Does the Qur'an have the
story of the Fall of Man as told in the Bible? Are the stories similar or
different?
They are similar in a basic outline, but
different on a few important points.
First, let us consider the
basic outline. Adam and Eve were placed in a garden in a state of
happiness. God instructed them to eat from any tree except one tree.
Eventually, they were deceived into eating from the forbidden tree and
their nakedness became apparent to them. God then expelled them from the
garden.
Now, the disagreements. 1. Neither book names the fruit,
but the Bible alone calls it the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The
Qur'an does not call it such, but teaches that humans are already inspired
with the knowledge of good and evil at creation in order to enable them to
exercise choice between good and evil. This knowledge did not come as a
result of eating from a forbidden tree.
2. The Bible says the
deceiver was a serpent, but the Qur'an says it was Satan.
3. The
Bible says that Adam was not deceived, but only Eve was deceived; it says
that Eve then gave the fruit to Adam and he ate. On the other hand, more
than one Qur'anic passages mention that they were both deceived. One
passage specifically says that Satan approached Adam and deceived him. The
Qur'an does not single out Eve for blame in any passage.
4. The
Bible says that when the couple heard the sound of God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day, they hid from him among the trees. So God
called out to Adam asking where he was, and asking if he ate from the
forbidden tree. On the other hand the Qur'an does not depict God in
limited human form. The Qur'an and the Bible both teach that God knows
everything always.
5. According to the Bible, when the couple was
confronted with their mistake, they blamed each other, and Adam even
blamed God because God gave him the woman who gave him the fruit.
According to the Qur'an they did not pass the blame. Instead, both
repented.
6. According to the Bible, God cursed them. According to
the Qur'an, God forgave them and guided them.
7. According to the
Bible, they were driven out of the garden because God was afraid that they
may eat from the tree of life and live forever. According to the Qur'an,
God's plan was to educate our first parents in paradise, then send them
into the world for a limited time to resist Satan, the enemy. They were
sent to earth as part of God's plan for them; not as a way of preventing
them access to the tree of life, but as a test to distinguish those
deserving of everlasting enjoyment in God's paradise.
8. According
to the Bible, God had said that when Adam eats from the tree he would
surely die, and the serpent said they will not surely die. The serpent was
right - they did not die. Contrary to this, in the Qur'an, God said that
if Adam and Eve eat from the tree they will become wrongdoers, then they
will have to leave the garden and come out to where they will have to
labour. Satan, however, promised them that if they eat from the tree they
will live forever. Satan was wrong - they did not live forever.
9.
According to the Bible, because of God's curse, serpents have to crawl and
eat dust, women have to suffer in childbirth, and men have to sweat for a
living. According to the Qur'an, no such curse was issued. The
difficulties of life on earth are what makes it different from life in
paradise. |