The Fall of Satan and the Rise of Adam

The Fall of Satan and the Rise of Adam - Nouman Ali Khan - Gulf Tour 2015

Opening Prayer and Introduction

"All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds, and blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah."

"O Allah, make us among those who believe, do righteous deeds, and advise each other to truth and advise each other to patience."

"O Allah, make us firm at the time of death with the declaration that there is no god but Allah."

"My Lord, expand for me my breast [with assurance] And ease for me my task And untie the knot from my tongue That they may understand my saying."

I'm extremely excited to be here and I would like to thank not only IMA but the entire administration of this masjid and Awqaf itself for opening this opportunity for myself and for all of you. I pray that Allah makes this a beneficial evening and I pray that I'm able to communicate to you what I strongly feel needs to be communicated to you.

The Eternal Relevance of the Quran

I am trying my best to try to address subject matter in these lectures as I travel that I have not addressed before that I think is very important for Muslims to hear. We believe that the book of Allah has solutions for all times. This is not a book of stories. This is a book of guidance that will last forever and ever. When Allah talks about something that happened a long time ago, it is not only information about history. It is actually something that we can use right now. It is something that not only we can use but we desperately need right now.

The Promise of Paradise

"And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims."

"And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens beneath which rivers flow."

Give congratulations to those who believe - Muslims, give them congratulations. Those who do the few good things. Let's start with that. Allah is not asking us to do a lot of things. He's asking us to do only a few things. That's captured in the word of salihat.

تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ - That they are going to have gardens at the bottoms of which rivers are going to flow. This is the promise of Allah to every single Muslim. Please understand, in these ayat Allah speaks to the Muslims. He commands the Prophet to give Muslims good news. أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ - They have it. They have Jannah.

Three Things About Paradise

Here's what you have to remember about Jannah:

1. Fruits: (كُلَّمَا رُزِقُوا مِنْهَا مِنْ ثَمَرَةٍ - kullama ruziqu minha min thamarah) - There is any kind of fruit you want, you're going to get in Jannah

2. Marriage: (وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةُ - wa lahum fiha azwajun mutahharatun) - They're going to have wonderful spouses, marriage

3. Eternal Life: (وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ - wa hum fiha khalidun) - They will live there forever

Allah's Teaching Method Through Examples

"Indeed, Allah is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it."

Allah is not embarrassed to give you any kind of example. Even if He gives you the example of a mosquito, He will give it to you. Why? A teacher's job is to explain something. Sometimes to explain something you need a big example and sometimes you need a small example. The purpose is to make you understand. Allah is the best of all teachers - (وَاللَّهُ يُعَلِّمْكُمْ)

But for some people, when they hear the example, they criticize : (مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَذَا مَثَلًا) - What kind of example is this?

The Great Philosophical Question

Today we have a very difficult challenge in this lecture. We are going to try to tackle one of the most difficult problems human beings have ever had. The number one problem in philosophy - not only philosophy in the west, but also philosophy everywhere. There is one question that so many human beings have had for so long that it confuses them:

If Allah knows everything, why is it my fault? Allah already knows if I'm going to do good or I'm going to do bad. So how come it's my fault?

The story of Adam answers that question. The story of Adam has the Quran's answer to that question. And that's what we're going to try to understand tonight.

The Biblical vs. Quranic Account

The Christian belief is that human beings were put on this earth as a punishment. The Biblical version blames our mother. Actually that's where they get the word "evil" from - from Eve they derived the word "evil" because they say the first evil was done by Eve.

This is actually not in the Quran. The Quran actually says the exact opposite. Who was the evil one? Iblis. Shaytan was the evil one. And when Allah says he made the mistake, Allah does not say that Adam was okay and it was our mother who made the mistake. No, he says He made both of them slip. Allah puts responsibility on both of them, not one of them. This is very important.

The Divine Announcement

"And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority."

Allah says to the angels that I am going to make someone who will live generation after generation on the earth. This is one of the meanings of the word خليفة. Some people will come, then some other people will come, and some other people will come.

Notice something very important: Allah said (إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً). He did not say (إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ خَلِيفَة). Allah did not create Adam for Jannah. He created Adam for the earth.

You cannot have Jannah until you go through the earth. You were supposed to go on the earth. The earth is part of the plan. The earth is not a punishment.

The Angels' Question

"They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?"

They said: "Are you going to put someone in it that is going to make a lot of corruption in the earth?" The angels are making this assumption because there's already someone on the earth who makes a lot of corruption - the jinn who were there before.

The Parable of the Vice President

I'm going to give you an example. There is a person who works in a company as a security guard. He works really hard and gets promoted repeatedly over 30-40 years until he becomes the vice president. Then one day, the president walks in with a 15-year-old boy and says: "This 15-year-old boy is our new vice president. Go get him some chai."

The vice president would say: "You can't do that to me! Who is he? What qualifications does he have? Look at my experience versus his experience!"

This is exactly the complaint of Iblis. He served Allah, got promoted even above the angels, and then this thing made from dirt gets the promotion. Iblis says: "That's not fair!" The complaint of Iblis is logical - we will solve that problem later, but first you need to know that the complaint of Iblis is understandable.

The Sri Lanka Example

Now imagine you work in a company in Kuwait and they decide to transfer you to Sri Lanka. But they don't tell you - they email the whole department except you. One day you come five minutes late and your boss says: "This is unacceptable, I am transferring you to Sri Lanka."

But wait - the plan was always to send you to Sri Lanka! You say: "You already decided. You're not sending me because I made a mistake. You're sending me because that was your plan."

This is Adam's situation. Allah told the angels: (إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً) - I am going to send him to earth. But Adam didn't begin his life on earth - he began in Jannah. Then Iblis comes to him and gives him two options from Surah Al-A'raf:

"The only people who get to stay in Jannah are either angels or permanent residents (khalideen). The only way to get permanent residence is to eat from the tree."

The Comparison Between Adam and Iblis

Let's compare the two of them:

Similarities:

• Adam was given a promotion - even the angels had to do sajdah

• Iblis was also given a promotion - even above the ranks of angels

• Adam was honored by Allah

• Iblis was also honored by Allah

• Adam disobeyed Allah

• Iblis disobeyed Allah

The Critical Difference:

• Iblis makes the complaint : (خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ) (Quran 7:12)

• Adam does not complain - he says it was his fault, even if it doesn't make sense to his limited logic

When people want to blame Allah, they don't want to take responsibility and they will be like Iblis. When people take personal responsibility, they will be like Adam.

The Different Outcomes

Adam was sent down, and Iblis was sent down (أَخْرِجَ مِنْهَا). But there's a difference:

Adam was sent down not as a punishment, not as a humiliation. When Allah sent him down, He says: (فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّي هُدًى فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ) (Quran 2:38)

Allah did not send you on the earth as a punishment. He wants you to enjoy a good life here: (وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُم فِيهَا مَعَايش)

Allah says: (وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ) (Quran 17:70) - We gave nobility, we gave respect to the children of Adam. Did Allah give Iblis respect? No. So Iblis came down through disrespect - he is humiliated. But Adam came down and he is still honored.

The Problem of Destiny and Responsibility

When we say "It's not my fault, Allah already knew what was going to happen," let me tell you something: If I walk over to you right now and slap you, will you get angry? If somebody gets into a car accident with you on purpose and hits your car, do you get angry? And then they get out and say: "No, no, no, that was the qadar of Allah."

You want him to be responsible, but when you make a mistake, you say it's not your fault. If you want other people to be held responsible, then you have to hold yourself responsible.

The entire problem of destiny is one problem: the problem of responsibility. People are hiding behind the excuse that it's not their fault.

The Example of Musa

Musa punched someone and they died. (فَوَكَزَهُ مُوسَىٰ فَقَضَىٰ عَلَيْهِ) (Quran 28:15) As soon as he punched someone and he died, Musa said: (هذَا مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَان) (Quran 28:15) - this is from the work of Shaytan.

But who punched him? Musa punched him. So why is he saying it was Shaytan's work? In the next ayah, he takes responsibility: (قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي) (Quran 28:16) - "I wronged myself, I made a mistake."

Some people like to blame Shaytan, some people like to blame Allah. The only person they don't blame is themselves.

The Angels' Question vs. Allah's Response

When Allah said he's going to make a khalifa on the earth, what did the angels say?

(وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ) - "We already do tasbih of you, we do taqdis for you. Are you really going to put someone there who will make corruption and spill blood?"

Did the angels question the decision? Yes. But angels never disobey Allah: (لَّا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ) (Quran 66:6).

We learn that when you ask questions about what Allah says and you are respectful, there is a difference between a respectful way to ask a question and an arrogant way. When you ask questions respectfully, that is not disobedience to Allah. Even Allah can be asked a question.

Allah's response: (إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ) (Quran 2:30) - "I know what you don't know."

Allah's Proof: Teaching Adam the Names

(وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا) (Quran 2:31)

Allah taught Adam names of everything - all kinds of names. When He says (الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا) He's talking about mountains and trees and oceans and rivers and fish and horses. He taught him names of all the things that he will see on the Earth.

To this day, everything you study - whether medicine, accounting, engineering - has its own vocabulary. All of that terminology came from previous science, which came from previous science, and the beginning of all terminology is what Allah gave to Adam. Every single science you are learning is a child of what was given to Adam.

The Test of Knowledge

Then Allah brings Adam before the angels: "Now you tell me the names of these things." The angels say:

"You are too perfect, we have no knowledge at all except what You taught us."

Human beings know something angels don't even know. This is something Allah gave exclusively to Adam and his children.

The Deeper Meaning

What was the complaint of the angels? "He will be corrupt, he will spill blood, he will kill." And Allah says: "Do you know the names of these things?" They say no. "There is your answer."

How does that answer the question? Allah is letting the angels know that He knows the potential of human beings. Human beings have amazing potential :

- the best of all creation.

- Allah tried to give the amanah (responsibility), but no creation of Allah could hold the responsibility. But Allah gave the responsibility to human beings to take care of the earth.

The Balanced Nation

So far in history, if you look at Egyptian, Babylonian, Jewish, Roman, or Mongolian history, did we do corruption? Did we spill blood? We did. So far we have failed. But Allah knows something we don't know.

That is how He made you - the balanced nation, the middle nation. We, the Muslims, are supposed to prove to the angels that Allah was right. Allah knows there will be this one Ummah that will be شهَدَاءَ عَلَى الناس - witnesses unto all of humanity.

They will be the perfect balance between deen and dunya, between men and women, between the spiritual and the material. These people are going to be the ultimate example of balance, and that's going to be us, the Muslims, because we have the most balanced book ever given - the Quran.

Our Responsibility

The story of Adam is actually talking about us. We have a right to ask questions so we understand better, because when we understand better, we learn to take responsibility. It is the turn of this Ummah to take responsibility.

Every one of you - whether you work on the street, are taxi drivers, work in restaurants, are day laborers and cleaners - all of you have a responsibility. Not just the wealthy. Every human being Allah gave responsibility without any exceptions. And Allah honored every single one of us.

The Parallel Structure

Remember the three things about Jannah? Adam used to be in Jannah at the beginning. We will live in Jannah forever. Adam was told to live in Jannah temporarily. The first experience of Jannah was temporary. The next experience will be permanent.

Adam's experience:

1. Living (temporary in Jannah)
2. Marriage (with his wife)
3. Any fruit except one tree

Our future experience:

1. Any fruit we want
2. Marriage
3. Living there forever

When we go back to Jannah, it will actually be better than Adam's experience, because Allah will not say "Don't go near this tree" - any fruit, eat it, enjoy yourself.

Taking Responsibility: Step One

How do we take responsibility? I'm not going to tell you 100 steps, just one step. When the messenger became a messenger at age 40, he started doing dawah. But was he living in Mecca before then? Yes. Did people know him? What did they call him? As-Sadiq and Al-Amin.

For 40 years, the only thing they knew was As-Sadiq and Al-Amin. They knew that the most responsible person in their entire city was Muhammad (before they called him Rasulullah).

Your Step 1:

We have to show the character of Rasulullah - As-Sadiq and Al-Amin - to the entire world. So when they think of Muslims, they think of someone honest and trustworthy.

Right now it is so bad we can't even trust each other. We lie and cheat in business, families, inheritance, jobs, tax forms - every chance we get. How are we going to earn Sadiq and Amin for the entire world when we don't even think each other are Sadiq and Amin?

The Reality Check

So many of your co-workers are Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, or maybe even Atheist or Agnostic. The only Islam they know is you. You are Islam to them. You are the ambassador of Rasulullah to them.

When you tell your co-worker "I'll be there in 5 minutes" and you haven't even left home yet, and they call asking where you are, and you say "Oh I'm on the way" - you're not on the way, you haven't even brushed your teeth. Be honest in these little things. If we cannot be honest in little things, then definitely we cannot be honest in big things.

Closing Prayer

May Allah raise the status of the Muslims to where it's supposed to be. May Allah make you and your children, your families, examples of Sidq and Amanah for the entire world to see. May Allah bless the Muslims of Kuwait, put Barakah in every ounce of your Rizq, and keep you away from Fitnah and Haram. May Allah increase the love of the Muslims towards each other in this nation and may they emulate the beautiful character of our messenger.

Questions and Answers Session

Question on the France Incident (Charlie Hebdo)

There are two kinds of people who make fun of Islam:

1. People who will hate Islam no matter what - the children of Abu Lahab
2. People who know nothing about Islam - they assume Muslims are crazy because Islam made them crazy

The difference between enemies today and at the time of Rasulullah: At the Prophet's time, enemies opposed him because he challenged corruption and stood for justice. Today, Muslims have enemies for political, economic, and social reasons, but not because we are champions of justice.

How to respond:

• Every single day when Adhan is recited, billions say "Peace be upon him"
• Allah and His angels send salawat upon the Prophet
• When one person makes fun, it takes nothing away from the dignity of Rasulullah
• Don't give them attention - when you protest, you give them publicity and help them make money
• Instead, take them to court, sue them for defamation
• React intelligently, collectively, and sophisticatedly

Question on Islam in the West

Islam has amazing prospects in the West. When anti-Islam rallies happen, even Americans think the anti- Islam people look crazy, showing their intolerance. Amazing people are rising to the occasion. Non- Muslims are defending Muslims' rights.

This is actually an opportunity to raise awareness about Islam if we can take advantage of it and open conversations with our non-Muslim friends and neighbors.

Final Clarification on Pride and Humility

Pride is a feature that Allah put in Iblis, but also in human beings:

We have the opportunity for both pride and humility. We are supposed to find the balance between both.

On one end is pride, on the other is humility, and in the middle is confidence. We need confidence to function, but too much becomes arrogance, and too little becomes weakness. The responsibility is to balance these two sides.

On Trials and Tests

When something bad happens to you, it's not because you're a bad person. It happens because it is a test from Allah. Sometimes it might be punishment, but you will never know. We cannot judge why certain events happen - sometimes only Allah knows. Allah will test you with good and with harmful things. We have to find balance and have true reliance on Him.