“And He taught Adam the names — all of them.” | Ramadan Reflections, Day 1
When God said to the angels that he is going to place humans on earth and grant them authority, the angels asked
Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we exalt You with praise and declare Your perfection?
The next few verses captures the exchange between Allah and the angels
And He taught Adam the names — all of them. Then He presented them to the angels and said, “Tell Me the names of these, if what you say is true?”
They (angels) said: “Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what you have taught us. Verily, it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise.”
Then Allah said to Adam: “Tell them the names of these things.” And when he had told of their names
And [remember] when We said to the angels, “Prostrate before Adam”; so they prostrated, except for Iblees.1 He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.
Let’s visualize the exchange in this manner:
Angels: Are you going to place beings who will create mischief & blood shed
Allah: Tell me the names of these, if what you say is true
Angels: We have no knowledge except what you have taught us. You’re the most wise.
Allah: Prostrate before Adam
We know for a fact that humans have caused lot of mischief & bloodshed just as the angels feared. Why would God first teach Adam the names and then present him before Angels demonstrating Adam’s capability? If those names were taught to angels, wouldn’t they have done an equally good job at the test that God put them through? And what does the knowledge of names have to do with the angels’ objection?
If you have been around kids for a while, you’ll witness them naming things based on what little vocabulary they have built. Here are few such instances:
Humans can name new things from their existing vocabulary. Allah taught Adam the names and using those names Adam can name new things based on their characteristics. For example, you know the color black and you know how a box looks like. If you see a black color object in the shape of a box, you’ll call it a black box. The art of naming things, reducing characteristics / description to a name is unique to humans. But it is no deterrent to causing mischief & blood shed. On the contrary, Humans have (ab)used this very intelligence to create dangerous weapons like Nuclear & Hydrogen bomb with potential to wipe millions of lives in an instant.
The angels are arguably amazed at human intelligence. They don’t ask anymore questions. They simply submit to God declaring his praise and when God ask them to prostrate to Adam, they readily do so. They presumed humans will create mischief & bloodshed and God is showing that Adam is intelligent, able to acquire new branches of knowledge.
But Iblees (from the Jinns) is outraged. His objection is more towards the nature of Human than his function. According to Iblees fire is superior to clay, so therefore Iblees is superior to Adam and he won’t prostrate to Adam.
At this point, Allah has honoured Man at the expense of the Angels (made from light) and Jinns (made from fire). The honouring is the potential of man to reach great heights in the spiritual domain using the knowledge man can acquire. Humanity wasn’t given a free pass to paradise neither the Devil was condemned to hell fire.
Yet the Devil felt insulted. He told God that given sufficient time, he will lead astray many from humanity perhaps to prove to himself that God had made a mistake by honouring the wrong beings.
The angels meanwhile pray for the salvation of humanity, assisting them to flourish, bringing revelation from God, saving them from dangers by the will of God. We read in the Qur’an:
Those (angels) who bear the Throne (of Allâh) and those around it glorify the praises of their Lord, and believe in Him, and ask forgiveness for those who believe (in the Oneness of Allâh) (saying): “Our Lord! You comprehend all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your Way, and save them from the torment of the blazing Fire!
“Our Lord! And make them enter the ‘Adn (Eden) Paradise (everlasting Gardens) which you have promised them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their offspring! Verily, You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
“And save them from consequences of their sins, and whomsoever You save from (the punishment of) the sins that Day, to him You have surely been Most Merciful.
Our brief stay on earth will determine whether we actualize our potential and reach beyond the ranks of the angels or fall from grace like the devil.
