And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful. "They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise. "He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed. "And @ when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers. And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers. "But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time. "Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. We said, "Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs - those will be companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally." [B][ Chapter 2, Verses 31-39][/B][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][COLOR=#0000ff]And "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat from wherever you will but do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."
But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said, "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal."
And he swore [by Allah ] to them, "Indeed, I am to you from among the sincere advisors."
So he made them fall, through deception. And when they tasted of the tree, their private parts became apparent to them, and they began to fasten together over themselves from the leaves of Paradise. And their Lord called to them, "Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you that Satan is to you a clear enemy?"
They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers."
[ Allah ] said, "Descend, being to one another enemies. And for you on the earth is a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time."
He said, "Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be brought forth."
[B][Chapter 7 : Verses 19-25][/B][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][COLOR=#0000ff]And [mention] when We said to the angles, "Prostrate to Adam," and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He said, "Should I prostrate to one You created from clay?"[Iblees] said, "Do You see this one whom You have honored above me? If You delay me until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely destroy his descendants, except for a few."[ Allah ] said, "Go, for whoever of them follows you, indeed Hell will be the recompense of you - an ample recompense.And incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them." But Satan does not promise them except delusion.Indeed, over My [believing] servants there is for you no authority. And sufficient is your Lord as Disposer of affairs. [B][Chapter 17, Verses 61-65][/B][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[B]Summary of my reflection points on story of Adam and Eve:[/B]
Did Allah already know that Adam will eat from this tree? Of course He did.
Did Allah forced Adam to eat from the tree? No, He did not. Adam was given a free will just like we have.
Allah has also made it clear to Adam that Iblis was his enemy when Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam.
Adam PBUH made a mistake but what did he do? He repented.
What did Iblis do? He asked why Allah created Adam from clay and made Adam superior over him? [LEFT][COLOR=#222222][FONT=Verdana]He questioned Allah's wisdom and showed arrogance. [/FONT][/COLOR][/LEFT]
Allah forgave Adam PBUH when he repented and outcaste Iblis for his arrogance.
Allah also told Adam that human beings will receive guidance from God and whoever follows Allah's guidance will be successful and whoever does not follow Allah's guidance will be in hell fire forever.
[B]How does this apply to us and to your situation specifically:[/B]
Why did Allah mention this story in Quran. Is it only for Adam and Eve or does this apply to us as well.
Just like Allah knew that Adam will eat from the tree, Iblis will refuse to prostrate and that Adam will be thrown out of Jannah; Allah knows what is good and what is bad for us. Just like Allah warned Adam to keep away from a forbidden tree, Allah forbids us to stay away from certain things. This includes inter-mixing with opposite sex and having illegal relationships with them. When a man and a woman is together and there is no one else between them then hadith tell us that Satan is the third person present between them and invites them to do what Allah has forbidden just like Satan enticed Adam to eat from the forbidden tree.
Starting a relationship with a girl without marriage is forbidden in Islam. I understand that people make mistakes but how do we react when we make mistakes is important. We can choose either the path of Iblis who questioned Allah's wisdom and refused to obey Allah's command or we can choose to be like Adam PBUH who made mistake but immediately realized that he should repent. Allah is telling us that if we choose the path of Adam PBUH then Allah will forgive us right away. Don't question Allah's wisdom. Rather put your trust in Allah, learn from your mistake and immediately repent and try to follow Quran. Keep away from what is forbidden and do what our creator has told us to do because indeed our success in both worlds is to obey Allah SWT.
May Allah help us to understand Quran and help us to apply what we read in Quran in our lives! Ameen!;
