Adam (AS) is the first prophet of Islam and father of the whole mankind. He is the first human being who has ever been created by Allah (SWT). Adam (AS) is one of the most honored prophets and he is mentioned 25 times in the Qur’an. The story of Adam (AS) teaches us many lessons. This arcticle will cover the whole story of Adam (AS).
Creation:
Allah (SWT) declared to the angels that he would create a man to become his deputy on the Earth. The Angels were confused why Allah (SWT) would send a man to be his deputy. They felt that man would cause bloodshed and mischief on the Earth. This story is evidenced from the Qur’an,
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌۭ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةًۭ ۖ قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“And when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we exalt You with praise and declare Your perfection?" He [Allāh] said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know." ”
Then, Allah Ta’ala created Adam (AS) from a lump of clay with his own hands. This is described in the Qur’an,
وَلَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ مِن سُلَـٰلَةࣲ مِّن طِینࣲ
“We created man from an extract of clay.”
Prostration and Teaching Angels:
Allah (SWT) taught Adam (AS) the names of all things, and taught them to the angels. This is mentioned in the Qur’an,
وَعَلَّمَ ءَادَمَ ٱلْأَسْمَآءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنۢبِـُٔونِى بِأَسْمَآءِ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِين
“And He (Allah) taught Adam (AS) the names of everything then he presented them to the angels, so He said “Tell me the names of these, if you are truthful.”
These verses show the virtue of acquiring knowledge, that piety is not enough, rather you must also have knowledge, because worship with knowledge is like salt in food. The virtue of Adam (AS) is such that he was given a teaching position over the Angels, this shows the virtue of pious men over the Angels.
Allah (SWT) commanded the Angels to prostrate to Adam (AS) and all of the Angels followed the command of Allah and prostrated to Adam (AS) except Iblis. Iblis was from amongst the Jinn but he emulated the practices of Angels and became one of the most knowledgeable from amongst the angels. So he was included in the command to prostrate to Adam (AS), but because of his pride and arrogance, Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam (AS) and committed infidelity by rejecting the command of Allah (SWT). As such, Allah (SWT) banished Iblis from Jannah and he became from amongst the low ones. This story is mentioned in the Qur’an
وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِـَٔادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَٱسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ
“And when we said to the angels, Prostrate to Adam (AS), then they prostrated except Iblis, he refused and was arrogant, and he was from the disbelievers.”
(Al-Baqarah:34)
and
قَالَ ٱخْرُجْ مِنْهَا مَذْءُومًۭا مَّدْحُورًۭا ۖ لَّمَن تَبِعَكَ مِنْهُمْ لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
“Allah said, “Get out of Paradise! You are disgraced and rejected! I will certainly fill up Hell with you and your followers all together.”
(Al-An’am:18)
The Tree:
After this, Allah Ta’ala created Hawwa (RA) from the rib of Adam (AS). The story mentioned is that Adam (AS) fell asleep, and Allah (SWT) created Hawwa (RA) while he was sleeping and when he woke up, he saw her next to him. Then, Adam (AS) married Hawwa (RA). Adam and Hawwa were given full freedom to roam the entire Jannah and eat from all the trees of Jannah except one. However, Iblis tricked Adam (AS) who forgot Allah’s command and they both ate from the tree. Iblis swore by Allah that the trees were the key to an eternal kingdom. And humans sometimes forget, and so Adam (AS) forgot the command of Allah not to eat the tree. Thereafter Adam (AS) and Hawwa (RA) repented for their mistake, even though they did not commit any sin. Ibn Asakir reported that Adam (AS) spent 60 years weeping for his loss of paradise, and 70 years for his mistake. Allah Ta’ala accepted his repentance but he was not going to keep them in Paradise. This story is mentioned in the Qur’an.
وَيَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ فَكُلَا مِنْ حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ . فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ لِيُبْدِىَ لَهُمَا مَا وُۥرِىَ عَنْهُمَا مِن سَوْءَٰتِهِمَا وَقَالَ مَا نَهَىٰكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰلِدِينَ . وَقَاسَمَهُمَآ إِنِّى لَكُمَا لَمِنَ ٱلنَّـٰصِحِينَ . فَدَلَّىٰهُمَا بِغُرُورٍۢ ۚ فَلَمَّا ذَاقَا ٱلشَّجَرَةَ بَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْءَٰتُهُمَا وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِن وَرَقِ ٱلْجَنَّةِ ۖ وَنَادَىٰهُمَا رَبُّهُمَآ أَلَمْ أَنْهَكُمَا عَن تِلْكُمَا ٱلشَّجَرَةِ وَأَقُل لَّكُمَآ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ لَكُمَا عَدُوٌّۭ مُّبِينٌۭ . قَالَ ٱهْبِطُوا۟ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّۭ ۖ وَلَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّۭ وَمَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍۢ
“Allah said, “O Adam! Live with your wife in Paradise and eat from wherever you please, but do not approach this tree, or else you will be wrongdoers.” Then Satan tempted them in order to expose what was hidden of their nakedness. He said, “Your Lord has forbidden this tree to you only to prevent you from becoming angels or immortals.” And he swore to them, “I am truly your sincere advisor.” So he brought about their fall through deception. And when they tasted of the tree, their nakedness was exposed to them, prompting them to cover themselves with leaves from Paradise. Then their Lord called out to them, “Did I not forbid you from that tree and ˹did I not˺ tell you that Satan is your sworn enemy?” They replied, “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be losers.” Allah said, “Descend as enemies to each other.1 You will find in the earth a residence and provision for your appointed stay.”
(Al-An’am: 19-24)
The Earth:
Adam (AS) and Hawwa (RA) were both sent to the earth and they both had to endure the hardships of the Dunya, such as hunger, thirst, shelter, and such . When Adam (AS) was sent to Earth, Ibn Abi Hatim reports he was sent to Dahna, a place between Mecca and Taif, Imam Hasan al-Basri reports that he was sent to India, and Hawwa (RA) to Jeddah. They reunited after 40 days in a place called Jabal Rahma. Sice then, Adam (AS) and his wife (RA) had to battle the physical difficulties of Dunya, and he also had to battle the spiritual evil and the whispers of Shaytan. And Shaytan would come and cause a great tragedy to his family.
Story of Habil and Qabil:
Adam (AS) and Hawwa (RA) cultivated the Earth and they were the first to procreate and gave birth to two sets of twins, one pair was Qabil and his sister Iqlima and another was Habil and his sister Labuda. When they were of age, Allah (SWT) decreed that Qabil marry Labuda and Habil marry Iqlima. Qabil was angered by this as he thought that his sister Iqlima was more beautiful than Habil’s sister Labuda. In order to settle the arrangement, Adam (AS) proposed that they both make a sacrifice, and whoevers one was accepted would be able to marry Iqlima. They both gave their sacrifice, Habil’s sacrifice was a healthy ram while Qabil gave some of his crops, instead of his best, as a sacrifice, and Habil’s sacrifice was eaten up by the fire. A fire eating up a sacrifice meant it was accepted. This enraged Qabil and Shaytan enticed him to kill Habil. After Habil was killed, Qabil didn’t know what to do with his body. Allah Ta’ala sent two birds who were fighting each other and one died, the bird who survived dag a hole in the ground and put the dead bird in. Qabil was inspired by this and so buried his brother.
End of Story:
Adam (AS) at the end of his life, advised his children to worship Allah alone. He informed them that more prophets were to come who would all call towards one Allah. He appointed one of his progeny, Sheath (AS) as his successor and taught him the acts of worship and teachings of Allah. Then Adam’s soul was taken.
Conclusion:
We learn a great many lessons from the story of Adam (AS), a few are mentioned herein. One is the harm of pride and arrogance, because of pride and arrogance, Shaytan was banished from Paradise. Secondly, the importance of repentance, after every sin we make, no matter how small, we should always repent sincerely to Allah for our wrongdoing. Thirdly is sincerity in action, due to Qabil’s insincerity, he gave the worst of his crops as a sacrifice, whereas a sacrifice is when you give up something you love for Allah,. therefore his sacrifice was not a true sacrifice. May Allah Ta’ala save us from pride and arrogance, accept and allow us to make sincere repentance, and make us from the sincere servants, and save us from all bad and bring all good in this life and the next. Amin