Prophet Adam in Islam
By source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_in_Islam
An Overview of Creation
The Qur'an and hadith give 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 blood shed and damage, but He told them that He knew what
they did not.
He created Adam from clay and He 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 God asked all the angels to prostrate
before Adam, they all obeyed except Iblis. For this, God banished Iblis
to earth where he would be a tester of humans. God teaches Adam the names of all the things.
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 heaven, 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.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.
Shi'i hadith give a different account of the early existence of Adam
and Eve from the above; additionally, in Shi'i theology, eating from the
tree is not considered to be a sin, because the prophets are seen as
sinless. Thus, neither Adam nor Eve is cursed for this.
The Significance and Importance of Adam
According to the story of Adam, human kind has learned 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.[5]
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 human kind, 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.
In fact, the Qur'an even mentions turning to the "people of the book"
(referring to Christians and Jews) for help on certain topics. The story
of Adam varies slightly across religions, but manages to maintain a
general theme and structure.
Descendants of Adam
Though it is up for debate, it has been said that Eve went through 120
pregnancies with Adam and each of these consisted of a set of twins: a
boy and a girl.
According to several sources, God took all of Adam's progeny from his
back while they were still in heaven. He asked each of them "am I not
your lord?" as read in Q 7:172 and they all replied yes.[5]
For this reason, it is believed that all humans are born with an innate
knowledge of God. The most famous of Adam's children are Cain and Abel.
Both the brothers were asked to offer up individual sacrifices to God.
God accepted Abel's sacrifice because of Abel's righteousness and Cain,
out of jealousy, slew Abel. Leading to the first murder in human
history: the murder of Abel by Cain. As Adam grieved his son, he would preach to his children about God and faith in Him. When Adam's death grew near, he appointed his son Seth as his successor.
Adam in the Qur'an
The story of Adam and creation is pieced throughout the Qur'an. There
are references in suras 2, 4, 5, 7, 15, 20, 21, 38 and others.According to the Qur'an, God Created humankind out of clay, shaped it to a form and then commanded the angels to bow (submit) to Adam. Iblis (Devil) refused out of pride and was banished from Jannah (Heaven). Iblis was one of the jinn to begin with.According to the Qur'an, God had already decided before the creation
of Adam that mankind (Adam and his progeny) would be placed on earth.
Islam does not ascribe mankind's life on earth as a punishment, rather
as part of God's plan.
God says to the angels in the Qur'an (2:30 - 33): “‘Verily, I am
going to place mankind generations after generations on earth.’ They
(the angels) said: ‘Will You place therein those who will make mischief
therein and shed blood, while we (the angels) glorify You with praises
and thanks and sanctify You.’ God said: ‘I know that which you do not
know.’” It is evident from the above verses in the Qur'an that God had
already decided before the creation of Adam, that mankind would be
living out their lives on earth. And in spite of the angels remark that
Adam would be a creation that would carry out a lot of actions against
God's laws. God says that He knows Adam better than do the angels. God then teaches Adam the names of all things and assembles the
angels in front of Adam so as to show them that there is more to Adam
than they know, particularly the high intellectual capacity of Adam:
"And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to
the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are
truthful." They said: "Glory to Thee (said the angels), of knowledge We
have none, save what Thou Hast taught us: In truth it is Thou Who art
perfect in knowledge and wisdom." He said: "O Adam! Tell them their
names." When he had told them, God said (to the angels): "Did I not tell
you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and I know what ye
reveal and what ye conceal?"
From the above verses it is clear that God is saying that while it
may be true that man might be able to do all the bad things that the
angels said, the angels overlooked mans high intellectual capacity that
he could use to act otherwise (by doing good).
From there, the Qur'an introduces Satan (known by the name of Iblis).
According to the Qur'an, Iblis, who was not an angel but a jinni, was
amongst the assembly of angels due to his high rank. According to the
Qur'an angels are made from light, while jinn are made from smokeless
fire.
God commands the angels (Iblis being among them) to bow down to Adam.
And they all do, except for Iblis, who feels that he being made from
fire, should not be bowing to Adam who was made from earth. His
disobedience of God's command followed by his pride and arrogance for
getting rid of the Binn kind (the species on earth that caused chaos and
wreaked havoc before human kind) caused him to fall out of God's favor:
"And behold, We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam" and they bowed
down. Not so Iblis: he refused and was haughty: H was of those who
reject faith (those who are disobedient)." (2:34)
God later places Adam and Eve in the garden and tells them that they
are free to enjoy of its fruits except not to come near a certain tree:
(2:35) "We said: "O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat
of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but
approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression."
Satan then deceives Adam and Eve into eating of the fruits of the tree: (2:36)
"Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of
the state (of felicity) in which they had been. We said: "Get ye down,
all (ye people), with some of you having enmity towards others. On earth
will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood - for a time."
Adam and Eve feel a lot of remorse for their actions, but God turns to Adam in mercy and consoles him: (2:37)
"Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful."
God then informs Adam that God will send his guidance to Adam and his progeny: (2:38)
"We said: "Get down all of you from this place (the garden), then
whenever there comes to you Guidance from Me, and whoever follows My
Guidance, there shall be no fear on them, nor shall they grieve."
In the Garden of Eden, Iblis (later known as Shaytan) lured Adam and Eve into disobeying God by tasting the fruit from the forbidden tree. God, as a punishment, sends Adam and Eve out into the rest of the earth.
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