Appearance
Adam in the Qur’an and the Testaments
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
And when your Lord said to the angels, “Indeed, I will make upon the earth a vicegerent (khalīfa).” They said, “Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we glorify Your praise and sanctify You?” He said, “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.” (2:30)
The question
How do the Jewish and Christian accounts of Adam (the angels consulted on his creation, man made “in the image of God”, a nation chosen through Adam) compare with the Qur’an’s story?
Views answered: the Talmud, Christian theology, Maimonides, Philo of Alexandria, Judah Halevi
Jawādī Āmulī’s argument
Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī holds that the Qur’an tells the best of stories in the best way, so all other texts, Jewish, Christian or Islamic, are to be referred to it. Its general account of Adam agrees with the authentic earlier scriptures, or the rabbis and monks would have challenged it. Details such as the angels being consulted are not in the Qur’an and need valid evidence. “Image” and “likeness” were explained by Maimonides as spiritual, and by others as the soul, the intellect or a heavenly Adam, yet the risk of likening God to creation remains; the Qur’an’s answer is that the human being is God’s most comprehensive sign. Judah Halevi’s claim that Adam’s divine power passed to the Jews alone is a conjecture, for God measures honour by piety, not lineage. He adds that the People of the Book should not be accused lightly, and their thinkers should be told apart from ordinary writers.
Views compared
Each view is given as al-Tasnim reports it. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.
The angels consulted Read →
The Talmud
When God decided to create Adam, the angels were summoned for counsel; some agreed and some opposed.Jawādī Āmulī
Such details are not drawn from the Qur’an, and setting angels apart in this way needs valid evidence.Made “in the image of God” Read →
The Talmud; Christian theology
The human being was made in God’s image and likeness, which grants him superiority and makes knowing God possible.Jawādī Āmulī
The Qur’an avoids these words; read as “sign” and “manifestation” they avoid likening God to creation.Spiritual likeness, or a heavenly Adam Read →
Maimonides; Philo of Alexandria
“Image” and “likeness” mean an intellectual, spiritual resemblance; or there was a heavenly Adam and an earthly one.Jawādī Āmulī
These avoid crude anthropomorphism, but the danger remains: There is nothing like unto Him (42:11). The human being is God’s most comprehensive sign.A divine power inherited by one people Read →
Judah Halevi
The divine power of prophethood passed from Adam to the children of Jacob, setting the Jews apart from all nations.Jawādī Āmulī
A conjecture without evidence: God measures honour by piety (49:13), and His covenant does not reach wrongdoers (2:124), whatever their lineage.Man and woman Read →
Some exegetes of the two Testaments
Some expressions suggest man’s precedence over woman.Jawādī Āmulī
Both were made in the divine image, and Genesis and some commentaries say so.Reading guide
Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.