The khalifa whom God placed on earth
When your Lord said to the angels, "I am placing a khalifa in the earth,"
they said, "Will You place in it one who will corrupt therein and shed
blood, while we glorify You with praise and extol Your holiness?"
He said, "I know what you do not know." 2:30
Researched by A. Mohamed
Researched by A. Mohamed
The aim of this paper is to research the word "khalifa" in 2:30 in the light of the Holy Quran. First, it is necessary to determine the correct meaning of the word khalifa, and second, to establish the identity of the khalifa spoken of in 2:30.
When we review the traditional translations we find that the word khalifa has been translated by some as 'successor', others wrote 'vicegerent/representative', and others used the words 'temporary god'. The traditional interpretations also interpret the khalifa in 2:30 to be Adam/the human being.
First, it can be shown with clear Quranic evidence that the word khalifa in 2:30 cannot have any of the three meanings above.
Second, it can also be shown that the khalifa in 2:30 cannot be Adam.
First: The meaning of the word khalifa
Let us review the three translations (successor - representative - temporary god) one by one.
Why the word khalifa, as used in the Quran, cannot mean successor:
The word successor means a person who succeeds one who came before him and assumes all the authority that belonged to the first. For example, if we say that King B was the successor to King A, this means that the reign of King A has ended and that the reign of King B has come in its place.
Needless to say, God's reign and authority can never end, thus there can be no successor to God.
Why the word khalifa, as used in the Quran, cannot mean vicegerent/representative:
- No human being can be a representative of God. All humans are servants of the Almighty. In fact, all who are in the heavens and the earth are humble servants created by God. God's greatness is beyond imagination (39:67), thus it is inconceivable for any human being to represent God!
Among God's infinite attributes, God is Divine, Holy and Infallible. No human being shares any of the divine attributes of God to be worthy of "representing" God.
Even the most noble of God's messengers were sent to deliver the message of God, but were never sent to "represent" God.
Even the most noble of God's messengers were sent to deliver the message of God, but were never sent to "represent" God.
- How can the human being be a representatives of God when the Quranic descriptions do not exactly cover the human being in glory! In fact, the human being is given a whole host of derogatory descriptions in the Quran:
1- The majority are Disbelievers 12:103
2- The majority of those who believe in God are Committing shirk 12:106
3- The majority Mislead away from the path of God 6:116
4- The majority are wicked 7:102
5- Transgressing 33:72
6- Ignorant 33:72
7- Unappreciative of God's blessings 14:34
8- Argumentative 18:54
9- Oblivious to the remembrance of God 18:28
10- Exceeded all limits of Sinfulness 3:178
11- Falsifier 45:7
12- Denies God's revelations 30:10
13- Gone astray for following Personal desires 5:77
14- Buys the worldly life at the expense of the Hereafter 2:86
15- Corrupts in the land 2:12
16- Repels from the path of God 4:167
17- Fabricates lies and attribute them to God 16:116
18- Distorts God's words 2:75
19- Advocates evil and forbids righteousness 9:67
20- His love of wealth and money is Insatiable 100:8, 89:20
12- Denies God's revelations 30:10
13- Gone astray for following Personal desires 5:77
14- Buys the worldly life at the expense of the Hereafter 2:86
15- Corrupts in the land 2:12
16- Repels from the path of God 4:167
17- Fabricates lies and attribute them to God 16:116
18- Distorts God's words 2:75
19- Advocates evil and forbids righteousness 9:67
20- His love of wealth and money is Insatiable 100:8, 89:20
21- Blinded by the Desire for increases in wealth 57:20
22- Arrogant 4:36
22- Arrogant 4:36
23- Boastful 4:36
24- Stingy 17:100, 47:38
24- Stingy 17:100, 47:38
25- Advocates stinginess to the people 57:24
26- Hypocrites 4:138
27- Harbours sickness in the heart 2:10
28- Pursues lustful desires 19:59
29- Consumes people's money illicitly 4:161
30- Consumes the orphans' money unjustly 4:10
31- Worships idols that cannot harm them or benefit them 10:18
29- Consumes people's money illicitly 4:161
30- Consumes the orphans' money unjustly 4:10
31- Worships idols that cannot harm them or benefit them 10:18
32- Ridicules God's messengers 6:10
33- Killed God's messengers 2:87
34- Killed God's prophets 2:61
If we assume (for arguments sake) that God willed to appoint a vicegerent/representative on earth then surely God would have appointed a more worthy creature to represent Him. Perhaps God could have appointed from among the angels, but for certain, the choice would not have been the despicably described human being.
But as mentioned, God's majesty makes it unbecoming for any creature to represent God, not even angels.
The claim that man is a vicegerent on earth is both presumptuous and also insulting to the majesty of God.
Why the word khalifa, as used in the Quran, cannot mean temporary god:
The use of the words 'temporary god' in place of khalifa is also an inaccurate translation. Since God is the only true God, there can never be any other gods, regardless of whether they are temporary or permanent gods. There are indeed false gods set up in the minds of humans, whom they worship, but we note that in 2:30 it is God who is speaking. It is God who is appointing the khalifa. God would never appoint anyone as a god, not even for a temporary period.
------------------------
With this in mind, it is necessary to investigate the meaning of the word khalifa as per its Quranic use. To define any Quranic word, the best dictionary is the Quran itself.
The word khalifa has been used twice in the Quran, in 2:30 and 38:26.
The khalifa in 38:26 is the prophet David whom God made a great king of the Children of Israel. God tells David in 38:26 that He made him a khalifa:
O David, We have made you a khalifa (supreme ruler) in earth. Therefore, you shall judge between people with truth, and do not follow personal desire lest it diverts you from the path of God. Those who stray off the path of God shall have a severe punishment for forgetting the Day of Reckoning. 38:26
To determine the meaning of khalifa, we look at what God made David and what he was given from God:
So they defeated them with God's permission, and David killed Goliath, and God granted him the sovereignty and the wisdom, and taught him of what He pleased. If it were not for God repelling some people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, instead, God is Possessor of great favour to all the worlds. 2:251
Be patient in the face of what they say and mention Our servant David, the possessor of strength, he was always turning to his Lord. 38:17
We gave Solomon the understanding of it. We granted both of them sound judgement and knowledge, and We subjected the mountains to glorify with David as well as the birds. Indeed We did. 21:79
We bestowed upon David favour from Us: "O mountains and birds, echo with him." We rendered iron malleable for him. 34:10
We know that David was the king of all Jews. From the above verses, it is clear that God made David a king of great strength and sovereignty, so much so that the mountains and birds were commanded to echo (glorification) with David. The position of being a king of great strength and sound judgement tells us that God made David a supreme ruler on earth. A 'supreme ruler' is indeed the correct meaning of the word khalifa as used in the Quran.
King David was neither a successor nor representative of God. Needless to say, David was not a temporary god.
Second: Who is the khalifa in 2:30
The traditional interpreters claim that the khalifa in 2:30 is Adam or the human race in general. This can be shown to be an incorrect interpretation in the light of the Quranic words.
First, the khalifa could not have been Adam since the angels stated that the khalifa would corrupt on earth and shed blood therein. As far as we know, Adam himself did not do either of those acts. Could the khalifa be the human race as a whole? Once again, this can be shown to be incorrect, and that the khalifa cannot be other than Iblis. How do we arrive at this conclusion from the Quran?
The answer is derived from 2 pieces of information:
1- In 2:30, when God informed the angels that He is placing a khalifa on earth, the angels complained to God saying:
Will You place in it one who will corrupt therein and shed blood?
2- In 27:65 we read that no one in the Heavens and the earth knows the 'ghayb' (unseen/future) except God:
Say, "No one in the heavens and the earth knows the ghayb except God, and they are unaware as to when they will be resurrected." 27:65
The angels do not know the ghayb (future). This once again confirmed in the following words:
He said, "Adam, inform them of their names." So when he informed them (angels) of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the ghayb of the heavens and the earth and that I know what you reveal, and what you were concealing." 2:33
They (angels) said, "Glory to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are the Knowledgeable, the Wise." 2:32
Following from the above information, the following question arises:
Assuming that the khalifa in 2:30 is the human being, how did the angels know that the human being will "spread corruption therein and shed blood"? After all, the human being was not created yet at that stage! If the angels knew that the khalifa would spread corruption and shed blood on earth, this means that the khalifa could not have been the human being, unless the angels knew the future! The Quranic assurances confirm that this is clearly not the case.
So what did the angels know that made them utter these words, and who was the khalifa the angels were speaking about?
First, we must remember that before his rebellion, Satan was one of the angels, and so the angels knew him well. The angels knew of the rebellion of Satan against God, and were aware of the arrogant and egoistic nature of Satan when they said these words to God.
They knew of Satan's intentions since Satan himself declared it openly:
He (Satan) said, "My Lord, since You have led me astray, I will adorn things for them in the earth and I will lead them all astray. 15:39
He (Satan) said, "By Your majesty, I will lead them all astray. 38:82
O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of the devil. Whoever follows the footsteps of the devil then, indeed, he advocates immorality and evil. 24:21
What the angels said in 2:30 was not a prediction of the future, which they had no knowledge of, but they were echoing what Satan himself vowed to do. As a result, they wanted to know why was God going to place Satan as a ruler on earth when he will spread corruption and shed blood.
The one whom God made a ruler on earth is indeed Satan. Satan is able to whisper to us without us detecting him. He can see us while we cannot see him. He is granted powers above the powers of the human being, and he controls the minds of a great section of the human race and he is able to misguide so many. Because Satan was given abilities above the human being, he uses these God-given abilities to have authority over the human being. And since his authority is over all the human race, he is in that sense a supreme ruler on earth.
As to the question of why did God appoint Satan as a ruler on earth?
The full details of this can be found at: Why we are here?
The full details of this can be found at: Why we are here?
Third: Numerical (code 19) confirmation
The numerical code of the Quran (19) confirms that the khalifa mentioned in 2:30 is Iblis (Satan) and not Adam as interpreted by traditional scholars.
The evidence can be seen when we incorporate all the data relevant to this subject.
- The Sura number is (2)
- The verse number is (30)
- The position of the word khalifa in 2:30 is the (9th) word
- The number of letters in the word khalifa is (5)
- The Gematrical Value of the word khalifa is (725)
- The Gematrical Value of Iblis is (103)
The above are all the data relevant to our subject inquiry.
The total of these numbers is 874
2 + 30 + 9 + 5 + 725 + 103 = 874
The number 874 gives us a double confirmation:
1- 874 = 19 x 46 also
2- 8+7+4 = 19
This double confirmation is not valid unless we incorporate the name Iblis in the calculation.
--------------------------------------
For added confirmation, we will now work out the same calculation, but this time we will use the Gematrical Value of Adam, which is (45), in place of that of Iblis (103):
2 + 30 + 9 + 5 + 725 + 45 = 816
816 is neither a multiple of 19 nor do the individual digits add up to 19.