Qur'an Contradiction:
Can Angels Disobey?
Response to Saifullah
In our Quran Contradictions section, we stated:
About the angels:
For NONE are arrogant (before their Lord).
They ALL fear their Lord, high above them,
and they do ALL they are commanded.
-- Sura 16:49-50
And behold, we said to the ANGELS:
"Bow down to Adam". And THEY bowed down,
EXCEPT Iblis. He refused and was haughty.
-- Sura 2:34
The command of Allah is given to the angels. Since Iblis is accused of
not being obedient, he has to be one of the angels.
Contradicting 16:50, he refused = is disobedient, and is haughty = arrogant (before his Lord).
See also 7:11, 15:28-31, 17:61, 18:50, 20:116, 38:71-74.
Dr. MSM Saifullah responds to the above with the following:
Rebuttal
In the verse
And behold, We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam"
and they bowed down. Not so Iblis: he refused and was haughty:
He was of those who reject Faith. [Qur'ân 2:34]
the nature of Iblîs is not mentioned, i.e., whether
he was an angel or someone else. But the verse
Behold! We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam":
They bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the Jinns, and he
broke the Command of his Lord. Will ye then take him and
his progeny as protectors rather than Me? And they are enemies
to you! Evil would be the exchange for the wrong-doers! [Qur'ân 18:50]
clarifies who Iblîs is. He was one of Jinn not
angels as wrongly claimed by the Christian missionaries.
We have used the traditional method of Qur'ânic exegesis
involving Context & Internal Relationships, i.e., al-Qur'ân
yufassiru bacduhu
bacdan
(different parts of the Qur'ân
explain each other). What is given in a general
way in one place is discussed in detail in some other place in the Qur'ân.
What is dealt with briefly at one place is expanded in some other place.
And Allah knows best!
Response:
Actually, the contradiction still remains since the Quran
narrates the story of two angels who fell into sin:
And follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom
of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved,
teaching mankind magic and that which was revealed to the two angels
in Babel, Harut and Marut (alal-malakayni bi-Baabila Haaruuta wa Maaruut).
Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said:
We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance
of Allah). And from these two (angels) people learn that by which they
cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one
save by Allah's leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and
profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh
therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil
is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. S. 2:102 Pickthall
Yusuf Ali comments:
"This verse has been interpreted variously. Who were Harut and
Marut? What did they teach? Why did they teach? The view which commends
itself to me is that of the Tafsir Haqqani, following Baidhawi
and the Tafsir Kabir. The word 'angels' as applied to Harut and
Marut is figurative. It means 'good men, of knowledge, science (or
wisdom), and power'. In modern languages the word 'angel' is applied
to a good and beautiful woman. The earlier tradition made angels
masculine, and applied to them the attributes which I have mentioned,
along with the attribute of beauty, which was implied in goodness,
knowledge, wisdom and power... Among the Jewish traditions in the
Midrash (Jewish Tafsirs) was a story of two angels who asked
God's permission to come down to earth but succumbed to temptation
and were hung by their feet at Babylon for punishment. Such stories
about sinning angels who were cast down to punishment were believed
by the early Christians also... There may be an allusion about
sinning angels here, but much spiritualized and we are expressly
warned against dabbling in magic or believeing that anything can hurt
us except by God's will, and God is just and righteous." (Ali, Holy Quran, f. 104, p. 45)
The major problem with Ali's assertion is that the Quran never uses
the term "angels" for human beings. The closest the Quran ever comes
to calling a human being an angel is in S. 12:31, and even then it
is in a metaphorical sense:
And when she heard of their sly talk, she sent to them and prepared
for them a cushioned couch (to lie on at the feast) and gave to every
one of them a knife and said (to Joseph): Come out unto them! And when
they saw him they exalted him and cut their hands, exclaiming: Allah
Blameless! This is not a human being. This is not other than some
gracious angel. Pickthall (cf. 7:20)
In fact, angels are called messengers but humans are never called
angels. (cf. 11:69, 77, 81; 15:57; 22:75; 35:1)
According to the oldest Islamic sources, Harut and Marut were angels
that came down and fell into sin:
"Islamic commentators claim that demons wrote sorcery as they heard
it from Asif's tongue (claiming that Asif b. Barkhia taught King
Solomon). The demons wrote it and buried it underneath his chair.
That was when Allah stripped him of his monarchy, yet he could not
feel it. Others claim that the Israelites made their living by
teaching sorcery when its time was ripe, yet Solomon prevented them
from doing that. Apparently he took their books and hid them underneath
his bed. When he died, demons brought them out and said to the Jews:
'Solomon reigned over you by the power of this. So you have to learn
it.' The Jews then denied Solomon's prophethood. They claimed that
Solomon seized his reign by force. Jinn and humankind were
subjugated to him by virtue of sorcery. To this the Quran replied:
'Never did Solomon disbelieve.' Ibn `Abbas relates that in the days
of Idris, when angels saw the malicious works done by the sons of
Adam ascending to heaven, they reproached them and said: 'These are
the ones you created in the earth. They disobey you!' Allah challenged:
'If I were to let you live down there on earth and had given you the
same advantages, you would have followed the same course.' They
answered: 'God forbid! It is not for us to disobey you.' Allah said:
'Select the best two angels you ever had, because I am going
to send them down to earth.' They selected Harut and Marut who
were the most righteous angels. Allah inspired them with lust,
made them descend to earth, commanded them to judge justly among
people, and forbade them to be idolaters or to kill unjustly or to
commit adultery or drink wine.'
"So they were judging in the daytime and ascending at night.
Then the most beautiful woman of Persia came to them. They were
infatuated by her. Not only were they on her side in judgment but
they also worhipped her idol because they were madly in love with
her. When they desired to ascend up to heaven, their wings
did not assist them. So, they went to Idris the prophet and asked
him to intercede on their behalf. He told them they could choose
between the torture of the world or the torture of the Last Day.
They chose the torture of the world. So they hang from their
hair in Babylon until the Last Day (see al-Qurtubi's commentary on
Sura al-Baqara 2:102)" (The True Guidance [Light of Life,
PO Box 13, A-9503 Villach, Austria], part 5, pp. 24-25; see also
Rev. W. St Clair-Tisdall, The Sources of Islam
[T. & T. Clark, 38 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland], pp. 30-36)
Muslim Scholar Mahmoud Ayoub comments on S. 2:102:
"Commentators likewise have disagreed with regard to the meaning
of the phrase 'and that which was sent down to the two angels in
Babel, Harut and Marut.' Tabari relates on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas,
'The word ma means "not" [instead of its alternate meaning,
"that which"]; that is to say, magic was not sent down [ma unzila]
to the two angels. Thus the exegesis of the verse would be, "And they
followed the magic which the satans recited concerning the reign of
Solomon; yet neither did Solomon reject faith, nor did God send down
magic to the two angels. Rather, satans rejected faith in that they
taught people magic in Babel, that is, Harut and Marut"' (This
tradition assumes that Harut and Marut were the people who learned
magic from the satans in Babel; thus they were not angels. The two
angels are taken to be Gabriel and Michael.) 'This is because magicians
among Jews used to claim that God sent down magic to Solomon by the
tongues of Gabriel and Michael. Thus God revealed their false claim,
for Gabriel and Michael never brought down magic. Harut and Marut
were therefore two men who learned magic from the satans' (Tabari, II,
pp. 419-420). Tabari also cites Qatadah, who said, ' "Ma" means
"that which," or "what." Thus Harut and Marut were two of the
angels. They taught men magic, but were charged not to teach
anyone until they said, "We are surely a temptation; do not,
therefore, reject faith.' Magic here is of two kinds: one which the
satans taught, and another which was taught by the two angels'
(Tabari, II, p. 420).
"Most early commentators have agreed, however, that Harut and Marut
were two angels. Their story appears very early in the history of
tafsir on the authority of the first masters of science among
the Companions and their Successors. The story, as related by Tabari
on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn 'Abbas, is as follows:
'When the children of Adam had increased in the earth and committed
acts of disobedience, the angels, heavens, earth and mountains invoked
God against them, saying, "Our Lord, would You not destroy them?" God
revealed to the angels, "Were I to put lust in your hearts and
give Satan authority over you, and were you to descend to earth, you
would do the same." The angels thought in their hearts that if they
were sent down, they would not sin. God, then revealed to them,
"Choose two of the best angels among you," and they chose Harut
and Marut. They were thus sent down to earth, and Venus was
sent down as a beautiful Persian woman. They fell into sin [by lusting
after her]. They were therefore given the choice between the
punishment of this world or that of the world to come, but they chose
the punishment of this world' (Tabari, II, pp. 428).
"This tradition presents the basic elements of the story, accepted
by most classical commentators. Some traditions, however, related
the story of the two angels to God's saying, 'Behold I am about to
place a vicegerent in the earth' (see above, Q. 2:30). According to
this view, God sent down Harut and Marut to demonstrate to the
prostrating angels man's uniqueness as a creature endowed with special
faculties which even angels could not possess without also falling
into sin and disobedience (see Nisaburi, I, p. 391, who relates the
story on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas). Razi, on the other hand,
for reasons which are discussed below, asserts that the two angels
were sent down at th time of the prophet Enoch (Idris) (Razi, III,
p. 220)." (Mahmoud M. Ayoub, The Qur'an and its Interpreters
[State University of New York Press, Albany 1984], pp. 130-131)
Ayoub cites al-Qurtubi as denying that Harut and Marut were angels,
believing that they were satans instead. The only problem with this
view is that Harut and Marut are specifically called angels in the
Quran (S. 2:102). This implies that if Qurtubi is correct, then
satans were at one time angels that disobeyed. If this is so then
this clearly affirms that angels can disobey God and fall from
their position in heaven.
Ibn Kathir also objected to Harut and Marut being angels, claiming
that there was no sound chain of transmission going back to Muhammad
and was a story taken from the Jews. Yet, both Tabari and Nisaburi
claimed that their tradition was taken on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas,
with Tabari citing Ibn Mas'ud as well. Ayoub himself states that the
story of Harut and Marut being angels that sinned finds support from
the earliest tafsirs of the first masters of science among
the Companions of Muhammad and their followers. (For a complete
discussion on the different viewpoints over this issue see Ayoub,
pp. 130-136)
Finally, the Dictionary of Islam states:
"HARUT WA MARUT... Two angels mentioned in the Qur'an. They
are said to be two angels who, in consequence of their compassion
of the frailties of mankind, were sent down to earth to be tempted.
They both sinned, and being permitted to choose whether they
would be punished now or hereafter, chose the former, and are still
suspended by the feet at Babel in a rocky pit, where they are
great teachers of magic." (T. P. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam
[Kazi Publications, Chicago Il. 1994], pp. 167-168)
In light of the preceding evidence, we ask the following questions.
Does God really put lust into his creation in order that they might
be tempted? If so, what does this say about the character of God as
outlined in the hadiths and the Quran? Since Harut and Marut are
angels who actually sinned against God, which verse should we accept?
The one where it says that all angels obey God, or this one where
two angels clearly broke God's commands and went on teaching mankind
magic? Does God actually send angels down to teach man wickedness
and magic even if it is done in the context of warning humanity
about its harm? Did God not realize that man would take the knowledge
given by the angels and use it for wickedness?
If the command to prostrate before Adam was given to angels why was
Iblis blamed for not obeying the command seeing that he is not an
angel but a Jinn? Is there any reference in the Quran where it
clearly states that God's command was not limited to angels, but
also included the Jinn? Finally, would not the fact that appeal must
be made to the Islamic traditions in order to understand certain
verses in the Quran prove that it is unintelligible since it narrates
events that make little, if any, sense to today's readers? Does this
not also prove that the Quran was meant for seventh century Arabs
since they lived in the time of Muhammad and had the advantage of
knowing the nature of these accounts?
Hopefully, the staff at Islamic Awareness will answer these questions
for us.
Sam Shamoun
Further remarks on Saifullah's statement,
"[Qur'ān 18:50] clarifies who Iblīs is.
He was one of Jinn not angels as wrongly claimed by the Christian
missionaries." No need to shoot at all Christian
missionaries. I have put forward this contradiction and take
sole responsibility for it. I would again like to point to
the purpose of this collection.
I am glad to see that Saifullah & Co. seem to have learnt
a lot about responding to contradictions from the way Christians
have responded to the Muslim "Bible contradictions" and that it
is important to look at all available information. I hope they
are willing to accept the same interpretative principles also
when examining the Bible.
As Sam already observed in the above response, Saifullah ignores
the obvious question why Iblis is called disobedient, a rejector
of faith, if the command was only given to the angels, and he was
supposedly not an angel. At least to some modern Muslims this is
a problem, and it has led Rashad Khalifa to translate this verse
as "We said to the angels, `Fall prostrate before Adam.' They fell
prostrate, except Satan. He became a jinn, for
he disobeyed the order of His Lord. ...", i.e. he was originally
an angel who was turned into a Jinn because of his disobedience.
Whether Khalifa gave an acceptable translation or interpretation
is not for us to decide, but it shows he was aware of a problem
of fairness that needs to be answered. [Jochen Katz]
Qur'an Contradictions
Rebuttals to Saifullah
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