Feb 4, 2009

Lives of the Prophets: Adam

Assalamu'alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu!

Insha'Allah, you are all in a state of good health and Iman.

For the next couple of posts, I will be sharing the work of a very talented brother. TabarkAllah, his knowledge and writing skills leave me speechless and waiting for more. Insha'Allah, keep him in your dua's :)

I would like to share with you the stories of the great Prophets, may they be in peace.

Allah relates the best of stories in the Quran through Mohammad, may he be in peace, to us. Why? Not for our entertainment. Allah wants us to know these stories so that we may reflect and ponder; so we learn from them, from the mistakes of their people, so we don't fall in the same ditch as their people did. By analyzing their lives, we can get guidance from them, since they were the most guided people. If we do not know about someone, how can we love him/her? And if we do not love the prophets, how can we be good Muslims? We cannot appreciate someone if we do not know what they did, and what kind of calamities they faced.

In short, the reason I decided to share the stories with you is so we can love and respect them more and learn from their lives.
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Lives of The Prophets: Adam (as)


...prelude


How did all of this happen? How did it start?

"In the beginning, there was Allah. Nothing before him. His throne was on water. He wrote down in the tablet everything. And then he created the heavens and the earth."

"The first thing Allah created was the pen, and he ordered it to write, and it wrote everything that will happen until the day of resurrection."

These are a couple of ahadith (sayings) of Prophet Mohammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Both signifying the events that took place before the creation of heavens and the earth. Before the heavens and the earth was created, Allah had already planned and written down in the preserved tablet what will happen in the heavens and the earth.

Our fate is sealed. Often times we worry about our wealth; we worry about tomorrow; paranoid; how will we make it in the future, we think.

"Allah wrote down the sustenance of the creation 50,000 years before he created the heavens and the earth."

Prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is telling us to not worry about our wealth, our income, our sustenance, because it has already been prescribed for us long before we came into this world. And we will get our share one way or another. Why must we worry ourselves to death about that which is not in our control? It makes very little sense.

...two other beings

Before Adam was created, there was already 2 creations living in heavens and the earth. Namely (1)angels, and (2)jinns.

1. Angels are created from light. They are very different from humans, unlike the jinns. Angels do not have the ability to choose from right and wrong. They can only do good, and are unaware of evil. They are the all-righteous beings, with very little intellectual abilities.

2. Jinns are created from fire. They are very much like humans. They can choose between right and wrong. Because jinns are created from fire, they are often referred to as "energy beings". Which means that they are not bound by this 3-dimensional world. They exist among us within our world, but we cannot see them because they do not have a physical appearance. However, they can take form of 3-dimensional objects, both animate and inanimate (among various other extraordinary things they can do).

2a. Iblis is a special character in the story of Adam. I decided to mention him separate from angels and jinns, because he was a jinn, who was so pious that Allah had elevated him to the level of the angels and he used to live in the heavens with the angels.

These 2 creations had been living in the heavens and earth for eons. Then Allah created Adam.

...Adam moulded out of clay

Adam, unlike the other 2 energy-beings, was created from earth. He was created from dirt that ALlah picked up from different parts of the world, Allah mixed it with water and it became mud, then it was left to dry to become clay. Adam was honoured such that Allah moulded his form with his own hands. He was moulded in his adult form as he was, and he didn't go through the process that all other human beings have to go through. The process of a single cell, creating tissues and organs, forming an embryo, then a fetus and then finally a baby.

[Just as a side note, I would like to take a moment to elaborate on this point and the significance of Adam being created in his adult form. The fact that Adam was created in his adult form clearly opposes the theory of evolution. Theory of evolution states that all things, objects and living beings were created from a single cell which evolved into the form that it is in today. That is, man was an ape-like creature before it was finally evolved into a human. Whereas Allah crealy says in the Quran that he created Adam with his own hands in his adult form.

I would also like to mention that although Islam opposes the theory of evolution, it doesn't discard all aspects of it; it approves of some, and disproves of some. For example, the theory of evolution states that species have the ability to adapt to the environment, and can change drastically over time, and Islam hsa no argument against that. Species can adapt to the environment because Allah has given them the ability to do so.

There are many other examples of how Islam proves and disproves the theory of evolution, but we will get into that at another time in another journal.]

...superiority over angels

Allah, the most glorious, told the angels that he will place on the world humans. The angels replied, "will you place therein those who will cause mischief and shed blood therein, while we glorify you with praises and thanks?" Allah told them, "I know what you know not."

Allah blew the soul into Adam's hollow clay body, and brought him to life. Adam sneezed, and said "All praises be to Allah". Allah said, "The mercy of Allah be upon you". The first thing he received as soon as he was brought to life was the mercy of Allah, the all-merciful.

Allah told Adam to go to the angels and say "peace be with you all", so he did. And the angels replied, "peace be with you too, and the mercy and blessings of Allah". Allah said to Adam, "this is your greeting and the greeting of your descendants". Allah has taught us the greeting, "peace be with you" from the beginning through our forefather Adam, and this is the greeting that we must use when we meet each other. We must spread peace among one another before we say anything else.

...Iblis' rebellion

When Adam was created, Allah told everyone in the heavens to bow down to Adam. So they all did, except for Iblis. He was driven by pride to rebel against the will of Allah. He said that he will not bow down to Adam because he is superior to Adam. He said, "You created me from fire, and you created him from clay". Thus Iblis was cast down from heaven and was labeled a disbeliever.

It was then Iblis made a promise to Allah that he will lead astray as many humans as possible just to prove to Allah that man is a weak creation. He prayed to Allah to let him live till the last day, and Allah granted his wish, fulfilled his prayer.

[Another side note... prayer is very important and holds a great deal of value in the eyes of Allah. Allah tells us to ask from him, and it is guaranteed that he will give it to us. All we have to do is ask. If we do not ask for whatever reason, whether we are lazy to pray, or we feel that we are not in need of anything, how can Allah give us. Sometimes we feel that Allah does not answer our prayers, that is wrong. Because Allah has guaranteed us that he will answer our prayers. If not in this life, then in the next life (which is better for us). Allah even answered the prayers of Iblis even after his rebellion. So what makes us think our prayers are not being heard?]

...the covenant

"And remember when your Lord brought forth the children of Adam, and made them testify themselves saying, 'am I not your Lord?' and they said, 'yes, we testify'. Thus you should not say on the day of resurrection, 'verily, we have been unaware'"

When our souls were created, before we were sent down on Earth in our bodily form, we had made an agreement with Allah. We witnessed for ourselves that we believe in Allah alone. Thus every child is born a Muslim, but it's his surroundings that change him into who he grows up to be.

...along comes Eve

Allah created Eve, out of Adam. When they both were created, Allah sent them off to live in the heavens, where they had everything to themselves, except for one tree.
"O Adam, live you and your mate in heaven. And eat from it where ever you want. But do not touch this tree."

The command was simple: do whatever you please, but stay away from 'this tree'. So how can such a great person commit a mistake of eating from that tree then? It was an innocent mistake on Adam's part, if we look at it. He didn't know any better. It was his first experience with the "devil" and he didn't know what would happen. And he didn't just bluntly ate from that tree just to disobey Allah. Iblis tricked him into eating from this tree. Shall I tell you about a tree that will give you infinite life, eternity. And will give you greatest kingdom that will never end?"
Iblis lured him into committing this sin by telling him lies about eternal life and power and wealth. He knows our weak points, and that's where he attacks us from. We must remember to never give into our desires when it comes to religion because it is the devil trying to lure us into committing sins. This experience was a lesson for all of us to learn from.

...home sweet home

Allah told Adam and Eve to get down to Earth. And told them that this dwelling place will be for you for a short period of time. Our forefather, Adam, was from heaven, and that's where we belong. We need to realize that. We must not get too attached to this world. We belong in heaven, and we must not give it up for this temporary world.

And Adam was told by Allah words (prayers to say) and he forgave him. Verily he is the one who forgives.
"Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If you forgive us not and bestow not upon us your mercy. We shall certainly be of the losers."

A great prayer that we all need to learn and memorize and use. We have all committed sins, and we all seek forgiveness! May Allah guide us all to the straight path. May he accept us and our good deeds, and forgive us of our sins.

Last but not least, I would like to apologize if I have offended anyone in anyway.

May Allah (swt) reward us all with Jannat-ul-Firdaws. Allahuma ameen.

Ma'asalaama (:

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