Surah Al Baqarah Tafseer

فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَنْهَا

Then the Shaytan made them slip therefrom,

either refers to Paradise, and in this case, it means that Shaytan led Adam and Hawwa away from it, as Asim bin Abi An-Najud recited it.

It is also possible that this Ayah refers to the forbidden tree. In this case, the Ayah would mean, as Al-Hasan and Qatadah stated,

"He tripped them."

In this case,

فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَنْهَا

(Then the Shaytan made them slip therefrom) means,

"Because of the tree", just as Allah said,

يُوْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ

Turned aside therefrom (i.e. from Muhammad and the Qur'an) is he who is turned aside (by the decree and preordainment of Allah), (51:9),

meaning, the deviant person becomes turned aside - or slips - from the truth because of so and so reason.

This is why then Allah said,

...

فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ

And got them out from that in which they were.

meaning, the clothes, spacious dwelling and comfortable sustenance.

وَقُلْنَا اهْبِطُواْ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ وَلَكُمْ فِي الَارْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَاعٌ إِلَى حِينٍ

We said:"Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time."

meaning, dwelling, sustenance and limited life, until the commencement of the Day of Resurrection

Adam was very Tall

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Ubayy bin Ka`b said that the Messenger of Allah said,

إِنَّ اللهَ خَلَقَ ادَمَ رَجُلً طُوَالاً كَثِيرَ شَعْرِ الرَّأْسِ كَأَنَّهُ نَخْلَةٌ سَحُوقٌ فَلَمَّا ذَاقَ الشَّجَرَةَ سَقَطَ عَنْهُ لِبَاسُهُ فَأَوَّلُ مَا بَدَا مِنْهُ عَوْرَتُهُ فَلَمَّا نَظَرَ إلى عَوْرتِه جَعَلَ يَشْتَدُّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ فَأَخَذَتْ شَعْرَهُ شَجَرَةٌ فَنَازَعَهَا فَنَادَاهُ الرَّحْمنُ يَا ادَمُ مِنِّي تَفِرُّ

Allah created Adam tall, with thick hair, just as a date tree with full branches. When Adam ate from the forbidden tree, his cover fell off, and the first thing that appeared was his private area. When he saw his private area, he ran away in Paradise and his hair got caught in a tree. He tried to free himself and Ar-Rahman called him, 'O Adam! Are you running away from Me?'

فَلَمَّا سَمِعَ كَلمَ الرَّحْمنِ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ لَا ولَكِنِ اسْتِحْيَاء

When Adam heard the words of Ar-Rahman (Allah), he said, 'No, O my Lord! But I am shy.'

Adam remained in Paradise for an Hour

Al-Hakim recorded that Ibn Abbas said,

"Adam was allowed to reside in Paradise during the time period between the `Asr (Afternoon) prayer, until sunset."

Al-Hakim then commented this is "Sahih according to the Two Sheikhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not include it in their collections."

Also, Ibn Abi Hatim recorded Ibn Abbas saying,

"Allah sent Adam to earth to an area called, Dahna, between Makkah and At-Ta'if."

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said that;

Adam was sent down to India, while Hawwa was sent to Jeddah. Iblis was sent down to Dustumaysan, several miles from Basra. Further, the snake was sent down to Asbahan.

This was reported by Ibn Abi Hatim.

Also, Muslim and An-Nasa'i recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

خَيْرُ يَوْمٍ طَلَعَتْ فِيهِ الشَّمْسُ يَوْمُ الْجُمُعَةِ فِيهِ خُلِقَ ادَمُ وَفِيهِ أُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ وَفِيهِ أُخْرِجَ مِنْهَا

Friday is the best day on which the sun has risen. On Friday, Allah created Adam, admitted him into Paradise, and expelled him from it.

A Doubt and a Rebuttal

If one asks, "If the Paradise that Adam was thrown out of was in heaven, as the majority of the scholars assert, then is it possible for Iblis to enter Paradise, although he was expelled from it by Allah's decision (when he refused to prostrate before Adam)?"

Basically, the response to this would be that the Paradise which Adam was in, was in the heavens, not on the earth, as we explained in the beginning of our book Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah.

The majority of scholars said that Shaytan was originally prohibited from entering Paradise, but there were times when he sneaked into it in secret. For instance, the Tawrah stated that Iblis hid inside the snake's mouth and entered Paradise.

Some scholars said that it is possible that Shaytan led Adam and Hawwa astray on his way out of Paradise.

Some scholars said that he led Adam and Hawwa astray when he was on earth, while they were still in heaven, as stated by Az-Zamakhshari.

Al-Qurtubi mentioned several beneficial Hadiths here about snakes and the ruling on killing them