And when your Lord said to the angels, I am going to place in the earth a khalifa,
they said: What! will You place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood
and we celebrate Your praise and Your holiness? He said: Surely I know what you do not know.
And He taught Adam all the names, then presented them to the angels;
then He said: Tell me the names of those if you are right.
They said: Glory be to You! we have no knowledge but that which You have taught us;
surely You are the Knowing, the Wise.
He said: O Adam! inform them of their names. Then when he had informed them of their names,
He said: Did I not say to you that I surely know what is unseen in the heavens and the earth
and (that) I know what you manifest and what you hide?
And when We said to the angels: Prostrate to Adam, they prostrated but Iblis (did it not).
He refused and he was proud, and he was one of the unbelievers.
(Holy Qur’an, al-Baqarah, 2:30-34)
Questions for Reflection
1) What is the difference between angels and the human being as explained in these verses?
2) How would you describe the attitude of the angels in this verse?
3) What sins was Iblis guilty of?
4) What is the evil of that sin? Give one way in which we can keep away from the same sin.
5) What position is the human being given in these verses?