Commentary _

And now we come to the story of Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) which has been related earlier in Surah Al-Baqarah and Al-A` raf and partly in Surah Hijr and Al-Kahf, and will also appear later in Surah Sad. The link of the story with the preceding verses has been variously explained by the commentators. The most obvious of these explanations is the one which refers to an earlier verse كَذَٰلِكَ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنبَاءِ مَا قَدْ سَبَقَ (Thus We narrate to you certain events of what has passed- 20:99) in which Allah informed the Holy Prophet ﷺ that the stories of the past prophets were revealed to him as evidence and confirmation of his own prophethood and in order that his own followers be warned against committing the sins for which the earlier generations were punished. The first, and in some ways, the most instructive story was that of Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) in which there was a clear warning for the followers of the Holy Prophet ﷺ that Shaitan was an old enemy of mankind who by his flattery and show of sympathy tricked Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) into committing an error for which both he and his wife were expelled from Paradise and the clothes which they wore there were taken away from them. Later their prayer for forgiveness was accepted by Allah and Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) was elevated to the status of prophethood.

وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَىٰ آدَمَ مِن قَبْلُ فَنَسِيَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا (And earlier We had given a directive to 'Adam, then he forgot, and We did not find in him a firm resolve. - 20:115) Here the word 6 has been used in the sense of اَمَرنَا or وَصَّینَا (A1-Bahr ul-Muhit), and the meaning of the verse is that long before the time of the Holy Prophet ﷺ Allah had assigned a particular tree and enjoined upon Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) to shun it and not to eat any yield from it, and that barring this tree and its yields he was free to use the fruits of all the trees and all the other gifts from Allah which were abundantly available in Paradise. And, as will follow, he was also warned that the Shaitan was his enemy against whose wiles he must at all times remain on his guard and that any lapse on his part would land him in serious trouble. But he forgot and was found wanting in resolution. Here two words have been used, namely of نِسیَان (nisyan) which means to forget or to be unmindful, the other word is عَزم (` azm) which means to be resolute in the performance of some task. In order to fully comprehend the meanings of these two words it is well to bear in mind that Sayyidna 'Adam علیہ السلام was one of those prophets who were endowed by Allah with constancy and determination, and that prophets, by virtue of their status are infallible.

The first word suggests that Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) was overtaken by نِسیَان . (forgetting) and since forgetting something is beyond one's control and volition it does not constitute sin. There is a Hadith which says رَفَعَ عَن اُمَّتِی الخَطَأ وَالنِسیَان (My followers will not be held liable for mistakes and unmindfulness). Then there is the general pronouncement in the Qur'an لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّـهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا (Allah does not obligate anyone beyond his capacity - 2:286). At the same time it has to be remembered that there are ways and means which if adopted will prevent people from forgetting things. And since the prophets stand high in the favour of Allah a special responsibility rests upon them to adopt such ways and means to avoid even mistakes and refrain even from forgetting something, therefore, they may well be held liable for not using the means which were available to them in order to avoid forgetfulness. The well known Sufi Junaid Al-Baghdadi (رح) has expressed this idea in the following words: حَسَنَات الابرار سَیَّٔات اَلمُقَرّبِین (The good deeds of ordinary virtuous men are often regarded as sinful and evil when performed by those who stand high in Allah's favour).

The episode under reference occurred before Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) was granted prophethood and according to some Sunni Scholars sins committed in the prior period do not militate against the concept of the prophet's immunity from sin. Also it was a case of forgetfulness which cannot be considered as a sin, but in view of the high position of Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) as a prophet of Allah this too was regarded as a lapse for which he was admonished and as a warning to him his lapse was described as عِصیَان ; as (Disobedience).

The second word is عَزم ` azm (firm resolve) and the same verse says that Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) was found wanting in عَزم ` azm. As a matter of fact he was fully determined to comply with the commands of Allah but the intrigues of Shaitan weakened his resolve and unmindfulness made him lose his grip on it.