Prophet Adam (AS)

Biography

Allah informed the angels that He would place a khalifah (successor/vicegerent) on earth (2:30). He created Adam from clay (15:28; 38:71), fashioned him and breathed into him of the spirit He created (15:29), taught him the names of all things (2:31), and commanded the angels to prostrate to him. All prostrated except Iblis, who was of the jinn (18:50) and refused out of arrogance, claiming superiority because he was created from fire (7:12).

Adam and his wife (named Hawwa in hadith and tradition; she is not named in the Quran) lived in the Garden and were forbidden one tree. Shaytan whispered to them and both ate from it (7:20-22; 20:120-121). Unlike Iblis, they immediately repented: 'Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves...' (7:23). Adam received words from his Lord and Allah accepted his repentance (2:37), then chose and guided him (20:122). The Quran thus does not teach inherited original sin. They were sent down to earth for an appointed term (2:36; 7:24).

Sahih Hadith add that Allah created Adam sixty cubits tall (Sahih Bukhari 3326) and that he was created on a Friday (Sahih Muslim 854). A hadith in Sahih Ibn Hibban (from Abu Umamah, graded authentic by several scholars) states that Adam was a prophet who was spoken to. Two of his sons (named Habil and Qabil in tradition) offered sacrifices; one killed the other (5:27-31), and the Prophet ﷺ said the first son of Adam bears a share of every unjust killing because he was the first to establish murder (Sahih Bukhari 3335).

In the intercession hadith, people on the Day of Judgement come first to Adam, calling him the father of mankind (Sahih Bukhari 3340). The Quran compares the creation of Isa without a father to Adam's creation without father or mother (3:59). Traditions place his descent in various locations (India, Arabia, etc.); these reports are not authentic and his era is unknown.