HUMAN KNOWLEDGE IS SUPERIOR TO ANGELIC KNOWLEDGE

By Shaikh Jalilu Issah

In the name of Allah; the most beneficent; the most merciful.

[And He taught Adam all the names, then showed them to the angels, saying: Inform me
of the names of these, if ye are truthful. They said: Be glorified! We have no knowledge
saving that which Thou hast taught us. Lo! Thou only Thou art the Knower, the wise]

Before we discuss the translations of these verses, there are couple of things in the
previous verse (Al Baqra Ayat 30) that I think is good to talk about:

[“And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth,
they said: Wilt Thou place therein one who will do harm therin and will shed blood,
while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye
know not.”]
The first thing is - the angles said we hymn your praise
and sanctify you when Allah Almighty told them that “He is about to create a Khalifa
(vicegerent)”. “He is about to create someone of his deputy on the earth”. There the
angles said Will you place someone who will do harm and will shed blood-
-and will shed blood on the earth - -while we the angles (malaika)
praise you and sanctify you. (. ) Then Allah said I

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know what you don’t know. And angels themselves are supposed to do ..that we
(malaika) do Tasbiha (to tell one’s beads[of rosary] in order to count their prayers) to
Allah. And Tasbiha (to tell one’s beads [of rosary] in order to count their prayers) is to
commemorate the names of Allah that we do as we say
.this is called Tasbiha.
And the Hamd (hymn) is to admit the supreme power and praise Almighty Allah
to say and this acknowledgment is to the divinity of Allah or Hamd
(hymn). It can be an oral acknowledgment of the divinity and it can also be the action of
us pursuant to the holy Quran.
Now let me come to the phenomenon of . (We praise you and sanctify you
Here Taqdir (destiny) posses a different logical view in its gist like to glorify or to purify
because the word comes from the word a Taqdir (destiny) and the Taqdir means
to clean or purify.(Tathir). We have and we purify for you. Here there are
two understandings that we can understand or two meanings (exegetical expressions) of
this word. One is that some of the Ulemas (Islamic scholars of Muslim jurisprudence)
say that is to praise and sanctify Allah or it also shows that the earth will be
clean. There will be no bloodshed of a human being (Homo sapiens) and also there will
not be any fuss or mischief by human being.
That’s what some of them said because the nature of the human being is to make a
fuss creat mischief on the earth. His deputy (vicegerent) instinctively inclined to the
corruption on the earth and two their urge to kill each other. That’s one of the meaning
of And some said no: another meaning of is about the purification of a man
himself. Allah Subana Wa Talla when created man to come on the earth and worship
(Ibaadat/Puja). It is also to purify to make sure that you are clean – spiritually and
physically.
So according to these verses – Almighty Allah knew that the human being will
become trouble creator it does not sit without doing mischievous act. So a man can sink
in the sea any time and that we say Allah already knew the nature of the human being.
So that’s why this is one that we are going to purify ourselves. And when
you say so here we see that the third one we say (We praise
you and sanctify you according to the that it did not say When we
say that which was going to purify you and purge you. Thus there
we are going to purify our souls and the earth for you to dwell. Allah was going to pure
for themselves and make sure that the earth and the dwelling of man are purified for

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Allah Subhana Wa Talla. That is important thing for the Muslim to comprehend about
the purification.
Allah Subana Wa Talla said that Of course he got the
success who got purified. So means he purified his soul and his heart (an
eruptive source of divine burgeon) indeed he has the right path according the holy Quran
and he also glorified and he remembers the name of his lord (Allah) and prayed. So,
therefore you according to these verses are superior to angels. Therefore Allah ordered
Adam and his offspring to (And recite the name of your creator and
offer prayers) And that’s why we are going to the verse of Shams. Allah almighty
described about purification in different verses particularly in the verse of Shams Surah
91 about the purification of the human being about the importance of purification. Allah
Subana Wa Talla says that he is indeed successful who causes it to grow…. For the
Muslims it is imperative to understand and comprehend the true essence of the message
of Allah what he described in the verses of Surah Shams (The Sun).
(Let us now go back to the verse that was recited at the opening of this lecture, wherein
Allah Almighty stated that He had taught names of all the things to the prophet Adam).
So, Allah Subana Wa Talla said (And he taught Adam all the names)
The holy Quran terms it (He taught.). Allah Subana Wa Talla did not say
(and they came to know). He taught Adam all the names of all things. This speech was
made before Adam. So when did Allah Subana Wa Talla taught Adam that the end of his
spirit in conversation all happened before Allah who created Adam. Allah Subana Wa
Talla said (taught Adam). First of all we have the knowledge, because without
having the knowledge there is no concept of the human life to exist. We have the
knowledge we call and then; second is (to seek the knowledge) and then
three; we have , anyway whatever the knowledge is important to the human being it
covers all the categories of the knowledge given by Allah Almighty. The first one
is . Allah Subana Wa Talla has put that step of knowledge in every single
being. One for example like Imam to know that he exists. No one comes and tells him
that he exists or he is a human being. Imam knows naturally that with the mundane
qualities of being human being he does exist. Or know some knowledge Allah Subana
Wa Talla has placed in the human being which is natural he does mean to come in
teaching. For example like a child to know that his first food is milk. So the child
comes, he knows (instinctively) automatically that his food is not a bread, his food is not
the rice, his food is milk and he knows where it is (this is the instinct of the child in order

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to survive in accordance with the divine design of the mortal cosmos). Who taught him
that? No one taught him but Allah Subana Wa Talla! It is natural that comes what He
calls in human being that Allah Subana Wa Talla placed in him. So, there is no need a
teacher in such knowledge. That’s called .
And now we have the secure one, which is, and that is the knowledge
the we get from someone as a teacher in order to teach others. We call it and
that is the knowledge that you obtain, you get through somebody else by learning and
then we have As the knowledge that is given by Allah Subana Wa Talla directly
without the involvement of any medium, that Allah Subana Wa Talla gives to a man.
You don’t need someone to call and teach you about that. It is Allah Subana Wa Talla
just sent in your mind directly. The only teacher we can have to seek knowledge that
knowledge is from and through Allah Subana Wa Talla. And it has been established that
Allah Subana Wa Talla has explained one of the reasons that how mankind obtains that
knowledge. And the pinnacle of this knowledge is as to have a Taqwa (abstinence). A
Taqwa is the class of that knowledge. If you have the Taqwa that only means that a man
can obtain that knowledge. It is a knowledge that comes to a man he does not have to
meet a teacher. You see Imam he talks in this regard that this is knowledge but who
taught him? He has no teacher. And that is how this kind of knowledge comes to him
without seeking and human or other medium. One of the examples is of Imams. You
look at the prophet the messenger of Allah. You look at the Aulia (pious and devout
saints of Allah). They will go to school of prophet. Or our Imam stands for Imam-Aali
and they never been to any formal school! But there is no
knowledge that you may ask them and they don’t know about it. Any type of knowledge
you want to ask or you want to know they will teach you about it. And one of the best
examples is Imam-ul-Raza different scholars and different
religions – Jews, Christians, Zionists, and all kinds of religions ask Imam-ul-Raza
questions. When and whenever they asked Imam-ul-Raza questions, then Imam asked
them OK I am going to ask that you want me to answer you by your book – a Taurat or
you want to have the answer by your book what you call the Bible or from any other
book? Who taught Imam-ul-Raza? Who was his teacher? His teacher was Allah Subana
Wa Talla. So, there is certain knowledge, which is . The teacher of that
knowledge is Allah Subana Wa Talla. And how does he teach he set that knowledge to
your heart. So Allah Subana Wa Talla said That the lord has taught
Adam the names. What type of the knowledge it is? It is the first one which is the

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which comes automatically to the human being or the second one which Allah
Subana Wa Talla as which we have to go in form of a teacher in order to obtain that
knowledge. The Muslim scholars say Allah Subana Wa Talla has taught Adam directly
to his heart which Adam came with it. No! Allah Subana Wa Talla has taught Adam
directly.
And set that knowledge into his heart that’s why he said because it came
naturally with Adam. And this is is the plural of the word Ism. Ism means name.
Which is a plural means name. Allah Subana Wa Talla said he taught Adam the
names.
What are the names? Some of the Ulemas said the mean of the names is here the
names of all creatures that Allah Subana Wa Talla has created. Because as compare to
Adam the angels did not know the names of trees, and other creatures of Allah Subana
Wa Talla. So, if they were to express these among themselves they had to go in front of
that person whom they wanted him to describe the names. For example to tell another
angel about our book, they were to go and get the thing and bring it in front of that angel
to show this what they were talking about the book. Because they did not know the
names of the creatures as we do. Or if they wanted to talk about something they did not
know to communicate and tell each other by saying hymns. They were to go there, they
were to have hold that person, who would check them that what they talked about. But
Allah Subana Wa Talla when he created human being he gave him that ability to
recognize and name the things and all creatures without consuming any intellectual
efforts. The human being can express and feel the feelings without any need to go
anywhere to have the confirmation in this regard. That is why the human intellect is
superior to the angelic knowledge. And that’s why Allah Subana Wa Talla said in one of
the verses said That yes indeed Allah Subana Wa Talla has
created human being and then he gave him, he taught him, how to express
himself. A man can talk/articulate and can express his staple and basic needs but an
angle can not. And that is one of the blessings that Allah Subana Wa Talla has given to
human being. That’s why Imam-Aali was put into the race of Adam. That Allah
Subhana Wa Talla has given Imam two things that he did not give to other creatures.
And these are . Allah Subana Wa Talla has given Imam two
things the first is his intellect, about the intellect he said - through the
intellect Imam will benefit him and - and by the expression of rationale he
benefited. That is benefit for him too. There was a debate that when people benefit from

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his knowledge? And that’s why the Quran said also of Yousaf that he was given an
exceptional intuitive intellectual rational laden mind. Allah Subhana Wa Talla said-
-there when he talked that one of the benefits of his intellectual predictive
faculties that Yousaf exhibited before the king. Before it they did not know who Yousaf
was until he talked. And Yousaf talked. The Quran said -when he talked to the
king, then the king said – (King said: Lo! Though arthritis today in our
presence established and trusted) That indeed you are to keep that I want to keep you. So
Allah Subhana Wa Talla gave Yousaf (Joseph) explanatory ability of expression. So
what he talked and he saw that knowledge that came from Yousaf he came to know
Yousaf was especial person. So he checked Yousaf because of what the way he talked.
That’s why Imam-Aali said that a man has two ways of expressions blessed by Allah
Subhana Wa Talla. That first one is the intellect with true intellect he benefited a lot and
second is his expressions and tongue he benefited from them. So, Allah Subhana Wa
Talla said that he taught Adam all the names. The meaning of the names
that Allah Subhana Wa Talla told in these words is the names of a the holy Imam
(peace be upon all of them). Allah Subhana Wa Talla created
Adam the names Allah Subhana Wa Talla taught Adam was the names of Imam and were
the names of the prophets. And the second is the name of Imam Aali and then said and
the names of Fatima-Tu-Zuhra and then Imam Hasan and then Imam Hussain. And then
the rest of the nine Imams ---come from their -----call for Imam Hussain. So those are
the names of Allah Subhana Wa Talla taught Adam. Because the reason is when Allah
Subhana Wa Talla quoted those light of them. Allah Subhana Wa Talla did not tell the
angle about them. Allah Subhana Wa Talla did not tell them the reason why he wanted to
create the earth. He wanted to create this planet. Of the one of the reasons – the reason
Allah Subhana Wa Talla created all this is because of these great Imams. And –
messenger of Allah said in That I did not create any thing such as the sun,
the moon, the rivers, the seas, all these things have been created by Allah Almighty. So,
when Allah Subhana Wa Talla wanted to show the angels how Adam is more
knowledgeable about the reason of the creation that Allah Subhana Wa Talla taught him
the names of these holy Imams. That is from the prophet and then with the Imam-Ul-
Zaman.
Allah Subhana Wa Talla said because this is the real name that
Allah Subhana Wa Talla taught the Adam then what happened! He says
(then showed them to the angels, saying; Inform me of the names of these,

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if ye are truthful). Allah Subhana Wa Talla showed the angles and asked them to
tell Him the names of these holy people if you are truthful. ( ).
That’s why the angels said ( ) to the Allah Subhana Wa Talla Be glorified! ( )
We have no knowledge-. ( ) Except thou (Allah Almighty) hast taught us. Did
you have any knowledge? Did you know the names that Allah Subhana Wa Talla is
asking them to say – . (You alone) So, here Allah Subhana Wa Talla asked them
about these names they surrendered to Allah Subhana Wa Talla because they did not
know all these things and names what Allah Subhana Wa Talla asked them. Then Allah
Subhana Wa Talla said - Then Allah Subhana Wa Talla asked Adam to tell
them the knowledge what he was given. That it is a good thing about the angels; that
when Allah Subhana Wa Talla asked them. Allah Subhana Wa Talla knew that the
angles did not know about all these things. That he wanted Adam to compete the angles.
So, by virtue of this Adam became the teacher of the angles. And second: angles said
(we don’t have knowledge). They surrendered to Allah Subhana Wa Talla... So
the angles wanted to know something. Then he did not make it up they said (we
don’t know) Except you have taught us. ( ). He is the greatest teacher. And
that’s why when you look at the prophet and then all the Imams when they come to the
teacher of the knowledge we put belief in it. They ascribe everything to Allah Subhana
Wa Talla.
And also there is an emphasis about the input of the knowledge that Imam has to
seek knowledge and knowledge is very important thing in human being’s life because
that is the knowledge Allah Subhana Wa Talla said that nothing is better than Adam.
And in these verses where he said Allah Subhana Wa Talla
that Allah Subhana Wa Talla raised people among you and whom ---
people he said knowledge. So Allah Subhana Wa Talla he did not make
Adam to be better than the angles except with the knowledge. Allah Subhana Wa Talla
has given Adam the knowledge that the angles do not have it. And they have no
comprehension of such kind of knowledge. This is only the privilege of humankind.
Imam-Aali explained the knowledge in Nehjul Balagha since we have different type of
knowledges but the best knowledge is the knowledge that better practically work
according to the holy Quran
But if a man has knowledge but is different what he knows that type of
knowledge, Imam Aali said that knowledge is untrustworthy. And that knowledge on the
Day of Judgment will be one of the reasons that a man on that day will be sent to

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Jehenum. So that’s why the angles say that we don’t have knowledge -
except what Allah Subhana Wa Talla has taught it indeed and
if you are the all knowing that there is nothing hidden from Allah
Subhana Wa Talla. There is nothing in the universe that Allah Subhana Wa Talla does
not know.
If we see by the lens of the science it has come into the sheer notice of the
mankind that the forces of the nature running the mortal universe called Malika have no
inbuilt ingredients of committing evils or sins or vices and have limited knowledge.
Whereas the human beings having all the components of vices and pious deeds can
commit and do whatever he/she wishes. This is the extra privilege of the man. For
example the force can never set the sun into the north. But a human being can do any
kind of corruption. Because it has the special sense what our Imams also used to possess.
But the first and foremost fact that an Imam is infallible and this heavenly personality can
never ever commit slightest possible sin.
Imam possesses the ultimate responsibility to show the right path to the mankind.
So it is our moral and bounden duty to follow the sacred footprints of heavenly Imams in
order to cater and seek the knowledge superior to the angelic form of knowledge.
Further would be discussed on other topic in next sitting Inshallah!