Who is meant by the angels' saying, "Will You place therein one who will spread corruption therein and shed blood?" And does this refer to humans who inhabited the earth before Adam? And can this be reconciled with the fact that there are seven earths inhabited by another genus of creatures of flesh and blood, who spread corruption and shed blood before Adam, and that Adam was distinguished by divine vicegerency, along with what is stated in the authentic hadiths about the (greatness of Allah's creation) like the saying of Ibn Abbas, "The seven heavens and the seven earths and all that is in them and between them are, in the hand of the Most Gracious, no more than a mustard seed in the hand of one of you"? And can this interpretation be considered a legitimate basis for assuming the existence of intelligent beings in the universe?

The exegetes have mentioned several interpretations for the angels' saying: (Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood?), among them: that Allah had informed them in advance about the nature of Adam's offspring, or that they understood it from the word "khalifa" (successor) which necessitates reform, or that they knew of the previous corruption of the jinn on Earth. Their saying was not an objection, but rather a question seeking wisdom, to which Allah replied: (Indeed, I know that which you do not know), because of the overriding benefits Allah knows in creating this species, such as the existence of prophets and righteous people among them. As for there being seven earths, this is established by the Qur'an and Sunnah, but only Allah knows if the rest of the earths are inhabited, and a Muslim should not delve into that. The jinn or angels may appear to people, and the interpretation of such phenomena by some as flying saucers and the like stems from their lack of faith in angels.