Question
Alsalam u alaikum wa rahmat ullahi wa barakatuhu.
Respected Scholars,
My humble query is regarding estimated age of the greatest grand ancestor of all human beings that is the great Prophet Hazrat Adam
(Alaihis salaam).
According to geneticists and DNA testing laboratories,the DNA of all living human beings is traced back to 2,32,000 years at least.
They have given that most recent common ancestor of all human beings a genetic DNA haplo group code as A-PR2921.
They call him as The Chromosomal Adam.
Please share the authentic religious beliefs regarding how old was the greatest ancestor of all living human beings that is the great prophet Hazrat Adam (Alaihis salaam).
Also kindly tell if authentic religious texts have any information regarding who were the human like creatures living on planet earth before the great prophet Adam(alaihis salaam).
Did prophet Adam alaihis salaam have their genes and DNA in his body being the direct descendant of those existing human like creatures or not.
Scientists claim that it is proven beyond any doubt that age of ADAM was atleast 2,32,000 years.
Regards,
Syed Ali ul Ahsan Tirmizi Naqvi
00923230511895
aulahsan@gmail.com
Answer
Islamic belief is derived from the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and give him peace) found in the Qur’an and Sunnah. These are the sole sources for establishing Islamic belief. As Muslims, we are required to believe only what these sources convey. If an issue is not addressed in these sources, it does not become a component of our faith.
Regarding the creation of the world and the first human, Adam (may Allah be pleased with him), some details are provided within these sources. However, they do not specify how long ago Adam lived. Therefore, this issue does not become a matter of faith. People may try to determine the timeline of Adam’s existence based on evidence, but since it is not mentioned in the primary sources, it remains open to refutation with new evidence.
The Qur’anic discourse on the creation of Adam suggests a spontaneous creation without parents. For example, in chapter 3 verse 59, Allah says:
Indeed, the example of ʿIsa in the sight of Allah is like that of Adam. He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be!’ And he was.
This verse responds to the Christian claim that ʿIsa is the son of God and divine. Allah states that if ʿIsa (may Allah be pleased with him) is considered the son of God because he was born without a father, then Adam (may Allah be pleased with him) should be even more so, as he was born without both a mother and father. Since Adam is not the son of God, neither is ʿIsa.
The Qur’an and Sunnah do not explicitly mention any human-like creatures inhabiting the Earth before Adam (may Allah be pleased with him). However, based on certain indications, scholars have reported two main views on this matter.
The first view is that the jinn inhabited the Earth before humans. This view is reported by most scholars of tafsir. Tabari narrates from Ibn ʿAbbas (may Allah be pleased with him):
The first to inhabit the Earth were the jinn. They caused corruption and shed blood, killing one another.
However, they are not a human-like creation. They are made from fire, so the notion that Adam (may Allah be pleased with him) shares their genes or DNA is out of the question.
The second view is that there was no one on Earth before humans, neither jinn nor anyone else. This view is also reported by Tabari from Abdul Rahman ibn Zayd:
Allah said to the angels: I intend to create a creation on Earth and appoint a vicegerent. At that time, there were no other creations besides the angels, and the Earth was empty.
Regarding some claims that a group called Hin and Bin or Tam and Ram inhabited the Earth before the jinn, who then came and killed them to take over, these seem to be stories without any authentic basis.
Tahir Ibn ʿAshur, in his book al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir, discusses these claims and states:
These stories might be borrowed from the myths of the Persians or Greeks. The Persians believed that before humans, a species called ‘Al-Tam and Al-Ram’ inhabited the Earth, while the Greeks believed that Earth was populated by beings called ‘Titans’, whom ‘Zeus’, their chief deity, expelled due to their corruption.
تفسير ابن كثير ت سلامة (2/ 49) – يَقُولُ تَعَالَى: {إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِنْدَ اللَّهِ} فِي قُدْرَةِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى حَيْثُ خَلَقَهُ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَبٍ {كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ} فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى خَلَقَهُ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَبٍ وَلَا أُمٍّ، بَلْ {خَلَقَهُ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ} وَالَّذِي (1) خَلَقَ آدَمَ قَادِرٌ عَلَى خَلْقِ عِيسَى بِطَرِيقِ الْأَوْلَى وَالْأَحْرَى، وَإِنْ جَازَ ادِّعَاءُ الْبُنُوَّةِ فِي عِيسَى بِكَوْنِهِ مَخْلُوقًا مِنْ غَيْرِ أَبٍ، فَجَوَازُ ذَلِكَ فِي آدَمَ بِالطَّرِيقِ الْأَوْلَى، وَمَعْلُومٌ بِالِاتِّفَاقِ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ بَاطِلٌ، فَدَعْوَاهَا فِي عِيسَى أَشَدُّ بُطْلَانًا وَأَظْهَرُ فَسَادًا. وَلَكِنَّ الرَّبَّ، عَزّ وَجَلَّ، أَرَادَ أَنْ يُظْهِرَ قُدْرَتَهُ لِخَلْقِهِ.
الطبري (1/232) – عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنه قال: أول من سكن الأرض الجن، فأفسدوا فيها، وسفكوا فيها الدماء، وقتل بعضهم بعضا… عن عبد الرحمن بن زيد قال: قال الله تعالى ذكره للملائكة :إني أريد أن أخلق في الأرض خلقا، وأجعل فيها خليفة، وليس لله يومئذ خلق إلا الملائكة، والأرض ليس فيها خلق.
التحرير والتنوير (1/228) – إذا صح أن الأرض كانت معمورة من قبل بطائفة من المخلوقات يسمون ( الحِنُّ والبِنُّ ) بحاء مهملة مكسورة ونون في الأول ، وبموحدة مكسورة ونون في الثاني ، وقيل : اسمهم ( الطَّمُّ والرَّمُّ ) بفتح أولهما ، وأحسبه من المزاعم ، وأن وضع هذين الاسمين من باب قول الناس ( هيّان بن بيّان ) إشارة إلى غير موجود أو غير معروف ، وَلَعَلَّ هَذَا أَنْجَزُ لأهل القصص من خرافات الفرس أو اليونان ، فإن الفرس زعموا أنه كان قبل الإنسان في الأرض جنس اسمه الطم والرم ، وكان اليونان يعتقدون أن الأرض كانت معمورة بمخلوقات تدعى ( التيتان ) وأن ( زفس ) وهو ( المشتري ) كبير الأرباب في اعتقادهم جلاهم من الأرض لفسادهم.
Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow
Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel