THE CREATION OF ADAM AND AHLULBAYT
When Allah decided to create Adam, he informed the angels about his decision by saying:
I am appointing a vicegerent in the earth.
The angels as conscious beings are the intermediary agents in the process of development and administration of the physical world, operating under the laws of cause and effect; therefore, Allah informed them about the creation of Adam, a new phase in the process of creation.
Various books state that it was in the knowledge of the angels that struggle and conflict among the living beings in the pre-Adam period brought about bloodshed and destruction. Many a religious school confirms that there were semi-men, Jinn and demons (afrit) before the advent of Adam, on the earth. According to some traditions they were living beings of furious nature and fiery temperament, devoid of intellect, reasoning and contemplation, fighting each other for survival. Our view is that we are saying so because we believe that we are far superior to the earlier creations who have become extinct. If this creation is terminated by God, which is eventually going to happen in the near future, and is replaced by another Adam and his progeny, they too are most likely to use similar words about us. After all, are we not of furious nature and fiery temperament, devoid of intellect, reasoning and contemplation, fighting each other for survival? If you look around, man is killing and torturing man in all parts of the world. Human creation was in existent prior to our Adam and after extermination of descendents or our Adam, another Adam will be created for earth.
It appears from this argument that this earth itself has seen several creations of Adam who were all exterminated due to their own deeds. This explains the reason why scientists keep unearthing human fossils dating back to millions of years while the age of this creation, from Adam onwards, as per Old Testament and Quran, appears to be few thousand years.
This is a point to introspect! Merely few thousand years of evolution has made us achieve all round advancements. Just imagine, where would man had been if he had not succumbed to his furious nature and fiery temperament, had used his intellect, reasoning and contemplation capabilities, and had assisted each other instead for fighting and killing each other. Every time a creation was exterminated, it was followed by another Adam and his progeny living on this earth. If Puranas are to be believed, this has already happened 994 times since the beginning of this Divine Day. It is this reason why Krishna said in Gita that it is our own actions that are leading to the decay of the world.
It is this reason perhaps why Ali, when asked what was there prior to Adam, talked of an Adam, and prior to that, Adma and spoke of 70 Adams, one prior to another until the questioner stopped asking.
Islamic traditions contain several incidents as per which the Ahlulbayt had a role to play even prior to creation of Adam. Here, we give a few of them.
Verse 2:31 of Quran says that certain names were taught to Adam at the time of his creation.
And He taught Adam all the names, then presented them to the angels; then He said: Tell me the names of those if you are right.
We have already quoted the Pooya/Ali commentary earlier which states: “The hum of aradahum does not refer to the “names” but to the “named”, and as a plural term cannot be used for Allah, therefore, it cancels the possibility of interpreting these names as the names of Allah. When reference is made in Arabic to several objects of inanimate nature, a singular feminine pronoun is used, but when the objects are conscious beings, a plural masculine pronoun is used, as done here through aradahum, to point out the “named ones”. If the object referred to is inanimate, the singular feminine pronoun, tilka or hadhihi should have been used. Here the personal demonstrative pronoun refers to the conscious beings of a superior-most status, knowledge of whose names entitled Adam to the vicegerency of Allah. Thus the existence of the beings of the highest status has been established.”
Is there any greater proof required that Vedas, Upanishads, Gita and Quran are from one and the same source? Also, Buddha and Jesus, Krishna and Moses and all the rest of 124,000 Prophets and Messengers were delivering the same message.
Pooya/Ali further writes that these beings are the highest beings, the most perfect and the most blessed beings. See what the commentary says: “Due to the affinity between Adam and these highest beings (aaleen), he was capable to function as the medium of their manifestation. Verse 4 of Surah al-Tin says that the status of man, in the order of creation, is the highest in excellence. The aaleen, the highest beings, referred to in this verse, are the most perfect and the most blessed human beings, for whose manifestation in the arc of ascent, Adam was chosen. Till then the names of the highest beings along with the insight and vision of their realities, their latent qualities and inherent endowments were unknown to the angels.”
Now see verses 2:32 and 33 from Quran.
They said: Glory be to Thee! We have no knowledge but that which Thou hast taught us; surely Thou art the Knowing, the Wise.
He said: O Adam! Inform them of their names. Then when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not say to you that I surely know what is ghaib in the heavens and the earth and (that) I know what you manifest and what you hide?
Through Adam the angels became acquainted with the glory of the glorious beings. When Adam, at the command of Allah, stated the names, qualities and symbols of those highest beings whose collective and comprehensive status can be termed as wisdom personified, the angels witnessed the glory of the infinite power and wisdom of the Lord that could create such perfect beings of the highest calibre, in substance as well as in style, like of whom they did not know till then.
In Durr Manthur, Jalaluddin Sayuti says that the Prophet Mohammad had said:
The objects shown to the angels were five lights. Allah informed the angels pointing to each of the lights respectively:
(i) This is Mohammad, the most praised, derived from My name, the praised one.
(ii) This is Ali, the high, derived from My name, the highest.
(iii) This is Fatima, the original, derived from my name, the originator of the heavens and the earth.
(iv) This is Hasan, the bountiful, derived from My name, the benefactor.
(v) This is Husain, the good, derived from My name, the good in origin.
O angels! It is in love of these five that I have created the universe.
This is exactly similar to the process of creation described in the Upanishads and Vedas. Does it not prove that the Ahlulbayt of Muslims are the same as the Devatas or Manus of the Vedas and the commentators of Upanishad and Vedas were on the wrong who took the first five of them to be the five basic elements? Yes, they are indeed the basic elements in the sense that from their Noor, the entire world was created.
It becomes a logical conclusion from Quran and the tradition of Holy Prophet that Allah had created these Lights even prior to the creation of Adam. Moreover, it is evident that Allah had showed these Lights of glory to Adam, and recognition of them meant that he had been appointed as the khalifa (caliph) of Allah, and through these Lights Allah’s Light had been destined to be manifested. It was these names through which mankind could reach and understand God. That is why all the Messengers of God, including Krishna, Moses and Jesus, confirmed their stature; Krishna even said that it is not possible to attain salvation without recognizing the Manifest Self of God. And beyond the Manifest is the Absolute, also called Brahman or Allah.
As God is aware of all the “unseen” in the universe, He knew that the angels secretly thought themselves more deserving than Adam to be chosen as Allah’s khalifa, as they had the honour of being created prior to the creation of Adam. Moreover, it is evident that Allah told the names to Adam and then showed the Noors (Lights) so that he could recognize them. Only when he was able to recognize them truly, the angels bowed down from their demand and recognized the superiority of man. It shows that it was not only essential for the vicegerent of Allah to know these persons, but on this knowledge alone depended his vicegerency. The saddest chapter of history is that while the true knowledge of these names was necessary for vicegerency and claiming superiority over angels, those persons themselves were denied the vicegerency after the death of the Prophet and even to this day Muslims in general keep portraying usurpers of their position as the rightfully elected caliphs.
We request you to read the Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad, which categorically states at one place that 5 selfs were created and at other place refers to certain names being taken, through which the demons were defeated. In the Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad, you have seen that Udgitha (or letter Aum) was chanted to defeat the demons. You have already seen earlier from another Upanishad that syllable ‘Aum’ signifies the 14 Devatas, whose Light or Self was created prior to the creation of mankind, and who lead the wayfarer to God.
According to verse 75 of Chapter Sad in Quran, Allah has created Adam with His two hands, matter and spirit, which gives man the distinctive power of expression, termed as biyan by the Quran. In Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad, this speech has been named ‘bhan’. Is there much difference?
Muslims know nothing about the constitution of spirit mentioned in Chapter Sad. The spirit mentioned here is nothing but the Divine Spirit (Paramatma) or the Manifest Self created by God as an intermediary between man and the Absolute Non-Manifest God. Upanishads and Vedas have dwelled extensively on highlighting this relationship between man and God through the Divine Spirit. If the Muslims too come to the same conclusion that the Spirit talked about in Chapter Sad is actually the Paramatma or the Manifest Self of the Upanishads, Vedas and Gita, then they will have no problem in understanding the Quranic verses which talk of God being nearer to us than the artery in our neck. After all, there are several Upanishads who have described the relationship of the Manifest Self or Divine Spirit to the self and spirit inside us, and Quran too is referring to the Rooh (Spirit) in several verses not understood so far.
The importance of having an intermediary between us and God is that it endows man with vast potentialities and scope for progress and development. It is this relationship of man with God through the 14 Devatas or Ahlubayt that gives the man the power to progress and become one like them. They are the manifest proofs of God on earth and very much in our reach. In fact, it is possible for us to copy them, to take lessons from their acts and lifestyle and try to upgrade our self to their level. Only when we do this, our self will get close to the Manifest Self. This is the reason why Gita says that those who are able to recognize this Self truly, their character starts showing the characteristics of God’s personality.
The Absolute Man of Gita is not reference to these Devatas and Prophets of God alone, but all of us possess the capability to acquire Absolutist powers that may be called supernatural or spiritual powers. As man progresses on his path to spirituality, he continues to acquire these powers, which are boundless and limitless. This is the reason why we should not cast doubt over statements in the Upanishads that describe ordinary men gaining the power of flight, gaining the power to walk on water, showing extraordinary strength or any similar superhuman power.
Vicegerents of God are appointed by Him on the basis of these merits alone which they came to possess through knowledge of the Divine Spirits. In fact, the least understood difference between Prophet (Nabi) and Rasool (Messenger) is that one of these Divine Spirits use a pious body on earth as its office. The same person is called Avatar in Sanskrit.
It is Noorani Spirits who were identified by Adam by name; this knowledge was essential for his vicegerancy. This position was even superior to that of prophethood as we have shown earlier, and it was dependent on a special link between vicegerant and one of the 7 Divine Spirits. Isn’t it unfortunate that the same Divine Spirits, upon whose knowledge depended vicegerency, were denied vicegerency of men after the Prophet’s death? Can there be a greater irony than this?
We are sure some Muslims are going to find it hard to digest that a relationship existed between the Spirit that was used for creation of Adam and the Ahlulbayt. Jesus gave the answer to this when he referred to the coming of the Ahlulbayt in future as the Spirit of Truth.
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another to be your advocate, who will be with forever - the spirit of truth. Your advocate will teach you everything, and will call to mind all that I have told you.
John 14: 16 and 26
And see this:
It is for your good that I am leaving you. If I do not go, your advocate will not come. When he comes, he will confute the world, and show where wrong and right and judgment lie.
There is still much that I could say to you, but the burden would be too great for you now.
However, when he comes who is the spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but will tell only what he hears; and he will make known to you the things that are coming.
John 16: 7-14
Are there greater proofs required? Gita and Upanishads say that the higher self inside us is directly related to consciousness. Consciousness is the realization of truth. Who else but the ‘spirit of truth’ can be responsible for bringing about this consciousness?
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Lessons from Adam’s stay in heaven
Once the process of Adam’s creation was complete, he was asked to stay in heaven along with Hawwa (Eve). Quran says:
And We said: O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the garden and eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish and do not approach this tree, for then you will be of the unjust.
With his opposite and complementary companion, Hawwa - the woman – Adam - the man - was given the garden to dwell in, unrestrained. Only a tree was out of bounds.
Scholars say that this out of bound tree is the symbol of temptation, covetousness, envy and greed. Imam Ali al-Raza s/o Musa (the 10th Ahlulbayt) says:
It stimulates desire for things which are not necessary for life.
Imam Ali al-Zainul Abidin s/o Husain (the 6th Ahlulbayt) says:
It stimulates desires for the worldly possessions as the ultimate object of life.
The command of Allah was not to go near the tree. Eating the fruit of the tree was not definitely forbidden.
Verse 2:36 is as follows:
But the Shaytan made them both fall from it, and caused them to depart from that (state) in which they were; and We said: Get forth, some of you being the enemies of others, and there is for you in the earth an abode and a provision for a time.
Adam was endowed with infinite potentiality to reach the ultimate through rational thinking and be able to discriminate and choose. Shaytan, an agent of Zulmat (a power of misguidance created so that Man could be put to test) the furious and the fiery, obstinate and perverse, devoid of imaan (faith), became an enemy of Adam. The stimulating warning of the divine command “not to go near the tree”, in a way, apparently gave Shaytan the opportunity to use his guile and rebellious energy in order to take advantage of the situation and get even with his adversary who caused his downfall. Adam and Hawwa slipped out of the condition of peace and contentment into the realm of struggle where peace and conflict, love and hate, and such opposites are at full play. Thereafter the two opposite groups faced each other. It was a conflict between good and evil, right and wrong. Ihbitu, also used in verse 61 of Surah al-Baqarah, means a change from the easy life of joy and happiness to the life of toil, suffering and misery.
Now see the next verse (Quran, 2:37):
Then Adam received (some) words from his Lord, so He turned to him mercifully; surely He is Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.
There was no chance of going back to the dwelling of joy and happiness. They were at the mercy of the Lord. They turned repentant unto Allah. The merciful and oft-forgiving Lord blessed Adam with the most extraordinary words of prayer through which Adam, and after him any one in his progeny (mankind), could invoke the mercy of the Lord. These were the holy names of those highest beings that Allah had already introduced to Adam. So the oft-forgiving merciful Lord took Adam and his wife under His mercy when they invoked Him through these names. The spirits of various children born in Adam’s progeny were to stay on earth until their self united with the Manifest Self [atma with Paramatma] through the path shown by the Devatas.
Quran, 2:38
We said: Go forth from this (state) all; so surely there will come to you a guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.
Test for man is clearly defined. Guidance will come from the Lord. If man is to pass the test, he will have to identify those guides, follow their teachings and if he does so, he will pass the test. Then no fear shall come upon man, nor will he have reasons for grieve.
Pooya/Ali commentary states: “Now to enter the paradise, going back to the land of eternal bliss, man must use his intelligence, and make a choice of the right path shown by Allah through the guidance He has made available to man in this world of opposite forces (Noor and Zulmat). This guidance was already shown to Adam in the form of names that had been taught to him, which when he disclosed to the angels, prostrated themselves immediately, but Shaytan (Satan) refused to follow it. He is here, till the human beings dwell in this world, to lead man astray from the true guidance Allah has made available through His last Prophet Mohammad and the divinely commissioned Imams. Those who follow these divinely chosen guides or Ahlulbayt shall walk on the right path, will be safe from fear and grief, and earn the right to enter the heavenly garden.”
And (as to) those who disbelieve in and reject My communications, they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide.
Quran, 2:39
There is one clarification needed! Pooya/Ali commentary is talking of Quran and their addressees are Muslims. Hence they are talking of need to identify Mohammad and his divinely commissioned Imams as guide. Non-Muslims need not come to path through Quran and Mohammad. Hindus are requested to identify the path through the Upanishads, Vedas and Gita. Buddhists are requested to identity the true path from the teachings of Buddha, likewise, Jews and Christians from their respective books. Truth of all truths is that all will come to the one and the same path, which has been told in various regions and ages.
Pooya/Ali commentary further says that “the literal meaning of ayat is sign. Every verse of the Quran is a sign (ayat) because it draws the attention of the reader to its meaning. But Allah’s signs, in the perfect sense, are those beings whose holy personalities draw the attention of the human beings to the glory of Allah. Every Prophet of Allah, during his time, was a sign of Allah, and the Holy Prophet, the Twelve Imams and Fatima are the conclusive signs of Allah. Allah gives a fair warning to those who, under the influence of the eternal enemy of man, Shaytan (Satan), go astray from the right path, the path of “Mohammad and Ali”, that their abode will be the fire.”
It was to remind this alone that the Prophet had said:
I was a Prophet when Adam was yet amidst water and clay.
There were various other indications like this given, like saying that ‘Ali and myself (Mohammad) are the two halves of the same Noor (Light)’, or saying that Fatima is the leader of women in heavens, or Hasan and Husain are leader of all the youths in heaven. Yet, it seems that the Muslims in general never believed in these statements, though they could not have denied them. We are grateful to Upanishads and the Vedas for making us understand the true role and nature of Mohammad and rest of the Ahlulbayt in the Divine Creation Plan. Not only this, they have enabled us to unearth the great mystery of why we were actually created.
As we proceed, we will prove further from Muslim traditions that these 14 Ahlulbayt (People of the House) were created from the Light created by the Manifest Self (Spirit or Noor) right at the beginning of the cosmos, and all the Messengers who came had some relationship with this Light or Self, as per the Upanishads. They all came with only one express purpose - to lead us on the right path that leads to God.
Quran aptly sums up the teachings of all the Messengers of God, be it Jesus, Rama, Krishna, Moses, Buddha or Mohammad. Verse 3:51 of Quran states:
Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path.
Aren’t the things clearer now than before? Imam Ali bin Musa Raza (the 10th Ahlulbayt) and Imam Ali bin Husain (the 6th Ahlulbayt) have shown the way by telling us that the forbidden tree stimulates desires for worldly possessions as the ultimate object of life and for things that are not necessary. The command was not to go near this tree. This signifies that the command was not to succumb to desires for worldly possessions as the ultimate object of life and for things that are not necessary. Even Adam was not spared when he succumbed to temptation. How can we, who are fully immersed in material pursuits, think of being spared?
There is one and one relief only. When Adam was made to leave the heaven, it were those names alone that comforted him. This is perhaps the reason why the first thing that Adam did upon coming on earth was to erect a small structure in remembrance of the House of Allah, in remembrance of Ahlulbayt who dwelt in the heavens. Adam was told that following their path would ensure that he would again come to heaven for a permanent stay and Adam never wanted to forget this even for a moment. That is why Adam was making a symbol of House of Allah on earth so that People of the House of Allah (Ahlulbayt) could arrive.
There is one more question that remains unanswered. It is clearly stated that Adam was created as a vicegerent for earth. Then why was he made to stay in heaven, albeit for a short while? The situation is the same that I appoint somebody to work in my office at Mumbai but retain him at the head office in Lucknow. And when the person commits a serious mistake or act of disobedience, I send him to Mumbai, the place for where he had been originally recruited.
There is only one answer. Adam had been retained at the headquarters for training. Old Testament and Quran tells clearly that the Divinities were very much there in the heavens. Old Testament even goes on to say that Satan befooled Adam by saying that if he eats the forbidden fruit, he would become one like the Divinities. While in heaven, Adam was able to see how they lived, how they worshipped and all other virtuous acts that they committed in Allah’s obedience. He had seen all but didn’t know how people could be misled by Zulmat. He never knew that Zulmat comes in the disguise of desires. Once this aspect of the training too got completed, Adam was sent to earth with an assurance that following the path of the Forces of Noor – the Devatas or Ahlulbayt - would ensure a permanent stay in heaven for Adam, after his death on earth.
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