In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The story of our mother Eve.
O Eve.
Take heed.
Allah the Exalted says:
"But Satan caused them to slip out of it."
"And removed them from that [condition] in which they had been."
"And We said, 'Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another.'"
"'And for you on the earth is a place of settlement.'"
"'And enjoyment for a time.'"
“Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful.” (2:37)
"Then He accepted his repentance."
"Indeed, He is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful."
When Allah narrates stories to us in the Noble Qur'an,
He tells us:
“In their history verily there is a lesson for men of understanding. It is no invented story but a confirmation of the existing (Scripture) and a detailed explanation of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for folk who believe.” (12:111)
“In their history verily there is a lesson for men of understanding. It is no invented story but a confirmation of the existing (Scripture) and a detailed explanation of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for folk who believe.” (12:111)
"But [it is] a confirmation of what was before it."
"And a detailed explanation of all things."
"And guidance and mercy for a people who believe."
Thus, we know with certainty that the mention of stories in the Great Qur'an,
its purpose is to draw lessons.
And she who draws lessons from the stories of the Qur'an,
is described as having a sound mind.
And she is walking upon the path of guidance.
And she has mercy from Allah.
The name of the tree.
It is important in studying the story of our mother Eve,
to take lessons from the story,
instead of being preoccupied with knowing [the identity of] the tree.
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Our view regarding this is,"
"that Allah, whose praise is exalted, informed His servants,"
"that Adam and his wife ate from the tree,"
"which their Lord had forbidden them from eating."
"So they committed the sin which He had forbidden them from committing,"
"by eating what they ate from it,"
"after Allah, whose praise is exalted, had clarified to them,"
"the specific tree He had forbidden them from eating."
"And He pointed it out to them by His saying,"
"'And do not approach this tree.'"
"And Allah, whose praise is exalted, did not provide for His servants,"
"who are addressed by the Qur'an,"
"any indication as to which of the trees of Paradise,"
"He had forbidden Adam from approaching,"
"neither by naming it,"
"nor by any sign pointing to it."
"And had it been that Allah, in His knowledge,"
"desired any benefit in that,"
"He would not have left His servants without providing a sign for them,"
"by which they could reach the knowledge of its identity,"
"so that they might act upon their knowledge of it,"
"just as He did regarding everything that He desires us to know."
"Therefore, the correct view in this matter is to say,"
"that Allah, whose praise is exalted,"
"forbade Adam and his wife from eating from a tree,"
"specifically, from among the trees of Paradise,"
"to the exclusion of all other trees."
"So they disobeyed what Allah had forbidden them,"
"and ate from it, as Allah, whose praise is exalted, described them."
"And we have no knowledge of which tree it was specifically,"
"because Allah did not provide His servants with evidence for that in the Qur'an,"
"nor in the authentic Sunnah."
"So how could that be known?"
It has been said:
"It was a wheat tree."
And it was said:
"It was a grapevine."
And it was said:
"It was a fig tree."
It is possible it was one of these.
But that is knowledge,
that if one knows it, the knowledge does not benefit the one who knows it,
and if one is ignorant of it,
the ignorance does not harm the one who is ignorant of it.
In this, there is an upbringing for the woman:
not to delve into searching for what does not benefit,
thereby preoccupying herself and others,
and wasting her time in fruitless debate.
Satan is your enemy and the enemy of your husband.
Allah the Exalted says:
"But Satan caused them to slip out of it."
"And removed them from that [condition] in which they had been."
The verse indicates that Satan seduced Adam and Eve,
and caused them to disobey the command of Allah.
In this, there is a benefit for spouses:
that they should be wary of Satan’s seduction of them both.
So if one of them sins,
let them not cast blame upon the other.
Dr. Abd al-Aziz al-Tarifi said:
"Allah, glory be to Him, informs us,"
"that Iblis whispered to Adam and Eve,"
"to eat from the tree which Allah had forbidden them from eating."
"So they ate from it."
"And Allah called what they did a 'slip' from Paradise,"
"and a cause for their expulsion from it."
So the error occurred from both spouses,
and the punishment was upon them both as well.
If you sin, hasten to repent,
just as your mother Eve did.
Among the most important lessons we learn from the story,
is the haste to repent immediately after a sin,
as our father Adam and our mother Eve did.
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Allah, glory be to Him and the Exalted, said,"
“Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful.” (2:37)
"Then He accepted his repentance."
"Indeed, He is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful."
"We said, 'Go down from it, all of you.'"
"So He informed us that He accepted his repentance,"
"through the words he received from Him."
And Allah the Exalted said:
"They said, 'Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves.'"
[The rest of] the verse.
He informed us that He commanded them to descend,
following these words.
And He informed us that He accepted his repentance,
following the words,
and commanded him to descend.
So His command to descend was,
following the words he received from Him,
which are their saying:
"Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves,"
“They said: Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If thou forgive us not and have not mercy on us, surely we are of the lost!” (7:23)
"We will surely be among the losers."
Or words similar to these words.
A large group of exegetes mentioned this.
And whoever mentions that the words he received from his Lord were other than these,
has no argument against the apparent meaning of the Qur'an.
Ibn Abi al-Dunya mentioned in his book *Al-Tawbah* (Repentance),
many things regarding these words,
all of which revolve around what Allah mentioned in His Book,
from the saying of Adam and Eve:
"Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves,"
“They said: Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If thou forgive us not and have not mercy on us, surely we are of the lost!” (7:23)
"We will surely be among the losers."
Also, their saying:
"We have wronged ourselves,"
“They said: Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If thou forgive us not and have not mercy on us, surely we are of the lost!” (7:23)
includes acknowledgment and seeking forgiveness.
And whoever is beneath Adam,
if he acknowledges his sin,
and seeks forgiveness for it,
he is forgiven.
As it is in the two *Sahih* collections,
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
said to 'A'ishah:
"If you have committed a sin,"
"then seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to Him."
For when the servant acknowledges his sin,
and repents,
Allah accepts his repentance.
And Allah the Exalted said:
"And whoever does a wrong,"
“Yet whoso doeth evil or wrongeth his own soul, then seeketh pardon of Allah, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.” (4:110)
“Yet whoso doeth evil or wrongeth his own soul, then seeketh pardon of Allah, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.” (4:110)
And when forgiveness is attained through repentance,
the intended goal is achieved, not by anything else.
It is established in the *Sahih* from 'Amr ibn al-'As,
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
said to him:
"O 'Amr,"
"do you not know that Islam,"
"destroys what came before it,"
"and that repentance destroys what came before it?"
Likewise, the verse in *Al 'Imran*:
“And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.” (3:135)
"Or wronged,"
"themselves, they remember Allah,"
“And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.” (3:135)
"and seek forgiveness for their sins."
“And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.” (3:135)
“And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.” (3:135)
“And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.” (3:135)
"While they know."
Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
And Fakhr al-Din said:
"Know that in these verses,"
"there is a great warning against all sins from several aspects."
The first:
"That whoever contemplates what happened to Adam,"
"due to his committing this small slip,"
"would be in great fear of sins."
The poet said:
"O observer, looking with the eyes of one who is asleep,"
"and witnessing the matter while not truly witnessing,"
"You pile sins upon sins and hope,"
"to ascend to the gardens and attain the success of the worshippers."
"Have you forgotten your Lord when He cast Adam,"
"from it to the world for a single sin?"
So the lesson that Eve must,
occupy herself with,
is the gravity of sin,
no matter how small it may appear in her eyes.
We will continue in a future meeting, if Allah wills.
And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The story of our mother Eve.