Commonly Misunderstood Verses in the Qur'an

Concerning the words of Allah:

وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الأَرْض خليفة (1 َ
And [remember] when your Rabb said to the angels: "Verily, I will place in the Earth a Khaleefah..."
[al-Baqarah : 30]

Abdullah Yoosuf Ali in his well-known commentary, translated the word 'khaleefah' as 'vicegerent', while Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, in his translation, rendered it as 'viceroy.' However, when we examine the books of tafseer, we find that Ibn Katheer says, "Verily, I will place in the earth a Khaleefah." That is, generation succeeding generation, as in the words of Allah:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَكُمْ خَلاَئِفَ الأَرْ
It is He Who has made you Khalaa'if on the earth
[al-'Anaam : 165]

Ibn Jareer at-Tabari says: "The meaning of Khaleefah which Allah has mentioned is only the succession of one generation after another and the word Khaleefah is used here in the same way in which on would say: such-and-such person has succeeded so-and-so [i.e. taken his place due to the absence or retirement of the latter]." This explanation negates the possibility that what is intended is Vicegerent or Viceroy, since Allah is never absent, nor does He retire. He says:

اللّهُ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لاَ تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلاَ نَوْمٌ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلاَّ بِمَا شَاء وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ وَلاَ يَؤُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ
Allah! Laa ilaaha illaa huwa None has the right to be worshipped but He, the Everliving, the Sustainer and Protector of all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except by His leave? He knows what happens to them in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Kursi [footstool] extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the All-High, the All-Great.
[al-Baqarah : 255]

It is also said by some that the word 'khaleefah' in the verse refers to Adam (as). However, if it were so, according to Ibn Katheer, the angels would not have said:

قَالُواْ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاء

Will you place therein those who will work mischief therein and shed blood?
[al-Baqarah : 30]

Concerning the words of Allah:

2) وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ اسْجُدُواْ لآدَمَ فَسَجَدُواْ إِلاَّ إِبْلِيسَ أَبَى وَاسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ
And remember when we said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam." And they prostrated except Iblees. He refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers [disobedient to Allah].
[al-Baqarah : 34]

It has been stated by some, based on this verse, that Iblees was an angel. At-Tabari held this view, saying, "There is nothing objectionable in the assumption that Allah should have created the categories of His angels from all kinds of things that He had created, for it is possible that He created a category of His angels, among whom was Iblees, from fire, and even that Iblees was unique in that He created him, and no other angel of His, from the fire of Samoom."

However, this view is rejected by the majority of scholars, amongst whom is Ibn Katheer, who says, "For he [Iblees] is created from a smokeless fire while the angels are created from light as it has been authentically reported in saheeh Musli, on the authority of Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah said:
"The angels were created from light and Iblees was created from a smokeless flame... He used to carry out the duties of the angels and he resembled them and worshipped Allah and devoted himself [to Him[ and therefore, he was included in Allah's address to them and he disobediently rejected"

And, continues Ibn Katheer, Allah has pointed out here that he is one of the jinn- that is, that he was created from fire, as he said:

قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلاَّ تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ قَالَ أَنَاْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ
"...I am better than he [Adam]; You created me from fire and You created him from clay"
[al-'Araaf : 12]

Al-Hasan al-Basri said, "Never for a moment was Iblees one of the angels. He was the stock of the jinn, just as Adam was the stock of mankind" [Narrated by Ibn Jareer with an authentic isnad].

It is also worth mentioning that Allah says, in surat al-Kahf:

أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُ أَوْلِيَاء مِن دُونِي وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ
...Will you take him [Iblees] and his seed to be your friends apart from Me while they are enemies to you...?
[al-Kahf : 50]

As is well known, the jinn are able to reproduce as humans do, while the angels are not. Also, the angels do not have free will; they obey Allah in all things, unlike the jinn who, in common with human beings, have a measure of free will. Allah says concerning the angels:

يَخَافُونَ رَبَّهُم مِّن فَوْقِهِمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ
They fear their Rabb above them and they do what they are commanded
[an-Nahl : 50]

He says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ عَلَيْهَا مَلَائِكَةٌ غِلَاظٌ شِدَادٌ لَا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ
O you who believe! Ward off yourselves and your families against a fire whose fuel is men and stones; over which are appointed angels, stern and severe, who disobey not that which Allah commands them, but do that which they are commanded.
[at-Tahreem : 6]

Concerning the words of Allah:

3) إِنَّ اللّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ
...Verily, Allah is with those who are patient
[al-Baqarah : 153]

and

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ
And when My slaves ask you [O Muhammad!] concerning Me, then [say:] I am indeed near...
[al-Baqarah : 186]

In the two above-mentioned verses, Allah said that 1) He is near to His slaves and 2) with the patient ones. However, we cannot understand verses from the Quran in isolation, but instead, we must try to understand the Quran as a whole. It is accepted by all that Allah does not contradict Himself, He is far above that. Neither does His Messenger contradict Him nor contradict Himself. Therefore these verses and others like them which speak of Allah's nearness or His being with us must be understood in a way that does not conflict with other verses, such as:

الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى
The All-Beneficent has ascended over the Throne
[Ta-Ha : 5]

and:

إِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ اللّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ
Verily, your Rabb is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then ascended over the Throne...
[al-'Araaf : 54]

and:

أَأَمِنتُم مَّن فِي السَّمَاء أَن يَخْسِفَ بِكُمُ الأَرْضَ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَمُورُ
Do you feel secure that He, Who is over the heaven will not cause the earth to sink with you, and then it should shake?
[al-Mulk : 16]

and:

تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ
The angels and the Spirit [Jibreel] ascend to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years
[al-Ma'aarej : 4]

And the words of the Messenger of Allah: "Every night, Allah descends to the lowest heaven" [Narrated by Muslim.] That is, He descends in a manner befitting His Majesty, not resembling any of His creatures.

And in his examination of the slave girl, the Messenger of Allah asked her, "Where is Allah?" She replied, "In the samaa." He said, "Who am I?" She said, "The Messenger of Allah." Then he said, "Free her, for she is a believer." [Narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawood and an-Nasa'ee].

As for Allah's saying that He is with us or near us, Ibn Katheer says, concerning Allah's words:

قَالَ لَا تَخَافَا إِنَّنِي مَعَكُمَا أَسْمَعُ وَأَرَى
He [Allah] said: "Fear not, verily I am with you both, I hear and see"
[Ta-Ha : 46]

"What is intended here is that Allah does not disappoint those who supplicate Him, nor does anything distract Him from it; on the contrary, He hears their supplications. And in this is an encouragement to us to supplicate to him."

Furthermore, we can say that it does not befit Allah's Greatness and Majesty to say that He is everywhere, since 'everywhere' must include dirty places, such as toilets and drains. Allah is far Exalted above that.