Adam, the Garden and the Tree

Qur'an 2:35 · Al-Baqarah

وَقُلْنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

(2:35) We said, ‘O Adam, dwell with your mate in paradise and eat thereof freely whencesoever you wish, but do not approach this tree, lest you should be among the wrongdoers.’

The question

Did Adam sin when he ate from the tree? What kind of prohibition was it, and what was the Garden he was sent out of?

Views answered: the view that Adam disobeyed a binding command, questions raised about Adam's mistake and the Garden, one reported reply on the sinlessness of the prophets

Al-Mizan's argument

The verses speak of Adam being “unjust”, “disobeying” and “going astray”, and of his repentance. Al-Mizan argues that the prohibition of the tree was advisory, like a doctor's advice, not a binding religious law: the injustice was to Adam and his wife themselves, the effects of eating remained even after their repentance was accepted, and no sharīʿah had yet been ordained — it was given only with the descent to the earth. It answers three questions that follow from this, explaining the original meanings of “disobedience”, “going astray” and “repentance”. The Garden was in the heaven, though not the Garden of eternal abode. In the narrations it discusses whether the Garden was of this world, answers how Iblīs could have reached Adam in the Garden, and examines a reported reply to al-Maʾmūn on the sinlessness of the prophets, which it finds out of accord with the Ahl al-Bayt's teaching that the prophets were protected from all sins.

Reading guide

Each part opens the commentary at that point.

Read the whole commentary on 2:35 →

Adam, the Garden and the Tree ​

The question ​

Al-Mizan's argument ​

Reading guide ​

Adam, the Garden and the Tree

The question

Al-Mizan's argument

Reading guide