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We move into Part 2 of our journey through Surah Al-A’raf: the creation of human beings. And Allah begins not with Adam, but with something we rarely stop to appreciate.

We Were Made for Good Living

“We have settled you on earth and made for you therein ma’ayish.”

Ma’ayish doesn’t just mean livelihood. It means good living. Allah didn’t have to create us this way. He could have made us like the dung beetle — one food source, no variation, no pleasure. Instead He gave us the ability to mix, to cook, to combine flavours that taste terrible alone but become extraordinary together. The star anise in your soup. The spices in your curry.

This is a gift that we almost never acknowledge. And Allah notes it: “Very little of you are grateful.”

The Gratitude Loop

Gratitude, according to both Islamic tradition and modern psychology, requires three elements: the benefit, the beneficiary, and the benefactor. The first two are easy to identify — good food, and me enjoying it. But the loop only closes when you know who to thank.

Researchers at UC Davis and UC Berkeley have found that people who cannot complete this loop — who have no one ultimate to direct their gratitude toward — experience limited happiness from gratitude practice. Without God, who do you thank for good health? For a good family? For being alive?

When we say Alhamdulillah, we close the loop. And then we find ourselves grateful for the ability to be grateful — which calls for another Alhamdulillah — and so it continues, deeper and deeper. That is the loop Allah built into the fitrah.

Allah Takes Ownership of How He Made You

“We have created you and then fashioned you.”

Allah doesn’t just create — He takes personal ownership of how each of us was shaped. Tall or short, dark or light, slim or otherwise. This is His doing.

Which makes it worth asking: when we mock someone’s appearance, who are we really criticising? If you insult a painting, the painter is the one offended. Allah shaped us. He takes ownership of that. So the next time someone comments on how you look, you are well within your rights to say — I didn’t have much say in this. Take it up with my Creator.

The Story of Adam — Told in Angles

The story of Adam appears in the Quran roughly every seven juz. If we complete a khatam every month, we encounter it at the start of every week. It is our origin story, and Allah wants it close to us.

But each surah tells it differently — Al-Baqarah focuses on the purpose of our creation and the dialogue with the angels. Al-A’raf zooms in on two things: the sin of Iblis, and the slip of Adam and how he returned. Different angles on the same story, the way a good film cuts between perspectives to hold your attention and reveal something new each time.

The First Sin: Arrogance

Allah commanded all the angels to bow before Adam. Everyone did — except Iblis.

When Allah asked why, Iblis said: “I am better than him. You created me from fire and him from clay.”

This is the first act of disobedience in creation. And look at what drove it — not doubt, not confusion, but kibir. Arrogance.

The Prophet ﷺ defined arrogance as two things: looking down upon others, and rejecting the truth. Iblis did both in a single sentence. He rejected Allah’s command. And he declared himself superior to Adam.

Here is the profound irony: Iblis had no hand in his own creation. Did he choose to be made from fire? Did Adam choose clay? This was all Allah’s doing. Yet Iblis took credit for what Allah created and used it to look down on what Allah created. That is kibir in its purest form.

And Allah’s response? “Exit. You are from among the small ones.”

Kibir shares its root with kabir — greatness, bigness. Iblis wanted to be seen as great. And because of that, Allah made him small. This is the divine law that the Prophet ﷺ articulated: whoever humbles himself, Allah raises. Whoever seeks greatness through arrogance, Allah diminishes.

We stopped here tonight. Tomorrow insha’Allah — why kibir happens, how Shaitan uses it, and how we defend ourselves against his tricks.

Following along with the series? Consider a paid subscription to receive a free digital copy of the Surah Al-A’raf Study Guide and Workbook — your companion through this Ramadan journey.