THE
CREATION OF PROPHET ADAM CALIPH OF ALLAH
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 (SATAN) & 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 downgraded 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.
The Garden of Eden
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 colonize
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 Judgment 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 QABEEL
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 remorse 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
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