I read a passage in the Holy Qur’ān recently which left me in confusion. When Satan disobeyed God, he was cast out of heaven. At that time, he says that he would misguide men on earth till the day of eternity. The way I understand it, Adam had not yet disobeyed God and man was still a part of heaven. How could Satan say that he would misguide men on earth when God has not yet sent Adam to Earth? Please help me in understanding this chronology.
Adam was not sent down to earth because of disobeying the Almighty. The Almighty had declared even before creating him:
And [remember] your Lord said to the angels: Lo! I have decided to create a in the earth. (2:29)
This the Almighty had said before angles and Satan (Iblīs) was also present there. Then all of them were asked to prostrate before Adam. Iblīs because of his vanity and conceit did not obey God. And when the Almighty reprimanded him he threatened to mislead humans on earth. Then the Almighty settled Adam and Eve in the garden where they succumbed to Satan’s scheme and fell into error. They realized their mistake and sought forgiveness which was they were granted. Now they were asked to leave that garden and start their lives in the earth and obey Allah’s guidance.
The world Jannah doesn’t necessarily imply the paradise, which is the abode of the pious ones in the Hereafter. In fact, the portrait the Qur’ān draws of that it tells that it is something to be created at some time in the future.
It is thus obvious from 2:29 that it was decided from the beginning that humans were to be settled on the Earth.