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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Were there any creatures on earth before Adam?

Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner asks: In the saying of Allah the Exalted,
I will make upon the earth a successive authorityجَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً
[Al-Baqarah 2:30]
, does this indicate that there were created beings before Adam?

Answer:
Without a doubt, there is no doubt that the earth, since Allah created it, has had inhabitants, but there have been shayatin (devils) in it and jinn (the jinn), and corruption has occurred in it. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made Adam a successor to rectify it,
Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know." (31) And He taught Adam the names - all of them.قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا
[Al-Baqarah 2:30-31]
,
Then He showed them to the angels and saidثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ
[Al-Baqarah 2:31]
the angels about
of the names of these, if you are truthful." (32) They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught usبِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا
[Al-Baqarah 2:31-32]
, they acknowledged
Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise." (33) He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informedإِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ فَلَمَّا أَنبَأَهُم
[Al-Baqarah 2:32-33]
, at that point the superiority of Adam (peace be upon him) became clear to them.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source تفسير آيات من القرآن الكريم 12-07-1435هـ — af.org.sa (59:19)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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