The First Man - Prophet Adam (peace be upon him)

Prophet Adam (Peace be upon him) - The First Man

The advent of a vicegerent
Purpose of life
The beginning of the creation of Man
Establishment of the superiority of Man
"Dwell in Paradise"
Victims of the first attack by Iblis (Shaytan - Satan)
Sincere repentance
Conditions for repentance

The advent of a vicegerent
The Holy Quran has mentioned certain facts about Sayyidina Adam . However we must realise that science has opened a new door to the question of the creation of the human being. They claim to say that man as we know today went through many stages to reach the present state that we are in now. Scientists say that human being were in a form of ape like mammal. Then stage by stage and step by step their form were changing and progressing and finaly reached the form of present day man (Evolution Theory). The changing of form and progressing step by step took millions and millions of years. However, our religion tells us that the creation of the universe saw the first man in the very form of Sayyidina Adam . Then was created Hawa of the same kind, then through them the chain of human being came in existence on the surface of Earth.The Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) was the first man and he did not evolve from another mammal or creation. This is the same man Allah excelled over other creation and handed over to him the valuable burden of trust, subduing the universe to him and honouring him to be the deputy on Earth. Scientists boast theories and conjecture, stringing probability, unfounded ideas and even chance. After much discussion and blind absorbtion further theories are put forward to support ones already faltering. There comes a time when no one scientific theory can be proven conclusively. Theories that cannot be proven are believed not upon fact but upon the fallable word put forward by scientists. Many theories evolve, are contradictory to other scientific theories and are at times at odds with themselves. Humans are left finaly to believe in either the fallable theories of man or the word of Allah. Muslims are those that choose to have faith in Allah. Intellect and comprehension vary in men, those strong in faith recognise this human factor and accept the word of Allah with or without proof.
The important question is whether man has been created in this world without an aim and/or sense or whether there is a purpose behind his creation. The Holy Quran has thrown light on this topic. When Allah created man, he created him in the best stature and the Quran has thrown light by stating "Certainly We have created man in the best stature" (Sura At-Teen). It is for that reason man is entitled to be honoured and respected among all creation. Allah states in the Quran: "And surely We have honoured the children of Aadam" (Sura Al-Isra). And because he is "in the best stature" and "worthy of respect" he alone is the one to "undertake the trust offered by Allah" and act as "deputy of Allah" and when these things are reposed in him how could it be that he be left like that without aim or consequence? The Quran states by saying, "Does man think that he is to be left aimlessly"? (Sura Al-Qiyamah). From these verses of the Quran, we can clearly understand from it that there is a purpose behind life and creation.

Purpose of life
The question arises now what is the purpose of life? And does the Quran clearly refer to the purpose of creation. Answer is "Yes" Allah mentions by saying "And that I did not create Jinn and Mankind but only for my worship" From this verse of the Quran, Allah clerly mentiones the sole purpose of creation and that is nothing but to worship Allah all throughout our temporary life. So Allah decided to make a deputy on earth by the name Adam for the guidance of mankind, by establishing the commandments of Allah on earth. Because if Allah did not make a deputy then how will mankind know what is the sole purpose of creation. This is why Allah sent approxiamately 124,000 Prophets from Adam till the last Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Allah created Adam from soil and before his mould was ready, He informed the angels that He was going to raise a creation out of soil that will be called Basgir (mortal) and he will be his deputy on earth. Why did Allah keep the name Adam ? Was there a purpose or not? Allamah Thalbiy belives that in the Hebrew language Adam means dust or clay and because he was created out of it he was named Adam . The name Hawa she was the wife of Hazrat Adam her name means alive which is derived from the word (Hiaya) because she was the mother of every living man.

The beginning of the creation of Man
In the first three verses revealed about Adam , Allah talks about the fact that before he created Hazrat Adam He would inform the angels about it as way of testing them and suggestimg them to express their opinions in this matter. Upon hearing this, the angels said that they could not understand why men were being chosen to be the deputies where as some of them would shed blood and spread disorder on this earth. The angels thought that they themselves were more suitable to perform this duty. As the nature of angels is good; no evil deed can possibly come out of them beacuse they are totally obedient to Allah and should be more capable of handling the affairs of the world. A question may arise here as to why Allah chose to seak of his decision to the angels. One answer is the angels thought that Allah would not create a being who would be superior to them and greater than them in knowledge. But Allah knew that he would create a being who will be superior to all other creatures. So in order to remove that thinking of the angels Allah mentioned this in the assembely of the angels. So that time the angels humbly said how can you create such being who will shed blood and spread corruption on earth. They did not mean to raise an objection to the choice of Allah but they were only being curious as to the reson. Allah gave a brief reply by saying "I know what you do not" This is implying that they are not aware of the nature and the requirments of divine deputy. Because the angels thought to fulfill such a big responsibility, you need to be pure and innocent being. Then Allah explained and expressed it in detail to the angels that he bestowed upon Adam a knode of knowledge which he alone knows of out of all other creations. Allah taught Adam the names of the properties and realities of all the things and objects which will be present at his time on earth, and the angels are not aware of this knowledge. For example, an angel can not really experience the pain of hunger and thirst, the torment from the bite of a scorpion or a snake etc. The reason being is the nature of angels is different to the nature of human beings. A question may arise as to how Adam was taught the names, was he taught in private or not? In the Quran, there is no clear indication to this but it may well be that the teaching was open itself as well as it was to Adam , his nature allowed him to recive it but the nature of the angels did not allow them to learn the names. Through this demonstration, Allah made the angels realize how wrong they were in supposing that he would not create any being superior to them in anyway and that they themselves were more suitable and capable for being the deputy of Allah than Adam . But that does not mean they were raising an objection, nor being proud, nor were they asking for the right but they were only expressing their opinions, but after they found out that Adam was more superior to them with his special kind of knowledge and is more capable to stay in the world and function properly, they acknowledged the fact by letting go of the earlier opinion by saying: "To you belongs all purity! we have no knowledge except what you have given us. You are the all-knowing and all-wise". From this we can understand that the creator knows best the different status and rank between his creation, and that the creation can not judge their own rank and status. Another thing, when Allah asked the Angels for the name of things, Allah said (Ambeuwney) "Tell me" but in commanding Hazrat Adam Allah said (Ambihum) "Tell them". The difference between these two words show that Adam was given the rank of a teacher, and the Angels that of students, this goes on to show that he was superior to them.

Establishment of the superiority of Man
The next part of the story Allah mentions by saying: "And when We said to the Angels "Prostrate before Adam !'' So they prostrated, all but Iblis (Satan himself) he refused and showed arrogance and became one of the disbelievers." Allah commanded the Angels to prostrate before Adam because he wanted to display his superiority, so He commanded the Angels to prostrate before Adam . All the Angels prostrated before Adam except Iblis. A question may arise that Allah ordered the Angels to prostrate not a jinn because the Quran says: "He Iblis was of the Jinn, so he trangressed against his Lords command". The answer to this question is that when Allah gave the command to prostarate, he was present in the assembly and was with the Angels observing tasbih and tahlil. So when Allah commanded to prostrate, he was included in the command and he himself took it to apply to him. So when he did not prostrate he did not say he was not of Angels and the command was not meant for him but instead he answered haughtily and in arrogance. When Allah asked Iblis " What prevented you that you did not prostrate, when I commanded you " Iblis (the Shaytan) replied "I am better than he, you created me of fire, while you created him of clay" (Al-A'raf 7:12). The devil meant to say that he was superior to Adam because he was created of fire, and fire seeks height and loftiness. Adam was created of clay so how could clay compare with fire. Satan's answer was a result of ignorant pride. Therefore, Allah made it clear to him that his pride and arrogance was a result of his ignorance and made him blind from recognising the right of his creation and the respect due to him. So the devil did not recognise that this ignorance prevented him from recognising the truth. Because of his foolish act, he was thrown out of paradise, cursed as Allah mentions in the Quran: "He (Allah) said go away from here (paradise), surely you are one accursed." (Al-Hijr 15:34). From this episode, we can learn a lesson that the first ever sin to be done was pride and arrogance from Iblis (Shaytan). Due to this, he was thrown out of paradise and was also accursed. Arrogance is to be mentioned as a disease of heart because it just leads a person from one sin to another, which deprives one from recognising the truth, like it happend to Iblis. May Allah save us all form this major sin. Ameen. A question may arise that Iblis had attained such a high degree in knowledge that he was called "The Peacock among the Angels" Then how did he come to commit such an error? Some scholars say that it was because of his pride and arrogance. Allah took back from him the wealth of knowledge and understanding. Others have suggested that his error was due to self love and ambition.

"Dwell in Paradise"
The next part of the story Allah mentiones in the Quran: "As we said "O Adam dwell, you and your wife in paradise, and eat of pleasure from wherever you like, but do not go near this tree or you shall join the transgressors". The shaytan caused them to slip from it, and brought them out of where they had been. And we said "Go down you all, some of you enemies of some, and on the earth there will be for you a dwelling place and enjoyment for a time." When Iblis got expelled from paradise and Adam's superiorty was acknowledged by the Angels, this verse tells us that Adam and Hawa recieved a command from Allah to stay in paradise and enjoy its blessings. They were also instructed not to eat the fruit of a particular tree. This same time Iblis had an account to settle with him due to the fact that because of Adam , he Iblis, was thrown out of paradise.

Victims of the first attack by Iblis (Shaytan - Satan)
So when Iblis got the oppurtunity, he tricked them into eating from this tree. Because of this major error, they were too ordered to leave paradise and live on earth for a temporary period. Because Allah also told them that your open enemy is shaytan, so watch out for him. The Quran says: "Did I not forbid you twain this tree, and did I not say to you twain, " Surely Shaytan is for you twain an open enemy"?". So from this it is clear that Allah did warn them about their open enemy. The verse of Sura Al-Baqarah (verse 36), Allah says, "Some amongst you will be enemies of each other". This can mean that the enemy of Adam and Hawa Shaytan. Some have said between the children of Adam there shall be disunity and corruption. That means the same time Iblis was also ordered to live on earth so he asked Allah for respite until the day of judgement and he also challenged Allah that he will misguide the children of Adam from the devotion and sincere ones. Allah says in the Quran: "He Iblis said: "My Lord, respite me till the day they are raised, He (Allah) said: " Then surely you are of the respited, to the day of known Time.: He Iblis said: "My Lord, since you have misguided me, I will certainly make (vices) alluring to them on earth, and I will misguide them all. Except your servants among the devoted ones." A question may arise here as to how Shaytan got into paradise and tricked Adam and Hawa , baecause he was thrown out of paradise due to his disobediance. Some commentators have said he whispered from far away out of paradise and caused them to do this act. Some have said he (Iblis) assumed the shape of a snake or of something else and succeded in entering paradise. The verse of (Al-Araf, 36-37) clearly explaines how he (Iblis) tricked the twain. He (Iblis) said that if you twain eat the fruit from this tree you shall become Angels or you will become immortals. He (Iblis) swore an oath to both of them, I am a sincere adviser to both of you so from the verse we can understand that Iblis spoke to them face to face in paradise. Another question may arise that it is the belief of everyone that all Prophets are sinless and they are protected from major sins and minor sins, some scholars have said all the Prophets are protected from major sins and not minor sins. But our belief is if they do a minor sin by mistake and it's never purposefully, they ask for sincere repentance then Allah wipes that sin away. If you look at Iblis's situation he made a mistake and because of arrogance and pride he did not ask for repentance, so Allah misguided him.

Sincere repentance
In the next part of the story, Allah mentions, "Then Adam learnt certain words (to pray with) from his Lord so Allah accepted his repentance. No doubt he is the Most -Relenting, the very merciful. We said "Go down from here, all of you. Then should some guidance come to you from me, those who follow my guidance shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. As for those who disbelieve, and deny our sins, they are the people of fire; they shall be there forever" (Al-Baqarah 37-39) These verses talk about how Adam and Hawa were forgiven. After doing the sin, Hazrat Adam was regretful and remorseful. He did not know what to do and how to humbly ask for pardon. But Adam could not bear it and he was also afraid what if I say something and more displeasure comes upon me. But Allah knows what passes through man's heart, and he is also the Most Merciful and the Most Gracious. Seeing the agony and remose in Adam , Allah taught him the words of a prayer so that he could offer his repentance properly, the holy Quran uses the word (Talikiy) which means accepting and welcomimg a person now was the words which Adam recieved. Different things have been reported from different companions, (may Allah be pleased with them). But the generally accepted report is that of the blessed companion Ibn Abbas which is mentioned in the Quran in a different place, These phrases are:- "O Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if you do not forgive us, we will surely be among the losers". (Al-Araf 7.23) So after when Adam was forgiven, it is wrong for us to say that Adam was sent to earth as a source of punishment. Because in this, Allah mentiones, "I am going to create a deputy on earth" (Al-Baqara 2:30). From this we can understand this verse was said before the creation of Adam and also Allah knew what will happen in the future, so he was waiting for the right time to come, and because Adam was forgiven, Allah's word was true. So that Adam can be a source of guidance for mankind by establishing the Law of Allah on earth. From this we can also learn a lesson, the way our first parents repented because of an error, the same way we should also repent sincerely having done a sin.

Conditions for repentance
Sincere repentance has three conditions:
1. Acknowledge one's sin as a sin, being ashamed of it and feeling remorseful,
2. Giving up the sin altogether,
3. Making up one's mind firmly never to indulge in it again.
If out of these three conditions, any one of them is missing, then the repentance won't be accepted.

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