Allah's Mythology in Human[Progeny of Adam]Reproduction
“O mankind! reverence your Lord Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single person [Adam] created of like nature his mate [Eve], and from them twain scattered [like seeds] countless men and women – reverence Allah through whom you demand your mutual [rights] and [reverence] the wombs [that bore you]: for Allah ever watches over you.”
--- Qur’an chapter 3 verse 1
As we concluded with the third in the series:[Adam: First Man/Father of Mankind-How Allah Made Him] last week, Adam after having been reunited at Arafah with his wife Hawa, where Allah fine-tuned his mind to go and initiate the rituals of Hajj, while seeking for forgiveness, Allah forgave him and his wife Hawa or Eve of their sins. He [Allah] later sent down to them a religion and teachings. Adam told Him:“But it is only me and Hawa, so who will we teach the religion?” Then Adam remembered that Allah promised him that his children will occupy the entire earth. And he began to anticipate when he would be blessed with children.
Allah utilized four different methodologies in his human creation; the prime creature, father of mankind, Adam was created without mother and father from clay (earth). His wife Eve was created from his ribs, without a mother, and Jesus was also created without a father. The rest of mankind were all created, and are still being created from mothers and fathers.
According to Ibn Abbass: Adam and Hawa kept on crying for two hundred years due to their sadness of missing the luxuries of Paradise. They neither ate nor drunk for forty days and he never even got closer to Hawa[intimately] for hundred years.
Abu Ja'afar Al-Tabari stated in his book, "Tareekh Tabari": When Adam became hungry, He asked Allah to feed him and He sent to him Jibril with seven seeds of wheat and put in his hands and Adam asked: What do I do with this? He said: You bury it inside the earth. He did and Allah made it to germinate within two hours. And he commanded him to harvest, gather and put them together with his hands and Jibril came back to him with two stones and ordered him to curve an earthen oven. And he [Jibril] brought to him another stone and an iron to strike them together, which he did and generated fire from it and with that, Adam became the first man to prepare lit fire and bread as food to eat.
In a hadith narrated on the authority of the son of Anas who said: “The prophet may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said: “Adam never had intercourse with his wife in Paradise, until [Allah]sent them down onto the earth[where he had already planned to place them], after eating the forbidden fruit of a tree.” And they used to sleep separately, one of them would sleep on a prostrated posture and the other would sleep face-down flat. Until (one day) when Allah sent Angel Jibril and taught him how to have intercourse with his wife. So after making this first sunnah [marital obligation], Jibril came back and asked him: “How did you find your wife?” He answered: “upright and serviceable”. Dr. Hamid Ahmed Al-tahir’s version of this story says: Eve then conceived or became pregnant. Adam was happy because he would soon be a father. Eve had a tormenting moment - characteristic of a pregnant woman during the time of her baby’s transformation, such as weaknesses and pains. She had been on the verge of death on several occasions, before she delivered the first twin in her womb.
Allah, the Al-mighty elaborated vividly in Qur’an chapter 23 verses 12-17(Muhminun or the Believers) that: “We created mankind from a progeny and from clay (epitome of clay). Then we placed him/her as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest firmly fixed. Then we made the sperm into a clot of a congealed blood; then of that clot we made of (fetus) lumps; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh: Then we developed out of it a different creature, so blessed be Allah, the Best to create! And after which you would die. And you would be resurrected on the Day of Judgment.” The hadith that coincides with this verse was narrated by Abi Abdul Rahman Abdallah Bin Masu’d may Allah be pleased with him said: The Prophet may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said: “Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother’s belly for forty days in the form of seed (sperm). He would become a leech-like object and after which would be transformed in a congealed blood .And then life would be injected into him and he would be commanded with four matters: His means of livelihood (daily bread) his work, life span, and whether happy or unhappy,(rascal).”
Based on the above verse and the hadith, a renowned Islamic Scholar from Pakistan, in his Quranic Commentary, observed that the entire process of human creation was in three steps:
1. The initiation of creation (that is upon conception of a woman).
2. The formation or perfection (from a clot of blood to a full fledge human body).
3. Bringing to life (Allah injects life into the body).
Think of an immense army composed of millions of soldiers. They are advancing toward a common target, they encounter obstacles on the way and find themselves in mortal danger, but in spite of all these difficulties the army does not give up. The space these soldiers must traverse in order to reach their target is one hundred thousand times larger than they are themselves. Of course, such a crowded army setting out on such a difficult road will need guides and equipment to help them reach their goal. This huge army with 300 million soldiers is inside the male body. The soldiers are the sperm. Each one is about one hundredth of a millimeter in size. Their target is to reach the egg cell, and to do this, they must travel a very long distance.
Of the 300 million cells that set out on the road together, only the strongest one thousand will succeed in reaching the egg. Out of these only one single sperm[or two, three or four etc.] will win the race and fertilize the egg. Before entering this race, the sperm first set out on a long journey within the male reproductive organs, passing through various stages on their way to maturity. In this maturing process, the sperm have many helpers.
Everyone should take few seconds and ponder over what he or she was created from. From a discharged (water) substance, from cell so minute and microscopic that it could not be seen with the naked eyes…But that your originator, Allah the Almighty in the powers vested into himself formulated these cells in their minute forms to be the basic matter that initiates the very life of mankind after he created Adam and Eve. It would move along its path without any control to do anything by itself. So When the power of Allah moves it(cell), part of it would create bones, part would form muscles, part would make nerves, part would carve the mind,(brains)part would craft the lungs, formulate the heart and part would create the eyes, tongue, lips, hands and legs. The rest will finally remain in baby’s body to serve as the source of development or growth from strength to strength after the baby is born. And at the same time we see this cell, in its minutest form creates millions of things that are made up in the human body and all what the body needs in it to live. All these show or indicate an absolute engineering skill that is only in the domain and dominance of Allah, the Al-mighty.
Science has established that just within 10 days of fertilization the mother’s hormones will begin to show changes in her body, the embryo elongates after 2 weeks.
Then after 4 weeks the embryo begins to formulate eyes and other organs. After 5 weeks the nose begins to take shape, at 6 weeks, the embryo becomes half an inch long and after 7 weeks the embryo could move its hands with clearly defined fingers, Its internal organs are visible, the eyes are formed at 8 weeks, the fingers of the hands are well defined at 10 weeks, the Embryo is considered a fetus and can move actively. At 11 weeks it increases by 2 and half inches long and at 12 weeks 3 inches long, by 14 weeks its palms are formulated. By 15 weeks the sensory organs are nearly completely formed and by 17 weeks it is actively turning inside the mother’s womb. At this time it begins to make strange sounds referred to as “fetal respiration”. With eyes closed though it could see. It receives food from the mother through the umbilical cord and returns its waste through the same cord. At this stage all its physiological features are fully developed but it takes another 8 weeks for the fetus to have a remote chance of surviving outside its mother’s womb. The growth in this fetal stage is silent and unseen. The fetus is protected in the mother’s womb like a king in a castle: It is firmly fixed and gets the protection of the mother’s body on which it depends for its own growth until birth. Believe it or not, in all the above mentioned processes, mothers would feel the impact physically, physiologically and psychologically in their body due to hormonal changes, leading to nausea, vomiting, fatigue, queasy feeling, bloating, flatulence, frequent urination and mood swings.
Eventually, the fetus is ready to be delivered, the uterus begins its powerful contraction and the process of birth begins. At this point the sort of severe pain that all
mothers would undergo is highly unbearable. Upon delivery, Allah the Merciful and Al-Mighty makes mothers produce chemicals in their bodies that defuse this pain as a sort of immediate post-natal Anesthesia. This and the joy of a new born baby/babies placed in their folds would make them resist the pain they underwent and thereby disguise their mind from anxiety to go through another reproductive process in the future.
So it was obvious that, our first great grandmother, Hawa was the first ever mother to have gone through this scientific process, facilitated by Allah the Al-mighty before she gave birth to our first fathers and mothers on earth.
Upon delivery, Allah blessed her with twins, a boy and a girl. Adam looked at them and named the boy, Qabil(Cain) and the girl Iqlimiyahu, and this Iqimiyahu was blessed with so much beauty that, whoever looks at her would continue stealing glances. It was only within some few months that Hawa became pregnant again, and also experienced the usual severe pains and mood swing until she delivered with usual labor. As earlier, this time round was also twins, a boy and a girl. Adam named the boy Habil (Abel) and the girl Lubood. Surprisingly, all the four children (in spite of their age difference) grew up as adults on the same physical appearance[height wise] in the house of Adam and the tenderhearted mother, Hawa.
However, Iqlimiyahu was more beautiful and lively than Lubood. But that did not influence Adam to discriminate between his offspring that he loves dearly. When the young boys grew up they started helping Adam in his works, Qabil chose cultivating the land and planting the seeds to cultivate and feed his family. Habil then chose to be shepherd, taking live stocks in the green pastures to grace. So that they would drink its milk and eat its meat, manufacture from its skin; fur, mat, and clothing. But Iqlimiyahu and her sister Lubood were always in the house, giving a helping hand to their mother, Hawa.
Later after sun-set in the evening the six member-family gathered together to have a dinner or supper. On this occasion, while they were eating, Qabil and Habil would steal glances of their beautiful sister Iqlimiyahu, until their eyes that were focusing on their sister were exposed. And this scenario was not hidden to their father, Adam who felt that the young adults (Qabil and Habil) are mature enough to get married, and he therefore has to get them married. However, since there was no any other women created beside his daughters, Allah, his creator then inspired him through his faith and teachings to attach them to their sisters. On the condition that, the first born twin boy, Qabil be attached not with his twin sister (that came out with him), but with his second born twin sister. In other words Allah authorized him to give Lubood in marriage to Qabil and give Iqlimiyahu, the most beautiful one,(who was born a twin with Qabil) in marriage to Habil. From then, Adam intended to talk to his two sons regarding their impending marriage after dinner. After they finished he said smiling: “The time is due for us (me and Hawa) to see our grandchildren after we get you married (arranged by Allah)”. Then the parents (Adam & Hawa) became happy, but the two girls became nervous and timid to the extent that their eyes became red, because they never experienced such phenomenon before.
Adam emphasized his statement saying: “Qabil should then marry Lubood and Habil should marry Iqlimiyahu.”
Everybody was happy, but not Qabil, who screamed on top of his voice saying: “Qabil will never marry Iqlimiyahu, she is mine only. And I am entitled to her not Habil.” Adam in a bid to guide him on the right track told him: “Qabil, Allah has made her forbidden for you, and she is legitimate only to Habil, so abide by Allah’s command.” Qabil said: “No, I will only obey my personal desire, Iqlimiyahu is for Qabil not for Habil. Habil supposed to marry lubood.” Qabil however was burning with rage after he took another look at Iqlimiyahu and saw her radiating now with so much beauty, as if she was the moon that is sparkling that night. But he never knew that it was his enemy the devil (Satan) that flamed that fire of deep hatred towards his brother.
Qabil left home so irritated, ranting and raving in anger, walking to unknown destination and nothing bu Iqlimiyahu was the only issue running in his mind. But finally, the devil succeeded in influencing him to kill his brother Habil. This was after their father instructed them to make a sacrifice to Allah. So whoever is lucky to get his sacrifice accepted by Allah, that person would automatically be Iqlimiyahu’s husband. And the sign that indicates Allah’s acceptance of the sacrifice is; whenever a white flame appears from heaven and burn the sacrificial animal or food. But if the sacrifice is not accepted, it would remain unburned and gets rotten, because neither man, nor animal, nor even bird will be closer to it. Having known this, Habil went to his livestock and chose the strongest, meatier and fattiest one to make the sacrifice. But on his part, Qabil being so miserly and stingy and likes best things only for himself, went to his farm and chose the most inferior and useless food items. When the two of them placed their sacrificial food on the mountain, Habil knows that Allah would accept his sacrifice. As they look on, a white flame appeared from the sky like a spear of a killer that the owner knows where he threw it. The flame then invaded the sacrifice of Habil and he prostrated, expressing his gratitude to Allah, while that of Qabil left untouched by the flame, meaning it was not accepted by Allah. It was there and then that the devil injected in his mind the evil desire to kill his brother saying: “La Aqtulannak!” that, “I will kill you!” Habil reply him saying: “Inna Maa Yataqabalu Lahu Minal Muttaqin”, “Verily, Allah accept (sacrifice) from only the pious ones! If you extend your hand to kill me, I will never extend my hand to kill you, for I fear Allah the lord of the worlds….” -- Qur'an chapter 5 verses 27-31.[The table spread]. So later when Habil went on the plains grazing for his animals, Qabil played hide and seek from afar, observing Habil's movement and later laid ambush with a big bolder(stone)and hit him hard on his head. He became unconscious and dead instantly in a pool of blood. After seeing him dead he became speechless, without knowing what to do. He then carried the deceased on his shoulder and kept on walking to an unknown destination, without any idea as to what to do next. So when fatigue overtook him, he was not able to walk any more. He saw two ravens fighting each other until one kill the other. He saw the other raven which did the killing dug a hole (grave) and buried the one who had been killed. It was at this point that Qabil noticed it was Allah who sent down these ravens to show him how to dispose off his brother’s body. He then dug a grave and buried the body of Habil.
This would become the first ever grave on earth for a first man to be killed being dug by the first killer on earth. This means that Qabil killed one sixth of the inhabitants of the earth in that time. So after the murder, their father Adam, who took a trip to Mecca to perform Hajj returned to be welcomed by a sad news of one of his sons killed by his own brother. In fact, even after the killing, the earth refused to swallow his blood, plants that do not used to having thorns began to produce thorns and the wild animals who used to live in harmony with mankind started running away from them after this ugly crime. Adam then saw Qabil, the killer taking away lqlimiyahu forcefully and running with her to Yamen. Adam cursed him saying: “Go! the wrath of Allah be upon you, and my wrath be upon you and anyone who would act the way you did!”
However, the ultimate consequence was virtually that of revenge, because one of Qabil’s own sons killed him. So since then, the sin of every murder on earth would be multiplied and recorded in his (Qabil’s) file, because he was the first ever killer on earth. But for Adam, Allah bestowed upon him a blessed son later by name, Sheeth and this became a blessing after sadness. An ancient Islamic scholar, Imam Hassanul-Basri encapsulated the three different negative incidents that happened at the down of the creation of man when he said, “The roots of evil are three: Arrogance, Greed and Envy; Arrogance prevented Satan from bowing down to Adam, Greed took Adam out of Paradise and Envy led Cain (Qabil) to kill (Habil)Abel."
After the first four twin[Habil, Qabill, lubood & Iqlimiyahu, history has it that, Hawa delivered 40 children, all twins, male and female in 20 different pregnancies. Some of them were Aashooth and her male twin, Sheethu, Hazuratu and her male twin, Banan and his female twin, Bariq and his female twin etc. And when they come of age and ready to marry, each one would marry not a twin that he was born with, since that was unlawful to him, but would rather choose his younger sister born after him. And this was how all human progeny began to be reproduced until the present day.
Adam on the Verge of Death
When the Angel of death approached Adam, after he had spent 960 years, which supposed to be a thousand years, but he asked Allah to take 40 years out of his age and add up to the age of his son Dawud, he forgot that and said: I am left with 40 years and the Angel of death reminded him saying: But you gave it to your son Dawud and Allah increased his aged to a from 960 to a thousand years already.
And according to Muhammad bin Ishaq: When he was about to die, Adam called his son Sheethu and he fulfilled what he had commanded him[to follow certain rules] and taught him the time of day and night, and guided him on the right form of worship and wrote his Will. And he predicted to him the event of Noah's great flood. It was on Friday and the Angel brought with him a wooden casket or coffin and white shroud [kafin] that Allah sent him to bring to Adam from Paradise. Surprisingly, right after his death there were eclipse of the sun and the moon for seven days and nights, as Allah's sign of lost of the father of Mankind.
In another version of his death story, Ubyyi Bin Ka'ab, a companion of the prophet said: When death approach Adam, as he was sick and bedridden, he told his children: I desire to have a fruit. So when they were on their way to go and get him the fruit, they met the Angels who were carrying his wooden coffin and white shroud and they told them get back, it is time for your father her to die.
According to Imam Ahmed bin Anbal in his Musnad: "When they[Angels] came to the home of Adam, his wife Hawa came in between him and them[in a bid to 'prevent' them from taking his soul]. But he said to Hawa: Move away from me, because I came before you and leave me alone with the Angles of my Lord, the Almighty! And they snatched his soul, bathed him, shrouded him and put him inside the wooden coffin. They dug a grave for him, prayed [janazah] on him and buried him in his grave. And they said to his children: This is your sunnah[tradition]".
'Ada-a Al-Kharasani revealed that: When Adam died the entire creatures on earth cried for his lost for a period of seven days, according Ibn Asakir.
So after his death his son, Sheethu assumed responsibility of prophethood, after Allah revealed fifty divine scriptures onto him.
Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz, is the Research & Outreach Coordinator at the Center for Media & Peace Initiatives Inc. New York, Author of three books, including "Islam Promotes Tolerance & Prohibits Terrorism-Reviving the Islamic Advocacy of Mercy and Magnanimity to Mankind" & Tutor in Arabic & Islamic Studies in New York, babalwaiz71@gmail.com
NB: Folks, this is the third in the new series entitled: "Delving Deep Inside the Islamic Historic Memory Lane", which will be running for months or even years, aimed at showcasing the amazing historical phenomena that happened in the pre and post Islamic world. Next week, our discourse will dwell on his sons Prophets Sheethu and Iddriss. Inform your colleagues, families and friends to follow me on facebook [husseini baba alwaiz] and twitter[@babalwaiz], weekly.
References:
Al-Bidayah Wal-Nihayah, [The Beginning & The End] by Abil Fadah, Imam Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Al-Muntazim-Fii Tareekh Umam Wal-Mulook, [A book on the History of[medieval] Societies & Kingdoms] by, Abil Faraj, Abdul Rahman Bun Aliyi Bun Muhammad Ibnil Jawzi
Al-Qisas Fil Qur'an,[Stories from the Qur'an] by, Dr.Mustapha Murad
Qisasil Anbiyah,[Stories of the Prophets] by Abil Fadah, Imam Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Mu'jizatul Qur'an,[Miracle of the Qur'an] by, Sheikh Muhammad Mutawwli Sha'arawii
The Miracle of Pregnancy, by Haruna Yahya
The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an, by Abu A’ala Al-Maududi
Miracle of Life (a DVD-Video documentary) by Lanneret Nilsson