what they believed to be part of their religion, though in this they were following conjecture, having no knowledge to support it; they were merely guessing.

“When Moses said to Adam, ‘Why did you cause us and yourself to be expelled from Paradise?’ Adam, peace be upon him, said among his replies to Moses, ‘Why do you blame me for something Allah decreed for me forty years before I was created?’ Thus Adam prevailed in argument over Moses.”

Adam, peace be upon him, was not invoking divine decree to justify doing what he had been forbidden to do. Nor was Moses someone who would accept such a justification. Indeed, even ordinary believers would not do such a thing—how, then, could Adam and Moses? Adam had repented of what he had done, and his Lord had chosen him and guided him. Moses knew Allah too well to blame even someone below the rank of a prophet for an act of which he had repented—let alone a prophet!

Adam knew that, had divine decree been a valid justification, he would not have needed to repent, nor would his expulsion from Paradise and the other consequences have occurred. Had divine decree been a valid justification, it would have served as one for Iblīs and others as well. Likewise, Moses knew that, had divine decree been a valid justification, Pharaoh would not have been punished by drowning, nor the Children of Israel by the thunderbolt and other punishments. How could it be otherwise, when Moses himself said:

“My Lord, I have wronged myself, so forgive me.”

And he said:

“You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy on us. You are the best of those who forgive.”

This is a vast subject. Moses blamed Adam only because of the calamity that had befallen them through Adam’s eating from the tree. This is why he said:

“Why did you cause us and yourself to be expelled from Paradise?”

Blaming someone for a calamity that has befallen a person is one thing; blaming someone for a sin, where Allah’s right is concerned, is another.