Adam was the first human being and the father of the human race. God created him from "aged mud, like the potter's clay" (15:26-28) and chose him, together with Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Amram, "(as messengers) to the people" (3:33). The people he was sent to were his own family, the first humans. The Quran never shows him preaching to a nation. His role is to be the first person tested, and the pattern every one of his descendants repeats.
The story starts before his creation. God told the angels, "I am placing a representative (a temporary god) on Earth," and they objected that this creature would "spread evil therein and shed blood" (2:30). Dr. Khalifa explains this as the result of Satan's challenge to God's absolute authority. The humans were the creatures who did not take a firm stand with God, and God chose to give them a second chance instead of dismissing them. God then shaped Adam (7:11), perfected him, and blew into him from His spirit (15:29). He taught Adam "all the names" (2:31). In Dr. Khalifa's footnote, these are the names of everything humans would meet on Earth, from animals to the automobile and the space satellite. The angels admitted they knew only what God had taught them, and Adam told them the names (2:32-33).
Then God commanded the angels to fall prostrate before Adam. All of them did except Satan, who "refused, was too arrogant, and a disbeliever" (2:34). His excuse was his origin: "I am better than he; You created me from fire, and created him from mud" (7:12). He was banished, asked for a respite until the Day of Resurrection, and vowed to come at humans from every side (7:13-17). God answered that he has no power over God's servants, only over the strayers who follow him (15:42). Dr. Khalifa reads the prostration as an allegory: the angels would serve humans on Earth, guarding them and driving the wind and rain, and Satan refused any part in serving the human race.
Adam and his wife were told to live in Paradise and eat as they pleased, but not to approach one tree (2:35). God warned Adam plainly that Satan was his enemy and his wife's (20:117). Satan whispered anyway. He offered the "tree of eternity and unending kingship" (20:120) and swore that God had forbidden it only to keep them from becoming angels and living forever (7:20-21). They ate, their bodies became visible to them, and they covered themselves with leaves (7:22). Dr. Khalifa explains that their bodies were on Earth while their souls lived in Heaven. Once they listened to Satan, they came under his dominion on Earth. They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged our souls, and unless You forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be losers" (7:23). Adam "received from his Lord words, whereby He redeemed him" (2:37). God chose him, redeemed him, and guided him (20:122), and sent them down to Earth to live and die there (7:24-25). Later the Quran tells of Adam's two sons and the first murder, and from it derives the gravity of killing any innocent life (5:27-32).
The Quran draws its lessons from this story directly. It is our story. Dr. Khalifa's footnote to "we found him indecisive" (20:115) says that you and I did not make a firm stand against Satan, and this life is our chance to redeem ourselves by upholding God's absolute authority. The devil who got our parents evicted is still at work, so "do not let the devil dupe you" (7:27). "The best garment is the garment of righteousness" (7:26). The way back is the same one Adam took. God redeemed him with specific words, and Dr. Khalifa notes that God has likewise given us specific words, Sura 1, the Opening, to reach Him (2:37). The promise for everyone who leaves Paradise with Adam is this: "those who follow My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve" (2:38).
Adam also matters for two other teachings. Every one of his descendants bore witness that God is their Lord, so all of us are born knowing God (7:172). And the creation of Jesus without a father is "the same as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, 'Be,' and he was" (3:59). Dr. Khalifa points out that the two names appear in the Quran 25 times each (3:59).
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Recall that your Lord said to the angels, "I am placing a representative (a temporary god) on Earth." They said, "Will You place therein one who will spread evil therein and shed blood, while we sing Your praises, glorify You, and uphold Your absolute authority?" He said, "I know what you do not know."
*2:30 These verses answer such crucial questions as: "Why are we here?" (See Appendix 7).
He taught Adam all the names* then presented them to the angels, saying, "Give Me the names of these, if you are right."
*2:31 These are the names of the animals, the automobile, the submarine, the space satellite, the VCR, and all other objects to be encountered by the human beings on Earth.
They said, "Be You glorified, we have no knowledge, except that which You have taught us. You are the Omniscient, Most Wise."
He said, "O Adam, tell them their names." When he told them their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth? I know what you declare, and what you conceal."
When we said to the angels, "Fall prostrate before Adam," they fell prostrate, except Satan; he refused, was too arrogant, and a disbeliever.
We said, "O Adam, live with your wife in Paradise, and eat therefrom generously, as you please, but do not approach this tree, lest you sin."
But the devil duped them, and caused their eviction therefrom. We said, "Go down as enemies of one another. On Earth shall be your habitation and provision for awhile."
Then, Adam received from his Lord words, whereby He redeemed him. He is the Redeemer, Most Merciful.
*2:37 Similarly, God has given us specific, mathematically coded words, the words of Sura 1, to establish contact with Him (see Footnote 1:1 and Appendix 15).
We said, "Go down therefrom, all of you. When guidance comes to you from Me, those who follow My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve.
"As for those who disbelieve and reject our revelations, they will be dwellers of Hell, wherein they abide forever."
We created you, then we shaped you, then we said to the angels, "Fall prostrate before Adam." They fell prostrate, except Iblees (Satan); he was not with the prostrators.
He said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I ordered you?" He said, "I am better than he; You created me from fire, and created him from mud."
He said, "Therefore, you must go down, for you are not to be arrogant here. Get out; you are debased."
He said, "Grant me a respite, until the Day of Resurrection."
He said, "You are granted a respite."
He said, "Since You have willed that I go astray,* I will skulk for them on Your straight path.
*7:16 Satan is a proven liar, and so are his constituents (see 2:36, 6:22-23, & 7:20).
"I will come to them from before them, and from behind them, and from their right, and from their left, and You will find that most of them are unappreciative."
He said, "Get out therefrom, despised and defeated. Those among them who follow you, I will fill Hell with you all.
"As for you, Adam, dwell with your wife in Paradise, and eat therefrom as you please, but do not approach this one tree, lest you fall in sin."
The devil whispered to them, in order to reveal their bodies, which were invisible to them. He said, "Your Lord did not forbid you from this tree, except to prevent you from becoming angels, and from attaining eternal existence."
He swore to them, "I am giving you good advice."
He thus duped them with lies. As soon as they tasted the tree, their bodies became visible to them, and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise. Their Lord called upon them: "Did I not enjoin you from that tree, and warn you that the devil is your most ardent enemy?"
They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged our souls, and unless You forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be losers."
He said, "Go down as enemies of one another. On earth shall be your habitation and provision for awhile."
He said, "On it you will live, on it you will die, and from it you will be brought out."
Your Lord said to the angels, "I am creating a human being from aged mud, like the potter's clay.
"Once I perfect him, and blow into him from My spirit, you shall fall prostrate before him."
The angels fell prostrate; all of them,
except Iblis (Satan). He refused to be with the prostrators.
He said, "O Iblis (Satan), why are you not with the prostrators?"
He said, "I am not to prostrate before a human being, whom You created from aged mud, like the potter's clay."
He said, "Therefore, you must get out; you are banished.
"You have incurred My condemnation until the Day of Judgment."
He said, "My Lord, respite me until the day they are resurrected."
He said, "You are respited.
"Until the specified day and time."
He said, "My Lord, since You have willed that I go astray, I will surely entice them on earth; I will send them all astray.
"Except those among Your worshipers who are devoted absolutely to You alone."
He said, "This is a law that is inviolable.
