Why did Adam and his wife listen to Satan?

Because what is wrong often attracts more than what is right, and because Satan deceived them. Adam (as) did not set out to disobey God; he repented, and God forgave him.

Everyone knows this question from their own life. Parents tell their children what is good for them. The children know their parents are right, yet they do not always listen. They would rather stay up a little longer or put off their homework. What is wrong has a pull, and what is right takes effort.

It is a little like gravity. Falling happens by itself, while climbing is tiring. That is why the struggle between good and evil never ends as long as there are human beings. The story of Adam (as) is about this struggle. On one side stood God’s guidance, which gave peace and security. On the other stood the forbidden tree, which could destroy that peace.

Satan tempted him with grand promises, as the first verse above shows. Adam (as) was deceived. The second verse says plainly that there was no intention to disobey in him. He forgot, but he did not mean to turn against God. The third verse shows how mercifully God responded. He Himself taught Adam (as) the words with which to ask for forgiveness, and He accepted his repentance.

There is one more important difference from a widely told version of the story. There the woman is often presented as the guilty one who led the man astray. The Holy Qur’an does not say this. It reports that Satan whispered to both of them, and it does not make the woman the culprit.

So the story does not teach inherited sin. It shows that every human being is tempted, that a slip is not the end, and that God forgives whoever sincerely turns back to Him.