The First Human Being and the First Prophet: Adam

as you will remember, while we were talking about the creation of man, we said that the first man on earth was adam, peace be upon him. adam was also the first prophet. that is, allah also sent a messenger to the very first community he created on earth and taught them their deen (religion) and how to become slaves devoted to allah.

allah taught adam how to speak and all the names. this is related in the qur'an as follows:

he taught adam the names of all things… ( surat al-baqara: 31)

this is surely very important. among all living things, only man has the faculty of speech. speaking is a feature peculiar to human beings. thanks to the fact that allah initially gave this faculty to adam, it became possible for man to know the objects around him and to give names to them.

the generations succeeding adam could also speak, had feelings, felt sorry or excited, wear clothes, used tools and devices and had talent for music and the arts. musical instruments such as the flute, wall drawings and some other objects that scientists have found with the remains of ancient human beings prove that they were people like us. in

other words, contrary to the claims of some people, the first human beings had never been wild creatures, halfape/ half-man.

you know that neither an ape nor any other being can speak, think or act like a human being. allah gave all these faculties especially to man. (for further information on this subject you can refer to the book, wonders of allah's creation by harun yahya).

but some people who are not willing to accept the fact that the first human being was

adam put forward some claims of their own: they fabricated a false identity for the first

human being. according to their imaginary scenarios, human beings and apes sprang from the same living thing, that is, they had a common ancestor, and evolved in time into

their current states. if you ask how this unusual happening occurred, they give a single answer: "it happened by chance." when you ask if there is any evidence to prove this claim, they provide none. to conclude, there is not a single remain proving that man

evolved from another being. if you ask, "what are these remains from the past?," there is a ready answer: some living things leave traces behind when they die, and these traces, which we call fossils, remain for millions of years without changing. however, for this to happen, that living thing must suddenly be entrapped in an oxygen-free environment. for instance, if a bird on the ground had been abruptly covered by a heap of sand millions of years ago, the remains of that bird could have survived to our day. similarly, there are substances secreted from trees called resins. sometimes, this honey-like substance covers an insect and turns into the hard material called amber, which preserves the dead insect for millions of years. this is the way we gather information about living beings of ancient times. these remains are called "fossils." those who suggest that the first human being came into existence from an ape-like creature can never provide any fossils proving this claim. in other words, no one has ever found a fossil belonging to an

unusual creature that was half-ape/half-human. but these people have produced false fossils, pictures and drawings to cover up this falsehood, and have even put them into school textbooks. all these frauds were gradually uncovered one by one and made public as scientific frauds. because such people are unwise and obstinate, it is almost impossible for them to accept allah's existence and to realise that he creates everything. although the number of such people is diminishing steadily, there are still some who strive to disseminate their flawed views through periodicals, books and newspapers, and also in schools. to make people believe in their flawed views, they insist on their arguments and assert that they have scientific validity. however, each piece of research done and evidence provided by intelligent scientists prove that the ape did not evolve into man.

adam, the first man, whom allah specially created, was in all ways the same as contemporary man; he was in no way different. these are the facts allah communicates to us in the qur'an. there is yet another very important issue allah informs us about adam: the story of adam and

satan, the enemy of mankind.

man's greatest enemy: satan

you may already know about satan, but do you know that he also knows you very well and resorts to every method to tempt you? do you know that the actual purpose of satan, who pretends to be your friend, is to deceive you? let's start from the very beginning and remind ourselves why satan is our enemy. for this purpose, we will turn to the story about  adam and satan in the qur'an.

in the qur'an, satan is the general name given until the day of judgment to all beings who have committed themselves to lead man astray. iblis is the principal evil being who rebelled against allah when he created adam.

according to the qur'anic account, allah created adam and then called the angels to prostrate to him. the angels complied with allah's command, but iblis refused to prostrate to adam. he impiously asserted that he was superior to man. because of his disobedience and insolence, he was banished from allah's sight. before leaving allah's presence, iblis requested time from allah to lead people astray. the purpose of iblis is to tempt people and thus to make them turn away from the right path within the period of time granted to him. he will try anything to make the majority of people subject to himself. allah proclaims that he will send satan and his followers to the fire. these things are related in the qur'an as follows:

we created you and then formed you and then we said to the angels, "prostrate before adam," and they prostrated—except for iblis. he was not among those who prostrated.

he [allah] said, "what prevented you from prostrating when i commanded you to?" he [iblis] replied, "i am better than him. you created me from fire and you created him from clay."

he [allah] said, "descend from heaven. it is not for you to be arrogant in it. so get out! you are one of the abased." he said,

"grant me a reprieve until the day they are raised up." he [allah] said, "you are one of the reprieved."

he said, "by your misguidance of me, i will lie in ambush for them on your straight path. then i will come at them, from in front of them and behind them, from their right and from their left. you will not find most of them thankful."

he [allah] said, "get out of it, reviled and driven out. as for those of them who follow you, i will fill up the fire with every one of you." ( surat al-a'raf: 11-18)

after being banished from allah's sight, satan set upon the struggle that would last until the day of judgment. since then, he has cunningly approached people, schemed to lead them astray and used unprecedented methods for this end. as you now understand better, satan is a foe that can approach man very cunningly. for this reason, you have to be watchful to escape him. never forget that satan is lying in ambush right now to scheme against you. he tries to stop you reading this book and thinking over what you read. he is trying to hinder you from doing good deeds, and to get you to become disrespectful and disobedient to your elders, and to hinder you from giving thanks to allah, praying and always telling the truth.

never allow satan to deceive you and to hinder you from becoming a person of good character and listening to the voice of your conscience. you must take refuge in allah and ask help from him when an evil thought occurs to you or when you find yourself unwilling to do a good deed, since all these are the cunning tricks of satan. never forget that satan can exercise no authority over those who have faith.