The sirah of Ibn Ishaq relates that Allah made the newly created Adam fall asleep. He then removed one of Adam’s ribs from an opening in his left side and healed him while he slept. Allah then created Eve from this rib as a mate for Adam. While this was happening, Iblis approached the animals of the world to see which one would bear him into the Garden of Eden so that he could speak with Adam and his wife and tempt them towards evil. All of the animals refused except the serpent. He told her: ‘I will protect you from the children of Adam; you will be under my protection if you get me into the Garden.’ She placed him between her two fangs. They entered the Garden and they both spoke from her mouth. In Ishaq’s sirah, the serpent is depicted as a graceful animal that walked on four legs, but as a result of her collaboration with Iblis, Allah punished her and condemned her to travel on her belly (turned into snake). Adam, in a conversation with his mate, expressed a wish that he and Eve could live forever. When Iblis overheard this, he realised this was Adam’s weakness, and he came to Adam, hiding in the serpent’s mouth, and offered him eternal life. Iblis began to weep uncontrollably, and when Adam and Eve heard him, they asked, ‘Why are you weeping?’ Iblis said, ‘I’m weeping for the two of you, because you will die and leave the pleasure and honour you are in.’ That moved them deeply. Then Iblis whispered in Adam’s ear something that eventually would become a verse in the Qur’an: ‘Shall I lead thee to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?’ (Qur’an 20:120). Iblis also befriended Eve in similar fashion. Both Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Eternity, which was the only tree forbidden to them by Allah. Unlike the Judaeo-Christian version of this story, which blames Eve for first eating the fruit and persuading Adam to do likewise, the Qur’an assigns responsibility equally to Adam and Eve. The Islamic version also rejects the Christian concept of ‘original sin’ and asserts that Adam and Eve were forgiven for their transgression after they repented. #fyp #islam #serpent #iblis #devil #satan #gardenofeden