SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA - The Israeli “security publication,” DEBKA, a key part of their “war through deception” campaign against the world, has now made it inexorably clear, Israel is putting into motion their “final solution,” a campaign to pit nation against nation.

The result, the planet a smoldering ruin, Israel ruling over the ashes and mass graves, is a foregone conclusion, at least to Netanyahu and his worldwide terrorist network. 

DEBKA openly admits plans to move Israeli troops into Syria and Iraq, to “con” Turkey, Jordan and the Arab and Gulf States into a war intended to, not just destroy Iran and Pakistan but China and Russia as well, pitting them against NATO in the fatal Armageddon they and their followers believe will ensure Satan’s dominion over man. 

Do people really think like that?

Yes, they actually do, the Zionists, the Neocons, and the Dominionists, a vast worldwide network of financial criminals, corrupt politicians and power-mad tyrants. In America, those now seeking to stage a military coup in the United States, submit to full Israeli control and lead the world into a new “dark age.” 

Conspiracy theory? Of course, very much so, but not just a theory but plans long whispered now made clear, plans impossible to misconstrue. 

Plans in motion

The plans are clear, an invasion of Syria, splitting the Kurdish region of Iraq off, into an Israeli controlled military bastion for an invasion of Iran. What isn’t being said, however, is that, in order to push the United States back to war after a decade of military and economic disasters, assassinations, false flag terror and a campaign of counterfeit WMD intelligence is planned. 

The proposed moves, as outlined below and confirmed through DEBKA, would require the United States to return to “Bush era unilateralism,” moves unlikely if President Obama, Secretaries Kerry and Hagel and JCOS Chief, General Martin Dempsey were still alive, despite wild conspiratorial claims quoted below. 

Softening up the Goyim

The American president is a likely assassination target. A new 9/11 style terror attack is a necessity, the groundwork already laid at Sandyhook and the Boston Marathon. 

The preparations are already underway, with political and military division in the US being contrived, “sequestration,” threats of gun seizure and a planned economic crash, another “pump and dump.” 

The terrorism is underway as seen in Boston, hoax articles outlining an imaginary 20,000 man US force to move into Syria as a “buffer” have been placed in American newspapers. 

World conquest and planetary annihilation

In the Middle East, Israel is coordinating with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States along with Turkey, the Mossad supported Communist PKK terrorists in Turkey, key leaders in the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq, Al Qaeda led rebels and Druze militias inside Syria. 

Syria and Iraq will be dismembered. Jordan has already fallen to Israel and their Al Qaeda allies, now Israel’s base of operations against not just Syria but Iraq as well. 

From there, the move will be Iran, then Afghanistan and the Caspian Basin. 

If China and Russia fail to recognize the threat in time and “go nuclear” to block this move against Asia, the planned attack on Pakistan, scheduled for a 2015-2017 time frame will bring about a world war. 

Beginning with deception and cover

More stories have been planted, more hoaxes, describing an agreement allowing Israel to build an air base in Turkey to attack Iran. Turkey has failed to issue denials though such an act would label them a rogue state. They are playing a very dangerous game and can well expect the betrayal any “friend” of Israel suffers. 
Turkey is fully “onboard,” cutting a deal with the Kurdish PKK, a first step toward joining Israel in a conquest of Northern Iraq. Israel has also promised Turkey an “occupation zone” comprising nearly a third of Syria. 

Azerbaijan has long been steeped in Israeli/Turkish plots. They have been promised Iran’s Caspian oil reserves. 

They actually put it in writing

Key to this is getting the United States to follow the plans DEBKA clearly outlines for them. 

Issue 585, dated April 26, 2013 has laid out their startling plans beginning with a broad move into Syria. Israel has no plans to use its own troops, of course. Since their defeat in Lebanon in 2006, the IDF has been shown as capable of mass punishment and reprisals against unarmed civilians inside Israel and the occupied zones. 

DEBKA’s “fairytale” is carefully coordinated with terror cells and death squads in the US, all working under the broad cover of America’s Israeli controlled press: 

“On Friday, April 26, a few hours after this issue reaches DEBKA-Net-Weekly subscribers, Jordan's King Abdullah II will be sitting down at the White House with President Barack Obama. When they finish talking, they will shake hands on the exact date in the coming days for the consignment of 20,000 American troops to the Hashemite Kingdom. 

Obama has ordered the biggest overt surge of US troops in six years in any Middle East country. 

This air base will be home to the incoming American troops. US engineering corps units have been working 24/7 to expand the base, adapt it to its new functions and construct accommodation for the GIs. 

Most of the contingents will be airlifted to their new base from US and Europe through Israeli air space, according to DEBKA-Net-Weekly's exclusive military sources. 

Israeli Air Force jets will escort the transports over the eastern Mediterranean until they touch down in Jordan and keep an air umbrella in place over the American force for the duration of its stay. 

The heavy equipment - tanks, missiles, self-propelled artillery, armored vehicles and Patriot missile intercept batteries - will be transported by sea to two destinations: Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba and the Israeli port of Haifa. 

These arrangements were tied up by Defense Secretary Hagel in his talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz. 

In those conversations, our sources disclose, Israeli leaders offered every assistance, including air and intelligence resources, needed for preserving the Hashemite throne in Jordan, including support for the incoming US force. Netanyahu gave this pledge to King Abdullah on the four occasions that they met in Amman.” 

The plans, quoted directly from the highest Israeli and Jordanian sources, could never be realized without an America crippled by powerful terrorist organizations like AIPAC, long above any law. 

Current American doctrine prohibits any military action without, not only a UN Security Council resolution but a new National Intelligence Estimate. Previous “NIE’s” had found no evidence of nuclear programs in Iran. Similarly, current Israeli claims of WMD use by Syria were rejected by Washington this week. 

Israel’s plans are clear. What is also clear is that many Americans will die to get Israel the war they want, the war that Zionism needs to survive. 

What is also clear is that, in order to get that war, more Americans will die and that many have died already.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA - A 5-foot-long chunk of airplane debris found near the World Trade Center site is believed to be a piece of landing gear from one of the planes that hit the towers more than 11 years ago, NBC 4 New York first reported.

Police confirmed Friday that the part was found wedged between two buildings in a very narrow alley only about 18 inches wide between the rear of 50 Murray St. and back of 51 Park Place, the site where a mosque and community center has been proposed three blocks from ground zero.

The part bears a "Boeing" stamp, followed by a series of numbers, as seen in an exclusive photo obtained by NBC 4 New York. The bent metal chunk contains cables and levers and is about 17 inches wide and 4 feet long, according to The Associated Press.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly visited the alley Friday evening and viewed the debris from about 30 feet away.

"It's a manifestation of a horrific terrorist act a block and a half away from where we stand," he said. "It brings back terrible memories to anyone who was here or who was involved in that event, and obviously I think the families could very well be impacted by this finding."

Kelly described the piece as being about 5 feet by 4 feet by 17 inches, lying in a "very, very narrow, confined area."

"It's difficult to get in there and see," he said.

He said there was rope intertwined in part of the gear, and there were no marks on the buildings indicating the piece hit the walls on the way down.

"It would have had to fall down at a certain angle," said Kelly.

Asked whether he was surprised to see such a large plane part anchored in such a tight area, Kelly said: "If you see how confined this space is, and you realize the chaos that existed down here on this street, it's not surprising. It's very, very confined. No cleanup went on in this 18-inch space between these two buildings."

The NYPD said the landing gear was found after surveyors hired by the property owner inspecting the rear of 51 Park Place called police on Wednesday. See below for a map.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD has secured the location "as it would a crime scene," and investigators are photographing the scene and restricting access until the medical examiner completes a health and safety evaluation.

Officials said the soil below the piece of debris could also be searched for remains.

Police officials say the part could be difficult to remove, and may require demolition work that would destroy the two surrounding buildings. Officials are expected to be back at the scene on Monday to see if it can be removed.

"It really is a historical artifact," Kelly said.

When plans for the Islamic center at 51 Park Place were made public in 2010, opponents said they didn't want a mosque so close to where Islamic extremists attacked. They argued the site was "sacred" because landing gear from one of the hijacked Boeing 767 jets had punctured the roof of the building on Sept. 11.

During street protests, they clashed with supporters of the center, who said it would promote harmony between Muslims and followers of other faiths.

The building includes a Muslim prayer space that has been open for three years. After protests died down, the center, called Park51, hosted its first exhibit last year. The space remains under renovation.

Mohammed Fekonus, who prays inside the mosque at Park51 and whose son was a Stuyvesant High School student who ran from the dust cloud on Sept. 11, is convinced discoveries like the plane part could be endless.

"We were all emotionally distressed by that event," he said.

"If you really want to look for things, we'll find things 100 years from now."

Donna Marsh O'Connor, who lost her daughter Vanessa Lang Langer in the attacks and is a member of September 11th Families for a Peaceful Tomorrow, called the landing gear discovery "bizarre."

O'Connor is a supporter of the Islamic center and said the fact that the plane fragment was found there "makes me think that this was the right place for a center that was going to heal the divide."

In a statement, Sharif El-Gamal, the president of Soho Properties, which owns 51 Park Place, said workers called the city and the police as soon as they discovered the landing gear. He said the company is cooperating with the city and the police to make sure the piece of equipment "is removed with care as quickly and effectively as possible."

Patricia Riley, whose sister Lorraine Riley was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, called the landing gear discovery "very strange."

"Twelve years later we are still finding remnants of the attack on our country," she said. "... For years to come we'll continue to find things that we didn't see before. Hopefully, they'll serve as a reminder that we have to stay vigilant."

The Park51 space, a former Burlington Coat factory, is a five-story, mildly run-down building. Renovations are expected to take years and would add an auditorium, a pool, a restaurant and culinary school, a child care facility and artist studios.

On Sept. 11, American Airlines flight 11 hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m., and United flight 175 hit the south tower at 9:03 a.m.

The rubble from the 9/11 attack was cleared from the 16-acre site by the spring of 2002. Other debris, including human remains, has been found scattered outside the site, including on a rooftop and in a manhole, in years since.

Boeing declined comment.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Feeling the brunt of the 9/11 attacks, Muslims worldwide have raced to social media websites to pray that perpetrators of a deadly bombing in Boston would not be Muslims.

“Please don’t be a Muslim,” Hend Amry from Libya wrote on Twitter cited by The Washington Post.

Jenan Moussa, a journalist for Dubai-based Al-Aan TV, retweeted the message “Please don’t be a ‘Muslim’” and added that the plea was “the thought of every Muslim right now.”

At least three people were killed and scores injured when two explosions rocked near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 14.

US officials said that there was no information yet available about those behind the attack and their motives.

Yet, Muslims, who still feel the brunt of the 9/11 attacks, were worried that they could be easily blamed for the attack.

“Fact: Terrorism has no religion, race, or nationality. Standing against terror should unite us all,” Nervana Mahmoud, another Twitter user, posted.

Muslim worries maximized after Fox News contributor Erik Rush tweeted that all Muslims should be killed in response to the Boston Marathon bombings.

"Everybody do the National Security Ankle Grab! Let's bring more Saudis in without screening them! C'mon! #bostonmarathon,” Erik Rush tweeted on Monday.

When a responder tweeted, "Are you ALREADY BLAMING MUSLIMS??" Rush responded: "Yes, they're evil. Let's kill them all."

Though he later tweeted that he was being sarcastic, he faced a firestorm of condemnations from Americans.

“Apparently someone at Fox News tweeted "Kill All Muslims" after the explosions. As a Boston resident, and as a human being, I'm disgusted,” Chris Stedman tweeted.

“A Black man kills, he's a menace to society. Muslims kill, he's a terrorist. But a White man kills, he's psychologically unstable,” a twitter user @chrisrockoz tweeted.

Prayers

Despite immediate worries, some positive reactions from non-Muslims assured the Muslim minority in the US.

“Non Muslims defending Muslims. I was surprised at all the positive tweets. We've come a long way since 9/11. This really is beautiful :'),” a twitter user @dalu3a_93 wrote.

“I respect all the Non-Muslims that understand that Muslims aren't the ones to blame for the bombing,” another twitter user, @Love_Walaa_, wrote.

A Dubai-based social media consultant named Iyad El-Baghdadi tweeted, “Went to my ‘Islamists’ list; good to know that most comments are sympathetic. Only a couple crazies out of 200-something.”

Other Muslims took to Twitter to pray for victims and show support for fellow Americans.

“As a Marathoner and Human being, I’m devastated. Prayers to the victims,” Qasim Rashid, the chairman of the Muslim Writer’s Guild of America, tweeted.

“Whoever the culprit, no religion justifies this act of violence. We must remain united against extremism.”

Though there are no official estimates, the US is home to from 7-8 million Muslims.

An earlier Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans Muslims are loyal to their country and optimistic about their future in the United States.

Muslim scholars have repeatedly condemned terrorism as running counter against the teachings of Islam.

In 2008, thousands of Muslim scholars from across India denounced terrorism as a violation of Islamic teachings, calling it the “biggest crime as per Qur'an."

Another Britain-based Muslim scholar, Sheikh Tahir ul-Qadri, issued a 600-page fatwa in May 2011, condemning suicide bombings, kidnappings and the killing of innocent people as “absolutely against the teachings of Islam”.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: On Islam

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Everybody in the world will be on the Internet within seven years. That's what Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said this weekend in public comments that inspired everything from excitement to incredulity.

"For every person online, there are two who are not," Schmidt wrote Saturday on his Google+ account. "By the end of the decade, everyone on Earth will be connected."

He followed up with a related thought on Sunday.

"Think about how great the internet is with 2B users. Now think about how amazing it will be when 5B come online in a decade. #NewDigitalAge."

It's just the sort of big thinking that has led Google to become one of the largest and most innovative tech companies in the world. But some of Schmidt's own followers took exception.

"You really believe that? What about the millions in Africa who can't even get enough food to eat or the natives in South America who have no idea what technology is?" a Google+ user going by the name "Mary M" wrote. "Maybe you should rephrase to those in civilized areas or something like that..."

About 38% of the world's population uses the internet in 2013, up from about 35% last year, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency dedicated to information and communication technology.

With poor and developing nations around the world isolated by crumbling or nonexistent Web infrastructures, and others hindered by factors ranging from remote geography to government censorship, is Schmidt's vision overly optimistic?

Maybe. But don't rule it out.

As Business Insider's Julie Bort notes, there are some projects under way to bring everyone the advantages of the digital age.

Google itself supports a project called Geeks Without Frontiers, a nonprofit group that donates computers and related technology to poor areas around the world. Focusing largely on Mexico, Central America and Africa, the decade-old group now aims to bring wireless access to regions with no traditional Web access.

Samsung also is backing a project to turn old shipping containers into solar-powered, Web-enabled classrooms in places like South Africa and Sudan.

The rise of the mobile Web is also sure to play a role. In Africa, more people have access to a mobile phone than have access to electricity. In South Africa, for instance, Google says, 25% of its searches during the week are via mobile devices, rising to 65% on the weekends.

What do you think? Is Schmidt's vision farfetched? Or could it happen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: CNN

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)  Iran’s Ambassador to France Ali Ahani has warned against any military attack against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, saying such aggression may lead to World War III.

“A potential Israeli attack against Iran with an objective of destroying its scientific and nuclear facilities is sheer madness. Its consequences are disastrous and uncontrollable,” Ahani said, Fars news agency reported. 

“Iran will not stand idly by in the face of such aggression. This can entail a chain of violence that may lead to World War III,” the Iranian envoy warned.

Ahani said that according to Resolution 533 of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN Security Council must react firmly against any threats on nuclear facilities, adding that certain entities apparently want to ignore this issue. 

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have falsely accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and Tel Aviv repeatedly threatening Tehran with a military strike. 

The US and European Union have also used the unfounded allegation as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran. 

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, noting that as a committed member of the IAEA and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)  Iran’s Ambassador to France Ali Ahani has warned against any military attack against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, saying such aggression may lead to World War III.

“A potential Israeli attack against Iran with an objective of destroying its scientific and nuclear facilities is sheer madness. Its consequences are disastrous and uncontrollable,” Ahani said, Fars news agency reported. 

“Iran will not stand idly by in the face of such aggression. This can entail a chain of violence that may lead to World War III,” the Iranian envoy warned.

Ahani said that according to Resolution 533 of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN Security Council must react firmly against any threats on nuclear facilities, adding that certain entities apparently want to ignore this issue. 

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have falsely accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and Tel Aviv repeatedly threatening Tehran with a military strike. 

The US and European Union have also used the unfounded allegation as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran. 

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, noting that as a committed member of the IAEA and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Twenty-five year-old student Greg Dash was frustrated. He wanted to take "fisheye"-style camera pictures without having to pay for an expensive lens, or fiddle around with a smartphone app. He wanted something light and small that he could pull from his pocket at a moment's notice. Unfortunately such a device did not exist.

So, he went ahead and invented it.

Measuring just four centimeters long and two centimeters high, the "Little Cyclops" has only two buttons and no viewing screen.

However, an array of nifty features -- including a timelapse mode, 12 megapixel resolution and HD video recording capabilities -- have proven so popular with photography enthusiasts that the camera easily surpassed its funding target on the crowdsourcing website, Indiegogo.

The Little Cyclops had raised $100,000 as donations came to a close this morning, almost double the initial $53,000 target.

"It's all been a bit overwhelming," said Dash. "At one point I was getting an email every seven minutes and it has been just impossible to respond to everyone.

"Because the money has gone so far over the goal now though I can get other people on board to help get the cameras out," he added.

See also: The ingenious refocusing camera

Dash says he first came up with the idea for the camera late last year when he was unable to find an affordable fisheye lens to use with his own digital SLR camera.

He resolved to fashion one himself using an old camera and a lens he had custom made.

When friends were impressed with the results he decided to see if he could raise the funds to put his invention into production.

A manufacturer -- which he doesn't wish to reveal as he is still in the pre-production phase -- was then sourced to make a limited run of 1,000 devices completely from scratch which will be sold on a first-come first-served basis.

The cameras are priced at $100 each and orders have already arrived from as far afield as Japan and Taiwan.

"It's been amazing as there has been interest from everywhere really, all over the world," Dash said.

"I was even invited to go on Dragon's Den (a popular British TV show where entrepreneurs pitch their products and ideas to prominent businesspeople) but there's no way I'm going on that," he added.

See also: $30 gadget lets your eyes take control

Despite the unforeseen level of interest, Dash says he has no plans to go into the serious business of mass production any time soon.

His main priority remains studying towards a PhD on the economic and social impact of wind energy development at the University of Aberystwyth in his native Wales.

The success of Little Cyclops however has helped him pay-off mounting student fees and encouraged him to further test his powers of invention.

He now has a new limited edition camera in the pipeline which he hopes to release at the end of the summer, although he remains tight-lipped as to what exactly that may be.

"There's going to be a view finder added and a load of other features but I don't want to give away what it is yet," he said.

"It's going to be able to do something that you can't do on any smartphone and would usually cost hundreds of pounds but I can do it for about £50 ($76)."

See also: Print a life-size robot for under $1,000

Dash plans to listen to feedback on the Little Cyclops before finalizing the design of his next product and crowdsourcing for funding.

For now, however, the main priority is to continue with his studies while indulging his passion for photography and camera development when he can.

"It's not a business really, just a project that I'm working on to see what we can do with cameras and have a bit of fun with them," he said.

"I really enjoy my PhD and the work that I do so if the money I make from the cameras makes that a bit easier or more comfortable for me then all the better."-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: CNN

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – In a protest against topless feminist activists staged in front of mosques across Europe, a group of Muslim women has launched an online campaign to celebrate their hijab and object to the way they are depicted in the west.

"Muslimah [Female Muslim] pride is about connecting with your Muslim identity and reclaiming our collective voice,” the event organizer Sofia Ahmed, wrote on Facebook, Aljazeera reported.

“Let's show the world that we oppose Femen and their use of Muslim women to reinforce Western imperialism."

Using social media sites, some Muslim women have posted photographs of themselves holding placards with messages to Femen such as "Nudity does not liberate me - and I do not need saving".

Other women held placards reading "Femen can't tell me what I can and can't wear".

The online protest, held under the title “Muslimah Pride Day”, followed demonstrations staged by topless women near mosques and Tunisian embassies across Europe on Thursday to express support for FEMEN activist Amina Tyler.

Tyler, a Tunisian activist, sparked a massive controversy in mid-March by posting topless photos of herself on Facebook, with the slogans "Fuck Your Morals" and "My Body Belongs To Me, And Is Not The Source Of Anyone’s Honor," painted on her body.

The April 4 "Topless Jihad Day" was recognized across European capitals such as Berlin, Kiev and Paris.

The event was organized by FEMEN, a feminist Ukrainian protest group based in Kiev that was founded in 2008.

"We're free, we're naked, it's our right, it's our body, it's our rules, and nobody can use religion, and some other holy things, to abuse women, to oppress them," FEMEN member Alexandra Shevchenko said in Berlin, according to AFP.

"And we'll fight against them. And our boobs will be stronger than their stones," she added.

Police in Kiev detained two young activists with "Free Amina" on their exposed chests immediately after their arrival in front of the city's only mosque.

Around two dozen topless feminists in Paris whose bodies were tagged with "No Islamists" and "No Sharia" tried to approach the Tunisian embassy but were deterred by police as they emerged from the subway, according to a photographer with the AFP news agency.

In Brussels, a small group of women stripped to the waist gathered in front of the Grand Mosque shouting "Free Amina", while three protested briefly outside the Tunisian consulate in Milan.

Great Support

Protesting the way in which the west portrays Muslim women, a huge number of Muslims joined the online protest against FEMEN hateful message.

“I am happy and grateful to wear hijab,” Noor Firdosi wrote on the Facebook event page.

“It is my body and my choice.”

The event drew support from Muslim men as well.

“I am proud of you Muslim Women. You are protected and you are respected,” Naseer Ahmad Ban wrote.

Support, however, was not limited to Muslims as an American woman, using facebook account ‘Melody Church’, criticized Femen’s hateful message.

“As an American, I am ashamed of FEMEN's actions; I hope the rest of the world doesn't think we're all that ignorant,” she wrote.

“Most American women won't disgrace themselves in such a manner, especially under the headline of such a hateful message.”

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

Islam, as a divine religion, sets down rules that strike a balance between men's responsibilities and women's rights.

Woman is recognized by Islam as the full and equal partner of the man in the procreation of humankind.

By this partnership, she has an equal share in every aspect.

She is entitled to equal rights, she undertakes equal responsibilities, and she has as many qualities and as much humanity as her partner.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: On Islam

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –

-www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - All prophets of Allah (swt) are infallible and invulnerable to sin, and what Prophet Adam (pbuh) did was that he simply didn’t take heed in Allah's (swt) advice, which is not considered true disobedience.  The truth of the matter is that Prophet Adam (pbuh) and all people coming to this world was something predetermined by divine decree and Allah's (swt) will.  At the same time, this world is only a place for us to be evaluated, not a means of punishment.

What Allah (swt) intended by sending Prophet Adam (pbuh) and his children down to the earth, was to send them to a place where good and bad actions were both possible (unlike heaven that is only a place of good deeds) and test them. If they were successful in following his commands while at the same time being capable of disobeying Him, He would reward them and even grant some of them like his prophets higher ranks than His close angels. Hence, we must first become earthly to be able to become heavenly.

Detailed Answer

The story of creation is an interesting and enlightening one that can be found in books of every religion. From the perspective of Islam and hadiths, the story the Torah and Gospel narrate has several problems.  On the other hand, the real story has been mentioned in the Quran in the most beautiful and precise way.

There are some significant points here that can be useful in answering your question:

1. Prophet Adam (pbuh) was one of Allah’s (swt) great prophets, thus being infallible from sin, therefore whatever he ever did surely wasn’t a sin (even if it may seem so in some cases).  Someone asked Imam Ridha (as): "Are prophets infallible?" He replied: "Yes." “Then why does God say that Prophet Adam sinned?” He asked again.[1] The imam answered: “Fear Allah (swt) and don’t impute corrupt acts to prophets.  Allah (swt) did not create Prophet Adam (pbuh) to stay in heaven but to be his vicegerent in this world and his disobedience was in heaven, not in this world…” .

Regarding this hadith Allamah Tabatabai has said: “The Imam said that he disobeyed God in heaven, indicating that not eating from that specific tree was an irshadi ruling and not a mowlawi[2] one because no divine rulings had been legislated in heaven and it was after Prophet Adam (pbuh) came to this world, which was inevitable due to Allah's will, that Allah's (swt) decrees were legislated.  So he disobeyed an irshadi command instead of a mowlawi one[3], meaning that Allah (swt) wanted to inform him of how harmful following Shaytan was, and he eventually learned the hard way; he suffered the consequences; exactly like when a father advices his son not to walk barefoot because a nail might hurt his foot.  Prophet Adam (pbuh) and his spouse did themselves an injustice and were banned from heaven but didn’t sin against Allah (swt) by disobeying him.  Besides that, if he had really sinned he should have been sent back to heaven after sincerely repenting to God for true repentance erases all effects and traces that a sin can have, but that wasn’t the case for him and he didn’t return. This proves that the forbiddance was not mowlawi, which as a result would make him a sinner, but simply advice by Allah (swt) out of His benevolence.[4]

Of course, not only is this materialistic world a place where desires collide, making sinning possible, but the nature of man himself entails the possibility of sinning for him, because he is a combination of intellect and bodily desire.[5]

2. Prophet Adam’s (pbuh) descending from heaven was not optional but rather a matter of divine decree and destiny, therefore even if he hadn’t eaten from the forbidden fruit, he still would have descended.  This is something Imam Ridha (as) directly points to in a hadith.[6]

Allamah Tabatabai says: “Based on the style of expression and context, the verses in the Quran relating to this story imply that man was meant to live and die in this world, therefore, putting him in heaven (not the eternal heaven) was only temporary to test him.”[7]

In a narration from Imam Baqir (as), the imam says: "By Allah (swt) Prophet Adam was created for this world."[8]

3. What must be taken into consideration is that coming to this world isn't punishment and that by coming to this world one gets the opportunity to practice and eventually improve and perfect himself and finally reach the climax in which the holy and spiritual stand at.  Allah (swt) has created us higher and greater than his angels and has made us his vicegerents in this world. When the angels complained against man, Allah (swt) defended him and told them: “I know what you know not” (انی اعلم ما لا تعلمون).[9]

All of this is only because man consists of intellect and desire while angels purely intellect.  If such a creature abides by his lord's rulings he is certainly far more superior to a creature that unconsciously does so and this excellence can only be accomplished by being in a situation where one needs to choose between intellect and ignorance; this world is such a place.  Thus we should be thankful of Allah (swt) for the blessing of coming to this world as we can become heavenly through this becoming earthly.

[1] Taha:121.

[2] A mowlawi command is one who disobeys it deserves to be punished, on the other hand, an irshadi command isn't actually a command that must be followed and is more of a form of advice, thus one who doesn’t heed doesn’t deserve punishment.

[3] Seyyid Mohammad Hosein Tabatabai, Al-Mizan (farsi translation), vol. 1, pg. 219.

[4] Ibid, pg. 201.

[5] Imam Ali (as) says: “Allah (swt) created the angels with intellect and without any desire and animals with desire and without intellect, but He created man with both so that if he listens to his intellect, he goes higher than angels and if he listens to his desires, he will be lower than animals.” Saduq, Ilalul-Sharaye’, pg. 15, chapter 6.

[6] There is a hadith that says: “His disobedience was in heaven, not on earth; and was something that was divine decree.”

[7] Seyyid Mohammad Hosein Tabatabai, Al-Mizan (farsi translation), vol. 1, pg. 196.

[8] Ibid, vol. 1, pg. 225.

[9] Baqarah:30.

www.shafaqna.com/English