TWELVE The Story of Humans Part 6 – Devils Temptations But Satan caused them both to stumble therein, and thus brought about the loss of their erstwhile state. And so We said: Down with you, [and be henceforth] enemies unto one another; and on earth you shall have your abode and your livelihood for a while! (Quran 2:36) Life in the heavens must have been blissful but for two people in the vast heavenly space and life must have been slightly dull. How much could they eat and drink? How much fun could they have? I am sure this is how some of our minds would think! Surely they needed something more. Heaven is not and can never be a dull place. If earth is exciting and makes you and I love it so much that we fight tooth and nail to remain on this earth and enjoy as much of the earth’s bounties as possible what would the heaven be like? Once you are there you would never want to leave. It is not full of earth like excitement, fun and joy but it is eternally and perpetually joyous and pleasurable. Every pleasure on this earth ends but pleasure in the heavens never end! Adam and Eve were not bored at all but their minds were playing tricks with them. Iblis had taken his chance, he has already whispered in the minds of Adam and Eve about the possibilities of eternal pleasures of heavens but it would only be possible if they ate the fruit of that tree. He whispered in their ears that God did not want them to stay in the heaven forever so he has prohibited them from eating that tree’s fruit. The Devil convinced them that the fruit of that tree was what would determine their permanency in the heavens. That was his daily whisper. He was extremely tempting. He was powerfully persuasive and he was able to win the trust and confidence of Adam and Eve. Eventually they succumbed to his temptation and were both mislead. Please note that it was not Eve that the Devil used to reach Adam. It was not Eve who misguided Adam either! God is very clear in the Qur’an that it was both of them that defied God. They were both responsible for falling prey of the Devil and they were both stripped of their heavenly status. They were evicted from the heavens and send on this earth. They were placed in the middle of the earth at two ends. They did not know each other’s whereabouts. Imagine that, you loosing your only companion in life and being punished by being thrown in the deepest wilderness possible! I could just imagine that the earth must have been thick with vegetation, mountains, lakes, rivers and seas, bustling with all sorts of animals including the wild and extremely dangerous ones. There were no roads or transportations. God has made the earth ready for the first two human beings to start their life. It must have had vegetables and fruit in abundance for Adam and Eve to be able to survive though separately. But they would have found it treacherous if they tried to move around and look for each other. They were not only punished through eviction but they were also punished by being separated. The extreme fear and loneliness that must have dominated their minds, I can only imagine how that must have felt! They must have felt so regretful for their mistake and constantly seeking Gods forgiveness. If you were thrown in the middle of an unknown place with not a single soul near you, while you are surrounded by animals of all shapes and sizes, you would certainly be terrified. Especially if you have had such a fantastic start to life living in the heavens! I would be begging God to forgive me and take me back to the life of heaven. I would be promising God never to repeat such a mistake again. I would have cries my eyes out showing genuine remorse for being so stupid and falling for the whispers of the Devil! I am sure Adam and Eve were doing exactly that in their respective locations and in desperation for God’s Grace. Devil’s first victory must have been extremely pleasurable to him. He was thrown out of the heaven and told that he had become the rejected one only because he refused to prostrate in front of Adam. He must have been seething with rage and envy to see Adam and Eve take up their heavenly positions. He must have schemed every moment for a way to trap Adam and Eve. He was waiting in ambush for any opportunity to strike. He wanted revenge! Eventually his persistence paid off and since his disgraceful rejection this was his first victim. In fact this was his first test case for the rest of the human race. He knew exactly what to use to tempt human beings away from the path of God. It was simple – promise them eternal happiness on this earth and they would forsake the hereafter. Give them the promise of eternal youth they would abandon God’s path. Give them the promise of unending joy and they would forget the heavenly rewards. What a feeble human we are! If I look around me now, the Devils handiwork is so visible. Humanity is running away from God following their whims and desires, building their imaginary pleasure palaces and trying to push the boundaries around them for a bit more thrill and excitement. Humanity is being led by the Devil to the fit of hell and human beings are in total delusion! Human beings have forgotten that nothing would remain permanent including our life, strength, youthfulness, heath, wealth and even the loved ones! We will all die, and like God promised Adam and Eve that their eviction from the heaven was only for a while and their residence on this earth would also be for an appointed time. Once the time on this earth was over and death overtook us we will be returned to God for the final test. Adam passed the first test of knowledge but how much of that knowledge come to use would be the final test. The capacity to think independently is a unique gift only given to human beings but with that came huge responsibility to know right from wrong. Human intelligence came with a huge price tag – remaining conscious of God and being conscientious in leading a decent life. The Day of Judgment would be the final test of human beings use of their intellect. The deception of the Devil is huge and our delusion could equally be titanic. Adam was given the earth as a trust, human beings were the rightful heir of this earth but the earth was only a stepping stone for reuniting where Adam and Eve began the human journey, it would be our ultimate destination and the natural abode – God would return us to the heavens! To get to heaven again, Adam needs to be forgiven and redeemed. What did he do for his redemption? To be continued…
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 22:51:13 +0000
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