Allah stated that He brought the descendants of Adam out of their fathers'
loins, and they testified against themselves that Allah is their Lord and King
and that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. Allah created them on
this Fitrah, or way, just as He said,
[فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ
لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفاً فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لاَ
تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ]
(So set you (O Muhammad) your face truly towards the religion, Hanifan.
Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind. No change let there be in
Khalqillah.) [30:30] And it is recorded in the Two Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah who
said that the Messenger of Allah said,
«كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ
يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ، فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ
وَيُمَجِّسَانِهِ كَمَا تُولَدُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ
جَدْعَاء»
(Every child is born upon the Fitrah, it is only his parents who turn him
into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian. Just as animals are born having full
bodies, do you see any of them having a cutoff nose (when they are born)) .
Muslim recorded that `Iyad bin `Himar said that the Messenger of Allah said;
«يَقُولُ اللهُ:
إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ فَجَاءَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فَاجْتَالَتْهُمْ
عَنْ دِينِهِمْ وَحَرَّمَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا أَحْلَلْتُ لَهُم»
(Allah said, `I created My servants Hunafa' (monotheists), but the devils
came to them and deviated them from their religion, prohibiting what I allowed.)
There are Hadiths that mention that Allah took Adam's offspring from his loins
and divided them into those on the right and those on the left. Imam Ahmad
recorded that Anas bin Malik said that the Prophet said,
«يُقَالُ لِلرَّجُلِ
مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَرَأَيْتَ لَوْ كَانَ لَكَ مَا عَلَى
الْأَرْضِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ أَكُنْتَ مُفْتَدِيًا بِهِ قَالَ: فَيَقُولُ: نَعَمْ
فَيَقُولُ: قَدْ أَرَدْتُ مِنْكَ أَهْوَنَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ قَدْ أَخَذْتُ عَلَيْكَ فِي
ظَهْرِ آدَمَ أَنْ لَا تُشْرِكَ بِي شَيْئًا فَأَبَيْتَ إِلَّا أَنْ تُشْرِكَ
بِي»
(It will be said to a man from the people of the Fire on the Day of
Resurrection, `If you owned all that is on the earth, would you pay it as
ransom' He will reply, `Yes.' Allah will say, `I ordered you with what is less
than that, when you were still in Adam's loins, that is, associate none with Me
(in worship). You insisted that you associate with Me (in worship).') This was
recorded in the Two Sahihs Commenting on this Ayah (7:172), At-Tirmidhi recorded
that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
«لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللهُ
آدَمَ مَسَحَ ظَهْرَهُ فَسَقَطَ مِنْ ظَهْرِهِ كُلُّ نَسَمَةٍ هُوَ خَالِقُهَا مِنْ
ذُرِّيَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ عَيْنَي كَلِّ إِنْسَانٍ
مِنْهُمْ وَبِيصًا مِنْ نُورٍ ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى آدَمَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ
مَنْ هؤُلَاءِ؟ قَالَ: هؤُلَاءِ ذُرِّيَّتُكَ فَرَأَىَ رَجُلًا مِنْهُمْ
فَأَعْجَبَهُ وَبِيصُ مَا بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ قَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ مَنْ هَذَا؟ قَالَ:
هَذَا رَجُلٌ مِنْ آخِرِ الْأُمَمِ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ يُقَالُ لَهُ دَاوُدُ
قَالَ:رَبِّ وَكَمْ جَعَلْتَ عُمْرَهُ؟ قَالَ: سِتِّينَ سَنَةً، قَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ
وَقَدْ وَهَبْتُ لَهُ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً فَلَمَّا انْقَضَى عُمْرُ
آدَمَ جَاءَهُ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ قَالَ: أَوَ لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعُونَ
سَنَةً قَالَ: أَوَ لَمْ تُعْطِهَا ابْنَكَ دَاوُدَ؟ قَالَ: فَجَحَدَ آدَمُ
فَجَحَدَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَنَسِيَ آدَمُ فَنِسَيتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَخَطِىءَ آدَمُ
فَخَطِئَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُه»
(When Allah created Adam, He wiped Adam's back and every person that He will
create from him until the Day of Resurrection fell out from his back. Allah
placed a glimmering light between the eyes of each one of them. Allah showed
them to Adam and Adam asked, `O Lord! Who are they' Allah said, `These are your
offspring.' Adam saw a man from among them whose light he liked. He asked, `O
Lord! Who is this man' Allah said, `This is a man from the latter generations of
your offspring. His name is Dawud.' Adam said, `O Lord! How many years would he
live' Allah said, `Sixty years.' Adam said, `O Lord! I have forfeited forty
years from my life for him.' When Adam's life came to an end, the angel of death
came to him (to take his soul). Adam said, `I still have forty years from my
life term, don't I' He said, `Have you not given it to your son Dawud' So Adam
denied that and his offspring followed suit (denying Allah's covenant), Adam
forgot and his offspring forgot, Adam made a mistake and his offspring made
mistakes.) At-Tirmidhi said, "This Hadith is Hasan Sahih, and it was reported
from various chains of narration through Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet ''.
Al-Hakim also recorded it in his Mustadrak, and said; "Sahih according to the
criteria of Muslim, and they did not record it.'' These and similar Hadiths
testify that Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored, brought forth Adam's offspring
from his loins and separated between the inhabitants of Paradise and those of
the Fire. Allah then said,
[وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ
عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى]
(and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord'' They
said: "Yes!'') Therefore, Allah made them testify with themselves by
circumstance and words. Testimony is sometimes given in words, such as,
[قَالُواْ شَهِدْنَا
عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا]
(They will say: "We bear witness against ourselves.'') [6:130] At other
times, testimony is given by the people themselves, such as Allah's statement,
[مَا كَانَ
لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَن يَعْمُرُواْ مَسَاجِدَ الله شَـهِدِينَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِم
بِالْكُفْرِ]
(It is not for the Mushrikin, (polytheists) to maintain the mosques of Allah,
while they testify against their own selves of disbelief.) [9:17] This Ayah
means that their disbelief testifies against them, not that they actually
testify against themselves here. Another Ayah of this type is Allah's statement,
[وَإِنَّهُ عَلَى
ذَلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌ ]
(And to that he bears witness (by his deeds). ) [100:7] The same is the case
with asking, sometimes takes the form of words and sometimes a situation or
circumstance. For instance, Allah said,
[وَآتَاكُم مِّن
كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ]
(And He gave you of all that you asked for.) [14:34] Allah said here,
[أَن
تَقُولُواْ]
(lest you should say), on the Day of Resurrection
[إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ
هَـذَا]
(we were of this) of Tawhid
[غَـفِلِينَأَوْ
تَقُولُواْ إِنَّمَآ أَشْرَكَ ءَابَاؤُنَا]
(unaware. Or lest you should say: "It was only our fathers aforetime who took
others as partners in worship along with Allah,'') [7:172-173]
[وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ
نَبَأَ الَّذِى ءاتَيْنَـهُ ءَايَـتِنَا فَانْسَلَخَ مِنْهَا فَأَتْبَعَهُ
الشَّيْطَـنُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ - وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَفَعْنَـهُ بِهَا
وَلَـكِنَّهُ أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الاٌّرْضِ وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ
الْكَلْبِ إِن تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ يَلْهَثْ أَوْ تَتْرُكْهُ يَلْهَث ذَلِكَ مَثَلُ
الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِـثَايَـتِنَا فَاقْصُصِ الْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ
يَتَفَكَّرُونَ - سَآءَ مَثَلاً الْقَوْمُ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا
وَأَنفُسَهُمْ كَانُواْ يَظْلِمُونَ ]
(175. And recite to them the story of him to whom We gave Our Ayat, but he
threw them away; so Shaytan followed him up, and he became of those who went
astray.) (176. And had We willed, We would surely have elevated him therewith,
but he clung to the earth and followed his own vain desires. So his parable is
the parable of a dog: if you drive him away, he pants, or if you leave him
alone, he (still) pants. Such is the parable of the people who reject Our Ayat.
So relate the stories, perhaps they may reflect.) (177. Evil is the parable of
the people who rejected Our Ayat, and used to wrong themselves.)