Stories of the Prophets
Adam (AS) – Part 1
(August 21, 2020)
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Beginning of Creation
It is only logical to believe that before anything was created, there had to be a Creator. It is also logical to believe that this Creator had to be an eternal being without beginning or end and that nothing could be like this Creator. It is this unique being whom the Qur’an calls Allah; the only supreme being worthy of worship.
When Allah decided to create the earth, sun, planets, stars, and the galaxies, and all things that are either known or unknown to us, He commanded them “Be” and they were. As for the method of creation, it is unknown to us except what Allah revealed, which is that He created the heavens and the earth and the spaces between them in six days. These days are not like our days on earth. They are six periods known only to Allah.
Allah also created two creatures that are part of the ghayb or the unseen—the angels and the jinn. The angels worship Allah and obediently carry out His commands in the universe. They are creatures that have not been given the faculty of making choices of their own. Hence they cannot do any evil. They are made of light.
As for the jinn, Allah created them from fire. They are assigned a certain nature: some of them are good, while others are corrupt. We learn from traditions that the jinn had existed for about two thousand years before Adam. They were settled on the earth and caused a great deal of chaos, corruption and bloodshed on it. Therefore, Allah sent on them an army of angels that drove them out to the depths of the seas. Then one day, Allah said to the angels:
إِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي خَالِقٌ بَشَرًا مِّن طِينٍ فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي فَقَعُوا لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ
“Your Lord said to the angels, I am about to create a human being out of clay; and when I have formed him fully and breathed My spirit into him, prostrate yourselves before him.” (S’ad, 38:71-72). Elsewhere in the Qur’an, Allah says:
إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً
“…I am going to place a khalifah (vicegerent/viceroy/steward/ successor) on the earth…” (al-Baqarah, 2:30). We have succeeded those before us and those after us will succeed us and so on. The angels said:
قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُو
“Will you put someone there who will corrupt it and shed blood, while we glorify, praise, and sanctify You?” He said, “I know things you do not know.” (al-Baqarah. 2:30)
How did the angels know that man was going to be corrupt? This was because of their previous experience with the jinn kind.
Creation of Adam
So begins the story of Adam, the first man, and the first human being. Allah created Adam from a handful of soil containing portions from all its varieties on earth. Angels were sent to earth to collect the soil that was to become Adam. If we take a look at the earth, we find many different types of soil on the earth: sand, mud, clay, dust; some fine, some rocky, some soft, some hard…etc. Also soil is of different colors, shades and characteristics. So Allah created Adam from all these types of soil. The descendants of Adam were destined to be as diverse as the handful of soil from which their ancestor was created; all have different appearances, attributes and qualities. Throughout the Qur’an, the soil used to create Adam is referred to by many names. Each name for the soil is used at a different stage of Adam’s creation.
So Allah shaped Adam into a human being, but he remained a figure of clay for forty years. The angels went past him. They were seized with fear by what they saw. Iblees (who was a jinn) used to pass by to inspect this new creation and wondered why Allah was creating this man. While passing by Adam’s statue, he would strike it, and it would make a sound like pottery. When the time drew near to breathe the spirit into Adam, as Allah decreed, He commanded the angels:
فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِي فَقَعُوا لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ
“So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, fall down before him prostrating.”(al-Hijr, 15:29)
Then, Allah blew His spirit into Adam. He blew it from his head, the most honored and noble part of man, where his intellect lies. As the life started coming into his body from the head downwards, his eyes opened. So when he opened his eyes he saw the fruits of Jannah. Then as the life went downward he sneezed. So sneezing is a good sign, it refreshes the mind and spirit. The angels said to him: Thank Allah! So Adam (AS) said: “Alhamdulillah!” (All praise be to Allah), upon which the angels replied, “Yarhamukallah!” (May Allah’s mercy be on you). So this is where we get this supplication of sneezing from.
When the spirit reached his abdomen, Adam felt an appetite for food. Then life got to his hands and immediately he reached out to take a fruit of paradise, though he could not because his feet were still lifeless. At one place, the Qur’an says:
خُلِقَ الْإِنْسَانُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ
“Man is a creature of haste….” (al-Anbiya’, 21:37)
Once Adam was fully alive, Allah commanded the angels to prostrate themselves to him, in order to acknowledge his status. All of them obeyed and prostrated except Iblees.
فَسَجَدَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ كُلُّهُمْ أَجْمَعُونَ () إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَى أَنْ يَكُونَ مَعَ السَّاجِدِينَ
“So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together, except Iblees who refused to prostrate with the others.” (al-Baqarah, 2:30-31)
Allah asked Iblees,
مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ قَالَ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ
“What prevented you from prostrating yourself when I commanded you to? He replied: I am better than he is; You created me from fire, while You created him from clay.”(al-A’raf, 7:12)
Iblees refused to prostrate to Adam out of arrogance and pride. The problem with Iblees was that he thought himself to be too holy! Allah says about Iblees:
كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ
“He was one of the Jinn, and he disobeyed the command of his Lord.”(al-Kahf, 18:50)
So what is pride? This question was posed by the companions to the Prophet (S). “O Messenger of Allah! We like to wear good clothing and enjoy good things but you have said that whoever has a mustard seed’s weight of pride in their hearts will not enter paradise!” The Prophet (S) said that that was not pride. Pride is when you reject the truth and look down on people! So refusing the truth when it comes to you and looking down on others is pride. May Allah not make us from among those who look down on others, ameen! While worship is reserved for Allah alone this prostration by the angels to Adam was a sign of respect and honor.
It is also mentioned in traditions that Allah created Adam “in His image.” This does not mean that Adam was created to look similar to Allah. Allah is unique. We are unable to comprehend or form an image of Allah. It does mean, however, that Adam was given some qualities which Allah also has, although incomparable. He was given qualities of mercy, love, free will, and others.
Also, if we think carefully, we will realize that Adam’s creation was not like the creation of any one of us, where we start off from a seed which then grows and develops slowly over a period of nine months and then we are formed fully and complete. Adam, on the other hand, was created as a whole human being, a fully formed and developed adult right from the very beginning. This is also what ‘in his image’ means.
Adam (AS) was about sixty feet tall. This was the original height of man and as time passed man got shorter. And the average lifespan in those days was one thousand years. The Prophet (S) said that the average age of his ummah would be between sixty and seventy years. This is especially a reminder to those who have passed the age of sixty or seventy that they are fortunate enough to have ‘extra time’ to seek Allah’s forgiveness and do as many good deeds as possible. But no matter what, whether we live for sixty years or a hundred years or more, one day we will have to leave this world. So we have to prepare ourselves for the ultimate reality. It is good for one to enjoy the bounties of Allah, but if one just enjoys, without having made any preparation for the hereafter, then one may have to regret for not having done so after departing from this life to the next.
The First Greeting
Adam was instructed to approach a group of angels sitting near to him and greet them with the words Assalamu alaikum (May Allah’s peace be upon you), and the angels responded saying: “Wa ‘alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah!” (And also upon you be Allah’s peace, mercy and blessings). What a beautiful greeting which stems from the time man came into existence. “Peace be upon You!” meaning, have no fear, I will not harm you. From the moment of Adam’s creation, his descendents were instructed to spread peace.
The Prophet (S) is reported to have said, “Shall I not show you something, which if you practiced will increase love between yourselves? Spread salam (the greeting of peace) amongst you.”
Adam, the Caretaker
Allah told mankind that He did not create them except that they should worship Him.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُون
“I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.” (adh-Dhariyat, 51:56)
Everything in this world was created for Adam and his descendants, in order to aid them to worship and obey Allah. Allah with His absolute knowledge and wisdom had decreed that Adam and his descendants were to be the caretakers of the earth, so Allah taught Adam what he needed to know to perform this duty. Allah mentions:
وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا
“He taught Adam all the names of everything.” (al-Baqarah, 2:31)
Allah gave Adam the ability to identify and designate names to everything. He taught him language, speech and the ability to communicate. After Adam had learned the names and uses for all things Allah said to the angels:
أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ
“Tell me the names of these if you are truthful.’ They answered: ‘Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are the All-Knowing, the All- Wise.’” (al-Baqarah, 2:31-32) Then Allah turned to Adam and said:
يَا آدَمُ أَنبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ فَلَمَّا أَنبَأَهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ فَلَمَّا أَنبَأَهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ
“O Adam! Inform them of their names,’ and when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you that I know the unseen in the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you have been hiding?” (al-Baqarah, 2:33)
At this point Iblees was angry and burning with envy, pride and jealousy. Adam tried to speak with the angels, but they were occupied worshipping Allah. The angels were given no specific knowledge or freedom of will, their sole purpose being to worship and praise Allah. Adam, on the other hand, was given the ability to reason, make choices and identify objects and their purpose. This helped to prepare Adam for his coming role on earth. He knew the names of everything, but he felt lonely in Heaven.
Creation of Eve and the Role of Satan
Because he was the only species of his kind, Adam was feeling lonely; so Allah created a woman to remove his loneliness and to give him comfort. One morning Adam awoke to find a woman gazing at him. Adam was surprised and asked the woman why she had been created. She revealed that she was created to ease his loneliness and bring tranquility to him. The angels knew that Adam possessed knowledge of things they did not know. So they asked Adam, ‘who is this?’ Adam replied: ‘This is Eve.’ Eve is Hawwa in Arabic; it comes from the root word hay, meaning ‘living.’ Adam informed the angels that Eve was so named because she was made from a part of him and he was a living being. We have in Surat an-Nisa’
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً
“O people! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam) and from him, He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women.’” (an-Nisa’, 4:1)
The traditions of the Prophet (S) relate that Eve was created from Adam’s shortest left rib while he was sleeping and that, after sometime, she was clothed with flesh. The Prophet Muhammad (S) used the story of Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib as a basis for imploring people to be gentle and kind to women. He said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not hurt (trouble) his neighbor. And I advise you to take care of the women, for they are created from a rib and the most crooked portion of the rib is its upper part; if you try to straighten it, it will break, and if you leave it, it will remain crooked, so I urge you to take care of the women.” (Bukhari)
Dwelling in Paradise
Adam and Eve dwelt in tranquility in Paradise. All of Paradise was theirs to enjoy and Allah said to Adam,
وَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
“We said, O Adam! Live with your wife in Paradise and eat freely from it anywhere you may wish. Yet do not approach this tree lest you become wrongdoers.” (al-Baqarah, 2:35)
The Qur’an does not reveal the exact location of where this Paradise was; however, commentators agree that it was not on the earth, and that the knowledge of the location is of no benefit to mankind. The benefit is in understanding the lesson from the events that took place there. The Qur’an does not also reveal what type of tree it was. We have no details about it, and seeking such knowledge also produces no benefit. What is understood is that Adam and Eve lived a tranquil existence. They would not be hungry, thirsty, naked, or tired in Jannah. They understood that they could enjoy the bounties of Jannah as they liked, except that they were forbidden to eat from one particular tree. So, Allah gave them permission to eat everything except from one tree. However, Satan was waiting to exploit the weakness of man.
———————————————————————————————————-
Resources and References:
Imam Ibn Kathir – Stories of the Prophets
Mufti Menk – Lessons from the Stories of the Prophets in the Qur’an (https://muslimahlifestyle.com/lessons-stories-prophets-quraan-mufti-menk-creation-of-aadam-as/)
Anwar Al-Awlaki – The Lives of the Prophets (https://www.kalamullah.com/anwar-alawlaki.html)
Aisha Stacey – The Religion of Islam (islamreligion.com)
