Author: askttravellers@gmail.com

  • How beautiful was Hazrat Adam?

    When we talk about Hazrat Adam, a question comes up: How beautiful was Hazrat Adam? It is reported in the hadith related to Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey, peace be upon him that:

    “When the Prophet passed by Adam on the first heaven, he said: “Welcome to the pious son and pious Prophet.” The Prophet then said: “On his right side was a huge crowd, and on his left side was a huge crowd. When he looked on his right side, he smiled; and when he looked on his left side, he cried. I (the Prophet) said: ‘O Gabriel! Who is this?’ He replied: ‘He is Adam, and they are the souls of his children. When he looked on his right, to those who were the people of Paradise, he smiled; but when he looked on his left, to those who were the people of Hell. he cried. [1]

    Some scholars have stated about this part of the Hadith:

    “..then I passed by Joseph, and he was given half of beauty.” [2]

    This meant that Joseph (Yusuf) was given half of Adam’s beauty, which seems reasonable. Because Allah created Adam, fashioned him with His Noble Hand, and then breathed into him the spirit He created for him. He must have made him in the best possible shape and beauty.

     

    [1] Al- Bukhari 349, 3342 + Muslim 163

    [2] Muslim 162

  • Was Hazrat Adam the Prophet of Allah?

    Many people ask this question, who was the first prophet of Allah? or was Hazrat Adam the Prophet of Allah? The answer is yes, he was the first prophet of Allah. Ibn Hibban has narrated from Abu Dhar in his book Sahih that he said:

    “O Messenger of Allah! How many Prophets were there? He replied: “One hundred and twenty-four thousand.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah! How many of them were Messengers?” He said: “Three hundred and thirteen: quite a big number.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah! Who was the first of them?” He replied: “Adam.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah! Was Adam a Prophet and Messenger?” He said: “Yes, Allah created him with His Hand, then He breathed into him the soul which He created for him, then He gave him a perfect shape” [1]

    [1]  Ibne Hibban 361

  • Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain)

    It’s narrated by some Companions that: Adam used to marry the son from one birth to the daughter from another birth. Abel (Habil) wanted to marry the sister of Cain (Qbil). And he (Cain) was older than Abel (Habil), and the (twin) sister of Cain (Qabil) was more beautiful. So Cain wanted to keep his twin sister for himself.

    The sacrifice of Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain)

    Adam ordered Cain to marry her with Abel, but he refused to do so. Then he ordered them both to offer a sacrifice, and left for Makkah to perform Hajj. After Adam had left, both offered their sacrifices. Abel offered a fat lamb, and he was a shepherd. While Cain offered a bundle of the worst crops he had grown. A fire came down and devoured the sacrifice of Abel, leaving the sacrifice of Cain untouched. He became angry and threatened Abel: “I will kill you so that you may not marry my sister.” Abel replied: “Allah accepts only from those who fear Him.” In another version from Abdullah bin ‘Amr , it is narrated: By Allah! The victim (Abel) was the stronger. But, obedience (i.e. avoidance of sin) restrained him from stretching his hand towards him. According to Abu Ja’far Al-Bagir: Adam was watching their offering of sacrifices, and the acceptance from Abel. Cain said to Adam: “Abel’s offering was accepted only because you prayed for him and did not pray for me. ”

    How did Qabil (Cain) killed his brother?

    One night, Abel did not return from tending his flock. So Adam sent Cain to see what happened to him. When Cain went looking for him, he found him and there he complained: “Your offering was accepted, but mine was not.” Abel replied: “Allah accepts only from those who fear Him.” Cain became angry upon hearing this, and hit his brother with an iron he held in his hand, and so killed him. It has also been said that he killed him by striking him upon his head with a rock while he was sleeping. It has also been said that he strangled him to death, and bit him like a beast. And Allah Knows Best!

    The piety of Habil (Abel)

    The response that Abel showed after he was threatened by his brother, is a sign of his noble character and piety. He restrained himself from responding with the same threat which his brother made towards him, as is clear from this Verse:

    “Yet if you stretch out your hand against me to kill me, I shall not stretch out my hand to kill you, for I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”

    Chapter 5 (Surah Al-Ma’idah) verse 28

    The Prophet said in a Hadith: “When two Muslims confront each other with their swords, then the murderer and the murdered are both in Hell.” The Companions asked him: “O Messenger of Allah! That was a murderer, but what about the victim (murdered)?” The Prophet said: “Because he was also keen to kill the other man. “ So Abel decided to avoid fighting, though he was stronger than his brother.

    It s narrated from Sa’d bin Abu Waggas that he said at the time of the turmoil which took place at the end of Caliph Uthman bin Affan’s Caliphate. “There will be turmoil (Fitnah) very soon. The one who sat down from it will be better than one who is standing. And the one who is standing will be better than who was walking. And the one who is walking will be better than the one who is running. He said: Tell me what shall I do if someone enters my home and wants to kill me? He replied: Be like the son of Adam. “[1]

    In another Hadith Imam Ahmad has narrated from Abdullah bin Mas’ud  who said that the Prophet said:

    “No soul is killed unjustly but the first son of Adam bears a part of that sin. Because he was the first to initiate this tradition of killing.” [2]

    [1] Sunan Abi Dawud 4257

    [2] Al- Bukhari 3335

    What happened to Qabil (Cain)?

    Ibn Kathir says: According to what I have read in the book, which is in the hands of the People of the Book, which they claim to be the Torah, Allah the Almighty postponed the punishment of Qabil (Cain) and granted him a respite. He lived in a land called Nawad in the east of Aden, which is now called Qinin. He had a son whose name was Enoch. Enoch had a son called Irad, and Irad had a son called Mehujael, who had a son called Methushael and who was the father of Lamech. The latter married two women who were Adah and Zillah. Adah gave birth to a son called Jabal, who was first to live in tents and acquired wealth and livestock. She also had another son, Jubal, who played the harp and flute. Zillah gave birth to a son, called Tubal-cain, who was first to make all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron; and she also gave birth to a daughter called Nama.

    From Adam to Noah – the family tree of Adam (Genesis 5:1 – 5:32)

    It also said that Adam had a third son, named by his wife as Seth (Shith). She said that he was a recompense for Abel who was killed by Cain. Seth (Shith) means the Gift of Allah. They named him that because they were given him after Abel was killed. Seth had a son Enos. It is said: When Seth was born, Adam was one hundred and thirty years old. He lived eight hundred years after that. When Enos was born, Seth was one hundred and sixty-five years old. He lived eight hundred and seven years afterwards. He had other sons and daughters. Enos, at the age of ninety, had a son Kenan. Then he lived eight hundred and fifteen years after it, and had other sons and daughters. When Kenan was seventy years old, he had a son Mahalale. He lived eight hundred and forty years after that, and had other sons and daughters. At the age of sixty-five, Mahalalel had a son Jared, and then lived for eight hundred years. and had other children. When Jared reached to the age of one hundred and sixty two, he had Enoch. He lived eight hundred years after that, and had other children.

     

    Enoch at the age of sixty-five had Methuselah. He lived for eight hundred years after that, and had other children. When Methuselah reached to the age of one hundred and eighty-seven, he had his son Lamech. He lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after that, and had other children. Lamech, at the age of one hundred and eighty-two, had a son called Noah, and he lived afterwards for five hundred and ninety-five years, and had other children. After Noah was five hundred years old, had sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

    From Adam to Noah - the family tree genealogy of Adam (Genesis 5:1 - 5:32) - Bible Blender Bible Study
    https://www.bibleblender.com/2011/bible-stories/old-testament/genesis/from-adam-to-noah-family-tree-genealogy-genesis-5-1-5-32

    This is how it is clearly mentioned in their Book (i.e. the Bible, Genesis). As for this history being perserved in what was revealed (by Allah), this is certainly questionable, as many of the scholars have pointed out. It is obvious that this (history) is interpolated (into their Book). Imam Abu Ja’far bin Jarir has mentioned in his book of history: Eve gave birth to forty children in twenty pregnancies. In another version it is suggested that she had one hundred and twenty pregnancies, and in every birth there was one boy and one girl. The oldest of them was Cain and his sister Qalima, and the youngest of them were Abdul-Mughith and his sister Umm-ul-Mughith. Mankind then multiplied and scattered throughout the land, they grew in their number and went farther and farther in the land. Allah says:

    “O mankind! Fear your Lord, Who has created you from a single person, and from him He created his spouse, and from them both He scattered many men and many women.”

    Chapter 4 (Surah An-Nisa) verse 1 

    Historians have said that Adam saw four hundred thousand of his children and grandchildren before he died. Allah Knows Best!

     

    Scriptures given to Seth

    Abu Dhar relates from the Prophet:

    “Allah sent down one hundred and four Scriptures, of them were fifty upon Seth. [1]

    [1] Al-Bidayah Wan-Nihayah 1/230

     

     

  • How many times prophet Muhammad peace be upon him name is mentioned in the Bible

    By name, I know how only one place Song of Solomon ch 5 verse 16

    If you talk about prophecy wise then several times in the Old Testament or in the New Testament the Bible talks about the prophet Muhammad

    for example, gospel of John chapter 16, verse 12 to 14

  • What does Quran say about the placement of the Earth?

    Considering the matter at a different level, the earth happens to be in a specific area in space where alone life can survive. Known as the “ecosphere” or since recently, “the habitable zone,” it is an area around the Sun which alone is suitable for life’s propagation. Had the eath been closer to the sun by a small margin, all its waters would be

    in the atmosphere, and if away by a margin, all water would become ice.

    Any planet which supports life must satisfy several conditions:

    1. It is not merely the earth which should be in the habitable zone of the solar system, but, the solar system itself should be in a specific zone – call it the stellar habitable zone. If it is, e.g. nearer to the core of the galaxy, life wouldn’t be possible. If it is too far away, then too it faces several hurdles.
    2. For earth to support life, it must be at the right distance from the star it rotates around, at the right speed and axial rotation.
    3. For life to thrive the star itself has to be the right size. If bigger than the sun, it would burn all life, and, if small, water would become
    4. The arrangement of planets plays its on role. For example, ifupier was inner planet, in place of Venu, life would be seriously affected.
    5. Even within the habitable zone, the cath-like planet has to be of the right size. If its diameter is bigger than the inner and outer

     of the habitable size, life would have problems existing.

    For any other earth-like planet to support life, it must have the same elliptical movement as earth. If larger, it would go out of the habitable zone during its rotation around the sun, endangering life on it.

    7. It should have a large moon, when compared to its size, and proportionately at the same distance, for tidal waves to occur, which are necessary for stirring the seas.

    A Quranic verse of amazing content catches our eye:

    ( وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلْأَنَامِ ) الرحمن : ١٠

    And the earth, He placed it for mankind.” (55: 10)

    It may be noticed that the verse does not use the word, “created the earth.” But it moved away from the usual and normal choice of the word “created,” which it did in many other places, but rather, used the term “placed.” Since every word of the Qur’an is revealed, this sets us thinking.

    To be sure, this happens to be another instance of the Quan preparing the human mind for discoveries of the future. That the earth is the place where humans live is a fact of unnecessary mention. The humans do not say to each other, for instance, that they live on the earth. So, we need to look below the surface to discover what exactly is meant by the statement that Allah created the earth for humankind.

    And one is immediately struck by the fact that no other planet, near or as far as tens of light years away, could be discovered which appears to support life.

    It is not only the coincidence that the earth itself is placed in an eco-sphere in space (a little away and life would freeze, or a little closer and life would evaporate), but, it appears that the solar system itself is placed in an area in the Milky Way galaxy, which affords development of life and its continued existence.

    The list of coincidences that allow for existence of life on the earth is

    long enough for a whole chapter. The fact that the earth is the right size to allow for the formation of an atmosphere, that there is abundance of water in it, that it is tilted at 23 deg. causing changes in seasons, that it has a moon close enough to cause tides, refreshing the sea waters, that it has an atmosphere thick enough to prevent penetration of shortwave radiation from the Sun, that it has the right mass for gravitational pull to prevent gases from disappearing into inter-stellar space, yet light enough to have an escape velocity which allow for rockets to rise up and go into space (larger planets do not allow that), that the Sun’s companion star is on the other side of the galaxy and not close as its neighbor to disturb the dynamically balanced stability of the planets, saving them from smashing against each other, etc. are all facts without whose fortuitous presence life as we know it couldn’t come to existence.

     

    The SETI program

    The known part of our universe has 200 billion galaxies and on an average every galaxy has 200 to 400 billion stars. If every star has just a few planets, we have billion upon billions upon billions of planets in


    have always been optimistic, and quite enthusiastic about finding life elsewhere, to prove that an Intelligent Being is not required to create life, but it can arise anywhere all by itself, given the right circumstances. Here on earth, some bacteria thrive in the environment of temperatures 360 deg. Celsius, so, why not elsewhere?

    A program was launched during the second half of the 20h century to search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Radio telescopes (some as lage as 360 feet wide) were installed in several places to identify any intelligent communication arriving to the earth.

    were any, that the earth bore an intelligent civilization, also brought no response from any area.

    Doubts were raised, funding began to be reduced and interests waned.

    Some went as far as to say that the whole idea was freak because life on earth itself was such a chance occurrence in which many unlikely events worked together, that a repeat anywhere else in the Universe was next to impossible. Harold P. Klein of Santa Clara University in California was quoted in Scientific American as saying, “The simplest bacterium is so damn complicated from the point of view of the chemist that it is almost impossible to imagine how it happened.” (We are not Alone, Walter Sullivan, Plume Books, 1994, p. 130).

    Finally, the program was scaled down, and then, terminated in most places, because, as Senator Richard Bryan of Nevada said, “As of today, millions have been spent and we are yet to bag a single little green fellow. Not a single Martian has said, ‘Take me to your leader,” and not a single flying saucer has applied for FAA approval.” (Ibid) Interestingly, however, despite the complete failure to spot, let alone an intelligent civilization, or even a rudimentary one, Muslims have not lost hopes of life on other planets, within this galaxy or those beyond because the Qur’an said,

    الطلاق: ١٢

    ( اللَّهُ الَذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَٰوَاتٍ وَمِنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ يَنَنَزَّلُ ٱلْأَمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ )

    “It is Allah who created the seven heavens and of the earth their like; the command descends between them.” (65; 12)

    Most scholars of the past have understood the above to mean that there are seven Earths, like there are seven heavens. Ibn ‘Abbas, a Quranic interpreter of the first generation has gone so far as to say that there are beings in those earths as there are beings on this Earth, but different.

    Our main thrust has been, however, that the difficulties that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has faced, is simply because of the uniqueness of this earth, as stated by the Quran.