What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "And what was not revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut"?
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The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah 2:102] What is intended by His saying: [Al-Baqarah 2:102]?
The Shaykh : His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He — we quote the verse in full:[Al-Baqarah 2:102] Babylon is separate from what follows it, [Al-Baqarah 2:102] meaning: the people meaning: from the two angels [Al-Baqarah 2:102] meaning: the people [Al-Baqarah 2:102]:
This verse is a test by which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, tested His servants, and He, Glorified and Exalted is He, does what He wills. He sent down two angels from the angels to a place called Babylon, which is well known in Iraq. The name of one of the two angels is Harut, and the name of the second is Marut. He sent down upon them a type of sorcery to be learned, which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, taught them, and they came to teach people this sorcery, but they establish the proof and remove the excuse:[Al-Baqarah 2:102] So some people leave it and do not learn it, and some learn it. This is the meaning of the verse.
So if someone says: How can two angels teach sorcery and teach it to people, when learning sorcery is forbidden, as they themselves stated:[Al-Baqarah 2:102]?
It is said: Who is it that makes things lawful and forbidden?
Allah, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, may make a forbidden thing lawful, or even obligatory. So Allah the Exalted permitted these two angels to teach people sorcery, so their teaching of sorcery is by the permission of Allah and is not a sin or disbelief.
Have you not seen prostration to other than Allah, is it not shirk (associating partners with Allah)?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And yet, when Shaytan refused to prostrate to Adam when Allah commanded the angels to do so, Shaytan became a disbeliever, and the angels became believing and Muslim when they prostrated, even though they prostrated to whom?
To other than Allah, and prostration to other than Allah is shirk (associating partners with Allah), so in this state it became obedience and worship.
Killing a person's child is among the major sins, one of the greatest sins is to kill your child for fear that he will eat with you or for other reasons, and yet it became obedience for which a person is praised when Allah commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to kill his son.
Likewise, learning sorcery is forbidden, but if it is by the permission of Allah, it becomes lawful, so there is no problem in the issue. Did you understand, my son?
"At Babylon" means: a place, a city named Babylon, and Harut and Marut are the names of the two angels.
that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut
وَمَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَى الْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَارُوتَ وَمَارُوتَat Babylon, Harut and Marut
بِبَابِلَ هَارُوتَ وَمَارُوتَThe Shaykh : His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He — we quote the verse in full:
And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut.
وَاتَّبَعُوا مَا تَتْلُوا الشَّيَاطِينُ عَلَى مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَانَ وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَانُ وَلَكِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ كَفَرُوا يُعَلِّمُونَ النَّاسَ السِّحْرَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَى الْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَارُوتَ وَمَارُوتَBut the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn
وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلا تَكْفُرْ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَfrom them
مِنْهُمَاthat by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. And the people learn
مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِ وَمَا هُمْ بِضَارِّينَ بِهِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَيَتَعَلَّمُونَAnd the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share
مَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلا يَنْفَعُهُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا لَمَنِ اشْتَرَاهُ مَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلاقٍThis verse is a test by which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, tested His servants, and He, Glorified and Exalted is He, does what He wills. He sent down two angels from the angels to a place called Babylon, which is well known in Iraq. The name of one of the two angels is Harut, and the name of the second is Marut. He sent down upon them a type of sorcery to be learned, which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, taught them, and they came to teach people this sorcery, but they establish the proof and remove the excuse:
But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve
وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلا تَكْفُرْSo if someone says: How can two angels teach sorcery and teach it to people, when learning sorcery is forbidden, as they themselves stated:
But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve
وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّى يَقُولا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌ فَلا تَكْفُرْIt is said: Who is it that makes things lawful and forbidden?
Allah, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, may make a forbidden thing lawful, or even obligatory. So Allah the Exalted permitted these two angels to teach people sorcery, so their teaching of sorcery is by the permission of Allah and is not a sin or disbelief.
Have you not seen prostration to other than Allah, is it not shirk (associating partners with Allah)?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And yet, when Shaytan refused to prostrate to Adam when Allah commanded the angels to do so, Shaytan became a disbeliever, and the angels became believing and Muslim when they prostrated, even though they prostrated to whom?
To other than Allah, and prostration to other than Allah is shirk (associating partners with Allah), so in this state it became obedience and worship.
Killing a person's child is among the major sins, one of the greatest sins is to kill your child for fear that he will eat with you or for other reasons, and yet it became obedience for which a person is praised when Allah commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to kill his son.
Likewise, learning sorcery is forbidden, but if it is by the permission of Allah, it becomes lawful, so there is no problem in the issue. Did you understand, my son?
"At Babylon" means: a place, a city named Babylon, and Harut and Marut are the names of the two angels.