And
The Shameful Parts of Man were Disclosed
The question is why are we offended
when our private parts are disclosed? The private parts are the organs of
excretion. We are careful to uncover the parts through which we take in food,
i.e. the mouth, but at the same time we are very careful to hide the parts
through which excrement comes out.
In an attempt to explain this some scholars said: the
private parts remind us of disobeying Allah, because when disobedience occurred
the private parts appeared. Therefore, we want to cover them because they are a
symbol of sin, for sin is a shame that man ever tries to hide and feel shame
of, and take pains not to be seen by people. When man has lawful money, he
brings it out in front of all people, and fear nothing, but when he has stolen,
ill-gotten money he tries to hide it from the whole world. Sin in all its
states is a shame that people are careful to hide and conceal.
But how did Satan tempt Adam and Eve?
How did he make them fall into sin?
Read the glorious Ayah relating what
means:
“He said, ‘Your Lord
did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the
immortal.’” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 20)
Satan sneaked to them from the side of
what the human soul craves and desires: an eternal life, endless and
everlasting, and an eternal kingdom that never decays. Therefore, when Satan
wanted to tempt Adam and Eve into eating from the tree, he said to Adam as the
Noble Qur’an relates to us (what means):
“Then Satan
whispered to him; he said, ‘O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and
possession that will not deteriorate?’” (Tâ-Hâ, 20: 120)
Satan is a liar in what he said. Had it
truly been the Tree of Eternity, Satan himself would have eaten from it and
become immortal. But he asked Allah to keep him alive till the Day of Judgment,
for he knew for sure that Allah is the Originator of life, He Alone can keep it
or take it.
Here we have to warn against Satan’s
art in temptation, he strives to lead man to the misbelief that the Law of
Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, harms him and profits him not; that true
benefit is in sin. Therefore, Satan said to Adam and Eve that Allah has
forbidden them to eat from this tree to prevent them from having an eternal
kingdom and an eternal life, for man hates poverty and death. He wants to live forever. Hence, Satan
came to them saying, “If you want eternity and sovereignty, you have this tree
before you.” He swore to them by Allah as relates the Noble Qur’an saying (what
means):
“And he swore [by
Allah] to them, ‘Indeed, I am to you from among the sincere advisors.’”
(Al-A‘râf, 7: 21)
Satan swore by Allah that he only
wished to give them sincere advice, and they believed the satanic oath. They
believed that Satan wished them goodness. Therefore, Allah, all praise and
glory is to Him, reproached Adam and Eve for believing the Devil’s oath, though
Allah, be ever gloried His Majesty and Might, has clearly shown to them that
Satan is their enemy who never wishes for them any goodness as relates the
Ayah, saying (what means):
“And their Lord
called to them, ‘Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you that Satan is
to you a clear enemy?’” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 22)
But Adam and Eve who both felt deep regret, never imagined
that one of the creatures of Allah would falsely swear by Allah. Therefore,
Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The believer can be deceived by
swearing by Allah.” Meaning if you approached a believer in the Name of Allah
you could easily deceive him.
‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar used to manumit the
slaves who performed the prayers well, thus whenever the slaves saw him they
would start offering the prayers with solemnity and submissiveness. So, people
said to ‘Abdullah, “The salves deceive you to manumit them.” ‘Abdullah bin
‘Umar replied, “Whoever deceives us in the Name of Allah we would be deceived
for him.”
The Truth, all praise and glory is to
Him, says (what means):
“So he made them
fall, through deception. And when they tasted of the tree, their private parts
became apparent to them, and they began to fasten together over themselves from
the leaves of paradise.” (Al-A‘râf, 7: 22)
Here we must stop and deliberate, none
should think that Satan led Adam and Eve into error at one time, but it was
preceded by a number of stages. Satan first deceived them to make them draw
near the tree, then he adorned in their eyes the beauty of its fruits, their
sweetness, their pleasant color and fragrance. Then he lured them into eating!
Thus, sin occurred in stages and not at a blow. The Messenger of Allah (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace) says, “Temptations
will be presented to hearts as reed mat (is woven) stick by stick.” Consequently, we must be attentive to the fact that drawing
near sin definitely causes us to fall into it.
Then what happened? Did Adam and Eve
repeat the sin and they ate time and again from the tree? Allah, Blessed and
Exalted is He, says, “And when they tasted of the tree”, meaning as soon as
they tasted it. There was not persistence in repeating the act of disobedience
on their part. Right after tasting the tree the private parts appeared, so they
hurried to hide them by leaves of the garden. This means that they needed more
than one leaf to hide the private parts.
This shows us the Justice of Allah, all
praise and glory is to Him, Who first warned them against violation, and
informed them about reward and punishment, so that punishment is then justly
earned and deserved. That is why there is no retroactive laws in the Divine
Legislation. In Divine Justice there is no incrimination without a proviso, and
the proviso was forbidding Adam and Eve to draw near this tree and that Satan
was an enemy to them. The interrogative Saying of Allah, “Did I not forbid you
from that tree,” signifies that there is only one answer, “ Yes O Lord, You did
forbid us.”
The aim from this practical trial was
that Allah, all praise and glory is to Him, protects Adam, Eve and their
offspring from Satan, and make them learn well that he is a liar in all his
promises. That he wishes for them evil even if he pretended to be a
well-wisher. And that the mission of
Satan is to use all his wiles to entice Adam and his offspring into sin and
cause them to fall into what Allah has forbidden.
But has the battle ended? It did not…it
continued and would continue till the Last Hour.
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