Prophet Adam is believed to have been the first human being and the first prophet on Earth in Islam. Adam’s role as the father of the human race is looked upon by Muslims with reverence. Muslims also refer to his wife, Eve (Hawa), as the “mother of mankind”. Muslims see Adam as the first Muslim, as the Qur’an promulgates that all the prophets preached the same faith of submission to God. His story is told in the Qur’an in numerous places, though his Qur’anic narrative differs from that in the Torah in some aspects.

Sunni hadith say that while Adam was sleeping, God took a rib from him and from it He created Lady Eve; however, while the creation of Adam and Eve is referred to in the Qur’an, the exact method of creation is not specified. The Qur’an then says that God commanded that Adam and Eve (Hawa) not eat from one tree in heaven, but Iblis (Lucifer from jinn race) was able to convince them to taste it. They then began to cover themselves because they now knew that their body parts were uncovered. For this, God banished Adam and Eve to earth.

Non-canonical Sunni hadith also say that Adam and Eve were cast down far apart, so that they had to search for each other. In Islamic theology, it is not believed that Adam’s sin is carried by all of his children. Hadith say that once Adam was on earth, God taught him how to plant seeds and bake bread. This was to become the way of all of Adam’s children. Adam proceeded to live for about 1000 years.

According to the story of Adam, human kind has learned everything from Adam. He was the first to learn to plant, harvest, and bake as well as the first to be told how to repent and how to properly bury someone. God also revealed the various food restrictions and the alphabet to Adam. He was made the first prophet and he was taught 21 scrolls and was able to write them himself. Adam was also created from earth. It is well known that earth produces crops, supports animals, and provides shelter, among many other things. Earth is very important to human kind, so being created from it makes them very distinct.