We find the following verses in the Qura’n:

 Verse 121 of Surah Ta-Ha:

“Thus did Adam disobey his God and went astray.”

Verse 115 of Surah Ta-Ha:

“Indeed We made a covenant with Adam but he forgot. And We did not find in him any intention (to disobey Us)

The first verse refers to a sin of disobedience on his part and the second says that he forgot and both are below the chaste status of an apostle.

Answer

The commentators have presented various arguments on this issue from the beginning till today. Some have advised intellectual and repetitive proof about it and said that Adam had committed a greater sin. Some say that this was done when he had not been commissioned as an apostle by God.

Some people say that it was a lesser sin and give it no importance.

The verse proves that this chastity is connected with the apostles and the elevated status granted to them by God, especially for Adam whom God had made His vice-regent or Khalifa and proof. People do not accept this truth and proofs and instead of finding a solution to the problem they veer away from it. These explanations are based on three basic points as here under.

Firstly, Adman was forewarned about the tribulation and he was created for this world and not for Paradise if study closer. His stay in Paradise was a trial and mandatory because the dos and don’ts for Adam in Paradise was to prepare him and were related to the compulsory and the impermissible.

So Adam erred regarding a deed that he had to decide and not one that was compulsory for him.

In one hadith Imam Ali Reza refuted the premise of Ali bin Mohammad Jaham who was regarded as a great intellectual and speaker in those days. He had taken the verses of the Qura’n literally and believed that the apostles were not infallible but prone to mistakes and sins. The Imam said, “O Ali I am surprised at you. Fear God and do not attributes frivolity for the apostles. Do not try to explain the words God with your ideas because God has said, “None can explain but god himself and then added, “God said about Adam, “Thus did Adam disobey his god and went astray.”

Indeed God appointed Adam as His representative on earth and vice-regent of all nations and did not create him to stay in Paradise. Adam had disobeyed in paradise and not on earth (Paradise is not the realm of hardships but of pleasure)

God sent His representatives on earth to fix responsibilities for us and declared them to infallible. It is said, “God chose Adam, Noah, the progeny of Abraham and the progeny of Imran for this universe.” (1)

The disobedience of Adam was a disobedience of advice

The order was not compulsory but advisory just as the advice of the doctor to avoid certain food for the better of health if not a person would harm himself.

So the disobedience to the doctor’s advice is harmful and is no insult to Him. So God said that Adam should not eat the fruit from a certain tree or else he would deprive himself from Paradise and its bounties but there was no talk of hardships and punishments. Verses 117 and 119 of Surah Ta-ha say:

“Then We said, “O Adam! This is an enemy for you and your wife. Therefore, do not let him drive both of you out of the garden for then you should be put to toil. It is ordained that you shall not be hungry in it, nor shall you be naked. And that you shall not be thirst nor shall you face the heat of the sun.”

So Adam has overlooked and disregarded this advice and not any command of God for which he faced hardship and this has been termed as “asiyan”. This does not affect Adam’s chastity if we consider all the conditions and verses about it.

The word “Ghawaa” in the verse which means the deprivation of Adam from the bounties of God also explains this point. It is not “Ghawaayat’ which means to have wrong faith or such deeds that are detrimental to man’s attainment of his goal. But if Adam did not disobey this advice he would have stayed in Paradise for a long time and this was not what God desired.

Tarki Aula:

This answer often suffices for all apostles not just Adam. Here the answer is for the question of mistakes and sins by other apostles. The details are as follows: