Adam and Eve's Expulsion from Paradise

Sanne de Laat
The narration of Adam and Eve in paradise is part of several sacred scriptures. So is the Bible,
which makes it quite explicit that Eve in particular bears the blame for the expulsion from
paradise. In the Qur'an, on the other hand, this is not explicitly mentioned. In fact, the name
"Eve" does not appear in the Qur'an. In most verses, only Adam is mentioned, leaving
question marks around Eve's role in the story. In this paper I will therefore focus on the
research question: Is Eve (partly) guilty of the expulsion from paradise?

Since the name "Eve" does not appear in the Qur'an, I had to use other selection criteria to
answer this question. For example, I searched the Ahmed Ali index under "Covenant with
Adam", "Fall of Adam" and "Adam tempted by Satan". This resulted in verses 20:115, 7:19-
24, and 20:120-123.1 In addition, I searched Koran.nl under the search term "to stray", some
verses 2:35-38.2 delivered. I have selected these verses, as they relate to the expulsion from
paradise and the run-up to it.3 Furthermore, as a second translation I will use a Quranic
translation by Ahmadiyya Community The Hague. This community defends the equal rights
of women, which can affect how Eve is portrayed in this Qur'anic translation. To answer the
research question, I will perform a further textual analysis in which the verses will be
analyzed linguistically and also the broad and narrow context of the verses will be examined.

Guilty

God allows Adam and Eve to dwell in paradise, but imposes one prohibition on them, as
described in verse 2:35:

2:35

And We said, "Adam, you and your wife may inhabit the garden, and you may eat of
it in abundance wherever you please, but you may not approach this tree, for then
you will be among the wrongdoers."4

1
Technically, only verses 20:120-121 fall under "Fall of Adam," but for the sake of narrow context, I include
verses 20:122-23 because they relate to the expulsion from paradise.
2
Technically, it only yielded verse 2:36, but again, for the sake of the narrow context, I also include verses 2:35
and 2:38. These relate to the run-up to the expulsion from paradise.
3
For this reason, I did not search for search terms such as "paradise" or "Iblies", as this would return a far too
broad search result.
4
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, https://koran.nl/.
Which edition of Leemhuis' translation was used is unclear. Publisher, year and place of issue are therefore not
known.
The first thing you notice in this verse is that God only addresses Adam. Eve is not mentioned
by name, but only referred to as Adam's wife – this applies not only to this verse, but to the
entire Qur'an. Although God only addresses Adam, he does mention that the prohibition also
applies to Eve. Both are not allowed to eat from the tree and if they do, they will both be
among the wrongdoers. However, this seems counterintuitive, it is usually assumed that
when a ban is imposed, all parties to whom the ban applies are informed. After all, how can
Eve commit injustice if she does not know about the prohibition?

This brings me to the Qur'anic translation of the Ahmadiyya community in The Hague. The
Ahmadiyya community has certain teachings, which make them considered not Islamic by
many Muslims, but accepted in the West. For example, they have a tolerant position
towards women.5 This seems to shine through in their translation of verse 2:35:

2:35

And We said, "Oh Adam, dwell ye with thy gade in the garden, and eat abundantly,
wherever thou wilt, but do not approach this tree, lest thou shalt be among sinners." 6

Where in the translation of Leemhuis, despite the fact that her name is not explicitly
mentioned, we apparently see that the prohibition applies to both Adam and Eve, that does
not necessarily seem to be the case here. In the first part of the verse, God refers to Adam
with the word "thou" which in this case stands for the second person singular. Whether in
the part that follows "thou" still refers only to Adam cannot be said with certainty, but that
impression is, in my opinion, created by the preceding part. In this case, the prohibition
would apply only to Adam, and only he would belong to the sinners — in terms of Leemhuis:

What is also important to mention is that verse 2:35 says almost exactly the same thing as 7:19, making it
unnecessary to mention both in the paper.
5
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Netherlands. "What is Ahmadiyya?," https://islamnu.nl/wat-is-ahmadiyya/.
6
Hazrat Mirza Bashir-Ud-in Mahmud Ahmad, The Quran, Translated by: Ahmadiyya Community 's Gravenhage
(Alphen aan de Rijn: Haalsbeek b.v., 1991), 2:35.

In the Qur'anic translation of the Ahmadiyya community, the basmala is numbered as verse 1 at the beginning
of each chapter, so the numbering of the verses consistently differs a number from other Qur'ans. For example,
verse 2:35 from Leemhuis' translation is equivalent to verse 2:36 from the translation of the Ahmadiyya
community. For convenience, however, I also used the numbering of Leemhuis for the Ahmadiyya translation
during the paper.
wrongdoers — if he violated it. In any case, this translation leaves open the possibility that
the ban does not apply to Eve.7

However, verse 7:20 shows that both are tempted by Satan to do what God has forbidden
them to do. This implies that Eve was aware that she was instructed not to eat from the tree
and that the prohibition therefore also applied to her.8 The verse says the following about
this:

7:20

Then Satan whispered to them to openly show them what was hidden from their
shame and he said, "Your Lord has only kept you from this tree so that you would not
become angels or become among those who will always exist.9

"Their" in this context clearly refers to Adam and Eve. So Satan tempted them both. In
addition, Satan's statement "your lord has kept you from this tree" confirms that the
prohibition applied to both Adam and Eve. This is further confirmed in the following verse:

7:22

Thus he deceived them by delusion. When they had tasted the tree, their shame
became visible to them and they began to cover themselves with attached leaves
from the garden. And their Lord cried out to them, "Had I not forbidden you this tree
and told you that Satan is a declared enemy of yours?"10

From this we can also conclude from the word "you" that God had forbidden both Adam and
Eve to eat from the tree. Moreover, this verse 7:23 would explain, in which not only Adam,
but also Eve asks God for forgiveness:

7:23

They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and
have mercy on us, then we are among the losers.11

7
In Leemhuis' translation, "wrongdoers" is used instead of "sinners", but that is not of great importance in the
light of the main question.
8
The translation of Leemhuis and the Ahmadiyya translation agree on this. I will therefore only give the quote
from Leemhuis's in the running text.
9
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, 7:20.
10
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, 7:22.
11
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, 7:23.
Of course, if the ban didn't apply to Eve, she wouldn't have to ask for forgiveness. By asking
for forgiveness, she also confesses that she (like Adam) violated the prohibition. As a result,
God drives them both out of paradise and sends them to earth, as described in verse 7:24:

7:24

He said, "Descend -- become enemies -- you have a temporary abode and usufruct on
the earth.12

Since the violation of the prohibition was the reason for the expulsion from paradise, we
seem, based on the verses discussed, to have enough ground to conclude that Adam and Eve
are both guilty of the expulsion from paradise. So far, most verses show that the prohibition
also applied to Eve, only verse 2:35 from the Ahmadiyya translation gives reason to doubt
this. Yet there are verses, in both the translation of Leemhuis and in the translation of the
Ahmadiyya community, that seem to imply that Eve bears no blame for the expulsion from
paradise.

Innocent

For example, verse 20:115 describes that only Adam disobeyed:

And We had previously commissioned Adam, but he forgot; We found no

determination in him.13

On the basis of this verse, only Adam would have been instructed not to eat from the
forbidden tree, and only he would not have observed this prohibition. This is in contrast to
the previous verses, in which Eve also gave in to the temptation of Satan. However, verses
20:120 and 20:121 reaffirm that it was only Adam who was tempted:

20:120

12
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, 7:23.
What is also important to mention is that verse 7:24 is almost exactly the same as 2:36, making it unnecessary
to mention both in the paper.
13
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, 20:115.
 But Satan whispered to him and said, "O Adam, shall I show you the tree of eternal
life and a dominion that does not perish?"14

20:121

Then they both ate it and their shame became visible to them and they began to
cover themselves with stitched leaves from the garden. Adam disobeyed his Lord and
was deceived.15

From verse 20:120 it becomes clear that Satan only tries to tempt Adam, which, as is clear in
verse 20:121, he succeeds. In this verse, however, we also see that Eve ate from the tree. Yet
this verse states that it is Adam who has been deceived and disobedient. This seems
contradictory, but if we can assume from the Ahmadiyya community translation of verse
2:37, this is correct. In that case, the prohibition only applies to Adam. This would also
explain why in verse 2:37 only Adam is given grace:

2:37

Then Adam received words from his Lord, and he graciously turned to him; He is the
giver of grace, the merciful one.16

In the Ahmadiyya translation, forgiveness is even more explicit:

Then Adam learned some words (of prayer) from his Lord. Thus He forgave him; sure.
He is repentant, Merciful.17

God alone gives Adam the words with which he can ask for forgiveness. And only Adam
receives grace/is forgiven. After all, if the prohibition did not apply to Eve, she need not be
forgiven for approaching the forbidden tree. Whether Eve is not mentioned in this verse –
and previous verses – because the prohibition did not apply to her and therefore cannot be
guilty of the expulsion from paradise is uncertain.

We must also take into account the socio-historical context of the environment in which the
Qur'an is revealed. This context influences the language of the Qur'an. For example, a
language is used that fits the local culture of the first recipients. This culture is obviously

14
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, 20:120.
15
Fred Leemhuis, The Quran, 20:121.
16
Fred Leemhuis, The Qur'an, 2:37.
17
Ahmad, The Qur'an, 2:37.
different from the current culture we live in. In the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century ,
women did not have the same social position that they have today. Distinctions based on
gender were part of society at the time. For example, it was assumed that women were
worth less than men. This is also reflected in the way certain passages of the Qur'an refer to
women, such as the verses about polygamy, dress codes, inheritances, etc. 18

Since the current position of women at that time therefore influenced the language used in
the Qur'an, one wonders to what extent this has had an impact on the way Eve is portrayed
in the Qur'an. Since women were generally seen as inferior, this makes it understandable,
for example, why Eve is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but only as "the wife of." The
verses that seem to imply that Eve is not to blame for the expulsion from paradise should
perhaps be interpreted differently. If we interpret these verses on the basis of the socio-
historical context in which the Qur'an originated, it is plausible that Eve was omitted from
these verses because she was simply not seen as noteworthy. This would mean that Eve,
despite being omitted from these verses, is still complicit.

Conclusion

In this paper it has become clear that there are both verses in the Qur'an that consider Eve
(partly) guilty of the expulsion from paradise and verses that consider Eve innocent. The
verses showing Eve's guilt show that the prohibition applied to both Adam and Eve and that
they both violated this prohibition, which resulted in the expulsion from paradise.

Eve's innocence was first only revealed in the Ahmadiyya translation, but later it became
clear that the translation of Leemhuis also has verses that imply Eve's innocence. On the
contrary, these verses show that the prohibition applied only to Adam, so Eve cannot be
guilty of the expulsion from paradise. However, the fact that Only Adam is mentioned in
these verses may also have to do with the socio-historical situation in which the Qur'an
originated. At the time, women were seen as inferior to men.

Whether or not Eve is guilty of the expulsion from paradise cannot be said with complete
certainty. In the Qur'an there are several verses that contradict each other. However, the
socio-historical context in which the Qur'an originated gives reason to find Eve guilty.
18
Abdullah Saeed, The Qu’ran: An Introduction (Oxford: Routledge, 2008), 12-14.
Bibliography

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Netherlands. "What is Ahmadiyya?" Retrieved 2/15/22.

https://islamnu.nl/wat-is-ahmadiyya/.

Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad. The Qur'an. Translated by: Ahmadiyya
Community 's Gravenhage. Alphen aan de Rijn: Haalsbeek b.v., 1991.

Clay house, Fred. The Qur'an. Retrieved 2022-06-23. https://koran.nl/.

Saeed, Abdullah. The Qu’ran: An Introduction. Oxford: Routledge, 2008.

Overview verses

In the Qur'anic translation of the Ahmadiyya community, the basmala is numbered as verse
1 at the beginning of each chapter, so the numbering of the verses consistently differs by
one digit from other Quranic translations. For example, verse 2:35 from the translation of
Leemhuis is equivalent to verse 2:36 from the translation of the Ahmadiyya community, but
for convenience I have also used the numbering of Leemhuis for the Ahmadiyya translation.

Leemhuis Ahmadiyya community

2:35 And We said, "Adam, you And We said, "Oh Adam,
and your wife may inhabit dwell ye with thy gade in
the garden, and you may eat the garden, and eat
of it in abundance wherever abundantly, wherever thou
you please, but you may not wilt, but do not approach
approach this tree, for then this tree, lest thou shalt be
you will be among the among sinners."
wrongdoers."

2:36 Then Satan let them stray
from it. So he brought them
out of the place in which
they were, and We said,
"Descend, one another to
the enemy; and temporarily
there is a abode and
usufruct for you on the
earth."
But by means of the tree,
Satan tempted them both
and drove them out of the
state in which they were.
And We said, "Go—you are
hostile to one another.
There will be a temporary
abode and sustenance for
you on earth."

2:37 Then Adam received words Then Adam learned some

from his Lord, and he words (of prayer) from his
graciously turned to him; He Lord. Thus He forgave him;
is the giver of grace, the
 merciful one.
2:38 We said, "Come all down. If
a guide comes to you from
Me, then those who follow
My guidance have nothing
to fear, nor will they be sad.
7:19 And, "O Adam, you and your
wife inhabit the garden and
eat what you want, but you
must not approach this tree,
for then you are among the
transgressors."
7:20 Then Satan whispered to
them to openly show them
what was hidden from their
shame and he said, "Your
Lord has only kept you from
this tree so that you would
not become angels or
become among those who
will always exist."
7:21 And he swore to them, "I'm
a really good counselor to
you."
7:22 Thus he deceived them by
delusion. When they had
tasted the tree, their shame
became visible to them and
they began to cover
themselves with attached
leaves from the garden. And
their Lord cried out to them,
he is repentant, merciful
We said, "Get away from
here. And, if guidance from
Me comes to you, those
who follow My guidance will
still know fear of sorrow.
O Adam, dwell with thy wife
in the garden and eat what
thou wilt, but do not
approach this bomb, lest
thou shalt be among the
unjust.
But Satan whispered to
them (evil promptings) that
he might reveal their
nakedness hidden from
them, and said, "Your Lord
has forbidden you this tree
alone, that ye may not
become angels or
everlasting ones."
And he swore to them, "I am
certainly a sincere counselor
to you."
So he made them fall by
deception. And when they
tasted of the tree, their
nakedness became clear to
them, and they began to
cover themselves with
leaves from the garden. And
their lord called them, and I
 "Had I not forbidden you
this tree and told you that
Satan is a declared enemy of enemy unto you?"
yours?"
7:23 They said, "Our Lord, we
have wronged ourselves,
and if You do not forgive us
and have mercy on us, we
are among the losers."
7:24 He said, "Descend -- become He said, "Go, some of you
enemies -- you have
temporary abode and
usufruct on the earth."
20:115 And We had previously
commissioned Adam, but he
forgot; We found no
determination in him.
20:120 But Satan whispered to him
and said, "O Adam, shall I
show you the tree of eternal
life and a dominion that
does not perish?"
20:121 Then they both ate it and
their shame became visible
to them and they began to
cover themselves with
stitched leaves from the
garden. Adam disobeyed his
Lord and was deceived.
did not say unto you,
"Verily, Satan is an open
They replied, "Our Lord, we
have wronged ourselves,
and if You do not forgive us
and have mercy on us, we
will certainly be among the
wronged
will be enemies of others.
And there is for you a
dwelling place on earth and
a provision for a certain
time."
And truly we formerly gave
Adam an order, but he
forgot it, and We found no
purpose in him to do so.
But Satan whispered angrily
to him, saying, "O Adam,
shall I lead you to the Bomb
of Eternity, and a kingdom
that will never perish?"
So they both ate it, so their
shame became clear to
them and they began to
cover themselves with
leaves from the garden. And
Adam disobeyed his Lord's
command, so he suffered.
20:122 Then his Lord chose him,
graciously turned to him,
and brought him on the
right path.
20:123 He said, "Descend from it
both together -- become
enemies of each other. If a
guide comes from Me, then
whoever follows My
guidance will not err and
will not be unhappy.
Then his Lord chose him,
forgave him, and led him.
He (God) said, "Go all
together from here, for you
shall be enemies to one
another. And if guidance
comes to you from me, then
whoever follows My
guidance will neither err nor
be unhappy