You have analysed the Arabic word sujud. ie. bow
Is this the same word used to ask us to 'worship' Allah?
Does the Quran say anywhere that it is not permitted to bow to a man?
Angels work for God to serve man. They serve man but are subservient to God.
They were not asked to worship man.
Well , the word Sujud simply means to submit , to prostrate , to salute , to oblige to somebody etc. This action is applicable to both physical and mental/symbolical submission . Sujud necessarily not only related to worship rather for any other context implies to . It may can be dedicated to GOD ,the Almighty or dedicated to others than Almighty GOD . When Almighty GOD is involved , then it is all about worship – both in physical and/or spiritual forms . But when it involves others it is obviously not in a form of worship but a state of submission and only in non-physical state , depends on the circumstances . Let us see some examples from Qur’an .
01. Sujud for ALLAH :
a) Physical Sujood :
[048:029] Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. Thou (O Muhammad) seest them bowing and falling prostrate (in worship), seeking bounty from Allah and (His) acceptance. The mark of them is on their foreheads from the traces of prostration. Such is their likeness in the Torah and their likeness in the Gospel - like as sown corn that sendeth forth its shoot and strengtheneth it and riseth firm upon its stalk, delighting the sowers - that He may enrage the disbelievers with (the sight of) them. Allah hath promised, unto such of them as believe and do good works, forgiveness and immense reward.
[017:107] Say: "Whether ye believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration,
[017:108] "And they say: 'Glory to our Lord! Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled!'"
[017:109] They fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their (earnest) humility
b) Mental/Symbolic Sujud :
[055:006] The stars and the trees prostrate.
[016:048] Do they not look at God's creation, (even) among (inanimate) things,- How their (very) shadows turn round, from the right and the left, prostrating themselves to God, and that in the humblest manner?
[016:049] And to God doth obeisance all that is in the heavens and on earth, whether moving (living) creatures or the angels: for none are arrogant (before their Lord).
02. Sujud for other than ALLAH , the Almighty :
a) The incident of Prophet Adam, angels and Satan :
As all of us know this famous incident , hence I am not going to repeat it again . What I like to point out here is the Sujud instructed by Almighty GOD to angels and Satan for Prophet Adam was not physical nor it has any relation with worship . Here are the reasons behind this assertion :
01. Verse 2.30 suggests that angels argued with Almighty GOD when HE , The Exalted wanted to place Adam as HIS representative on the earth .
2.31-33 explains that Almighty ALLAH had taught Prophet Adam such wisdom and knowledge that no angels possess . As a result angels realize Adam’s superiority over them – of course in the field of knowledge and wisdom .
Then 2.34 suggests that all angels submitted (sujud) themselves to Adam , not to worship him rather to acknowledge his superiority in the field of knowledge and wisdom .
As Satan was among the angels during this feud , this same scenario was also applicable to him .
02. Now the question is whether that sujud was of physical or symbolical nature . The answer is very straight and forward . Angels and Satan are not made of solid objects like human . Hence a physical sujud is quite illogical to apply on them . 38.76 suggests that Satan was a Jinn and he was created of Fire . Hence his sujud must not be a physical nature . And verse 16.48-50 tell us that the nature of sujud of angels are like the sujud of shadow , celestial bodies (e.g., planets , stars, sun, moon etc.) , earthly animals etc. . Hence it is also a non-physical sujud and a spiritual .
03. This famous incident of Prophet Adam is mentioned repeatedly in Qur’an (e.g., 2:34, 7:11-12, 15:29-32, 17:61, 18:50, 20:116, 38:72-76) but not a single time it involves any physical part of body like face , chin , head , forehead nor any physical movement like fall down or bend over to prostrate etc as these physical elements are used to demonstrate sujud to GOD , the Almighty in other places in Qur’an . In all the case it simply says
“…..اسجدوا لادم ” means “Submit to Adam…” .
In a nutshell , Angels and Satan were not ordered to prostate to Adam physically rather they were told to submit to Adam because of his superiority over them in the field of knowledge and intellectuals .
b) The incident of Prophet Yusuf and his family :
Prophet Yusuf’s case is more simple than the case of Prophet Adam . Prophet Yusuf had a vision/dream of this prostration :
[012:004] When Joseph said unto his father: O my father! Lo! I saw in a dream eleven planets and the sun and the moon, I saw them prostrating themselves unto me.
[012:005] He said: O my dear son! Tell not thy brethren of thy vision, lest they plot a plot against thee. Lo! Satan is for man an open foe.
It is impossible even to imagine that round celestial bodies like planets , sun and moon could perform physical sujud . This was only possible when a symbolic/mental submission is portrayed here . Interesting enough , the next verse depicted Prophet Yusuf’s brothers enmity and hostility as the opposite of the symbolic sujud in verse 12.004 . In other words , sujood in verse 04 means their submission to the control and prompt of Prophet Yusuf . This is well in coherence with latter part of the incident when Prophet Yusuf became the ruler and his parents and brothers came under his control , submissively . He then stated :
[012:100] And he raised his parents upon the throne and they fell down in prostration before him, and he said: O my father! this is the significance of my vision of old; my Lord has indeed made it to be true; and He was indeed kind to me when He brought me forth from the prison and brought you from the desert after the Shaitan had sown dissensions between me and my brothers, surely my Lord is benignant to whom He pleases; surely He is the Knowing, the Wise.
Hopefully all these make sense to you .
. Please refer to post#7 of this same thread , it was discussed with Sister Israa already . Thanks .
