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Forbidden Fruit Is Procreation
I was just talking to some people and a point came up that if the tree is taken to be of procreation there are some seemingly logical issues:
Why, if procreation was prohibited, was it prohibited when it is a natural human desire? Or is it the case that Adam and Eve did not have the desire but ate from that tree anyway THEN the private parts became known to them with lust etc. and the main issue was then being tempted. If it is the case that they had list before the incident then isn’t it setting up for failure?
Why was procreation prohibited then but not now? If it is inherently immoral how could it be allowed now?
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8 Replies
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Forbidden Fruit Is Procreation
updated 2 years, 11 months ago
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8
Replies
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السلام عليكم
Ahmad Bhai, I think the way Ghamidi Sahab sees it is that the whole event of Adam and Eve عليهما السلام with Iblees was so that they get to know that the two most gruesome tasks humanity will face in its time on Earth are going to be the struggle with one’s ego and controlling the sexual urge. It was just to show them how difficult it is going to be to overcome these things and even people as good as them can succumb to temptation if they are not vigilant enough. Intercourse was prohibited just for this reason temporarily: so that they get to know that controlling this urge will be next to impossible even for the best of them.
Consider it like the meeting of Khizr and Moses عليهما السلام. There is nothing wrong with being inquisitive; in fact, it may be encouraged. However, Khizr temporarily asked Moses not to question him even when he killed a youth for seemingly no reason at all. However, Moses was not able to withhold himself for long and that ended their journey there. Similarly, intercourse was never wrong. It was obedience to God’s orders that was required, so as to make the gravity of the challenge clear on Adam and Eve. Does that help?
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وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
Yes that does help but then the question I would have is that if it were just to show that sexual urges and the shaytan will be a big test for mankind then why were Adam and Eve punished by being sent out of the garden for their actions?
And if it were just symbolic then how do we make sense of them being tested with something that they could not deal with eg these desires? Weren’t they being set up for failure?
‘Or is it the case that Adam and Eve did not have the desire but ate from that tree anyway THEN the private parts became known to them with lust etc. and the main issue was then being tempted. If it is the case that they had list before the incident then isn’t it setting up for failure?’
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They were not punished. Their leaving was part of the plan. As for your second paragraph (very good question, by the way), in my humble opinion, failure is what humbles you. So, maybe God wanted to make them humble in “matters of the flesh.” That they don’t be arrogant and try to use their willpower in every situation but rather try to avoid these situations entirely. The aim is not to be all-powerful, not to be able to do whatever you wish (such as avoid temptation every single time) but to realize your weakness and asking God’s help, avoid things which you know you will not be able to do. Thinking this, they may have been set up for failure. Maybe like Iblees was set up for failure in the matter of the ego.
Ahmad Bhai, can you explain what you mean by “list” because I don’t understand your last paragraph.
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Sorry the word should have been lust
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Oh! Ok. But I don’t think that would be the case because that would be unnecessary and kind of against the point. Wasn’t the whole point to be challenged due to the sexual urge (if we have understood “the tree” correctly) and learn that it is going to be a tough one to contend with?
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The prohibition was not of the act itself, but of the implementation of desires in a way that does not lead to utmost purification? My personal understanding tells me that it was a lesson regarding the whole ethos of “desire”. That every act should be manifested after thought and responsibility. Which makes it pure or impure. Procreation, for example, is good in itself. But the timing makes it bad or pure (such as sex before marriage or extra marital affairs). So as Ghamidi sb also states on this topic that it was a temporary prohibition such as while fasting or umrah. For purification purposes.
Sending them down was not a punishment. Do the verses that talk about their descent make it look like it was? (A genuine Q).
How I see the whole event as;
God had to place us here, thus the conversation with angels. Had to prepare us before. The prohibition was only given to manifest to “us” the entire mechanism of desire that defines us. (I think it would make better sense to view it from our perspective). Share your thoughts further so that i can also learn.
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When I read the verses the tone seemed pretty angry. They were told to descend humans being enemies to the shaytan
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It could be so too because of the context. The tree prohibition event prior and warning to try not to repeat it. Rather than the descent itself
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