The Forbidden Tree and the Jinn

Foremost among the most alluring mysteries and symbolisms of the Quran are the concepts of jinn, the Forbidden Tree and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise (a.k.a. the Fall of Adam or the Fall of Man). Notwithstanding the importance of these concepts to the Islamic religion and culture—and the ever-mounting modern scientific know-how—the contemporary Muslim understanding of them is, truth be told, nebulous.
The legends of the Forbidden Tree and the Fall of Adam are central to the story of the creation of humanity’s primogenitors not only in the Quran but also in the Bible. However, the meaning and significance of these stories have not yet been rationally elucidated. Islamic scholars, imams and the so-called sheiks cannot shed much scholarly light to further our understanding of these topics as they almost never go beyond rehashing what is written in the traditional sources. Likewise, Judaic and Christian authorities have not advanced any rationally satisfactory explanations for these narrations. In fact, studying the contemporary Abrahamic religious, cultural, and self-proclaimed scientific expositions on these subjects is an example of obscurum per obscurius.

I present two bold ideas in this book pertaining to these topics, which are complementary to one another:

(1) I propound a novel interpretation of the Forbidden Tree and the Fall of Adam archetypes. I decipher the true meaning behind the Quranic account of Adam and Eve eating from this “forbidden tree,” exposing their private parts, incurring the punishments of having to constantly struggle for survival, and of being “enemies” with other living beings and shedding blood. This interpretation also naturally resolves another age-old Islamic enigma of God teaching Adam “the names of all things.”

(2) I show that the concepts of jinn and devils do not refer to supernatural beings, as traditionally assumed, but rather to tangible beings that are all important for the biosphere and human health and wellbeing.

The interpretation that I have developed of these motifs is strictly based on a close-reading of the Quran and the Hadith with the help of physics, microbiology, microbial ecology, biogeochemistry and the fast-emerging science of microbiota.