya yang dia adalah مَّدْحُوْرًا. Perasaan bencinya itu akan terus menghancurkannya sehingga kiamat. Ia tidak akan berkesudahan.

Maka, tidak perlu dibacakan Qur’an kepadanya, kerana dia tetap tidak akan berubah. Ya, dia boleh mendengar segala bacaan Qur’an dan kandungannya, dan sebab itulah kita perlu membaca Istirja’ sebelum mula membaca Qur’an. Dia dengar segala bacaan Qur’an itu tetapi langsung tidak membawa apa-apa makna terhadap dirinya kerana dia berada di dalam dunianya sendiri. Tiada kata-kata Allah yang dapat merubahnya.

Allah kemudian berfirman dengan kata-kata yang amat menakutkan:

لَمَنْ تَبِعَكَ مِنْهُمْ لَاَمْلَـَٔنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنْكُمْ اَجْمَعِيْنَ

Sesungguhnya barangsiapa di antara mereka ada yang mengikutimu, pasti akan Aku isi neraka Jahanam dengan kamu semua.”

Sebelum ini Allah hanya bercakap dengan Iblis, sekarang Allah bercakap kepada kita pula. Jika kita ikut Iblis, kita semua akan masuk neraka. Maka, Allah mengingatkan kita tentang neraka sejak mula lagi.

Sekarang Allah mengalihkan perhatian-Nya kepada Adam pula (Al-A’raf: 19)

وَيٰٓاٰدَمُ اسْكُنْ اَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ

Dan (Allah berfirman), “Wahai Adam! Tinggallah engkau bersama isterimu dalam syurga

Nabi Adam tinggal di dalam syurga itu untuk sementara (اسْكُنْ) sahaja. Apabila kita baca Qur’an, kita biasa dengar hukum sukun yang bermaksud berhenti seketika. Maka, di sini kita faham bahawa Adam tidak ditakdirkan untuk tinggal selama-lamanya  di Jannah. Memang manusia telah ditakdirkan untuk tinggal di bumi. Berada di Jannah hanyalah untuk sementara sahaja. Tetapi kenapa? Seolah-olah diberikan sekejap sahaja rasa nikmat itu kemudian ditarik pula? Ini kerana Allah mahukan manusia pertama merasai nikmat Jannah dan agar dia dapat menggalakkan anak cucunya untuk berusaha bersungguh-sungguh untuk memasuki Jannah. Maka Nabi Adam pernah berada di dalam Jannah dan baginda tahu bagaimana keadaannya.

Dan masukilah Jannah bersama pasanganmu kerana Jannah bukanlah Jannah tanpa pasangan hidup melalui perkahwinan. Kita manusia tidak mahu hidup bersendirian sebenarnya. Itu adalah dari naluri manusia yang normal. Sesuatu yang indah tidak akan kelihatan begitu indah tanpa pasangan kita, bukan? Bahagia bukanlah benar-benar bahagia tanpa teman di sisi. Kita perlukan seseorang untuk berkongsi kebahagiaan itu. Di sini Allah mengajar kita bahawa rasa keindahan Jannah yang pertama adalah dengan mempunyai pasangan. Mempunyai pasangan adalah detik pertama Jannah.

Di dunia lagi Allah telah berikan rasa keindahan ini. Mempunyai teman hidup memberikan kita rasa ketenangan dan sakinah (ketenangan). Iblis tidak mahukan ini bagi kita. Dia mahukan keresahan, gundah gulana untuk kita. Maka, perkara pertama yang dia akan serang adalah institusi perkahwinan. Dia akan menjadikan sesuatu yang sepatutnya secebis dari Jannah menjadi secebis dari Jahannam.

Pertama, dia akan bisikkan kita untuk mengadakan hubungan di luar nikah yang halal. Dan jika kita berjaya menghalalkan hubungan dengan pernikahan, dia akan usahakan supaya perkahwinan kita itu amat menyeksakan seolah-olah berada di neraka.

Namun begitu, Allah telah menggariskan 3 langkah formula untuk perkahwinan yang indah. (Ar-Rum: 21)

وَمِنْ اٰيٰتِهٖٓ اَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِّنْ اَنْفُسِكُمْ اَزْوَاجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوْٓا اِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ مَّوَدَّةً وَّرَحْمَةً ۗ

Dan di antara tanda-tanda (kebesaran)-Nya ialah Dia menciptakan pasangan-pasangan untukmu dari jenismu sendiri, agar kamu cenderung dan merasa tenteram kepadanya, dan Dia menjadikan di antaramu rasa kasih dan sayang.

Maka, langkah-langkah tersebut adalah: (لِّتَسْكُنُوْٓا اِلَيْهَا), kemudian (مَّوَدَّةً) dan (وَّرَحْمَةً). Ringkasnya: Tenteram – kasih – sayang (ambil berat). Malangnya, dalam kebanyakan perhubungan, kasih datang dahulu, kemudian barulah datangnya sayang (ambil berat). Bila kita kasihkan seseorang kita akan mengambil berat dan jaga dirinya. Tetapi rasa tenteram itu tiada. Lama kelamaan salah seorang daripada mereka akan mengeluarkan kata-kata yang terus menghilangkan rasa tenteram itu. Pergaduhan kecil mula tercetus, dan ketenteraman itu terus hancur sedikit demi sedikit. Kemudian ia bertukar menjadi caci maki, perkataan kasar yang menyakitkan satu sama lain. Semua ini akan menghilangkan rasa tenteram dan kasih. Rasa sayang (ambil berat) akan turut terjejas. Bila kasih sudah hilang, sayang juga sudah tiada.

Kita pun sedar yang kehidupan di dunia ini adalah cabaran. Kadangkala kita terpaksa menghadapi musibah dan huru hara yang datang kepada kita. Pasangan anda sepatutnya menjadi sumber ketenangan anda. Sepatutnya anda tidak sabar untuk bertemu dengannya, berada bersama-sama dengannya, bercerita dengannya, memujuknya, kerana inilah yang memberi ketenangan kepada kita. Ia tidak sama dengan anak-anak. Kita memang sayangkan anak-anak, tetapi anak-anak bukanlah sumber ketenangan anda.

Jika kita berjaya mengekalkan rasa tenteram dan tenang itu, maka rasa kasih dapat dikekalkan seterusnya sayang akan terus kekal. Tujuan utama pernikahan adalah tenteram, bukannya kasih. Rasa kasih dan sayang hanyalah perasaan. Ia boleh datang dan ia boleh pergi. Namun ketenangan adalah suatu keadaan emosi dan fikiran, dan apabila anda dapat mencapainya, maka kasih dan sayang akan terus kekal stabil.

Kita dapat melihat kata akar yang sama daripada (س ك ن) untuk uskun (tinggal) dan sakinah (tenteram).

Dan kemudian Allah telah berfirman:

فَكُلَا مِنْ حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا

dan makanlah apa saja yang kamu berdua sukai.

Makanlah apa sahaja yang Nabi Adam sukai. Tetapi ia datang dengan larangan:

وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُوْنَا مِنَ الظّٰلِمِيْنَ

Tetapi janganlah kamu berdua dekati pohon yang satu ini. (Apabila didekati) kamu berdua termasuk orang-orang yang zalim.”

Ini adalah satu-satunya syariat mereka ketika berada di Jannah. Tiada lagi larangan yang lain. Hanya dua larangan ini: (makan apa sahaja yang kamu sukai; jangan hampiri pohon ini). Di dunia ini, pilihan haram memang banyak berbanding pilihan halal, tetapi berbeza dengan kisah ini (semua adalah halal, kecuali larangan ini sahaja). Jangan dekati pohon ini. Cukup mudah sebenarnya, bukan? Ya, larangan ini memang mudah untuk dijauhi sebenarnya tetapi Iblis sedang mengintai mereka dalam diam.

Iblis mula mewujudkan rasa was-wasa ke dalam diri Adam dan Hawa (Al-A’raf: 20)

فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيْطٰنُ

Kemudian setan membisikkan pikiran jahat kepada mereka berdua

Ini bermaksud, Iblis datang berbisik, kemudian dia pergi. Kemudian dia datang lagi berbisik, dan pergi. Bagaimanakah caranya dia melakukannya? Allah telah mengizinkan Iblis melakukan bisikan tersebut kepada mereka. Dan dengan cara inilah juga Allah mengizinkan bisikan Iblis kepada kita. Iblis dapat menyusup masuk ke dalam fikiran kita. Dia tidak perlu berada di sebelah kita. Dia mendapat akses terus masuk ke dalam fikiran kita. Bagaimana sebenar caranya, tidaklah kita dapat memastikannya. Ia sebagaimana isyarat wifi atau gelombang radio yang dapat berhubung dengan kita walaupun berada jauh daripada kita.

Apakah yang Iblis bisikkan kepada Adam dan Hawa? ‘Makanlah dari pohon itu.’ Allah telah menegaskan, jangan hampiri pohon itu. Tidak pula Allah berkata, jangan makan daripadanya. Walaupun itulah yang sebenarnya larangan terhadap mereka berdua. Allah berfirman secara jelas, “Jangan hampiri pohon ini.” Iblis membisikkan untuk pergi secara dekat dan semakin dekat.

Tidaklah Iblis terus bisikkan melakukan perkara haram. Dia tahu kalau dia buat begitu, mereka akan menolaknya. Sebab itulah Iblis akan bisikkan dan menolak mereka secara perlahan untuk menghampirinya. Tidaklah disuruh terus melakukan perkara haram itu, tetapi hanya langkah-langkah kecil ke arahnya. Sebab itulah manusia ada berkata: “Saya tak buat perkara haram pun, saya tengok saja, tak salah kan?” Dan dengan kata-kata itu, maka Iblis telah membawa kita sangat hampir dengan kehancuran.

Sebab itulah, agak sukar untuk menjawab atau mengeluarkan fatwa untuk sesetengah persoalan bagi sesuatu perbuatan itu kerana perbuatan itu masih belum jelas haram. Namun ia sedang menuju ke arah haram.

Di sinilah terserlahnya kebijaksanaan Iblis. Dia akan membisikkan langkah-langkah ke arah haram. Manusia pula menjadi imun kepada bisikan Iblis kerana kebanyakan manusia tidak sedar akan cara permainan Iblis ini. Ini adalah antara tipu helah Iblis yang menjerumuskan manusia ke arah perkara haram. Ia bermula hanya dengan perkara-perkara kecil sahaja. Tetapi perkara kecil inilah yang amat berbahaya sekali.

Was-wasa bukan sahaja bermaksud ‘bisikan’ kerana jika bisikan biasa ia adalah hamasa. Was-wasa adalah berbisik kemudian hilang. Kemudian ia muncul kembali berbisik, dan hilang. Kenapakah ini penting? Kerana apabila ia hilang, kita fikirkan ia bukan berasal daripada syaitan, tetapi datang daripada kita sendiri. Kita lihat sekeliling kita, memang tiada sesiapa kecuali diri sendiri. Maka, kira sangka sudah tentulah ia datang daripada fikiran kita. Tidak. Ia adalah bisikan syaitan. Cuma dia tidak lagi ada di situ untuk kita menyalahkannya.

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