وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً

قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَنْ يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنْبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنْبِئْهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ

فَلَمَّا أَنْبَأَهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ

"And when your Lord said to the angels, "I am going to create a deputy on the earth!" They said, 'Will You create there one who will spread disorder on the earth and cause bloodsheds while we, along with your praises, proclaim Your purity and sanctify Your name?" He said, "Certainly, I know what you do not know." And He taught Adam the names, all of them; then presented them before the angels, and said, 'Tell me their names, if you are right." They said, 'To You belongs all purity! We have no knowledge except what You have given us. Surely, You alone are the all-knowing, all-wise!' He said, "O Adam, tell them the names of all these!' When he told them their names, Allah said, "Did I not tell you' that I know the secrets of the skies and of the earth, and that I know what you disclose and what you have been concealing." [2: 30-33]

The preceding verses recounted the general and some of the particular blessings of Allah, and asked man to recognize them and not to be ungrateful and disobedient to his Benefactor. Now, ten verses, beginning with the 30th, tell the story of the father of mankind, Adam (عليه السلام), in continuation of this theme and also by way of illustration. For, blessings are of two kinds - tangible and intangible. Food, water, money, houses, or lands are some of the tangible blessings; while honour, happiness or knowledge are intangible ones. The earlier verses were concerned with blessings of the first kind; these verses speak of those of the second kind - that is to say, how Allah bestowed the gift of knowledge on Adam (عليه السلام), made the angels prostrate themselves before him to show their respect, and gave men the honour of being his sons.

The creation of Adam (عليه السلام)

The present three verses relate how Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), having decided to create Adam (عليه السلام) and to make him His deputy on the earth, spoke of it to the angels - seemingly by way of a trial, suggesting that they should
express their opinions in this matter. The angels submitted that they could not understand why men were being chosen to be'the deputies, for some of them would shed blood and spread disorder on this earth. They thought that they themselves were more suited to perform this function, as the nature of angels is wholly good, no evil deed can possibly come out of them, they are totally obedient to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), and should hence be more capable of managing the affairs of the world. In replying to them, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) first adopted the mode of authority, and told the angels that they knew nothing about the nature and the needs of deputation on the earth, and that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) alone was the one to know it fully. The second answer was in the mode of wisdom - Adam (عليه السلام) had been given preference over the angels on account of his superiority in the station of knowledge, because in order to function properly as a deputy on the earth one must know the names, the properties and the characteristics of the things to be found there, and the angels had no aptitude for this kind of knowledge.

(1) A question arises here as to why Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)chose to speak of His decision to the angels. Was it merely to inform them? Was it to seek their advice? Or, was it to make them express their opinion on the subject?

Why Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) discussed Adam's (عليه السلام) creation with angels?

As for seeking advice, it is obvious enough that one turns for advice to wise and trustworthy people only when one cannot see all the aspects of a problem clearly, and does not want to depend on one's own knowledge and understanding alone, or when the rights of others are equal to one's own, and they too have to be consulted, as happens in the counsels of the world. Evidently, neither of the two situations obtain in the present case. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is the creator of the universe, and knows everything about the smallest particle of dust; He sees and hears everything, apparent or hidden. How can He stand in need of anyone's advice? Similarly, He does not run the universe under the parliamentary system, in which all have equal rights and everyone has to be consulted directly or indirectly. He is the Lord and Master, and all His creatures, be they men or angels, are His slaves - no one has the right to question Him about His actions, and to ask Him why He did this or why He did not do that: "He cannot be questioned as to what He does, while they are to be questioned." (21:23)

In fact, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) did not mean to seek the advice of the angels, nor was there any need for it, but He, in His wisdom, gave a mere statement the form of a consultation in order to teach men the advisability of mutual consultation. After all, the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) was a messenger of Allah, and all the information he needed in dealing with the affairs of the world could have been conveyed to him by means of revelation, and yet the Holy Qur'an asks him to seek the advice of his Companions (رضي الله معهم), so that the Islamic community should learn this lesson from him and the way of mutual consultation should be established through him. In short, this is the first raison d'etre of the mode of expression adopted by Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). (Ruh al-Bayan)

The other has been suggested by the Holy Qur'an itself. Before the appearance of man, the angels had taken it for granted that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) would not create a being who should be superior to them and greater in knowledge - as has been reported in a narration coming down from the blessed Companion Ibn 'Abbas (رضي الله عنهما) and cited by Ibn Jarir (رحمه الله) his commentary. But Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) knew that He would create a being who would be superior to all other creatures and greater than them in knowledge, and who would receive the gift of divine viceregency. So, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) mentioned this in the assembly of the angels so that they may disclose what they had been thinking. Speaking according to their own lights, they very humbly submitted that a creature like man who carried within himself a tendency towards evil and disorder and who would not balk even at blood-shed, could not be expected to maintain peace and order on the earth, while they themselves, being free of all evil, and perfect in their obedience and devotion, could perform the function more satisfactorily.

They did not mean to raise an objection to the choice which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) had made, for angels are innocent of such sentiments; they were only being curious, and wanted to know the raison d'etre of such a choice.

To begin with, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) gave them a very brief reply - "I know what you do not know", implying that they are not aware of the nature and the requirements of divine viceregency, which had led them to suppose that only pure and innocent beings could fulfil the conditions necessary for such a responsible position.

Then, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) demonstrated the truth to them in a vivid form. He gave to Adam (عليه السلام) a kind of knowledge for which he alone had been endowed with the proper aptitude, and not the angels. That is to say, He taught him the names, the properties and qualities of all the existents, animate or inanimate. Angelic nature is not capable of such awareness - for example, an angel cannot really experience the pain of hunger and thirst, the tumult of passions, the torment from the bite of a scorpion or a snake, or the exhilaration from an intoxicant. Only Adam (عليه السلام) had the capacity to learn such things, and he was taught to know them. Then, there is no indication in the Holy Qur'an to show that he was taught in privacy, apart from the angels. It may well be that the teaching in itself was open to the angels as well as to him; his nature allowed him to receive it, and he learnt the lesson, while, they were impeded by their own proper nature, and could not.

Or, it may be that the teaching did not take an external form at all, but that the Adamic nature was made to carry this particular kind of knowledge within itself without the need of a formal education, just as an infant does not have to be taught how to suck the mother's milk, or a duckling how to swim.

As to the question why Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), being omnipotent, did not change the nature of the angels and make them learn these things, we shall say that the question, in fact, boils down to this: Why did not Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) change the angels into men? For, if their nature had been altered, they would no longer have remained angels, but become men.

In short, through this demonstration Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) made the angels (عليهم السلام) realize how wrong they were in supposing that He would not create any being superior to them in any way, and that they themselves were more
suitable for being the viceregents of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) than Adam (عليه السلام). Since they failed to name the things which Adam (عليه السلام) could, they came to see that purity and innocence is not the criterion in choosing a deputy or viceregent but the knowledge of the things which are to be found on the earth, of the ways of using them, and of the consequences which would follow from such a use.

We can also infer a general principle from the episode - it is necessary for a ruler to know fully the nature, the temperament and the peculiarities of the people over whom he is to rule, without which he cannot enforce justice and order. If one does not know the pain of being hungry, how can one deal justice to the man who has unjustly been kept hungry?

We may also point out that in expressing their opinion, the angels were neither raising an objection, nor being vain and proud, nor asserting their right; it was, on their part, only a humble submission, and an offer of their services. When they found that there was another being who was, with his special kind of knowledge, more suitable for the function, they as humbly acknowledged the fact and withdrew their earlier opinion in saying: "To You belongs all purity! We have'no knowledge except what You have given us. Surely, You alone are the all-knowing, the all-wise." In the present context, the phrase, "To You belongs all purity" also has the implication that Allah is free from the charge of having withheld from the angels the knowledge which He gave to Adam (عليه السلام), for, being the all-knowing and the all-wise, He gives to each creature the kind and the degree of knowledge and understanding which He, and He alone, knows to be in consonance with the specific nature of that creature.

Another question which may arise out of this episode is: How did the angels come to know that man would shed blood? Did they possess the knowledge of hidden things and of divine secrets? Or, was it a mere conjecture on their part? Most of the authoritative scholars believe, on the basis of certain 'Athaar or reports available about the blessed Companions (رضي الله معهم), that it was Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself who had informed the angels on this occasion as to how man would behave on the earth. (See Ruh al-Ma'ani)). It is only then that they became curious about the raison d'etre of man being chosen as the viceregent in spite of his propensity to evil.

Beside demonstrating the superiority of Adam (عليه السلام) in knowledge, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) dispelled the misgivings of the angels with regard to the evil propensities in man by the short and simple answer, "Certainly, I know what you do not know." There is a subtle suggestion here - what makes man fit for viceregency is just the peculiarity which, in the eyes of the angels, made him unfit for this function. For, a deputy or viceregent is needed on the earth just for the purpose of preventing blood-shed and disorder; if there is no possibility of disorder in a place, where is the need for sending there an administrator? Thus, it was the Divine Will and Wisdom that, just as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) had created beings as innocent and sinless as the angels, or beings as totally evil as Satan and his progeny, or beings like the jinns in whom evil dominated over good, He would also create beings in whom good and evil should be equally mixed, who should try to conquer the evil in themselves and to grow in goodness so as to seek and attain the pleasure of their Creator.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is the creator of the language

(2) This episode, according to Imam al-Ash'ari (رحمه الله), shows that language as such has been created by Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself, and not invented by man - its use by different kinds of men has later on produced the many forms of language.

(3) One should note a subtle suggestion here in the use of twp words. In asking the angels for the names of things, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said, "Tell Me"; but in commanding Adam (عليه السلام) to do so, He said, "Tell them." The difference in the mode of expression shows that Adam (عليه السلام) w as given the rank of a teacher, and the angels that of pupils. It is thus an indication of his superiority over them. Another thing the episode indicates is that an increase or decrease is possible in the degree of knowledge the angels possess, for they were given, through Adam (عليه السلام), at least a primary knowledge about a thing which they did not know before.

Man is the viceregent of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on the earth

(4) These verses tell us that a viceregent was appointed to keep order on the earth and to promulgate divine laws. From here we learn the basic principles for the governance of men on the earth. The ultimate sovereignty in the universe belongs to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself, as is explicitly stated in many verses of the Holy Qur'an: "Judgment belongs to Allah alone" (6:57); "The sovereignty of the skies and the earth belongs to Him alone" (9:116); "Verily, His is the Creation and the Command." (7:54)

But He has, in His wisdom, chosen to send His viceregents to the earth for maintaining spiritual and temporal order. Their function is to announce and promulgate divine commandments, to teach men how to abide by these laws, and sometimes even to exercise temporal power as well as spiritual authority under divine guidance. The appointment is made directly by Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself, and is in no sense a reward for the good deeds or the spiritual effort of the individual concerned. There is a total consensus of all the authentic scholars of the Islamic Ummah on the doctrine that prophethood is not a thing which one can attain through one's personal effort or on the merit of one's good deeds, but that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself, in His supreme knowledge and wisdom, chooses certain individuals for acting as His messengers, prophets and viceregents.

The Holy Qur'an has explicitly declared it in several verses: "Allah chooses His messengers from among the angels and from among men; surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing" (22:75); "Allah knows best whom to entrust with His message" (16:124). These viceregents receive divine commandments directly from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), and then promulgate them in the world. The chain of viceregents began with Adam (عليه السلام) and continued in the same way upto the Holy Prophet Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم).

The Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) was the last Caliph of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on earth

(5) The Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) came to the earth as the last viceregent (Khalifa), the last Messenger (Rasool) and the last prophet (Nabiyy) of Allah, endowed with certain special qualities peculiar to him which he does not share with any other prophet. We may mention some of these characteristics:

(a) Each of the earlier prophets (عليهم السلام) was sent for the guidance of a particular country or people, and his authority was limited to his jurisdiction alone, - for example, Moosa (عليه السلام) and 'Isa (عليه السلام) - (Moses and Jesus Christ) were sent to Bani Isra'eel (the Israelites). But the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) has been sent for the guidance of all the men and all the jinns, and his authority extends to all the members of the two species.

The Holy Qur'an has declared the universality of his prophethood in these words: "Say: O mankind, I am the messenger of Allaah to you all, of Him to whom belongs the sovereignty of the skies and of the earth" (7:158).

A hadeeth of the Saheeh of Muslim reports the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) as having said that he had been made superior to all other prophets (عليهم السلام) in six things. The first of these is, of course, the universality of his prophethood.

(b) Just as the viceregency and prophethood of all the earlier prophets (عليهم السلام) was limited to particular peoples and countries, in the same way it was also limited to specific periods; when the age of one prophet was over, another prophet would come to take his place as the new viceregent. On the contrary, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم) has been sent by Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) as the last of all prophets; his prophethood is not circumscribed within a specific period, but shall last till the end of time.

(c) It has so happened that the teachings and the Shari'ah of each of the earlier prophets (عليهم السلام) would remain intact for a time, but then gradually people would start deviating from them and distorting them till they became unrecognizable; at this stage Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) would send a new prophet with a new Shari'ah. But the Shari'ah of the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) is to remain alive in its integral form upto the end of the universe. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has taken upto Himself the responsibility of protecting the words and the meanings of the Holy Qur'an: "It is We who have sent down the Remembrance (i.e. the Holy Qur'an) and We are its Protector."(15:9)

Similarly, He has made a special provision for the preservation of the Hadeeth which contains the teachings of the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) that is to say, in spite of all the vicissitudes of time there shall remain till the Doomsday a group of people who will preserve these teachings and transmit them accurately to others, and who will receive help and protection from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself. Since Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has ordained the survival of the Holy Qur'an and the Hadeeth, there is obviously no need for a new prophet or messenger or viceregent and no room for a new Shari'ah.

(d) Contrary to the case of all the earlier prophets (عليهم السلام), the prophethood and viceregency of the last of them, Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم), is not limited to a particular period, but is to continue upto the end of time, and those who succeed him for the preservation of spiritual and temporal order in the world, are to be, not the viceregents of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), but the viceregents of the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) and his deputies. A hadith reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim both says: "The Israelites were governed by their prophets. When a prophet died, another would come to take his place. And beware, no prophet is to come after me. Of course, there will be my deputies (Khulafaa') and there will be many of them."

The issue of Caliphate after the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم)

(e) Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has ordained that after the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) his Ummah, or the Islamic community, shall as a body enjoy the privilege which has been that of the Prophets (عليهم السلام). That is to say, the Ummah as a collective body has been declared to be innocent and under the special protection of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself, so that it will never unanimously agree upon a doctrinal error or a deviation, and hence any decision which has been arrived at in religious matters through the consensus of the Ummah is to be regarded as manifestation of Divine Commandment.

That is why the consensus of the Ummah has been accepted as the third source of the Shari'ah, the first two being the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith.

For the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) has himself said, "My Ummah shall never collectively agree upon error." And we have already referred to another hadeeth which tells us that no matter how much the world has changed or how indifferent people have grown to the Truth, there shall always remain in the Islamic Ummah a group of people who will defend and preserve the Truth, and who will finally win.

(6) Since it has been ordained that the Islamic Ummah as a body shall never go wrong, the responsibility of choosing a deputy to the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) has also been entrusted to it. Now, for the governance of the earth the legitimate way is that the Ummah should select a Khalifah who, once chosen, would solely be responsible for the maintenance of spiritual and temporal order. And it is also possible that there should be a single Khalifa for the whole world. The first to succeed the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) as his deputies were the First Four Great Khalifahs (رضي الله معهم), known as al-Khulafaa' ar-Rashidoon (or the rightly-guided ones, commonly translated as the 'Orthodox Caliphs'), and the Khilafaat order functioned according to the proper principles upto the end of their time. So, their decisions are not merely temporary judgments, but have a permanent legislative value, and carry an authority in their own degree, for the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) has said, 'Follow my way steadfastly, and the way of the rightly-guided Khalifahs.'

After the age of the rightly-guided Khalifahs (رضي الله معهم), different rulers appeared in different regions, but none of them can be described as a Khalifah of the whole Islamic community in the proper sense of the term, though they may be called the 'Ameers os of particular regions. When it became practically impossible for all the Muslims of the world to agree upon one man as their Khalifah, and it became customary to have a separate 'Ameer for each region, people accepted the principle that the man who had been chosen or acknowledged by the majority of the Muslims in a country, should be called the 'Ameer of that country.

The basis for this procedure has been provided by the Holy Qur'an itself: "And they conduct their affairs by mutual consultation." (42:38)

The modern legislative assemblies are a form of mutual consultation, with the difference that they are quite free to make whatever laws they like according to their own opinion, while an Islamic legislative assembly, its members and their 'Amir all shall be bound by the law which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has sent us through the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم). There are certain specific conditions for the membership of an Islamic assembly as well as for the choice of an 'Amir.

And, most important of all, laws must be made within the bounds of the basic principles laid down by the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah, the authority of
which the assembly cannot have the right to question. Let me give a brief summary of the whole discussion. The verses which tell us of how Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) informed the angels about his intention to send a viceregent to the earth, provide us with some of the fundamental principles of the governance of man:-

(a) The sovereignty of the skies and of the earth belongs to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) Himself.

(b) The function of promulgating the Commandments of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on the earth is performed by a viceregent who is at the same time a Messenger of Allah and His Prophet.

(c) The chain of such viceregents ends with the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم), for he is the last Messenger and Prophet.

(d) Now the function of viceregency is performed by the deputies of the Holy Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم).

(e) Such a deputy (Khaleefah) is to be chosen by the Ummah or Islamic community.

[Ma'ariful Qur'an]

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 14th January 2011

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