Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has placed Adam and his descendants in a noble position, more noble than other creatures. One proof that shows this is that after Allah created Adam, Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam aih alaihi shalatu wa salam.

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ

"And (remember) when We said to the angels:" Prostrate to Adam, "then they fell down except Satan; he is reluctant and arrogant and is a class of unbelievers. "(Surat al-Baqarah: 34)

The events of the prostration of angels to Adam sometimes cause polemics in some Muslims or indeed this issue is deliberately thrown into the midst of Muslims to spread ambiguity by questioning "Why does Allah meridhai His creatures prostrate to Him besides? Isn't this just legitimizing the shirk? And Satan is a servant of Allah who truly mentions him because he refuses to bow down to Adam. " More or less the ambiguous sentence that is often exaggerated by some circles.

What we need to know is that the scholars divided prostrations into two parts; first, prostration of worship and the second prostration (tahiyah) respect.

Prostrations of worship can only be offered to Allah alone, not to Him. God never commanded any of His creatures to bow before Him in order to worship the creature. The angels of Allah commanded prostration to Adam not in the framework of prostration of worship but prostration of respect.

Prostration of respect is part of the Shari'a of the previous Ummah, then this practice is forbidden by the sending of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu aih alaihi wa sallam. Among the examples of prostrations of respect is the prostration of the angels to Prophet Adam aih alaihissalam. Likewise, the Prophet Yusuf's dream that he told his father Prophet Ya'qub then the dream came true. In the letter Joseph is told,

َ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ

(Remember), when Joseph said to his father, "O my father, I actually dreamed of seeing eleven stars, the sun and the moon; I saw everything prostrated to me. "(Surah Yusuf: 4)

وَرَفَعَ أَبَوَيْهِ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ وَخَرُّوا لَهُ سُجَّدًا ۖ وَقَالَ يَا تَأْوِيلُ رُؤْيَايَ مِنْ قَبْلُ قَدْ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّي حَقًّا ۖ

And he raised his two sons on the throne. And they all fell down and prostrated to Joseph. And said Joseph, "O my father this is the birth of my old dream; in fact my Lord has made it a reality ... "(Surah Yusuf: 100)

These are among the examples of prostrations of respect that are part of the previous Shari'a.

These are among the examples of prostrations of respect that are part of the previous Shari'a.

A similar experience has also occurred to Muadz bin Jabal when he saw the book of the Prophet in Sham. When returning from Sham, Muadz prostrated before the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, then the Prophet sallallaahu‘ alaihi wa sallam said,

ما هذا يا معاذ قال أتيت الشام فوافقتهم يسجدون لأساقفتهم وبطارقتهم فوددت في نفسي أن نفعل ذلك بك فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فلا تفعلوا فإني لو كنت آمرا أحدا أن يسجد لغير الله لأمرت المرأة أن تسجد لزوجها

"What is this, O Mu'adz?" Muadz replied, "I just came from Sham. What I did was similar to them, (the people there) spelled prostrations for their bishops and pastors. I also want to do it to you. "He sallallaahu‘ alaihi wa sallam replied, "Don't do it. If I ordered someone to prostrate, then I would order the wife to prostrate to her husband. "(HR Ibn Majah, No. 1853).

What the people of Sham did was an example of the previous Shari'a which they were still practicing, they prostrated themselves to religious leaders and their figures as a tribute to these dignitaries, not to worship them.

Among other examples also, there is a creeping animal that prostrates to the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam then he forbade it because prostration to beings, whether it be prostration, more respect for prostration for worship, unlawful in the Shari'a of Muhammad sallallaahu‘ alaihi wa sallam. In the scales of the Shari'a of Muhammad (read: Islamic law) prostration of respect is tantamount to prostration of worship, unlawful if offered to other than Allah.

Another lesson that we can learn from the angels' prostration to Prophet Adam aih alaihissalam is that the devil is included in the Jinn nation not from the angelic group as understood by some people.

Angels are created from light, while the Jinns are including demons, Allah created from fire. Allah says,

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ

And (remember) when We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam, and bow down to them except Satan. He is from the genie class, so he disobeyes the commands of his Lord ... "(QS. Al-Kahf: 50)

قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ ۖ قَالَ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِنْ نَارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِنْ طِينٍ

Allah said, "What prevents you from prostrating (to Adam) when I tell you?" Satan replied, "I am better than that, You created me from fire while He created You from the ground". (QS. Al-A'raf: 12)

Thus the devil is not of the angelic group, at that time he was only with the obedient angels of God. Some claim that the devil was a genie who obeyed God. This is the reason he was glorified by being gathered with angels even though he was not an angel. But finally his arrogance is seen in the presence of angels, when Allah tests it by ordering to bow down to Adam.