SURAH AL-BAQARAH
Ayah 31
وَعَلَّمَ ءَادَمَ ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءَ كُلَّهَا
ثُمَّ عَرَضَہُمۡ عَلَى ٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ
فَقَالَ أَنۢبِـُٔونِى بِأَسۡمَآءِ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ إِن كُنتُمۡ صَـٰدِقِينَ
He taught Adam the names of all things,
then He presented them to the Angels
and said, “Tell Me the names of these, if you are truthful”
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The story jumps from the mentioning of Khaleefah to the mentioning of the name “Adam” (a.s).
It skipped the mentioning of the process in the creation of this Khaleefah. The creation of Adam(a.s) is mentioned in other Surah or Hadith since that is not part of the theme of the current story in this Surah. Refer here (in this website) for the creation of Adam (a.s).
The Quran also did not mention other details regarding Iblees (the head Satan) on how he got to be with the Angels. There were several added Israelite narratives regarding the story of Adam (a.s) and Iblees which have no evidence in the Quran or Hadith. Some Muslims have taken those narratives into the story to “fill in the blanks”.
[Sahih Bukhary]
"Allah created Adam in his image, sixty cubits (about 30 meters) in height.”
“in his image” = means that Adam (a.s) was already a full grown man. He did not go through the process of being a baby and so on.
[Sahih Bukhary and Muslim]
“Allah created Adam sixty cubits tall, then mankind kept getting shorter until now.”
[Sahih Muslim]
"When Allah fashioned Adam in Paradise, He left him as He liked him to leave (i.e no soul). Then Iblis (the Jinn) roamed round him to see what actually that was and when he found him hollow from within, he recognised that he had been created with a disposition that he would not have control over himself."
Hence we know that before Adam(a.s) was given life, Iblees had a good look at him and already had the intention of manipulating this creature. Iblees might feel that his status will be challenged by this creature. In the previous ayah, Allah made an official announcement in creating this creature. He must be something special. The envy had already creeped into Iblees.
According to some scholars, Adam(a.s) was not aware of the plan that he was to be sent to earth. After Allah created Adam (a.s), next is to teach him Knowledge. He will be trained before exposing him to the real world environment (on Earth). Allah will personally teach him the knowledge, skills and wisdom that he needed.
عَلَّمَ ءَادَمَ ٱلۡأَسۡمَآءَ كُلَّهَا
"He taught Adam the names of all things"
What is "the name of all things"?
Since Adam (a.s) is going to be put on Earth, he need to know what are the things that exist on Earth and the skies that can be of benefit to him.
كُلَّهَا “All of it” = indicates a large amount of things. These are “Nouns”. Names and Terminologies. These are the roots where knowledge will grow. Expandable knowledge like astronomy, botany, biology, geography, medicine, etc.
عَلَّمَ ءَادَمَ
“He taught Adam”
Allah can just force the knowledge into his brain in 1 second. That is just copying into his brain. That is not Teaching. Allah did not use words like “gave Adam” or “revealed to Adam” but he said “taught Adam”. “Gave” or “Revealed” is done in a short time but “Teaching” is not. This was a continuous intense teaching.
Adam was made to learn the knowledge and skills over a period of time, not in an instance. Humans putting effort in gaining knowledge. The Angels have not seen this type of knowledge learning process before.
(The next word ثُمَّ in the ayah will explain that Adam (a.s) acquiring knowledge was not revealed to him immediately)
Allah taught Adam(a.s) like a Teacher and Student.
A teacher teaching the student need to access/test the student whether the student already understood and able to reproduce back the knowledge that has been taught. That is called Teaching and Learning. There is no Teaching without Learning. If the student don’t know anything of what you have taught him, that means he still has not learn anything.
Allah taught Adam(a.s) large amount of knowledge (“All things”). The learning process will take some time depending on Adam(a.s) capability.
If it was just memorization of names like eg. Star, Sun, Moon, Earth, Metal, Gold, Wheat, Onions, Rain, Snow, Ice, Rivers, etc. without understanding what are those, then that will be blindly memorizing. Memorization is not the same as learning and understanding.
Allah taught Adam (a.s) nouns. Why nouns? Look at this analogy:
If you, a non pharmacists, went out dinner with a group of pharmacists, you will have no idea what they are talking. You are clueless of all the names and terminologies that they used in their conversation. You have no knowledge while the pharmacist knew and understand exactly what those names are. Without “names”, there will be no knowledge and the pharmacists will not have their conversation of terminological jargon.
“He taught Adam” = Allah is highlighting, showcasing to us that He personally taught Adam. It is with pride. This is something amazing. Learning huge amount of knowledge is something that the Angels and Jinns do not have. Humans is one of the best creations of Allah. This also answers the question why create another “breeding, thinking, free-will” creature while there are already Jinns on Earth. With this knowledge, humans are at a better position to manage the Earth compared to the Angels and the Jinns. This is another one of Allah’s reply to the Angels’ question. So it was about having Taqwa(as mentioned before) and Knowledge (having Intellect).
We can assume that this is the intended theme of the story of Adam(a.s) in Surah Al-Baqarah, i.e. KNOWLEDGE. “He taught Adam” is not mentioned in the other six Surahs about the story of Adam(a.s).
Since Adam(a.s) is to be placed on Earth, he needs to be taught so that he will be able to survive on Earth. Eg. A recruit in an army will not be immediately sent to the war zone but will be trained for a time period and tested.
If Adam(a.s) was sent immediately to Earth after creation, that would spell disaster to the human race. Human already knew how to make fire to cook food, etc. because it all started from Adam(a.s) and Hawwa having knowledge.
Our Deen is not only about the study of religious knowledge but also the study of anything that covers the Earth and the skies, eg. Geography, Astronomy, Biology, Physics, etc. as all these are Allah’s creation and He taught Adam the names of all things.
The Quran does not only contain religious knowledge but also encourages worldly knowledge. Eg. Allah taught Prophet Idrees(a.s) how to Write, Prophet Noah(a.s) how to build a Ship, Prophet Saalih(a.s) an Economic Finance system, Prophet Dawud(a.s) how to make tough light armor, Prophet Jesus(a.s) advances in Medicine, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) for ALL areas of life, eg. psychology, social etiquette, leadership, business, banking, inheritance, marriage, family and children, judiciary system, national law, creating an army for national defense, etc.
Hence not only the study of religious knowledge that will please Allah, but all other knowledge too.
The credit for any kind of human invention goes to Allah. He taught Adam(a.s) the basis of all knowledge to begin with. With this kind of attitude, no one will have arrogance creeping into their big head since Allah is being praised and not him.
By only having knowledge is not enough for humans to do good. Having "guided" knowledge is what separate good people from bad people.
Unguided Knowledge: Acquiring knowledge without associating it with God. Hence he is free to do whatever with that knowledge. He can do evil with that knowledge. He can disobey Allah with that knowledge.
Guided Knowledge: Acquiring knowledge while associating it with this phrase = “He taught Adam”. All knowledge comes from Allah and hence we are responsible of what the knowledge is used for.
ثُمَّ عَرَضَہُمۡ عَلَى ٱلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ
Then He (Allah) presented them to the Angels.
“Then” = The Arabic word used is ثُمَّ “Thumma” and not فَ “Fa”.
ثُمَّ “Thumma” = “Then after a period of time has passed”.
فَ “Fa” = is immediately after.
Adam(a.s) took a period of time to learn. When Adam(a.s) had gained a large amount of knowledge, Allah called the Angels to come and gather. Allah then presented those "things" to the Angels.
فَقَالَ أَنۢبِـُٔونِى بِأَسۡمَآءِ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ
and He said, “Tell Me the names of these .. ”
Allah ordered the Angels to tell Him the "names" (knowledge) of the numerous items (lots and lots of things) of Allah's creation.
This was a test to the Angels. If the Angels were able to say out those names, then it will justify what they had said, i.e. there was no justification to create this new creation.
إِن كُنتُمۡ صَـٰدِقِينَ
"If you are truthful" = If the two assumptions by the Angels were correct :-
(1) This will just be another “breeding” creature like the Jinn.
(2) The Angels are the better between the two of them.
If the Angels were unable to answer (i.e fail this test), then their assumptions were invalid.