Mughal

The Creation

(Abstracts from the book: Tales of the Prophets (Qisas al-Anbiya) by Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Kisai. Translated by W.H. Thackston, Jr. Chicago, Kazi Publications, 1997. P. 5-74)

The Tablet and the pen

Ibn Abbas said: the first thing God created was the Preserved Tablet, on which was preserved all that has been and ever shall be until the Day of Resurrection. What is contained thereon no one knows but God. It is made of white pearl. Then, from a gem, He created a Pen. The Pen was told, write. It flowed across the Tablet, writing what is to be until the Last Day, whereat the Tablet was filled and the Pen ran dry.

The Creation of water

Ibn Abbas said: After that, God created in the backbone of the heavens and the earths a white pearl with seventy thousand tongues to glorify Him. With each of these tongues it glorifies Him in seventy thousand languages.

The Creation of Canopy and the throne

Then from a green jewel, God created the Canopy, neither the magnificence nor the light of which can be described. And the Canopy He placed on the surface of the waters. Ibn Abbas said: every builder first lays the foundation and then raises the roof; but God created the roof first, for He created the Canopy before the heavens and the earths.

Then God created the winds and gave them wings, the number of which only God knows. He commanded them to bear up the waters, and it was done. Then the Canopy rested upon the waters, and the waters upon the winds.

Then God created the bearers of the Canopy, which are today four in number. On the day of Resurrection He will add four more, as He hath said: And eight shall bear the throne of thy Lord above them, on the day (69:17).

The Creation of the earth, the mountains and the seas

Kaab al-Ahbar said: When God wished to create the dry land He commanded the wind to churn up the waters. In two days He created the dry land on the face of the waters, as He hath said: Say, do ye indeed disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days? (41:9). Then He commanded these waves to be still, and they formed the mountains, which He used as pegs to hold down the earth, as He hath said: And we placed stable mountains on the earth lest it should move with them. (21:31).

Then God created the seven seas. The first is called Baytush and surround the earth from behind Mount Qaf. Behind it is a sea called Asamm, behind which is a sea called Qaynas, behind which is a sea called Sakin, behind which is a sea called Mughallib, behind which is a sea called Muannis, behind which is a sea called Baki, which is the last. These are the seven seas, and each of them surrounds the sea before it. The rest of the seas, in which are creatures whose number only God knows, are like the gulfs to these seven.

There are seven earths. The first is called Ramaka, the second is Khalada, the third is Arqa, the fourth is Haraba, the fifth is Maltham, the sixth is Sijjin, and the seventh is Ajiba and is the habitation of Iblis. There dwells a nation called Khasum who are black and short, with claws like lions. It is they who will be given dominion over the Gog and Magog, who will be destroyed by them.

The Creation of the Heavens and the Angels

Ibn Abbas said: The God commanded the vapors emanating from the waters to rise up into the air. In two days He created from them the firmament. In four days He created what is between the sea and the firmament. Then the heavens were ripped apart from the earth out of fear of the majesty of God. And there were seven heavens and seven earths. And, as He hath said: And He formed them into seven heavens in two days (14:12), from the rising of the sun and moon and stars.

The first heaven is of emerald and called Birqi and angel Ismael is the guardian. The second is made of ruby and is called Faydum and Michael is the guardian. The third heaven is of topaz and is called Awn and angel Saadiel is the in charge. The fourth heaven is of silver and is called Arqlun and the angel in charge is Salsael. The fifth is of red gold and called Ratqa and the angel in charge is Kalkael. The sixth heaven is of white pearl and is called Rafqa and angel Shamkhael is the guardian. The seventh heaven is of light that glows like pearl and is called Gharibya and their warden is Razqael.

The creation of the Sun and Moon

Wahb said: Then God created the sun and the moon. The sun, He created from the light of the Throne, and the moon He created from the light of His veil.

The people of the Torah say that God began to create on a Sunday and finished on a Saturday, whereupon He sat on the Throne; therefore, they have adopted that day as holiday. The Christians say the beginning fell on a Monday and the end on Sunday, whereat He sat upon the Throne; therefore they have adopted that day as a holiday.

Ibn Abbas said: The beginning was on a Saturday and the end on Friday. God rested on Friday, so for that reason we have made it a holiday.

The Prophet sad that Friday is the mistress of the days of the week and is greater in God's view then Id al-Fitr and Yaum al-Adha. Friday have five significances: on that day Adam was created, the spirit was breathed into him, he was married on that day, and on that day He took him unto Himself. Also on that day is a time during which God's servants ask their Lord for nothing He does not grant (a variant report adds: ...so long it not be a thing forbidden). And on that day will Doomsday commence.

The creation of Paradise and Hell

Ibn Abbas said: Then God created Paradise, which consists of eight gardens. The first is the abode of Splendor and is made of white pearl; the second is the Abode of Peace and is made of ruby; the third is the Garden of Refuge and is of emerald. The fourth is Garden of Eternity and is of yellow coral; the fifth is the Garden of Grace and is of white silver; the sixth is the Garden of Paradise and is of red gold. The seventh is the Garden of Tranquility and is of pungent musk. The eighth is the Garden of Eden and is made of glimmering pearl.

The eight gardens have gates of gold set with precious stones. Engraven on the first gate is: There is no God but God. Muhammad (PBUH) is the apostle of God.

On the second gate is: The Gate of those who pray the five prayers with complete ablution and with all the principal parts of the prayers.

On the third gate is: The Gate of those who give alms readily and willingly.

On the fourth gate is: The Gate of those who enjoin justice and forbid injustice.

On the fifth is: The Gate of those who have ridded themselves of passion.

On the sixth is: The Gate of pilgrims of the major and minor pilgrimages.

On the seventh is written: The Gate of those who strive in the way of religion.

On the eighth is written: The gate of aspirants who cast down their gaze and perform good works such as honoring their parents and fulfilling familial obligations.

Description of hell

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: There are seven gates to Hell, and it would take five hundred years to travel between any two of the seven. Through each gate are seventy thousand kinds of torture: cords, shackles, chains, poisons, hot water and bitter fruit.

The first gate is Gehenna. The second is Laza, which is for idolaters. The third is Hutama, which is for Gog and Magog and infidels like them. The fourth is Sair, which is for the devil. The fifth is Saqar, for those who do not pray and give alms. The sixth is Jahim, which is for Jews, Christians and Majians. The seventh is Hawiya, which is for hypocrites, as He hath said: The hypocrites shall be in the lowest bottom of hell fire (4:145).

The creation of Adam

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: God created Adam's head from the first earth, his neck from the second, his chest from the third, his hands from the fourth, his belly and loins from the fifth, his thighs and buttocks from the sixth, and his legs and feet from the seventh. He called him Adam because he created him from the surface (adim) of the earth.

Ibn Abbas said: God created him from the climes of world: his head from the dust of the Ka'ba and his chest from the dust of the desert, his belly and loins from the soil of India, his hands from the east and his feet from the west.

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: When God had created Adam in this form, He commanded the angels to bear him to the gate of Paradise, where the angels passed to and fro. At that time he was merely a body without spirit, as He hath said: Did there not pass over man a long space of time, during which he was a thing not worthy of remembrance? (76:1).

Kaab al-Ahbar said: Adam's spirit is not like the spirits of angels of any other creature, for it is a spirit preferred by God over all His creation.

God bade the spirit to be immersed in all the lights, then He commanded it to enter Adam's body with praise and without haste. The spirit seeing a very narrow entrance and narrow apertures said, O Lord, how can I enter? It was told, enter reluctantly and exit reluctantly, So the spirit entered from the cranium into the eyes. Adam then opened his eyes and looked at the clay body. He could not speak, but he saw inscribed on the pavilion of the Throne: There is no God but God and Muhammad (PBUH) is the apostle of God in Truth. Then the spirit reached his ears, and he could hear the angels adoring God round about him. The spirit began to turn in his head and brain, while the angels gazed upon him, waiting to be commanded to prostrate themselves. Iblis, however, kept his opposition in his heart.

Then the spirit reached Adam's nose and he sneezed. The sneeze opened the blocked passages, and Adam said, Praise be to God Who is Now and Ever shall be. This was the first thing spoken by Adam.

Ibn Abbas said: nothing irrtates Iblis more than the words Bless you, when someone sneeze.

Then the spirit moved through Adam's body until it reached his legs. And Adam became flesh, blood, bones, veins, nerves, and bowles, except his feet, which remained clay. He tried to stand but was unable, which is the meaning of His words: Man is created of precipitation (21:37).

When the spirit reached the legs and feet, Adam stood up erect. It is said that the spirit took five hundred years to permeate throughout Adam's body and that it was on Friday at sunset that it was completed.

On the authority of Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq: The spirit was in Adam's head a hundred years, in his chest a hundred years, in his loins a hundred years, in his thighs a hundred years, and in his legs and feet a hundred years.

The creation of Eve

While Adam slept, God created Eve from one of his left ribs, which was crooked. She was called Eve (Hawa) because she was made from a living being (bayy), as He hath said: O man, fear your Lord, who hath creatred you out of one man, and out of him created his wife. (4:1).

When God had created her, He seated her at Adam's side. Adam saw her in his sleep on that long-ago day and loved her in his heart.

O Lord, he asked, who is this?

She is my handmaiden Eve, He said.

O Lord, asked Adam, for whom has thou created her?

For one who will take her in trust and will preserve in thanks for her, said God.

Then Adam said, O Lord, I will take her on one condition, that thou marry me to her. And so Adam was married to Eve before entering Paradise.

Adam's mission
Ibn Abbas said: Then God appointed Adam apostle to his progeny and, on the first night of Ramadan, designated him for divine inspiration, saying, Adam, this the month for those of thy children who stand, kneel and prostrate themselves in prayer. Adam, this is the month in which God extends His mercy and His blessings. Every hour of the day and night God releases seventy thousand slaves from Hell. In this month was Paradise adorned, and during this month are the new-born fashioned. Adam, dost thou think that thy children can obtain my mercy by abstaining from food and drink? Nay ! Not until they also repent to me with penance during this my month.

Kaab al-Ahbar said: Then, on the first night of Ramadan, God revealed to Adam twenty two leaves, on which were several chapters written in disjoined letters, none of which were joined together. This was the first book God revealed to Adam. It contained a thousand words, comprising duties, traditions, legislation, the foreboding threat, and accounts of this world. In it God showed him the actions of the people of every age, their shapes and careers, their kings and prophets and what they would do upon the earth, even their food and drink.

Then God commanded him to write it with the pen, so he took sheepskins and tanned them until they were soft. On them he wrote the twenty eight letters which are in the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms and the Qur'an.

Your Guardian Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He settled Himself on the Throne: He draweth the night as a veil o'er the day, each seeking the other in rapid succession: and the sun, the moon, andthe stars, (all) are subservient by His Command. Verily, His are the Creation and the Command. Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds! (7:54)

Yangja Isuko

yeah? so? what?

Heathen Dawn

Yangja, Mughal is an EX-Muslim, not a Muslim trying to proselytise. And I find his posts very educating.

JaeIsGod

Well, it is a bit bit long

Yahzi

All those jewels, and magic pens, and tablets of pearl... reads like a D&D adventure.

livius drusus

Mughal, unless you make some kind of argument this just reads like preaching. I know that is not your intention, so I am curious to hear your perspective on the Islamic creation account.

Mughal

Dear friends,

My intention was to help you see a bit of islamic perspective on creationism to help you see what is there that educated muslims hide.

I don't know but if you have come across our muslim brethren here on this forum and perhaps elsehwere who try to tell us the science they find in the quran, it was meant to show that that is what islam really was and that is what islamic science was the way muslims understood it.

It really shows that the quran was copied straight out of the bible as regard story of creation with a bit more imagination.

I think such things will help all of us infidels to answer muslim challenges when they appear before us every now and again.

Thank you for your kind respone.

Regards and all the best.