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4. What Allah Said to Christ and to Adam
Next I carefully studied the Koran comparing what Allah said to Christ and to Adam. In this context I also found deep and far-reaching differences between Christ and Adam.
Here I first present the passages of the Koran, in which Allah addresses each one of these two key personalities in the Koran. Then I analyze each of these passages to highlight what became important to me. And I conclude by contrasting what Allah said to Christ and to Adam in a number of key differences between them. I begin with what Allah said to CHRIST:
(It was) when Allah said: “Oh ‘Isa (Jesus)! Truly, I am letting you pass away and I am raising you to myself (in heaven) and I am purifying you from those who have disbelieved (lladhina kafaru); and I am making those who followed you (to be) above those who have disbelieved (lladhina kafaru), until the Day of the Resurrection. Then to me will be your return, and I will judge between you regarding what you dispute about.” (Sura Al 'Imran 3:55)
إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُك إِلَي وَمُطَهِّرُك مِن الَّذِين كَفَرُوا وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ فِيمَا كُنْتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ (سُورَة آل عِمْرَان ٣ : ٥٥)'''
Here I focused on the following two revelations of Allah about Christ:
1. Allah raised Christ to himself. This means that Christ was raised up to heaven to be and live near Allah and his throne. In other words, according to this revelation, Christ today lives in heaven. He began on earth, being born of his mother Maryam (Mary), and ended up in heaven with Allah, who raised him to himself.
2. Allah cleansed Christ from those who have sinned by disbelieving. This means that Christ was purified from the sins of others. Christ is not only pure in himself (see Sura Maryam 19:19, where Christ is described by an angel as being “ghulaaman zakiyyan”, i.e. a pure or faultless boy), but he was even purified by Allah from the sins of others. Christ's purity is a divine attribute, for Allah himself is also pure. How else would Allah be able to purify anything, if he were not pure in himself? This is why Christ is like Allah, in that both are pure.
Now I come to what Allah said to ADAM:
35 And we (i.e. Allah) have said: “O Adam! Dwell you and your spouse in the Garden (of Paradise); and eat (both of you) from it with pleasure wherever (both of) you want; and do not draw near this tree, or (else both of) you will be among the offenders.” 36 Then Satan has made them to stumble away from it (i.e. from this commandment of Allah), and thus he has brought them out of that (environment), in which they had been. And (then) we (i.e. Allah) have said: “Drop down (i.e. from the Garden of Paradise down to earth) (and be) enemies to each other! And on earth you have an abode and enjoyable necessities of life, up till a time.” 37 Then Adam received from his Lord words (of inspiration), and he (i.e. his Lord) turned (literally: repented) upon him. (Truly) he is the intensively repentant one, the merciful one. 38 We (i.e. Allah) said: “Drop down from it (i.e. from the Garden of Paradise down to earth) all of you! So, either there will verily come to you from me guidance (, or not). Then, whoever has followed my guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they be sad.” (Sura al-Baqara 2:35-38)
٣٥ وَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَكُلاَ مِنْهَا رَغَداً حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلاَ تَقْرَبَا هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ ٣٦ فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ وَقُلْنَا اهْبِطُوا بَعْضُكُم لِبَعْض عَدُو وَلَكُم فِي الأَرْض مُسْتَقَر وَمَتَاع إِلَى حِينٍ ٣٧ فَتَلَقَّى آدَمُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ كَلِمَاتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ ٣٨ قُلْنَا اهْبِطُوا مِنْهَا جَمِيعا فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ مِنِّي هُدىً فَمَنْ تَبِعَ هُدَايَ فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (سُورَة الْبَقَرَة ٢ : ٣٥ - ٣٨)
Here I noticed the following two revelations of Allah about Adam:
1. Allah commanded Adam to drop down from the Garden of Paradise to earth, which of course he did. This means that Adam was lowered away from Allah's presence and from his throne. In other words according to the Koran Adam no longer resided in heavenly Paradise, but he resided on earth, where he died and is now buried, awaiting the Day of Resurrection. So, he began in heavenly Paradise, communicating with Allah, and ended up on earth.
2. Allah commanded Adam and his spouse (and their descendants after them) to be enemies to each other, which still is true up till today, since the descendants of Adam hate and are at enmity with each other. This means that Adam was polluted by the sin of his hatred and enmity towards his spouse and his descendants. Now, of course, pollution is not a divine attribute, because Allah is pure in himself. Why else would Muslims have to perform ritual duties of ablution to purify themselves, before they start their ritual prayers to address Allah? This is why Adam is not like Allah, because Allah is pure and Adam is impure through his sin.
By comparing point by point these revelations of Allah in the Koran about Christ and about Adam, I was able to discover the following astonishing differences between Adam and Christ (I continue the numbering of these differences from what we have seen so far in the last chapter):
DIFFERENCE 5 : To Christ Allah said: “I am raising you to myself (in heaven)”. But to Adam Allah commanded: “Drop down from it (i.e. from the heavenly Garden of Paradise down to earth)”. In this Christ and Adam are different.
DIFFERENCE 6 : Christ has been raised up to Allah and his heaven, while Adam has been lowered away from Allah and his throne. In this they are not only different, but the opposite of each other.
DIFFERENCE 7 : Christ today lives and dwells in heaven and is no longer on earth, while Adam had to dwell on earth, and today is dead and buried in it; he is no longer in the heavenly Garden of Paradise, where he was created and first lived. Here again Christ and Adam are not only different, but they are the opposite of each other: the one alive, the other dead; the one in heaven and the other on earth.
DIFFERENCE 8 : Christ began on earth and ended up in heaven, while Adam started in the heavenly Garden of Paradise and ended up on earth. So also here, Christ and Adam are not only different, but the opposite of each other.
But these four differences are not all that I was able to deduce from the comparison of what Allah said to Christ with what Allah said to Adam. There are four more differences here:
DIFFERENCE 9 : To Christ Allah said: “I am purifying you from those who have disbelieved.” But to Adam Allah said: “(Be) enemies to each other!” (This commandment, of course, cannot happen without sinning, which implies impurity.) In this Christ and Adam are different.
DIFFERENCE 10 : Christ was purified by Allah from the sins of others and is therefore pure, while Adam was polluted by his own sin of hatred and enmity and is therefore impure. Here Christ and Adam are not only different, but they are again the opposite of each other.
DIFFERENCE 11 : The purity of Christ is a divine attribute, because Allah can only purify Christ if Allah himself is pure. But the pollution of Adam is not a divine attribute, and this is why Muslims have to purify themselves before they begin addressing the pure Allah, when they pray. Again here Christ and Adam are more than different, they are the opposite of each other. And finally,
DIFFERENCE 12 : Christ in his purity is like Allah, who is pure. Adam in the impurity of his sin is not like Allah, who is not impure. This is the deepest difference, or rather a mutually excluding contrast between Christ and Adam
Let me be honest with you. When I discovered these consequences of what the Koran teaches about Christ and Adam, I was shocked. It seemed to me that my teachers made a deep mistake in using Sura 3:59 to exclusively equate Christ with Adam as being both creatures. The teaching of the Koran is much more complex, leading me to discover how it teaches that Christ is not only like Adam, but that Christ in addition is also like Allah in his pure life in heaven. But I discovered more, as I will show you in the next chapter.