Book Description

Prophet Adam is believed to have been the first human being and prophet on Earth, in Islam. Adam's role as the father of the human race is looked upon by Muslims with reverence. Muslims also refer to his wife, Hawa or Eve, as the "mother of mankind." Muslims see Adam as the first Muslim, as the Qur'an states that all the Prophets preached the same faith of Islam (Submission To One God). The Qur'an and hadith give the same account of the creation of Adam and Eve. Synthesizing the Qur'an with Sunni hadith can produce the following account. According to the Qur'an, when God informed the angels that he was going to put a successor on Earth, they questioned whether the human would cause bloodshed and damage, but he told them that he knew what they did not. He created Adam from clay and breathed life into him. Hadith add that he was named Adam after the clay he was made out of, or the skin (adim) of the earth. Returning to the Qur'an, when Allah SWT (God) asked all the angels to prostrate before Adam, they all obeyed, except Iblis (Lucifer) from Jinn race (demon). He said, "I am made from fire, when Adam is from clay. I am better than him. I am not going to prostrate before him." Sunni hadith say that while Adam was sleeping, God took a rib from him and from it he created Eve; however, while the creation of Adam and Eve is referred to in the Qur'an, the exact method of creation is not specified. The Qur'an then says that God commanded that Adam and Eve not eat from one tree in the garden of Eden, but Iblis was able to convince them to taste it. They then began to cover themselves because they now knew that they were naked. For this, God banished Adam and Eve to earth; non-canonical Sunni hadith say that fruits were turned to thorns and pregnancy became dangerous. Non-canonical Sunni hadith also say that Adam and Eve were cast down far apart, so that they had to search for each other and eventually met each other at Mount Arafat. In Islamic theology, it is not believed that Adam's sin is carried by all of his children. Hadith say that once Adam was on earth, God taught him how to plant seeds and bake bread. This was to become the way of all of Adam's children. Adam proceeded to live for about 1000 years, though this has been a topic of debate. According to the story of Adam, humankind has learnt everything from Adam. He was the first to learn to plant, harvest, and bake as well as the first to be told how to repent and how to properly bury someone. God also revealed the various food restrictions and the alphabet to Adam. He was made the first prophet and he was taught 21 scrolls and was able to write them himself. Adam was also created from earth. It is well known that earth produces crops, supports animals, and provides shelter, among many other things. Earth is very important to humankind, so being created from it makes them very distinct. According to some Hadith, the various races of people are even due to the different colors of soil used in creating Adam. The soil also contributed to the idea that there are good people and bad people and everything in between in the world. Adam is an important figure in many other religions besides Islam. The story of Adam varies slightly across religions, but manages to maintain a general theme and structure.