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God created Adam from clay or dust, fashioned him into shape, and breathed life into him. Adam was the first human being and the first prophet. God endowed him with knowledge and the ability to name all things, a sign of his superior status among creatures.
The Reward and the Sleep
After his creation, Adam lived in Paradise, a place of eternal bliss and abundance. According to the tradition, God gave Adam a bunch of grapes as a reward for his devotion and obedience. Having consumed the grapes, Adam felt a deep sense of contentment and soon fell into a peaceful sleep.
The Creation of Hawa
While Adam was sleeping, God decided to create a companion for him. God took a rib or a part from Adam’s left side. This act was gentle and Adam did not feel any pain. From this part of Adam, God created a woman, whom He named Hawa (Eve). The name Hawa is derived from the Arabic word “Hai,” meaning “living,” signifying that she was created from a living being.
The Union of Adam and Hawa
When Adam awoke from his sleep, he found Hawa beside him. He was delighted and immediately recognized her as part of himself. This recognition symbolizes the innate bond and natural affinity between man and woman. God instructed Adam and Hawa to live together in Paradise, to enjoy its bounties, and to stay away from a specific tree, which was a test of their obedience.
The Role of Hawa
Hawa, as the first woman, is regarded as the mother of all human beings. Her creation is celebrated for bringing companionship, love, and the beginning of human society. She shared equal responsibility with Adam in their life in Paradise and later, after their descent to Earth, in their role as the progenitors of the human race.
Another version
The Mussulman tradition is, that Adam having eaten the bunch of grapes given him as a reward for having preached to the angels, fell asleep; and whilst he slept, God took from his left side a woman whom He called Hava, because she was extracted from one living (Hai), and He laid her beside Adam.
She resembled him exactly, except that her features were more delicate, her hair longer and divided into seven hundred locks, her form more slender, her eyes softer, and her voice sweeter than Adam’s.
In the meantime Adam had been dreaming that a wife had been given to him; and when he woke, great was his delight to find his dream turned into a reality.
He put forth his hand to take that of Hava, but she withdrew hers, answering his words of love with, “God is my master, and I cannot give my hand to thee without His permission; and, moreover, it is not proper for a man to take a wife without making her a wedding present.”
Adam thereupon sent the angel Gabriel to ask God’s permission to take to him Hava as his wife. Gabriel returned with the answer that she had been created to be his helpmate, and that he was to treat her with gentleness and love.
For a present he must pray twenty times for Mohammed and for the prophets, who, in due season, were to be born of him. 🤔
Ridhwan, the porter of Paradise, then brought to Adam the winged horse Meimun, and to Eve a light-footed she-camel.
Gabriel helped them to mount and led them into Paradise, where they were greeted by all the angels and beasts with the words: “Hail, father and mother of Mohammed!”
In the midst of Paradise was a green silk tent spread for them, supported on gold pillars, and in the tent was a throne upon which Adam and Hava were seated.
Then they were bathed in one of the rivers of Paradise and brought before the presence of God, who bade them dwell in Paradise. “I have prepared you this garden for your home; in it you shall be protected from cold and heat, from hunger and thirst.
Enjoy all that meets your eye, only of one fruit taste not. Beware how you break my command, and arm yourself against the subtlety of your foe, Eblis; he envies you, and stands by you seeking to destroy you, for through you was he cast out.”
Tabari says that Adam was brought single into Paradise, through which he roamed eating from the fruit trees, and a deep sleep fell upon him, during which Eve was created from his left side.
And when Adam opened his eyes, he saw her, and asked her who she was, and she replied, “I am thy wife; God created me out of thee and for thee, that thy heart might find repose.”
The angels said to Adam: “What thing is this? What is her name? Why is she made?” Adam replied, “This is Eve.” Adam remained five hundred years in Paradise. It was on a Friday that Adam entered Eden.
