Abstracts Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Ascent of Adam: Re-Evaluating the First Prophet in Quranic Exegesis

by Aaminah Kulsum Patel

Western scholarship on Adam often characterises him as the first human sinner of Islam. Adam’s eating from the prohibited tree is commonly viewed as a “sin” for which God punished him by relocating him from Paradise to Earth. Such characterisations of Adam are closely linked to common views found in Christian scholarship about Adam and his story. Though Adam is a figure shared across the Abrahamic faiths, in Islam, Adam holds the esteemed status of a prophet. This role has a bearing on how Muslim exegetes interpret Adam’s slip (eating from the tree) because there is a development of an underlying notion of prophetic infallibility in Islamic theology. Despite the significance of Adam’s story on the history and teachings of Islam, there has been very limited scholarship on Adam’s slip and how the doctrine of prophetic infallibility has impacted the way Muslim exegetes interpret Adam’s slip and relocation to Earth. In order to fill this gap, this thesis examines how Adam’s story is interpreted in light of these matters and ultimately concludes that the common notions of “sin” and “disobedience,” as well as the view that the relocation is a punishment, are challenged in the works of Muslim thinkers. In examining the tafsīr works in this study, this thesis proves that the dominant views on Adam in Islam within English scholarship are coloured by the biblical associations of Adam’s narrative. These associations are not accurate or coherent with how Adam’s story is interpreted in the Arabic canon of Muslim literature. The key research questions addressed in this thesis are: (1) Do the exegetes depict Adam’s eating from the tree despite the divine prohibition as degrading Adam’s status?; (2) How do the exegetes interpret and present Adam’s eating from the tree to the reader?; (3) Is Adam’s relocation to Earth understood as his punishment for eating from the tree?; and (4) To what extent do exegetes give importance to Adam’s esteemed prophetic status in their interpretation of his story? In answering these questions, this thesis offers unique insights into the story of Adam, ranging from the classifications of God’s prohibition, the complex views about Adam’s forgetfulness and finally, the different stances about Adam’s relocation from Paradise to Earth.