“Do you want to follow Prophet Adam (a.s.) or do you want to follow Iblees?”
This is a question I frequently have to ask my children to mediate a dispute between them or when they have done something wrong.
The oldest story in the world reverberates through the aeons into our daily lives, if only we could recognize it.
We all know what happened between Prophet Adam (a.s.) and Iblees. But do we see the parallels of that situation when it happens before our very eyes?
Both Prophet Adam (a.s.) and Iblees disobeyed Allah swt.
Iblees disobeyed Allah swt when he refused to prostrate to Adam (a.s.) despite being instructed to by Allah swt1.
Prophet Adam (a.s.) disobeyed Allah swt when he approached the tree despite being instructed by Allah swt not to do so2.
Both disobeyed Allah.
But both responded differently.
Prophet Adam (a.s.) immediately recognized his error, repented, and asked Allah swt for forgiveness3.
“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”
And Allah swt forgave him.
Iblees did not ask for forgiveness. He gave excuses. Excuses that were rooted in arrogance or what one might call racism. He thought he was better than Adam (a.s.) because he was made from fire whilst Adam (a.s.) was made from clay4.
Sound familiar?
In our daily lives, my children sometimes get into a tussle and one of them wrongs the other. As grown-ups, we also wrong others and others will wrong us. One of the biggest lessons to learn and to teach our children is the story of Adam (a.s.) and Iblees.
Do we want to be like Iblees and who made excuses instead of apologizing?
“But Mommy, meh meh meh –insert excuse of the day here-“
Or do we want to be like Prophet Adam (a.s.) who recognized his mistake, said sorry and asked for forgiveness?
The Qur’an is not an ornament for decoration. It is a book of instruction and guidance. May Allah swt guide us to learn the lessons contained in it and benefit from it to attain the Ultimate Success. Aameen.
- Surah Al-Hijr (15:30-35)
- Surah Ta-Ha (20:121)
- Surah al-A’raf (7:23)
- Surah al-Hijr (15:33)
