Could Adam Have Erred in Telling the Angels the Names?

Qur’an 2:33 · Al-Baqarah · With other exegetes

قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ ۖ فَلَمَّا أَنبَأَهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ

He said, “O Ādam, inform them of their names.” And when he had informed them of their names, He said, “Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed.” (2:33)

The question

The angels learnt the names from Adam, not from God directly. How did they know that he did not make a mistake in telling them?

Views answered: Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, al-Ṭabrisī, Ṣadr al-Mutaʾallihīn

Jawādī Āmulī’s argument

Sayyid al-Murtaḍā raised the question and answered it with Adam’s prophethood; al-Ṭabrisī held that the angels did not need to know of his prophethood at that moment, and Ṣadr al-Mutaʾallihīn repeated al-Ṭabrisī’s view without naming him. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī gives what he calls the definitive answer: in the realm of the Names and of the angels there is no room for error at all, because error arises only where deception, illusion and the mixing of truth with falsehood are possible. God Himself confirmed Adam’s report. Nor had the angels erred earlier, for their question was a request (inshāʾ), not a statement that could be true or false.

Views compared

Each view is given as al-Tasnim reports it. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.

How the angels knew Read →

Sayyid al-Murtaḍā

An unprecedented question, answered by Adam’s prophethood.

Jawādī Āmulī

The realm of the Names and the angels has no place for error, so the question does not arise.

Did they need to know he was a prophet? Read →

al-Ṭabrisī, followed by Ṣadr al-Mutaʾallihīn

The angels did not need to know of Adam’s prophethood at that moment to answer this.

Jawādī Āmulī

Error occurs only where deception and illusion can enter; where only truth prevails, doubt finds no place. God confirmed the report.

Had the angels themselves erred? Read →

A possible objection

The angels were mistaken about their own rank and Adam’s, so error was possible at that stage.

Jawādī Āmulī

Their words were a question (inshāʾ), not a report, so they were neither true nor false; only a lack of knowledge relative to a higher rank is conceivable.

Reading guide

Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.

1. The question, and three answers to it
2. The definitive answer: no room for error
3. God confirmed Adam’s report
4. Had the angels themselves erred?
5. The whole discussion of 2:33

The whole commentary on 2:33 →