Is It True That We Were Given a Choice to Become Humans?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I heard that all of us humans were once gathered before Allah (Most High) and given the opportunity to have a better life than we currently have in this Janna, and those who wanted it became humans, and those who didn’t became angels, is there any proof for this?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well. Thank you for your question.
When Allah Most High created Prophet Adam (peace be upon him), He created him to grant him and his descendants succession on the earth and did not give him a choice to be an angel or a human.
Instead, Allah Most High created him with His Own Hand, which means as being directly created by Allah Most High “mimmā khalaqtu bi yadayya,” with no intermediaries. Then, He breathed into him from His created soul, and then He proportioned him as a human being from the beginning, as proven by the context of the story of (peace be upon him) in many verses of the Quran.
It is enough as evidence that Allah Most High told the angels before the creation of Adam that he will create him to make him a successor on the earth as Allah Most High says, “(Remember) when your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am going to place a successive (human) authority on earth.’ They asked (Allah), ‘Will You place in it someone who will spread corruption there and shed blood while we glorify Your praises and proclaim Your holiness?’ Allah responded, ‘I know what you do not know.’” [Quran, 2:30]
Related:
The Human in the Qur’an – Article – Renovatio
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
