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As the first human being and the first prophet of world history, Allah created Adam (peace be upon him) directly with His own two hands (Sad 38:75). Gathering the essence of all the elements of the earth, Allah created Adam in the most beautiful form of dry, potter's-clay-like earth and breathed the soul into him.
Then, from Adam's rib, He created his wife Hawwa (Eve). It is for this reason that the female kind is by nature a follower of the male kind, and the two are drawn to one another. Through husband and wife, the human race has thus continued to grow generation after generation in the same manner. According to the Quran, from the very first day mankind began its journey as fully conscious, knowledgeable, civilised human beings, and it continues in that way to this day. Therefore, what some historians tell of cave-men, wild men and primitive man — of humanity's transition from an uncivilised age to a civilised one — is nothing but baseless imagination. Throughout this long journey from the very beginning until now, man was never anything other than man. The 'Theory of Evolution' that Charles Darwin (1809-1882) presented in the nineteenth century, claiming that man is an evolved form of the ape or monkey, is now merely a dead doctrine, and it has been rejected by almost all scientists.
Allah endowed the first man and father of mankind, Adam (AS), with knowledge and capability in all matters, and honoured him with the status of conducting Allah's vicegerency in the world. At the same time He made all created things subservient to man (Luqman 31:20) and gave man superiority over all things (Al-Isra 17:70). For that very reason, jinn and angels alike were commanded to prostrate before Adam as a mark of respect for man's elevated status. Everyone accepted that command. But Iblis, out of arrogance, defied it and was cursed for all eternity (Al-Baqarah 2:34). And yet he was a great scholar and a devout worshipper. That is why, despite being of the jinn race, he had been permitted to live among the angels and had become their leader.[3] But seeing Adam's exalted rank, he became envious. Consequently, because of his arrogant refusal to prostrate before Adam and his lack of fear of Allah, he fell into Allah's wrath. For this reason an Arab poet said,
لوكان للعلم شرف من دون التقى لكان أشرف خلق الله إبليسُ
'If knowledge had any honour without taqwa (God-consciousness), then Iblis would have been counted the best of Allah's creation'.
Satan's Creation Was a Test for Mankind
Allah created Iblis as a test for mankind and prolonged his life until the Day of Resurrection. Satan's sole task is to turn man away from the path of Allah and to deceive him. 'He calls upon man to disbelieve'. But when man disbelieves, Satan says, 'I am innocent of you. I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds' (Al-Hashr 59:16). On the other hand, age after age Allah kept the means of showing mankind the true path alive by sending prophets and scriptures (Al-Baqarah 2:213). From Adam down to the final prophet Muhammad (SAW), one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets came into this world,[4] and today the Muslim scholars — the bearers and carriers of the last divinely revealed book, the Holy Quran — are discharging the responsibility of carrying the divine ordinances revealed by Allah to the whole world, as the final prophet's 'waris' (successor) (Al-Ma'idah 5:67). This arrangement will continue until shortly before the ultimate destruction of the world, the Day of Judgement. According to the final prophet's prophecy, there will not remain even a hamlet or a hovel on earth where the message of Islam has not been delivered.[6] Yet in the end, when there will be no one left on the earth to say 'Allah' — that is, no believer following true tawheed will remain — then, by Allah's command, the doom will draw near and the Resurrection will take place.[7] After death, all human bodies will merge into the earth. But their souls will abide in 'Illiyin' or 'Sijjin' according to their respective good or bad deeds (Al-Mutaffifin 83:7, 18). These will, soon after the Resurrection, re-enter their respective bodies by Allah's command (Al-Fajr 89:29), and for the final reckoning all mankind will appear bodily in the court of their Creator, Allah (Al-Mutaffifin 83:4-6).
Mankind has three abodes:
- Darud Dunya — that is, where we are living now.
- Darul Barzakh — that is, the realm of the grave after death.
- Darul Qarar — that is, the everlasting abode of Paradise or Hell after the final judgement on the Day of Resurrection.
So the world is merely a temporary examination hall for mankind. Man, who descended from Paradise, will return to Paradise after completing his test in this examination ground and attaining a beautiful result; or, having failed, he will be cast into Jahannam (Hell). That will then be his last resting place, and it will be his final and everlasting abode. Allah says, 'From the earth We created you, to it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you forth once again' (Taha 20:55). Then, after the judgement, the disbelievers will be driven towards Jahannam, and the God-fearing will be taken to Paradise (Az-Zumar 39:69-73). In this way, on that day the wrongdoer will suffer the punishment he deserves, and the wronged will be blessed with the reward due to him. No injustice will be done to anyone on that day (Al-Baqarah 2:281).
It may be noted that Hazrat Adam (AS) is described in 50 verses across 10 surahs of the Holy Quran.
We shall now endeavour, Insha Allah, to present a summary of the story of Adam's creation as it is narrated in the Quran.
The Story of Adam's Creation
One day Allah summoned the angels and said, 'I wish to create a "khalifah" — a vicegerent — on the earth. Tell Me, what do you have to say about this?' They (perhaps in the light of the bitter experience with the jinn race created earlier) said, 'O Allah! Will You place on the earth those who will go there and spread corruption and shed blood, while we are ever engaged in obeying Your command and in glorifying Your praise and holiness?' The angels' remark here was not an objection, but a question. Allah said, 'I know what you do not know' (Al-Baqarah 2:30). That is, Allah wished to populate this earth with a creation endowed with knowledge and willpower, who would obey His ordinances and worship Him willingly and knowingly, of their own judgement, thought and reflection — not a people who, like the angels, merely carry out commands.
The Meaning of Khalifah
Here, by 'khalifah' or vicegerent is meant Bani Adam as the successors of the jinn, who will act as one another's representatives on the earth (Ibn Kathir). Or it refers to Adam and the subsequent just rulers, who will represent Allah among the people by establishing obedience to Allah and just governance. For those who spread corruption and shed blood unjustly are not the representatives of Allah (Ibn Jarir). However, the first interpretation takes precedence; it is evident from the angels' reply that He would create a vicegerent who, like the earlier jinn race, would go to the earth and spread corruption and bloodshed. Indeed, 'they could only have said this by drawing an analogy with the jinn race' (Ibn Kathir).
Then Allah taught Adam the names of all things. By 'the names of all things' he was given the knowledge of all created things, great and small, from the beginning of the world to its end, along with the ability to make use of them.[9] With this, Adam and Bani Adam could bring the created things into their service and derive benefit from them. Yet, compared with the boundless ocean of Allah's infinite knowledge, the combined knowledge of the human race is like a single drop of water touched by a bird's beak upon the unfathomable depths of a great ocean.[10] It may be said that this store of capability and knowledge given to Adam has been distributed generation after generation through his knowledgeable and learned descendants, and the world at large is benefiting from it. After teaching Adam the names of all things, Allah presented him before the angels to prove his superiority. Although the Quran mentions only the angels, Iblis, a member of the jinn, was also present there (Al-Kahf 18:50). That is, Allah wished Adam's superiority to be proven over both the jinn and the angels — and so it was in reality. However, since the angels are superior to the jinn and of higher rank, only their names were mentioned. The angels had been aware beforehand of the jinn's earlier mischief and wrongdoing in the world, and therefore they held the same notion about mankind, and gave a negative answer to the question. It may be noted that 'Allah had created the jinn race earlier from scorching fire' (Al-Hijr 15:27). But they transgressed to the utmost.
After presenting Adam before the angels, Allah asked the angels the names of those things. But, for understandable reasons, they could not say them. Then Allah commanded Adam, and he named everything. The angels thereupon candidly accepted their defeat and, declaring Allah's greatness and holiness, said, 'O Allah! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise' (Al-Baqarah 2:32). Then Allah asked them all to prostrate before Adam in salutation. All prostrated — except Iblis. He refused and, swollen with arrogance, rejected it. Thus he became one of the disbelievers (Al-Baqarah 2:34). At that moment Iblis argued in his own defence, saying, 'I am better than him. You created me from fire, whereas You created him from clay.' Allah said, 'Get out. You are accursed; My curse is upon you until the Day of Resurrection' (Sad 38:76-78; Al-A'raf 7:12).
The Meaning and Purpose of the Prostration
Even before creating Adam, Allah had already told the angels of prostrating to Adam (Ha-Mim Sajdah/Fussilat 41:11). Moreover, from the various Quranic accounts it becomes clear that the command to prostrate to Adam was not directed at Adam as an individual; rather, the jinn and the angels were asked to prostrate in honour of him as the representative of the future human race. This prostration was never of the order of worship directed at Adam. Rather, it was a purely symbolic, honour-giving prostration — a demonstration of allegiance to mankind and a pledge of assisting them in all their endeavours.
Meanwhile, although Iblis became one of the disbelievers, he did not deny Allah as the Creator and Sustainer. Rather, when Allah 'banished' him and expelled him from Paradise for all eternity, he addressed Allah as 'Rabb' (Lord) in his prayer: قَالَ رَبِّ فَأَنظِرْنِي إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ — 'O my Lord! Grant me respite until the Day they are raised' (Al-Hijr 15:36; Sad 38:79). Allah granted his prayer. Then he said, 'O my Lord! Just as You have led me astray, so will I entice them all on the earth with manifold beauties and lead them astray — except such of them as are Your sincere servants' (Al-Hijr 15:34-40; Sad 38:79-83). Allah told him, 'Go down and get out of here. You are of the most degraded. You have no right to be arrogant here' (Al-A'raf 7:13). It may be noted that although Iblis was expelled from Paradise, Allah gave him the power to enter man's veins and to deceive and mislead him. And this was for man's test. Only by overcoming Satan's deceit can man preserve his status of superiority and be blessed with Paradise in the Hereafter; otherwise he will fail in this world and the next. Within the angels' prostration to man and Iblis's refusal to prostrate lies the intimation that man should remain on guard against Satan at every step, and, through obedience to Allah, preserve his status of superiority.
Adam's Five Distinctions
- Allah created him with His own two hands (Sad 38:75).
- Allah Himself breathed the soul into him (Sad 38:72).
- Allah taught him the names of all things (Al-Baqarah 2:31).
- Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to him (Al-Baqarah 2:34).
- Adam alone was created from clay; everyone else was created through father and mother (As-Sajdah 32:7-9).
The reason Iblis became accursed was his analogy (qiyas). He argued against Allah's command, saying, 'I am better than Adam; You created me from fire and created him from clay' (Al-Hijr 15:29). Muhammad ibn Sirin said, اول من قاس ابليس — 'Iblis was the first to make an analogy.' Hasan al-Basri said the same.
Woman Is a Part of Man and His Follower
After the prostration, Allah, to give Adam a mate, took a portion from his form — that is, from his rib — and created his wife Hawwa (Eve).[13] Adam, created from clay, was named 'Adam', and his wife was named 'Hawwa' because she was created from the rib of the living Adam (Qurtubi). Then Allah said to them, 'Dwell you two in Paradise, and eat freely from it wherever you wish. But beware! Do not approach this tree, or you will become of the transgressors' (Al-Baqarah 2:35). From this it is understood that the angels' prostration was only for Adam, not for Hawwa. Secondly, Hawwa was created from Adam's form after the prostration, not before. She was not a separate creation. This proves that the woman follows the man. Allah says, 'Men are in authority over women' (An-Nisa 4:34). Then the expelled Iblis cast the net of his deception against Adam and Hawwa as his first target. He first became very close to them and began to make them forget through various talk. At one point he said, 'The reason Allah has forbidden you to approach this tree is that, if you did, you would become angels, or you would become everlasting residents here' (Al-A'raf 7:20). Then he swore, saying, 'I am indeed your well-wisher' (ibid., 21). 'Thus he persuaded Adam and Hawwa, and, caught in the net of his deception, they tasted the fruit of that forbidden tree. At once their private parts were exposed, and they hurriedly began to cover themselves with the leaves of the trees. Allah called out to them: Did I not forbid you this tree, and tell you that Satan is your open enemy? (ibid., 22). Then, repentant, they said, قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ — 'O our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be of the losers' (23). 'Allah then said, "Go down (from Paradise). You are enemies to one another. Your dwelling will be on the earth, and there you will enjoy provisions for an appointed term" (24). He further said, "On the earth you will live, there you will die, and from it you will be raised" (Al-A'raf 7:20-25).
It may be mentioned here that the widely held claim that Hawwa was deceived first by Iblis's words, and that Adam was then deceived through her, finds no support in the Quran. Nor is anything explicit in the authentic Hadith. The narration from Ibn Abbas (RA) in Tafsir Ibn Jarir on this matter is da'if (weak).[14] Secondly, the command to descend from Paradise was not a punishment for their offence, because that event took place after their repentance had been accepted. Therefore it was perhaps meant to teach them decorum. Rather, the correct view is that it was part of Allah's pre-ordained and far-sighted plan. For Paradise is the place of reaping the fruits of deeds, not the place of performing them. Moreover, there is no opportunity for mankind to multiply in Paradise. For this reason it was necessary to send them down to the world.
After giving the command the first time, He gave it again with affection and grace, saying, 'Go down, all of you.' Then, granting them the great honour of becoming Allah's khalifah on the earth (Al-Baqarah 2:30; Fatir 35:39), He said, 'Guidance will come to you from Me. Those who follow it will have no fear, nor will they grieve. But those who reject it and deny it will be the inmates of Jahannam, and therein they will abide forever' (Al-Baqarah 2:38-39).
It may be noted that the prophets were sinless, and Hazrat Adam (AS) was without doubt sinless. He made no deliberate mistake. Rather, deceived by Satan's instigation, he momentarily forgot the prohibition against approaching the forbidden tree, as narrated in another verse: فَنَسِيَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا — 'Then Adam forgot, and We did not find in him firmness (of resolve)' (Taha 20:115). Moreover, at the time of that incident he was not yet a prophet; rather, after the lapse Allah appointed him a prophet, sent him to the world and gave him guidance' (Al-A'raf 7:122).
It is noteworthy here that in the case of Iblis Allah said, قَالَ فَاخْرُجْ مِنْهَا فَإِنَّكَ رَجِيمٌ — 'Get out of Paradise. You are surely accursed' (Al-Hijr 15:34; Al-A'raf 7:18), whereas in the case of Adam and Hawwa He said, قُلْنَا اهْبِطُواْ مِنْهَا — 'Go down from it' (Al-Baqarah 2:36, 38; Al-A'raf 7:24). This carries the intimation that Iblis can never return to Paradise, but the believers among Bani Adam can return, Insha Allah.
Nakedness: Satan's First Work
Satan's first attack upon man was to strip the clothes from his body and leave him naked. Even today, the first task of Satan's footstep-followers and Iblis's emulators, in the name of so-called empowerment and gender equality, is to strip women and bring them out of the home and enjoy their beauty. Yet the past civilisations of the world were destroyed chiefly because of the easy availability of women and liquor. Therefore, for civilised, decent and God-fearing servants, the first obligation after faith is to keep one's private parts covered and to guard one's honour and dignity. All other obligations come after it. A woman's purdah will not be only in her dress; rather it will be within her, in her speech, her conduct and behaviour, her gait — in all matters. Every gesture of another woman and every sweet voice casts an unlawful influence upon the heart of another man. Therefore modesty is the adornment of believing men and women and the guarantee of mutual security. Both women and men shall keep their gaze lowered from one another (An-Nur 24:30-31) and, maintaining full purdah between themselves, shall say only what is necessary, briefly and naturally. Each, keeping their own distinctiveness and purdah, shall work freely within their own workplace and sphere of work, and contribute as best they can to the welfare of family and society. Just as a plastic coating between two electric cables carrying negative and positive current serves as a purdah and protects against inevitable accidents and fires, so too does the purdah between another woman and another man guard each from any unwanted occurrence that may arise between them. Therefore, dwelling in this impure environment of the world, mankind ought to be far more alert and careful than they were over that unintentional accident that befell the first parents in the sacred environment of Paradise through Satan's instigation. The Quran and Hadith warn us precisely in this direction.
The Mystery of Human Creation
Allah says, وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّيْ خَالِقٌ بَشَرًا مِّن صَلْصَالٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُوْنٍ، فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيْهِ مِن رُّوحِيْ فَقَعُوْا لَهُ سَاجِدِيْنَ — 'Call to mind the time when your Lord said to the angels: I am going to create a human being from dry clay of moulded, putrid mud. Then, when I have fashioned him completely and breathed into him of My spirit, you will fall down in prostration to him' (Al-Hijr 15:28-29). Elsewhere He says, هُوَ الَّذِيْ يُصَوِّرُكُمْ فِي الأَرْحَامِ كَيْفَ يَشَآءُ لآ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (Al-e-Imran 6) — 'He is the One who fashions you in the wombs as He wills. There is no deity but He, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise' (Al-e-Imran 3:6). He further says, يَخْلُقُكُمْ فِيْ بُطُوْنِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ خَلْقًا مِّن بَعْدِ خَلْقٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ ثَلَاثٍ (Az-Zumar 6) — 'He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, within three layers of darkness' (Az-Zumar 39:6). The three coverings are the belly, the womb (rehem), and the flower of the womb or the gestational sac.
The above verses describe three stages of Adam's creation. First, the forming of the body from clay; then the shaping of its form, the apportioning of energy in due proportion among the limbs and organs and the harmonising of them with one another; and last of all, breathing the soul into it and giving Adam existence. Then a portion was taken from Adam's form (the rib) to create his mate or wife. Allah performed these tasks of the initial phase of creation directly with His own hands (Sad 38:75). Then, when this man and woman lived as husband and wife and bore their first twins, that was the first human pair of the world created through man. From then until now the increase of mankind through the union of husband and wife has continued.
Not only man; the plant kingdom, animals and all living creatures were created from the earth. And the earth was created from water. Water is the origin of all living beings (Al-Furqan 25:54).
The first and fundamental unit of life of all earth-born creatures is 'protoplasm' (Protoplasm), known as the 'primordial living matter'. All creatures were created from it. For this reason the scientist Maurice Bucaille has called it a 'Bomb shell'. It contains all the chemical elements of the earth. Four elements are found in abundance in the seed of human life: oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen. Eight more are found in roughly equal quantities: magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, chlorine, sulphur and iron. Another eight substances are found in small amounts. These are: silicon, molybdenum, fluorine, cobalt, manganese, iodine, copper and zinc. But it is not possible to combine all these elements to produce the particle of life, protoplasm. One scientist spent a full fifteen years trying to combine these elemental materials, but he failed, and no 'particle' of life was observed in it. This combination, and the instilling of life therein, is possible for none but Allah. Science has been compelled to bow its head here.
After the first stage, in which Adam was created directly from the earth and then his wife Hawwa from Adam, Allah, in the next stage, provided for the continuation of Bani Adam's lineage through Adam's descendants. Here too there are seven stages. These are: the essence of clay, that is, protoplasm; the sperm or spermatozoon; congealed blood; a lump of flesh; bone marrow; the flesh enveloping the bones; and last of all, the instilling of the soul (Al-Muminun 23:12-14; Al-Mumin 40:67; Al-Furqan 25:44; At-Tariq 86:5-7). When the husband's spermatozoon enters the egg cell kept in the wife's womb, a child is born of the combined fluid of both (Ad-Dahr 76:2). It may be noted that a single spurting emission of a man contains millions upon millions of sperm. By Allah's command only one of them, a single spermatozoon, enters the wife's womb. This spermatozoon is either the male chromosome Y or the female chromosome X. Whichever of these unites with the X chromosome of the wife's egg, that is how — by Allah's command — a son or a daughter is born.
Behind those three layers of deep darkness in the mother's womb, growing thus for a long nine months: first, the creation of a complete living being, and then its arrival in the world as a living, vibrant and gifted child — how wondrous a matter it is! Is it at all possible for any human being to accomplish this unique, unimaginable work of creation? Who is that great craftsman of the creation of the human child in that dark chamber of the mother's womb? Who is that great architect who combines the father's 23 chromosomes and the mother's 23 chromosomes in that secret chamber to prepare the combined fluid? Who is that great artist who nourishes that fragment of life in the form of a clot of blood in the mother's womb? Then, after 120 days, instils the soul into it, turns it into a living human child, and, once it is fully mature, pushes it out from there (Abasa 80:18-20) — as the harvest of the parents' dreams, as the doll of their eyes? The skilled craftsman of that wondrous machine that fashions man in the mother's womb, and that great artist, is none other — He is Allah! Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi, Subhanallahil Azeem!!
It was the Quran that first presented the fact that a child is born of the combined fluid of man and woman (Ad-Dahr 76:2). Modern science learned this fact only in the last century, in 1875 and 1912. Before that, Aristotle and all other scientists held the notion that the male semen had no function. The Hadith of the Rasul has completely annulled this view of the scientists.[15] For it explicitly states that in reproduction the fluids of both male and female are equally effective.
It may be noted that in the mother's womb the fluid remains in bubble form for the first 6 days; then it becomes attached to the womb. Before three months, the child is not identified as a boy or a girl. After four months, with the instilling of the soul, the baby begins to move about and sucks its fingers, so that after birth it will have no difficulty suckling its mother's breast. At this time four things are written upon its forehead: its term of life (ajal), its deeds, its sustenance, and whether it is fortunate or unfortunate.
In this manner the current of the human race advances through the world. There is no exception to this rule except by Allah's command. For this very reason Allah, addressing the arrogant man, says, 'Does man not see that We created him from a drop of sperm? Yet he becomes an open contender.' 'He coins likenesses of Us, and forgets his own creation, saying: Who will give life to these bones when they are rotted and disintegrated?' (Yasin 36:77-78).
After the Descent from Paradise
Imam Ahmad, Nasai and Hakim (RA) narrate through an authentic chain from Hazrat Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA): ألست بربكم — 'Am I not your Lord?' This widely known covenant of 'Ahd-e-Alast' — the pledge and promise — was taken from Bani Adam at the very time when Adam (AS) was sent down from Paradise to the earth. And this pledge was taken in a valley called Na'man (وادى نَعْمَانَ), which later became known as the plain of 'Arafat'. This proves one thing: Paradise and Jahannam are located somewhere outside the earth, and they existed in created form then, just as they exist now. Modern science, by revealing countless solar systems far, far beyond this earth and our solar system, is corroborating precisely the information of the Quran and Hadith.
