Q: What is the Arabic text and translation of verse 2:34?
A: The verse is: وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ
Translation: “And [mention] when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam’; so they prostrated, except for Iblis. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.”
Q: What was the nature of the prostration commanded to the angels?
A: According to Maududi’s Tafheemul Quran, the prostration was not an act of worship (Ibadah) to Adam, as worship is due only to God. Rather, it was a symbolic act of honor and acknowledgment of the lofty status God had bestowed upon humanity. It was an act of obeying God’s order to show respect to His newly-appointed Khalifah (vicegerent).
Q: How did the angels respond to this command?
A: The angels obeyed immediately and without hesitation. Their prostration signifies their complete submission to God’s will, even when the wisdom behind it may not have been fully apparent to them. This reinforces their role as perfect servants who do not deviate.
Q: Who was Iblis, and why didn’t he prostrate?
A: Iblis (Satan) was not an angel but from the Jinn, a species created from fire with free will (as mentioned in Quran 18:50). He refused to prostrate, marking the first act of open, conscious disobedience to a direct command of God.
Q: What was the root cause of Iblis’s disobedience?
A: The root was arrogance (istakbara). Iblis considered himself superior to Adam because he was created from fire while Adam was created from clay. This pride in his own nature blinded him to the divine wisdom that had endowed Adam with superior knowledge and potential. His arrogance led him to place his own judgment above God’s decree.
Q: What was the consequence of Iblis’s refusal?
A: The verse states he “became of the disbelievers (al-Kafirin).” Maududi emphasizes that this marks the origin of Kufr (disbelief, ingratitude, rejection of truth). Kufr arises from arrogance (Kibr) in the face of God’s clear command. By placing his judgment above God’s, Iblis exited the circle of obedience and became the eternal enemy of humanity.
Q: What theological lessons does this verse teach according to Maududi?
A: The verse is foundational to Islamic theology, teaching:
- The origin of evil enters creation through the misuse of free will and arrogance, not from a flaw in God’s design
- The primary sin is Kibr (arrogance) – refusing to submit to God’s command due to self-importance
- Kufr (disbelief) is fundamentally an act of arrogant rejection, not mere ignorance
- This event foreshadows humanity’s ongoing struggle on earth against Iblis and his followers who rebel against the divine order
VERSE,TRANSLATION AND TAFSEER
Messages from Quran 