Adam and Mūsa debated with each other. Mūsa said to Adam: "O Adam, you are our father. You did us harm and caused us to get out of Paradise." Adam said to him: "O Mūsa, Allah favored you with His talk (talked to you directly) and He wrote (the Torah) for you with His Own Hand. Do you blame me for an action which Allah had decreed on me forty years before He created me?" So Adam confuted Mūsa, Adam confuted Mūsa

Explanation

Adam and Mūsa (peace be upon both of them) debated with each other and presented the evidence that support their arguments. This may have happened after Mūsa’s death. Perhaps the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw it in a dream, since prophets' dreams are part of the divine revelation. A Muslim has to accept such accounts with submission, as we are not able to know how they really happened. Mūsa said to Adam: "O Adam, you are our father. You did us harm and caused us to get out of Paradise." i.e. you are the reason for our misfortune and misguidance by committing the sin that resulted in getting you out of Paradise. Accordingly, we have become a target for the devils' misguidance. Adam answered him, saying: "O Mūsa, Allah favored you with His talk." Allah, the Almighty, selected Mūsa from among the messengers and honored him by speaking to him without intermediaries and letting him listen to His speech directly. Also, Allah, the Almighty, wrote the Torah for Mūsa with His Hand. A Muslim must believe in this writing without asking how, denying, distorting the wording or the meaning, or resembling Allah to any of His creation. "Do you blame me for an action which Allah had decreed on me forty years before He created me?" i.e. how can you blame me for something that Allah had written for me in the Preserved Tablet and in the pages and tablets of the Torah forty years before I was created? "So Adam confuted Mūsa." i.e. he defeated him with a logical argument. Adam refuted the argument of Mūsa, (peace be upon both of them) by stating that if Allah, the Almighty, knows that Adam will get out of Paradise and descend to earth, then how can he go against Allah’s prior knowledge? Thus, Adam’s proof prevailed, because what was decreed upon him was a matter that could not be changed or avoided. Rather, it was a matter decreed by Allah, the All-Knowing, the Omnipotent, and thus it could not be challenged or undone after its occurrence. He had no choice but to submit to it. Nevertheless, Divine Decree should not be used as a justification for something that has not taken place. This is because man is commanded to obey Allah and avoid sins. Also, he does not know what is preordained for him until it actually takes place. When it takes place, and he cannot stop it, then he can submit to his fate and say: "This is what Allah has preordained, and He does what He wills." He should also ask his Lord to forgive his sin and repent to him. So, Adam clearly refuted the argument of Mūsa when the latter wanted to blame him for being the cause of his offspring's misfortune. Adam argued that this misfortune was preordained and inevitable. A Muslim, in all misfortunes resulting from people's own actions or otherwise, has to show patience and submission. However, this does not absolve the wrongdoer from blame and punishment.

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