When Allah, the Exalted, wanted to create Adam and his descendants, He informed the angels as an announcement of a great event to come. The angels asked — not out of objection or envy, but to seek understanding and wisdom — “Will You place therein one who will spread corruption and shed blood?”
It is said that the angels knew of this possibility because they had witnessed earlier beings who lived on earth before Adam — tribes known as al-Hinn and al-Binn, created two thousand years earlier. These tribes caused bloodshed and corruption, so Allah sent an army of angels who drove them to the islands of the seas.
Allah, the Exalted, informed the angels that His plan carried divine wisdom — “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.”
When Allah created Adam (peace be upon him), He took a part of soil from the earth — from its high and low lands, its soft and hard, its white, red, and black — and from it He created Adam. Thus, the children of Adam came forth with varying colours and temperaments — some gentle, some harsh; some light, some dark.
He fashioned and shaped Adam and left him, as some narrations state, for forty days, and others say for forty years, as clay, standing sixty cubits tall in the heavens. Then Allah breathed the soul (rūḥ) into him, beginning from his head. When it reached his chest, Adam sneezed and said, “Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah),” so Allah said to him, “Yarhamuka Allah (May Allah have mercy upon you).”
When Adam was created, Allah commanded him to greet a group of angels sitting nearby. He said: “Go and greet them, and listen to how they respond, for that shall be your greeting and the greeting of your offspring.” Adam said, “As-salāmu ‘alaykum (Peace be upon you),” and they replied, “As-salāmu ‘alayka wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh (Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you).” Thus, they added “mercy and blessings,” and that became the greeting among believers.
When Adam’s creation was complete, Allah commanded the angels to prostrate (sujūd) to him — a prostration of honour, not worship. They all obeyed, except Iblīs, who refused and was arrogant, claiming superiority: “Shall I prostrate to one You created from clay? I am better than him; You created me from fire and created him from clay.”
When Allah exposed the arrogance and pride hidden in Iblīs’s heart, He cursed him and expelled him from His mercy.
Then Allah taught Adam the names of all things — of the horse, the mule, the camel, the jinn, and the beasts — and presented them before the angels, testing them: “Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful.” They said, “Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us.” Then Allah commanded Adam to inform them of the names, and when he did, they recognised his superiority and the honour Allah had bestowed upon him.
Allah then placed Adam in Paradise (Jannah). He wandered there alone, without a companion, until he fell asleep. When he awoke, he saw a woman sitting near his head — Allah had created her from one of his ribs.
He asked, “Who are you?” She replied, “A woman.”
He asked, “Why were you created?” She said, “So that you may find tranquillity with me.”
The angels, observing this, asked Adam, “What is her name?” He replied, “Ḥawwā (Eve).” They asked, “Why did you name her Ḥawwā?” He said, “Because she was created from a living being (ḥayy).”
Then Allah said, “O Adam, dwell you and your wife in Paradise.”
He allowed them to enjoy everything within it except the tree that He forbade, whose exact nature was left unspecified in the Qur’an. Scholars said that Allah intentionally concealed its identity, for had there been benefit in naming it, He would have done so.
Scholars discussed how long Adam remained in Paradise and at what hour he was sent down to Earth, differing on whether his descent was near Makkah, at a place between Makkah and Ṭā’if known as Dahna, or upon Mount Nūd in India. Some said that Ḥawwā descended in a different place — she in Makkah, and he in India — while others debated where Iblīs descended.
They also mentioned what Adam brought down with him from Paradise — seeds and fruits to cultivate on Earth. Jibrīl (Gabriel) descended with him, teaching him how to plough, sow, and forge iron, and how to kindle fire — beginning the long journey of human labour.
Scholars narrated that Adam (peace be upon him) wept much and regretted his descent to Earth. He stayed apart from Ḥawwā for a long time, fasting forty days, neither eating nor approaching her, consumed with repentance.
It is said that Adam fathered forty children — male and female — in twenty pairs of twins, among them Qābīl (Cain), Hābīl (Abel), and Shīth (Seth). Scholars listed their names and the names of their twin sisters.
As for whether Adam and Ḥawwā had children in Paradise, scholars differed: some said they had none there, others said Qābīl and his sister were born there before the descent.
Iblīs later deceived Ḥawwā into naming one of her sons ‘Abd al-Ḥārith — a name suggested by Iblīs himself. None of her children had survived until then, but this one lived — by Allah’s decree — though the act reflected the subtle influence of the deceiver.
Then Allah related the story of how one of Adam’s sons killed his brother, committing the first murder on Earth. As a result, every unjust killing after that carried a share of sin upon the murderer. To honour the slain, Allah sent a crow to show him how to bury his brother’s body. The murderer was struck with guilt and punished in this world before what awaits him in the Hereafter.
Allah, in His mercy, bestowed prophethood upon Adam, making him a prophet who spoke with divine revelation and granting him authority over the Earth and its people.
