الآية رقم (36) - فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ وَقُلْنَا اهْبِطُواْ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ وَلَكُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَاعٌ إِلَى حِينٍ

(36) - “But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, ‘Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time.’”

The answer: He disobeyed according to Allah’s U Divine Will. This is because, Allah U Willed for him to be given a choice and to hold him accountable for it. Hence, he is not held accountable for the Will of Allah U but for the choice he made. Allah says:

﴾وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ﴿

“And have shown him the two ways?” [Surah Al-Balad: 10] and

﴾إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِراً وَإِمَّا كَفُوراً﴿

“Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful.” [Surah Al-Insan: 3].

﴾فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ ﴿“But Satan caused them to slip”: The word Zalla means stumbling and slipping. Satan said to both of them as Allah U tells us:

﴾مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنْ الْخَالِدِينَ﴿

“Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal.” [Surah Al-A’raaf: 20].