Quranic and Biblical Depictions of the Fall of Man - Case Study Example

ADAM WAS EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR TASTING THE FRUIT OF FORBIDDEN TREE Introduction: It has aptly been d that the three Abrahamic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the beams of the same spiritual light and seek moral support and guidance from one and the same source of divine inspiration. Their mythology, regarding the depiction of Almighty Lord, the Creator of heavens and earth, is one and the same. In addition, the entire three religions share the names and tales of the same prophets and angels of God. Moreover, the concepts of Eden Garden, hell and the arch enemy of the human kind i.e. Satan are also similar, which has been depicted in the Holy Scriptures of the three religions i.e. Holy Torah, Holy Gospel, Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an; which look the episodes of the same tale. Though these three share the common spiritual thoughtfulness and religious ideology, yet these Holy Scriptures maintain significant differences too in the narration of some basic concepts particularly in the Bible and the Qur’an. Both these Holy Scriptures discuss in details, the birth of the first parents of human kind, with some similarities and dissimilarities. The Holy Bible declares Eve, the mother of mankind, as more responsible for tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree, while the Holy Qur’an views both Adam and Eve equally responsible for making transgression from the Word of the Lord by savouring the same fruit. But it is fact beyond doubt that both Adam and Eve tasted the fruit either at the same time or one by one. Hence, both the Holy Scriptures, described above, reveal the very reality that since the first humans could not refrain from acting upon the nefarious temptations of Satan, it is therefore, an overwhelming majority of their offspring, i.e. humans, is also frail by nature and can be seduced, either easily or with some efforts, by the serpent called Satan. The tale of the first humans is the case in point. Both Bible and Qur’an emphatically describe the very fact that the first humans tasted the fruit, even having the knowledge of clear warnings from the Lord. The anger, displeasure and wrath of Almighty God can be felt while carefully studying both these heavenly scriptures. Both Adam and Eve were deprived of their coverings as soon as they ate from the forbidden tree. They could feel their nudity and felt very ashamed as soon as God addressed to them after they ate from the prohibited tree. The couple tried to conceal their nakedness with the leaves of the trees. In addition, on finding the Lord in anger, they begged for the pardon of the Lord, as stated in the Qur’an: “Then he caused them to fall by deceit; so when they tasted of the tree, their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with the leaves of the garden; and their Lord called out to them: Did I not forbid you both from that tree and say to you that the Shaitan is your open enemy.” (7: 22) The Bible describes the same in these words, which are similar to the Holy Qur’an: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” (Genesis, 3:7-8) The Holy Bible emphatically views that God expelled both Adam and Eve from the heavens. There has never been written that only Eve was expelled from the heaven. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3, 23-24) The Holy Qur’an also describes the same tale regarding the fall of man. We said: Go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. (Qur’an, 2: 38) If there would have been one single responsible of disobeying the commands of the Lord, the Lord could have expelled only the person liable to be punished. It is the rule of Nature that it does not inflict punishment on an innocent person. Thus, the punishment of expulsion from the Eden Garden is the sound proof of the fact that both Adam and Eve were equal transgressors in respect of tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree. The chapter 7 of the Holy Qur’an affirms the fall of Adam and Eve in these words: So by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies. And their Lord called unto them: "Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you?" They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost." (Allah)) said: "Get ye down. With enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood,- for a time." (Qur’an, 7: 22-24) In addition, the Bible announces the penalty for both Adam and Eve in the following words: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (Genesis 3, 16-17) If Eve was the only responsible, then why there was the need to inflict penalty on Adam? John Milton, the poet and theologian, also describes the Biblical story of the fall of man in his renowned Paradise Lost: Our lingring Parents, and to th Eastern Gate, Led them direct, and down the Cliff as fast, To the subjected Plaine; then disappeerd. They looking back, all th Eastern side beheld, Of Paradise, so late thir happie seat, Wavd over by that flaming Brand, the Gate, With dreadful Faces throngd and fierie Armes: Som, natural tears they dropd, but wipd them soon; (XII: 638-645) The above-described lines from two different holy books maintain so many similarities in their text and substance, i.e. both the holy books describe that God imposed the same restrictions on man and his wife, and both the two tasted the same forbidden thing. It is therefore, the nature and intensity of the penalty was also same on them. The Bible declares the labour pains of woman, during giving birth to child, as the additional penalty inflicted upon the woman because she was the first person to taste the fruit of forbidden tree. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Genesis, 3:12) The Bible has also described the additional punishment in these words: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (Genesis, 3:16) On the other hand, the Holy Qur’an has no specific description of additional punishment to woman. It simply describes the commands of the Lord to both husband and wife step down from the heaven to the earth, and make that place as their dwelling. Both the scriptures portray the truth that it was serpent, which seduced the humans in order to degrade them before the Lord. Once among superiors, it was very hard for the Satan to submit to the superiority of humans over him. Thus, he started planning of seducing the humans to get them expelled from the blessed place, where they were leading a peaceful life. Both the scriptures assert and affirm each other that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Eden garden on committing disobedience to the commandments of the Lord. Significance of Similarities: All the similarities discussed above prove the very reality that both the holy books i.e. Bible and Qur’an are the words of God, which Almighty Lord sent towards His holy apostles i.e. Holy Jesus Christ and the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon the two) at different occasions. The description of the angels, first humans, their dwelling, style of God’s addressing to humans, complete freedom of living, moving and eating in the garden and the one single restriction i.e. tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree affirm the truth that both Christianity and Islam share the same mythology attributed to the three Abrahamic religions. The slight difference in narration is mere the outcome variation in the translation of Hebrew and Arabic into English language. Hence, the followers of both the two religions must follow the commands of the Lord, and must never be at daggers drawn due to the obvious truth that they seek help and moral support from the same God. The verses mentioned-above from the two holy books also contain few differences and dissimilarities, which can be observed as under: The Bible describes that God commanded the man not to taste the tree of the forbidden tree, which is the specific pattern and style of the Torah, Bible and Qur’an; while in the Holy Qur’an, the subject We has been applied, which simply means that God Himself is addressing to the readers. Both these styles of addressing the humanity are found in abundance in the scriptures of Abrahamic religions. In addition, the Bible admits the dominance of man over all the creatures, but the act of making obeisance to Adam by the angels has not been mentioned in the book. On the contrary, the Qur’an describes in details how Satan went astray by defying the commandments of God regarding making obeisance to Adam. The Bible indirectly defines that the Satan had already revolted against the Lord, while the Qur’an declares the birth of Adam as the root-cause of Satan’s disobedience to the Lord. The Holy Bible calls the forbidden tree as the tree of knowledge of good and evil; on the other hand, the Holy Qur’an has not mentioned the title of the forbidden tree. Further, the Bible views Eve as the principal responsible for tasting the fruit. According to the Bible, it was serpent that seduced the mother of mankind i.e. Eve, and it was Eve that induced Adam regarding the same. It is therefore, woman was punished that she would give birth to child(ren) with immense pain. On the contrary, the Qur’an declares both Adam and Eve as the equally responsible for the transgression and non-compliance with the word of God. The Qur’an, on different occasions states that it was Satan that tempted both Adam and Eve, and caused their expulsion from the garden. To conclude, it becomes evident that both Adam and Eve exercised non-compliance with their Creator, the Fashioner, because of the evil inducement made by Satan. The Bible declares Eve as the more responsible for the expulsion of both Adam and Eve, while the Qur’an is strictly against putting the burden of disobedience to the shoulder of the mother of mankind: But the Shaitan made an evil suggestion to him; he said: O Adam! Shall I guide you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom which decays not? Then they both ate of it, so their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with leaves of the garden, and Adam disobeyed his Lord, so his life became evil (to him). Then his Lord chose him, so He turned to him and guided (him). He said: Get forth you two therefrom, all (of you), one of you (is) enemy to another. So there will surely come to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, he shall not go astray nor be unhappy; (Qur’an, 20: 120-124) The description of the incident is almost one and the same in the two Scriptures, and amendments in the narration of the two books are perhaps on the basis of the requirements of the nations and era, where the two books were sent from the Lord at different occasions. Renowned English poet John Milton has also blamed serpent as the devil to seduce the mother of mankind in his famous Paradise Lost (Book I: lines 30-36) REFERENCES CITED: Genesis: The Bible of King James Version: (Retrieved in http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0102.htm#9_) The Holy Qur’an. Chapter II: The Heifer. (Quoted in http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HolKora.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=2&division=div1) http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HolKora.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=20&division=div1 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=3&version=31 Milton, John. Paradise Lost. 1667 (Retrieved in http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/index.shtml) Read More

The Holy Bible emphatically views that God expelled both Adam and Eve from the heavens. There has never been written that only Eve was expelled from heaven. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3, 23-24) The Holy Qur’an also describes the same tale regarding the fall of man. We said: Go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. (Qur’an, 2: 38) If there would have been one single responsible for disobeying the commands of the Lord, the Lord could have expelled only the person liable to be punished. It is the rule of Nature that it does not inflict punishment on an innocent person. Thus, the punishment of expulsion from the Eden Garden is soundproof of the fact that both Adam and Eve were equal transgressors in respect of tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree. Chapter 7 of the Holy Qur’an affirms the fall of Adam and Eve in these words: So by deceit, he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies. And their Lord called unto them: "Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you?" They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost." (Allah)) said: "Get ye down. With enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood,- for a time." (Qur’an, 7: 22-24)

In addition, the Bible announces the penalty for both Adam and Eve in the following words: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and has eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt, thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (Genesis 3, 16-17) If Eve was the only responsible, then why there was the need to inflict a penalty on Adam? John Milton, the poet, and theologian, also describes the Biblical story of the fall of man in his renowned Paradise Lost: Our lingering Parents, and to the Eastern Gate, Led them direct, and down the Cliff as fast, To the subjected Plaine; then disappeared. They look back, all th' Eastern side beheld, Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Wav'd over by that flaming brand, the Gate, With dreadful Faces thronged and fierce Armes: Som, natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; (XII: 638-645)

The above-described lines from two different holy books maintain so many similarities in their text and substance, i.e. both the holy books describe that God imposed the same restrictions on man and his wife, and both the two tasted the same forbidden thing. It is, therefore, the nature and intensity of the penalty were also the same on them. The Bible declares the labor pains of a woman, during giving birth to a child, as the additional penalty inflicted upon the woman because she was the first person to taste the fruit of the forbidden tree. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Genesis, 3:12) The Bible has also described the additional punishment in these words: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (Genesis, 3:16)

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