The story of Prophet Adam

The story in short

Arabic name

آدم

English name

Adam

Named in the Quran

25 times

Sent to

His children, the first human family

Main surahs

Al-Baqarah, Al-Araf, Taha

In the list of 25

1 of 25

In short: Allah created Adam from clay, taught him the names of all things and told the angels to prostrate to him. Iblis refused out of pride. Adam and his wife lived in the Garden until Satan led them to eat from the one tree they had been forbidden. They repented, Allah forgave them, and He sent them down to the earth, where their children would live, be tested and return to Him.

The story of Adam

A successor on the earth

Before Adam was created, Allah told the angels: "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." The angels asked whether He would place there one who would cause corruption and shed blood, and Allah answered: "Indeed, I know that which you do not know" (2:30). Allah created Adam from clay (15:26), and his creation is a sign like that of Isa, created without a father: "He created Him from dust; then He said to him, 'Be,' and he was" (3:59).

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah created Adam from a handful taken from all parts of the earth, so his children came in the colours and natures of the earth: red, white and black, gentle and harsh.¹ He also said Adam was created sixty cubits tall, and that the first thing Adam did was greet a group of angels with "As-salamu alaykum". They replied "wa alayka as-salamu wa rahmatullah", and this became the greeting of his children.²

The names and the prostration

Allah taught Adam "the names, all of them", then showed the things to the angels and asked them to name them. They said: "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us" (2:31-32). Adam told them the names. Then Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam, a prostration of honour, not of worship. They all did, except Iblis, who "refused and was arrogant" (2:34). He said: "I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay" (7:12). The Quran says Iblis "was of the jinn" (18:50), not an angel.

The Garden and the tree

Adam and his wife were told to live in the Garden and eat freely, but not to approach one tree (2:35). Satan whispered to them that it was "the tree of eternity and possession that will not deteriorate" (20:120) and swore that he was a sincere adviser (7:21). They ate from it, their nakedness became apparent, and they began to cover themselves with leaves (7:22). The Quran speaks of both of them eating and both of them repenting. It does not place the blame on the woman alone.

Repentance and the descent

"Then Adam received from his Lord words, and He accepted his repentance" (2:37). Those words are given in Surah Al-Araf: "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers" (7:23). Allah forgave them, then sent them down to the earth for a time, with a promise: whoever follows His guidance will have no fear and will not grieve (2:38).

In an authentic hadith, Musa met Adam and blamed him for the loss of the Garden. Adam answered that this had been written for him before he was created, and the Prophet ﷺ said "Adam got the better of Musa in the argument".³ Scholars explain that Adam was pointing to the decree about a hardship after he had already repented. It is not an excuse for sinning.

The two sons of Adam

Surah Al-Maidah tells of two sons of Adam who each offered a sacrifice. One was accepted and the other was not, and the second killed his brother out of envy. Allah then sent a crow scratching the ground to show him how to bury his brother (5:27-31). The Prophet ﷺ said that a share of the sin of every unjust killing falls on that first son of Adam, because he was the first to begin killing.⁴

Key verses

Lessons from the story

• Knowledge is what raised Adam above the angels' question. Seeking it is part of being human.
• Pride, not ignorance, was the sin of Iblis. Thinking we are better than others is the first step on his path.
• Everyone slips. The way back is the dua Adam was taught: admit the wrong, ask for forgiveness and mercy.
• Satan is a clear enemy, and he works through promises and false advice.
• All people are one family from one father, so no colour or race is better than another.

Where it is in the Quran

The main passages about Adam, with links to read and listen to each surah:

• Surah Al-Baqarah 2:30-39
• Surah Al-Araf 7:11-27
• Surah Taha 20:115-123
• Surah Al-Hijr 15:26-44
• Surah Sad 38:71-85

What is authentic, and what is not

The Quran calls Adam's partner "his wife". Her name, Hawwa, comes from the Sunnah. The names Habil and Qabil for the two sons are from early reports, not from the Quran or a sahih hadith. Stories about where Adam and Hawwa landed on earth (India, Sri Lanka, Jeddah) come from weak reports and Isra'iliyyat, and nothing authentic fixes the place. The Quran does not name the forbidden tree either. Scholars mostly held that the Garden was Jannah itself, while a minority said it was a garden on earth.

We follow Ibn Kathir's Qasas al-Anbiya only where it rests on the Quran and sound hadith. Isra'iliyyat are reports taken from earlier scriptures and storytellers. Scholars allow mentioning them only when they do not contradict the Quran and Sunnah, and they are never treated as certain.

Questions

Sources

1. Sunan Abi Dawud 4693; Jami at-Tirmidhi 2955, graded hasan sahih.
2. Sahih al-Bukhari 3326; Sahih Muslim 2841.
3. Sahih al-Bukhari 3409; Sahih Muslim 2652.
4. Sahih al-Bukhari 3335; Sahih Muslim 1677.
5. Sahih Muslim 854: Adam was created on a Friday.
6. Ibn Kathir, Qasas al-Anbiya and Tafsir al-Quran al-Azim, on 2:30-39, used where they rest on the Quran and sound hadith.
7. Quran: Arabic from the Tanzil Uthmani text, English by Sahih International. In quotations within the text, the prophets' names are given in their Arabic form (Musa for Moses, Ibrahim for Abraham).

The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.