Transliteration:( Fa izaa sawwaituhoo wa nafakhtu feehi mir roohee faqa'oo lahoo saajideen )
Then when I have perfected him and breathed into him of My [36] spirit, then fall down in prostration to him [37].
This tells us that the Sajdah (prostration) was not only for the body of Hazrat Adam (on whom be peace) but also for his soul. His body was a manifestation of Light, and Sajdah was made for it as well. Otherwise, the act of breathing His spirit into him would not have been a restriction.
This prostration (Sajdah) of the angels was not due to the injunction of the coded laws of Hazrat Adam (on whom be peace) because, at that point in time, the Shariah of Hazrat Adam (on whom be peace) had not been revealed. The laws of Shariah apply to human beings, not to angels.
Furthermore, the angels made this Sajdah only once, and they were not commanded to do so again. Therefore, it is not permissible for anyone to use this verse as proof of the permissibility of Sajdah as a mark of respect.
The tafsir of Surah Hijr verse 29 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Hijr ayat 28 which provides the complete commentary from verse 28 through 33.
(15:29) When I have completed shaping him and have breathed into him of My Spirit,[19] then fall you down before him in prostration.”
19. “And have breathed into him of My Spirit” means when I have cast a reflection of My divine characteristics on him. This shows that the soul of man implies life, knowledge, power, will, discretion and other human characteristics in the aggregate. These are in reality a slight reflection of divine characteristics that has been cast on the human body, which was originally created from dried clay. And it is this divine reflection on the human body which has raised him to the position of the vicegerent of Allah and made him that worthy being before whom angels and every earthly thing should bow down.
As a matter of fact, the source of each characteristic of everything is one divine characteristic or the other, as is borne by a tradition: Allah divided mercy into one hundred parts: then He reserved ninety-nine parts for Himself and sent down the remaining one part to the earth. It is because of that one part that the creatures show mercy to one another. So much so that it is due to this that an animal refrains from placing the hoof on its young ones.
In this connection one has to be on strict guard against the notion that the possession of a part of any divine characteristic amounts to the possession of a part of Godhead. This is because Godhead is absolutely beyond the reach of each and every creation.
[675]- The element of life and soul which Allāh created for that body, not His own spirit or part of Himself (as some mistakenly believe).
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