Al-Huda Foundation
THE PROPHETS OF ISLAM
PROPHET ADAM
THE
CREATION OF ADAM
The
most widely held belief about the origin of Adam has been that Allah created him
from non-existence by His Will using the earth materials.
This did not involve the biological processes of evolution or
reproduction. Allah created Man and
Woman from clay in the form and shape, the way they are today.
Any belief or controversy to the contrary is only a speculation.
Different
peoples in the world have stories concerning the origin of Man, which point
towards the spontaneous arrival of the patriarch with his family.
The
Hindu believe that man's original parents were Mahadev and Parwati and that they
looked like human beings, but were the image of Parinishwar (God Himself).
The Jews and the Christians also believe that God created Adam in His own
image.
Most
people believe that God has no physical form, then how could He create Man in
His own image!
This
riddle was solved by the last Prophet of Islam when he said "Allah had
created Adam with His quality, not His form.
" Allah can be recognised by His qualities alone.
So the saying of the Prophet makes it clear that the image of Allah
refers to His qualities. The Prophet further said "Adopt the qualities
of Allah."
This
becomes clear from the Qur'an where Allah says that He created Adam on this
earth as His representative. A
representative follows orders. Only
one who can execute the orders properly can be a true representative or
vicegerent, otherwise there would be effors.
Thus, according to the Prophet, assuming the responsibilities of a worthy
representative requires the acqisition of the conduct of the master.
This, then is what is meant by "God created Man in His image."
ADAM,
THE CALIPH OF ALLAH
When
Allah desired to create Adam He addressed the angels and said that He was going
to create Man and appoint him as His representative on earth.
As soon as the creation was accomplished and He had bestowed Adam with
His spirit, He told them to bow down in obedience to Adam.
The angels who considered themselves to be superior to Adam on account of
their closeness to the Creator Himself, were surprised at this instruction to
bow down in obedience to a creature that was molded from earth materials.
They said to Allah, "You are appointing a being as your vicegerent
who would bring unrest and blood shed on earth, whereas we, who have been
immersed in your worship were more deserving to receive this honor.
Allah
said to them that what was known to Him could not be in their knowledge, and
that Adam was specifically suited for the position He had designed for the
earth. He offered them a chance to
compete in an open contest of knowledge and wisdom with Adam.
The angels failed in the contest and Adam emerged superior to them in
knowledge and wisdom. All of them
except Iblis (Satan) obeyed Allah's commandment and bowed down in obedience to
Adam.
EBLIS
& ADAM
It
is said that before the creation of Adam, the earth was inhabited by Jinn, a
creation from the elements of fire. They
were mutually disruptive and indulged in senseless bloodshed.
The angels had referered to their mischief.
Iblis was also a Jinn. He
was knowledgeable about matters of the earth.
By virtue of his devotion and service to Allah, he had secured a high
position in the Celectial existence. Iblis
had started living with the angels. When
Allah ordered all of them to prostrate before Adam, he refused.
When asked why he had refused the divine ordinance, he said that he was
superior to Adam on several counts. Firstly,
his creation came from finer elements. Secondly,
he had been in proximity to the Creator in direct servitude.
He had vast work experience on the earth where the novice Adam was being
sent as a representative. He
contended that this was his coveted position and should have been given to him
instead to an undeserving novice.
Allah
rebuked and down graded Iblis for his disobedience and told him to immediately
remove himself from His divine presence and his eternal abode will be reserved
in hell inferno. Iblis said that
Man was a poor choice for such an important position.
He said that he would take every opprtunity to haul all mankind with him
to hell. He would like to be
granted eternal opportunity to test and tempt this representative and prove that
Man may not be such a worthy khalifa.
Allah
said that only He commands eternity, but He will give him his desired
opportunity to the Time known only to Himself.
He said that His obedient servents will remain steadfast in all his'
tough tests and temptations throughout Time, and prove that He created a wise
and knowledgeable khalifa on earth.
Allah
warned Adam about the evil designs of Iblis against him and his progeny
throughout Time. But He also assured that those that remain firm in their
faith on Truth shall be victorious and will return to Him on the Day of
Judgement for a Life of Contentment in close proximity to the Creator.
Allah
brought Adam to the Garden of Eden and gave him education towards carrying out
the intended functions of Khalifa on Earth.
Allah created Eve from the substance of Adam as his partner in life
and gave them total freedom to enjoy the benevolence of the Provider and
Sustainer of Life with prohibition only for a particular tree.
The two were not even to go near the tree let alone to taste of its
fruit.
Iblis
saw his opportunity to tempt Adam and Eve and invoke their curiosity to get
closer to the prohibited tree and taste its fruit.
No sooner they had done what had been prohibited by the Lord, the
Innocense of the Garden of Eden changed to the reality of Life.
They heard the voice of their Lord calling.
He reminded them of the prohibition He had invoked, which they had
clearly transgressed. He reminded
them of the open enemosity of Iblis towards them.
They were to leave the Garden of Eden and make their abode on the Earth
till the end of a period of Time known only to Him.
The Almighty said," There you will procreate of your kind in numbers
and will colonise the land provided, and eat and drink from that you will
procure from the bounties of your Lord. This
is where you will spend your lives, and die, and be raised on the Day of
Judgement on your conduct on the Earth. Beware
of the damaging evil counsel of Iblis who will continue to attempt rift between
bretheren, disrupt your lives, cause death and destruction on Earth through
those who will listen to him. "
Both Adam and Eve felt sorry for what they had done, and begged for their
forgiveness. Allah reminded them of
their role in Life and said that they will return to Him once again to enjoy His
bounties in paradise upon their successfully completing the mission on the
earth. Thus Adam descended to the
earth as a representative of Allah.
The
Life and Progeny of Adam
In
the beginning, Adam had two sons from Eve named Habeel (Abel) and Qabeel (Cane)
followed by Sheeth and others. It
is said that Adam lived for almost 930 years.
References: al Qur'an: Surah Baqrah,
Maidah, Aaraf, Hajj, Bani Israel, Kahaf, Taha, Sabaa, Yaseen, Jinn and Hajrat.
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THE
STORY OF HABEEL AND QAB
It
is said that from their first harvest, the two sons of Adam, Habeel and Qabeel,
each offered a sacrifice to Allah. The
offering of Habeel was accepted for his being " the first among the muttaqeen
(the God fearing). " A
fire descended from the heaven and consumed the offering of Habeel.
The offering of Qabeel was spared. He
thought that his offering was rejected. This
made him jealous of Habeel and he murdered him.
Qabeel
felt deep remourse over this act and carried the dead body of his brother over
his shoulder, not knowing what to do with it.
Then he saw a crow burying a dead crow in the ground.
Qabeel followed suit and buried his brother's dead body by digging a hole
in the ground.
This
was the first criminal act on Earth and it was caused by jealousy.
Jealousy is the root cause of many sins, including the murder of fellow
human beings. It therefore behoves
mankind to avoid this terrible emotion which leads to a lot of sins.
References: al Qur'an: Sura Maidah