The Prophet Adam

The majority of Muslims believe that the first man was a prophet although the Koran really does not clearly say that he was a prophet. There are some Muslims who say that he was not a prophet. I will talk about the prophethood of Adam from a Koranic perspective here.

One of the verses which is used to support the position that Adam was a prophet is taken from the Second Surah:

Mankind was [of] one religion [before their deviation]; then Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed. (Koran 2:213, Sahih International)

The word translated from Arabic into English as “religion” is ummatan. This word is translated as community or nation in other translations of the Koran.

Mankind were one community, and Allah sent (unto them) prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners, and revealed therewith the Scripture with the truth that it might judge between mankind concerning that wherein they differed. (Koran 2:213, Pickthall)

Mankind was one single nation, and Allah sent Messengers with glad tidings and warnings; and with them He sent the Book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed. (Koran 2:213, Yusuf Ali)

So, this verse cannot be interpreted to mean that there was only one religion on earth and the first man was a practitioner of that religion without the use of other verses which would support that view.

In another place in the Second Surah it says:

Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful. (Koran 2:37, Pickthall)

The words in parentheses are an addition by the translator. However, if Adam received any words from God then that would be a revelation from Him. So, those words would be words of revelation.

The next verse says:

We said: Go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. (Koran 2:38, Pickthall)

Incidentally, this is one of many verses in the Koran, which in my opinion, teach the doctrine of the Trinity. God uses “We” indicating a plurality of Persons (namely, Three) and “Me” and “My” indicating that all Three Persons are one and the same God.

This verse says that Adam received guidance from God. This verse might be talking about a guidance coming from Adam and Eve’s offspring. In other words, one of their progeny is the guidance.

That would agree with the Bible which the Koran says to believe.

Believers, have faith in God and His Messenger, the Book which is revealed to him, and the Bible which has been revealed before. Whoever refuses to believe in God, His angels, Books, Messengers and the Day of Judgment, has gone far away from the right path. (Koran 4:136, Muhammad Sarwar)

If it is words given to them by God, these words were given to them after they were expelled from the garden. In verse 36 of this surah it says:

But Satan caused them to deflect therefrom and expelled them from the (happy) state in which they were; and We said: Fall down, one of you a foe unto the other! There shall be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a time. (Koran 2:36, Pickthall)

The words that God gave the Serpent are the words that Adam passed onto his posterity and are probably what the Koran is referring to. In Genesis 3, it says:

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:14,15, NKJV)

These verses are interpreted by Christians to be a prophecy of Christ. The woman is a prophetic reference to Mary the mother of Jesus. Her Seed is a prophetic reference to Jesus Christ. The Serpent is Satan. Satan bruised Jesus’ heel when He was crucified. The idolatrous Roman soldiers were servants of Satan since they were idolaters. (See I Corinthians 10:20.) Jesus said the night before His crucifixion:

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. (John 14:30. NKJV)

The “ruler of this world” is Satan. The Jews who came to get Jesus and try Him were also servants of Satan. Jesus told the Jews who did not believe in Him that their father is the devil. (See John 8:44.)

He had also said that “the ruler of this world” would be cast out.

Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. (John 12:30-33, NKJV)

He was talking about His crucifixion in this context. St. John the Theologian said that Jesus “was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8) He did this by not just being a sacrifice for sins, but also by destroying death by His death. (John 10:17,18; Acts 2:24; II Timothy 1:10)

Koran 2:38 says: “whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.” The guidance is to be followed by Adam’s posterity. Since a prophecy of Christ was given to Adam in Genesis 3. (His wife and he heard the words God said to the serpent.) Then the guidance is a reference to Jesus Christ in this verse from the Koran. Jesus said:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6, NKJV)

Historically, the words of Christ, “I am the Way,” have been interpreted to mean that Jesus is our guide, teacher, and example. (I know that that is not how these words are interpreted by many in our modern times, but the Church Fathers interpreted these words that way.) If we are following Jesus’ teachings and example, then we are walking in the light and not in darkness. (See John 8:12.)

There are other words that Adam received from God before the expulsion from the Garden. In Genesis 2, God said:

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18, NKJV)

St. Paul based his teaching concerning women on this verse.

For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. (I Corinthians 11:8,9, NKJV)

Further on in Genesis 2, we read:

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:21-24, NKJV)

St. Paul bases his teachings concerning marriage and the relationship between Christ and the Church on this passage.

So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:28-33, NKJV)

Another text from the Koran that is used to say that Adam is a prophet of God is in the Third Surah.

Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of ‘Imran over the worlds. (Koran 3:33, Sahih International)

The family of Imran is the family of Joachim. According to Church tradition, Mary’s father’s name was Joachim and her mother was Anna. Both genealogies of Christ that appear in the Gospels are Joseph’s genealogies, not Mary’s. [See The Epistle to Aristides, by Julius Africanus (200-245).] Imran, according to the commentary section of The Study Quran, comes from an Arabic root which means to “erect,” “build,” or “set up.” The name, Joachim, means “He whom Yahweh set up.” (See page 141 of The Study Quran.) So, according to this verse from the Quran, God (Allah) chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Joachim. According to Church tradition, Joachim and Anna had only one child, Mary, and Mary had only one Child, Jesus. (I know Protestants will disagree with me about Mary having only one Child, but that is a subject for another blog post.)

God chose them over the worlds. In other words, Adam, Noah, Abraham and his family, Joachim, Anna, Mary, and Jesus are the most important people in the entire universe. Christians, by the way, become part of Abraham’s family through their faith in Christ. (See Galatians 3:26.)

Back to the subject at hand. Not everyone in Abraham’s family was a prophet. He had children by Keturah who were not prophets. (See Genesis 25:1-4.) Joachim and Anna were not prophets. However, we did get some words of Scripture from Mary. (See Luke 1:46-55.)

One can build arguments from the Koran which say that Adam was a prophet. These Muslims believe that Adam was a prophet: https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/31053/is-adam-a-s-considered-a-rasul and http://www.therevival.co.uk/adam-eve-quran. It is also possible to refute these arguments. This Muslim does not believe that Adam was a prophet: https://submission.org/friday_who_is_Adam.html. The Koran, as I have already pointed out, says to believe the Bible. (Koran 4:136) I think that when we look at the Bible we can see that the issue of Adam’s prophethood is clearly resolved.

Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:67-75, NKJV)

Adam was the first man who existed in the initial period of the world’s history. The Prophet Zacharias says that there have been prophets since the world began. Therefore, he was a prophet. Yes, he messed up, like a lot of prophets did, but that does not nullify his prophethood. (See Romans 11:29.)

The prophecies that they relate to us say “that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.” (Luke 1:71) From Adam, we get God’s words to the Serpent. (Genesis 3:14,15) That is a prophecy of Christ defeating the Devil — mankind’s greatest enemy. From Adam, we also get words which allegorically speak of Christ’s relationship to His Church. (Genesis 2:21-24) So, yes, those Muslims who say that Adam was a prophet are quite correct.