"And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever. " (Surah: Al-Baqara, verse:34)
Why were the angels asked to prostrate before Adam? Is prostration an act of worship to Adam?
"Allah forgiveth not (The sin of) joining other gods with Him; but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins than this: one who joins other gods with Allah, Hath strayed far, far away (from the right)." (Surah: An-Nisa, verse:116)
The act was an obedience to Allaah, and the issue of bowing was a sign of honor and respect. It is forbidden to bow to others within this ummah.
So to show the angels that Adam is superior to them and of a noble rank in Allaah's sight, Allaah ordered them to bow to him. So we see that whatever Allaah has ordered takes preference.
So in this context - it was an act of worship to worship Allaah by being obedient to Him. And the act of worship within this context was to obey Allaah, so if He commanded them to prostrate - then they heard and obeyed.
Allah said to the angels, “Bow down to Adam” (They did so in a form of respect, not worship). Satan was present among the angels, though he was not one of them. He was of the jinn , a race of beings possessing free will that Allah created before Adam from a smokeless flame of fire. When Allah ordered the angels and those in their company to bow down to Adam, they all did so except Satan, who refused out of pride and arrogance, claiming to be better than Adam because he was created from fire, whereas Adam was created from clay. Indeed, Satan was the first racist.
It's prostrate. Or in arabic, "Sujood" which carries the connotation of "lower" so I really doubt they bowed in the way we do to Allah(SWT) during worship, Allah(SWT) commanded them (the angels) to accept being the 2nd best in comparison to Adam(AS); in other words to "Lower" their level to Adam(AS)
Honoring Adam when the Angels prostrated before Him
This Ayah mentions the great honor that Allah granted Adam, and Allah reminded Adam's offspring of this fact. Allah commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam, as this Ayah and many Hadiths testify, such as the Hadith about the intercession that we discussed. There is a Hadith about the supplication of Musa, "O my Lord! Show me Adam who caused us and himself to be thrown out of Paradise.'' When Musa met Adam, he said to him, "Are you Adam whom Allah created with His Own Hands, blew life into and commanded the angels to prostrate before'' Iblis was among Those ordered to prostrate before Adam, although He was not an Angel
When Allah commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam, Iblis was included in this command. Although Iblis was not an angel, he was trying - and pretending - to imitate the angels' behavior and deeds, and this is why he was also included in the command to the angels to prostrate before Adam. Satan was criticized for defying that command, as we will explain with detail, Allah willing, when we mention the Tafsir of Allah's statement,
(Except Iblis (Satan). He was one of the Jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord.) (18:50)
Similarly, Muhammad bin Ishaq reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "Before he undertook the path of sin, Iblis was with the angels and was called `Azazil.' He was among the residents of the earth and was one of the most active worshippers and knowledgeable persons among the angels. This fact caused him to be arrogant. Iblis was from a genus called Jinn.''
The Prostration was before Adam but the Obedience was to Allah
(And (remember) when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam.'')
"The obedience was for Allah and the prostration was before Adam. Allah honored Adam and commanded the angels to prostrate before him.'' Some people said that this prostration was just a prostration of greeting, peace and honor, hence Allah's statement,
(And he (Prophet Yusuf) raised his parents to the throne and they fell down before him prostrate. And he said: "O my father! This is the interpretation of my dream aforetime! My Lord has made it come true!'') (12:100)
The practice of prostrating was allowed for previous nations, but was repealed for ours. Mu`adh said to the Prophet , "I visited Ash-Sham and found that they used to prostate before their priests and scholars. You, O Messenger of Allah, are more deserving of prostration.'' The Prophet said,
(No. If I was to command any human to prostrate before another human, I would command the wife to prostrate before her husband because of the enormity of his right on her.)
Ar-Razi agreed with this view. Also, Qatadah said about Allah's statement,
(And they prostrated except Iblis (Shaytan), he refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers (disobedient to Allah).)
"Iblis, the enemy of Allah, envied Adam because Allah honored Adam. He said, `I was created from fire, and he was created from clay.' Therefore, the first error ever committed was arrogance, for the enemy of Allah was too arrogant to prostrate before Adam.'' I - Ibn Kathir - say, the following is recorded in the Sahih,
(35. And We said: "O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimin (wrongdoers). '') (36. Then the Shaytan made them slip therefrom (the Paradise), and got them out from that in which they were. We said: "Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.'')
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