Knowledge That Does Not Benefit

Now, what type of tree is this? Apple tree? Banana tree? Asking this question to start with is part of ʿilmun lā yanfaʿ, knowledge that does not benefit. Going into this is part of the knowledge that does not benefit, and that's why Allah (swt) did not mention it in the Qur'an. The details of these stories are not mentioned in the Qur'an: what type of tree was it? What's the name of it? How long was it?

I mean, just like, for example, in the story of the people of the cave — to show you that Allah (swt) is telling us about knowledge that would benefit us, but sometimes we try to go into areas that would not benefit us. Allah (swt) left it, and we try to go and investigate. In the story of the young men, when they went into the cave: wa kalbuhum bāsiṭun dhirāʿayhi bi-l-waṣīd. It says that their dog was spreading its arms on the entrance of the cave. Some started questioning: what type of dog was it, and what's the colour of the dog? Some of them said it's white, and some of them said it's black, and some of them said: no, it's a mixture of black and white. I mean, what kind of benefit can we learn from this knowledge? Nothing.

The reason why the stories are mentioned in the Qur'an is not as a historical account; they are mentioned for the ʿibrah. Allah (swt) says: laʿallahum yatafakkarūn, so that they may contemplate. And Allah (swt) says: ʿibratun li-ulī al-albāb, these are lessons for the ones of understanding.

So the tree was mentioned in the Qur'an: shajarat al-khuld. It's just a tree; but we do not know what kind of tree it was, and where it was, and how tall it was. We don't know those details. It was a tree. That is the only part of Jannah Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ were not supposed to touch.