Quran has discussed the issue of creation of Adam (pbuh) in chapters 2 verses 31-39 and chapter 7 verses 11-27. A study of these verses reveals the following facts:
1. God's plan was to create Adam (pbuh) on the Earth from the very beginning and He informed of his this plan to the angels.
2. Angels realized that man will have the ability to cause bloodshed on earth and therefore they asked God why would he create someone like this.
3. God showed to them through a series of events that while there will be people who will cause trouble, there will also be those righteous people who will lead the righteous path and exhort others to the same.
4. God asked angels to prostrate to Adam (pbuh), but Satan disobeyed God out of pride against man. Consequently he became one of those who shall be subject to God's punishment on the Day of Judgment. Satan asked God to giv e him respite till the Day of Judgment in order to lead man astray from the right path. The permission was granted and that became his sole purpose.
5. God let Adam live in Paradise and asked him not to go near a tree. Satan caused Adam to disobey God's command and once Adam (pbuh) realized that, he felt sorry and asked God for forgiveness. God forgave Adam (pbuh). An example and a reminder of how Satan caused Adam (pbuh) to disobey God's commands.
6. According to God's initial plan, Adam (pbuh) was sent down to the earth and he was reminded that Satan is an enemy to man. As a result, God also assured Adam (pbuh) that revelation will be sent from Almighty towards man (perhaps because man can easily be led astray by Satan), so whoever follows His guidance will stand successful in the test of this life and Hereafter while whoever rejects it will face consequences.
This happens to be the sole purpose of man on this earth: to live by God's commands in order to win against Satan and be successful in the Hereafter. Adam (pbuh)'s episode provides significant guidance in this regard.
This is the brief outline of the events that Quran mentions happened. Needless to say, these are significantly different from the biblical version in many aspects.
Quran has mentioned previous books revealed by God in some special contexts. For instance, in Surah Yunus Quran has mentioned a law regarding the messengers of God that when a messenger of God comes to a nation, the nation is passed a judgment in this world by the Almighty. Then Quran cites examples of the nations of other Messengers and suggests that if one does not believe in this, one may verify it through the books revealed previously. So if one turns back to the bible, one can see that in previous nations, people who believed in the messenger of God were saved by Almighty, while those who did not were finished from this earth. As an example, prophet Noah (pbuh)'s nation was drowned except those who believed. Same was the case with prophets Abraham, Lot, Moses (pbut) and one can see these examples in Bible as well. So when Quran put forth this law, it did not bring a new law, rather just reminded of what had happened before. It then warned the idolaters from amongst the opponents of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that if they did not accept him as a messenger of God despite knowing that he was, then they shall prepare themselves for similar fate. It can be seen that by the time of prophet Muhammad (pbuh)'s death, all his opponents from amongst the idolaters who did not accept Islam, faced these consequences.
However, since a new book has come from God, namely the Quran, the law of God has been brought forward in this book and Quran holds the ultimate dominance in this regard. This is because it has been superseded by Bible, and God informs us in Quran that bible is not in its original form as revealed by God. You can read detailed answers to similar questions that I have answered in some of the posts on my website:
I think the real discussion that shall happen is whether Quran is the book of God or not, and whether Muhammad (pbuh) was a messenger and a prophet of God or not. If the people you are talking with are convinced that Quran is, then they should accept the teachings therein, and if they are genuinely convinced that it is not, then they have a right to what they believe is right.
To be honest, we cannot prove or disprove to anyone that Quran is the book of God. It is really up to them to judge and find out, we can just present arguments to them and keep ourselves open to learn as well.
http://www.omeriqbal.com/a/54
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