distorting Allah’s words from their proper meanings. As for all the early Muslims of the first three generations—the best generations of the Muslim community—the scholars of hadith and Quranic commentary, the authors of works on the stories of the prophets and early history, the majority of jurists and Sufis, many speculative theologians, including the majority of the Ash'arites and others, and believers generally, they uphold what the Quran and Sunnah indicate, as in His words, Exalted is He:

“Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray.”

And His words:

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”

This came after He had said to them:

“Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you that Satan is an avowed enemy to you?”

And His words, Exalted is He:

“Then Adam received words from his Lord, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, He is the Accepter of repentance, the Most Merciful.”

Moreover, he was punished by being expelled from Paradise. These are explicit texts that cannot be rejected without some distortion of the words from their proper meanings. If those who err or forget were held accountable under that revealed law, then this makes no difference. If they were not held accountable, punishment would be ruled out, as would describing the act as disobedience, acknowledging that they had wronged themselves, asking for forgiveness and mercy, and His words, Exalted is He:

“Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you that Satan is an avowed enemy to you?”

Allah tried the prophets through sins only to raise their ranks through repentance and bring them to His love and His delight in them. For Allah loves those who repent and those who purify themselves, and He rejoices immensely at a person’s repentance. What matters, then, is the perfection of the outcome, not the deficiency at the outset. A servant may have a rank that he can attain only through the deeds or trials Allah has decreed for him.