- And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. Lo! herein indeed are portents for men of knowledge. (Ar-Rum)
So, every language was created by Allah. Verse 29 of Al-Baqarah says:
29 It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on earth;
And He taught Adam the names of all things;
It begs the question, did Adam know the name of petrol? Yes.
Did he know the internet? Yes.
Did he know your names? Yes.
Adam knew the names of all his descendants until the Day of Judgement.
Did he know cars, aeroplanes, jets and whatnot?
Allah taught Adam the names of all things. All things!
Adam was made ready for life on Earth by equipping him with the knowledge of all things that are on Earth so he would know how to use them. Everything you buy today has a manual to direct you on how to use it. What do you think would happen if you were to take an old man from my village into a 5-star hotel to stay for ten days? He may probably die because everything in that room will be new to him, unless he knows where the restaurant is or how to call for room service he will starve to death. How will he clean up or even ease himself? So, Allah taught Adam everything that he may be on top of the situation here on earth. You can assert without any fear of contradiction that Adam was the first to speak the English language, and any other language for that matter, because Allah taught him.
“Then He showed them to the angels”. This refers to humans with intellect. Meaning, among other things, presented to the angels by Allah were human beings. The scholars said Adam knew everyone on earth by their names. Even with the other readings of the verse, this meaning could be arrived at.
Another question: how was the presentation made to the angels? Was it by way of description, or was everything really created, including us, and presented to them? Only Allah knows what happened.
“…then He showed them to the angels” and said, “Tell me the names of these if ye are right.” This refers to something tangible, what you can see or what is described. So, everything was right before them.
“Tell me the names of these if ye are right.” in claiming that you are more deserving to be My vicegerents or that man is unfit to represent Me on earth. ‘If ye are right’ could also mean ‘if you know tell Me.’
The question was asked to bring their inability to the fore so that knowing that they do not know will make them realise that they cannot be Allah’s vicegerents on earth. How can you be a vicegerent without the knowledge of knowing the names of things you will use on earth? So, knowledge is a condition of being Allah’s vicegerent on earth.
- And We sent not (as Our messengers) before thee other than men whom We inspired Ask the followers of the Remembrance if ye know not! (An-Nahl)
“Tell me the names of these if ye are right.” does not give the angels any room for conjecture or Ijtihaad (analogical deduction). Yes, we are permitted to use our knowledge of the text to arrive at an opinion. If we are right in our deduction we have two rewards, where we miss the mark, we have only one reward. But to the angels, no; “Tell me the names of these if ye are right.”; they must come up with the correct answer, like the case of the man who passed by a township in utter ruin. We shall come to the story in this Al-Baqarah, in verse 259 inshaa Allah. So, the man asked how Allah would bring this township to life after its death. But Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him again. Allah asked him: ‘How long did you tarry?’ The man said: ‘Perhaps, a day or part of a day.’ He guessed wrongly how long he was dead before Allah raised him and brought him back to life. Allah did not rebuke him for guessing. But if I had asked him by saying, ‘Tell Me how long you tarried if you are right,’ then the man would not have said anything, for he did not know. Therefore, in this verse, the angels were not given room for guessing.
32 They said: “Glory to Thee, of knowledge We have none, save what Thou Hast taught us: In truth, it is Thou Who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom.”
Their saying: “Glory to Thee,..” Differed from what they said earlier:
“…whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)…”
Now, they said:
“Glory to Thee, of knowledge We have none, save what Thou Hast taught us….”
Every possessor of knowledge should be able to say as much. What I know is that I know nothing except what Allah has taught me.
Allah is the Ultimate Teacher and Provider of knowledge. He even taught birds how to find their route on air and retrace their way. He taught the ants how to construct their habitations without engineers or architects. To the bee, He taught what plants to eat and what nature of honey to produce. The newborn baby will grab its mother’s breast and start sucking without prior coaching. Who taught the suckling how to do that?
Allah is the Mu’allim!
They (angels) said: “Glory to Thee,..” Were the angels seeking pardon from Allah for speaking about what they did not know? They uttered those words before saying anything. As if to say, who are we to venture into what we do not know while You know the secrets of everything?
Therefore, as mentioned by the angels, Glory to You renders all soothsayers, palm readers and Babalawos as liars.
“Glory to Thee, of knowledge We have none, save what Thou Hast taught us….”
When we search the Qur’an, we find that those words, Glory be to You, are oft-repeated whenever somebody intends to seek pardon from Allah for a mistake committed.
When Yunus wanted to repent, he said:
- And (mention) Dhun Nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that We had no power over him, but he cried out in the darkness, saying: There is no God save Thee. Be Thou glorified! I have been a wrong doer. (Al-Ambiyaa)
So, like the angels, he also said Glory to You.
- And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou art the Knower of Things Hidden. (Al-Maa’idah)
- And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and his Lord had spoken unto him, he said: My Lord! Show me (Thy self), that I may gaze upon Thee. He said: Thou wilt not see Me, but gaze upon the mountain! If it stand still in its place, then thou wilt see Me. And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain He sent it crashing down. And Moses fell down senseless. And when he woke he said: Glory unto Thee! I turn unto Thee repentant, and I am the first of (true) believers. (Al-A’raaf)
On Glory to You, we mentioned a lot of examples where those who intended Allah’s forgiveness commenced their prayers with Subhaanak, Glory to You as if to show that whoever utters these to Allah, the doors of heaven are opened to them for acceptance by Allah the Most High.
In this Surah, we shall see where even Adam has uttered Subhaanak when he desired Allah’s pardon. We are still discussing the angels, affirming to Allah their weakness and lack of knowledge except what He taught them. Their use of Subhaanak led us to the examples we saw during this session.
