Question
Why God did not stop Adam before eating the fruit of good and evil if He is Almighty and omniscient as is held by all the religions? Why He asked Adam about the following question:”Did you eat the fruit of good and evil?” Does it entail that God does not know future or past events?
Why only specific regions have been described in the Holy books? If these books had been written by God then He would have covered the whole world. Conversely, if they do not go beyond specific regions it means they were products of human minds. For humans cannot cover what is beyond their knowledge. We know that in those days there was no communication media. People were unaware of the other regions of the world. Is not God supposed to be all-knowing?
Answer
1. The incident of Adam and the tree was a test that Adam needed to go through, a test that failing it taught many things to Adam and prepared him (and consequently his progeny) for the style of the life they would have on Earth, where everything and every moment is a test and a challenge.
In the Qur’an we read:
“Then he caused them to fall by deceit so when they tasted of the tree, their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they both began to cover themselves with the leaves of the garden And their Lord called out to them: Did I not forbid you both from that tree and say to you that the Shaitan is your open enemy?” (7:22)
Please let me know which verse says that God actually asked them “Did you eat the fruit of good and evil”. Also as a general point, please also bear in mind that it is very common in many languages including Arabic to criticize a person for what he has done by (apparently) asking him: “Did you do this?” which really means “Do you realize how bad is what you did, or didn’t I warn you against doing this?”.
2. The answer I have written for another question might provide a satisfying answer for this question as well, I copy the relevant parts here:
The Qur’an has made it clear that every nation has had a guide. This is enough for a Muslim to believe that God has not excluded guidance only to one nation. Having said that, it was the great personality of one person and his supreme Fear of God and devotion that brought God’s blessing to his progeny. The person is obviously Ibrahim.
The privilege that God had given to the progeny of Ibrahim was more of a contract nature rather than free bonus. The contract (that has been mention in the Quran and Old Testament) makes it clear that the privilege brought the two nations of Bani Israel (and when they failed) Bani Ishmael both ‘a position’ and ‘a responsibility’. The position, was the position of being witness to God for other nations, meaning other nations would be guided through their guidance. The responsibility was to remain worth of this privilege.
The fact that all of the prophets that we know (who are from the progeny of Ibrahim) raised in the middle east makes perfect sense because the middle east at the time of these prophets was politically, geographically and economically the centre of the world (or at least a potential point of focus if you consider ‘centre of the world’ to be exaggeration). It is the most appropriate for the nation that is supposed to be witness to other nations to be the centre of attention. It is interesting that even now this point (the political, economical position of middle east) is to much extent correct.
Answered by: Farhad Shafti
Date: 2015-03-18
