The Stories of The Prophets #18 – The Story of Adam (Pt. 6) – Was Adam ‘…Created in God’s Image’?

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Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu All praise is due to Allah Subhana huzzah Allah, the One and the unique. It is he who revealed the Quran and taught them how to speak. It is He that we worship and it is His blessings that we seek. He is the Lord of the oppressed, any answers Do they have the week, so inshallah to Allah we're continuing in our discussion of the creation of our father Adam alayhis salam, in light of the Quran and Sunnah. And in my last lecture, I went into some detail with regards to the tradition of that is mentioned in a number of books of Hadith, that Adam alayhis salam was 60 cubits tall, and that the creation has continued to diminish in size. And

I went over a number of interpretations. And again, to summarize, so this is a very sensitive issue because this is one of the areas where those who affirmed the Suna and the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, they're very cautious about trying to rationalize a hadith. And there's no doubt that this is a gray area over here, the default position of the majority of scholars of Hadith is that if the chain is authentic, then we really minimally question the metal or the, the content of the Hadith. However, throughout the course of our history, there have always been voices within our Allah sooner or Sunni tradition, scholars of Hadith Because see, the point is that if we

open this door, it does become a Pandora's box that well, what if, you know, this group doesn't like any idea that affirms other? So the more Tesla, for example, denied every Hadith that talks about powder, and they said, We don't want to accept any Hadith that affirms predestination because it went against their mind. So we don't want to go down this route. At the same time, does this mean that we completely ignore facts when it comes to a potentially a potentially problematic narration? What if there was a human error, and so we opened this door. And as I explained that with regards to this Hadith, a number of scholars of our past and I went over their names, they did try to either

interpret this fate phrase, or even claim that this that phrase of the creation has continued to diminish that it was mistakenly attributed in the Hadith. And in fact, it goes back to the Israeli art or the narrations of the People of the Book. So I went over this. And of course, that is an interpretation. If you feel that, you know, that interpretation is not something you're, you're content with, and feel free to follow other interpretations as well. And there are a number of so Alhamdulillah, this issue has been given a number of interpretations, I personally, as I said, lean towards the fact that that phrase, can be understood that the creation has remained diminished in

size, and that when in the afterlife, we shall be recreated in a different form. And that is a different life, as Allah says, yoma Tibet, although later on it was semi was on that date, the heavens and the earth are going to be a different heavens and earth. So totally different dynamics, totally different paradigm. So in that creation in the afterlife, we shall revert to the original creation of our father, as the mother has set up. And that makes, to me a complete sense, and it is in conformity with the wordings of the Hadith, it's not too much of a stretch. So the Hadith remains authentic. And we simply say, like a number of scholars said that the phrase that the creation has

remained diminished in size, it should be translated the way that I just translated it also by the number of people commented about the existence of the people of add as giants and whatnot. And also in the story of the Prophet Musa alayhis salam that the Amalekites are mentioned as being giants. So these references simply means that they were of a larger stature than normal, not actual giants in the sense of 100 foot high. As we're aware, certain civilizations, in Naturally Speaking are taller than others. We have the indo pygmies, for example of certain areas of Africa. And then we have the Maasai, of certain areas of Africa. So one of these tribes is almost seven for the default amongst

them is six and a half to seven feet. And then the other tribe The default is like, you know, four feet or whatnot. So this is within the norm of normal range of human beings. And so there are races, there are certain peoples that and even for example, in certain Nordic

Countries versus certain for Eastern countries, there is a height difference that is an average height difference. This is within the realm of normative heights, as I have said, that we are not aware. And I know a lot of people think that there's photographic evidence or think that there's cover ups and hiding evidence is I mean, that's a position that some people have taken. I don't agree that there's been a cover up and the Giants have been discovered, there have not there has no, there has been no discovery of any such giants. And the point is that the heavy doesn't need to be interpreted in that way in the first place. Once again, with my utmost love and respect, we have

people who read in more than what the hell he says, Then when somebody comes along and says, Hey, that doesn't make sense. They feel as if the Hadeeth is being rejected, and it's not being rejected. We are sensible people have intelligence, and we take facts into account. And we affirm that whatever Allah and His Messenger say, is true. But we also ask, did they actually say this? Is that authentic hadith? And if they said it, what is the meaning? Is it in accordance with what you are thinking? Or are there other interpretations. So this is really the the key point and the difference between those who affirmed the Sunnah, versus those who reject the Sunni. Now, today's lecture is

actually going to be in a similar vein, because we're not going to go to another set of evidences that has generated once again, a lot of discussion. And again, as I have said many times that my lecture series here is not basic, it is meant to be a little bit more in depth. And perhaps for many of you, you are being introduced to concepts and ideas that you are not aware of. And so it is natural to doubt to be skeptical, but I am always referencing every fact that I say, quoting scholars far greater than myself so that you are aware, just because you're hearing it for the first time, doesn't mean I'm inventing it, right? So my research is original, but whenever I quote

something, if there is a precedent, I will say it and if it is from me, I will also say it, and it's up to you to take it or to leave it. So today's lecture is actually going to be a summary of a very contentious issue. From the beginning of time, this has been debated, and many treatises and paragraphs have been written about this issue, because it deals with the Hadeeth that once again, has generated a lot of discussion. And yes, even controversy, and that is the Hadith that I briefly referenced in our last lecture, and I'm going to continue today and that is the Hadith same hadith of Abu huraira the old one, that is a prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said hello to Allah who

are them either surah t to Lucy tuna virag that Allah created Adam in his image, and he was 60 cubits tall and that the Hadith goes on. Now, in the last lecture, I went over 60 cubits I went over the creation diminishing, but I said the phrase, Allah created Adam in his image, I said, I'll talk about that later. This is now that later we're going to talk about that issue. Allah created Adam in his image, and this hadith is reported by Abu hora de la one, and then another version of Abu Ghraib as a narration. The other writer said that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that if one of you is fighting your brother, if you are fighting your brother, then for the edge, then he will

watch to avoid hitting him in the face for in the law Hello, Adam, Allah surah t because Allah created Adam in his image. Now, the meaning here is that if there is a legitimate fight, sometimes there's an actual legitimate fight self defense, something going on, that something is going on, that you are actually fighting somebody for a purpose that might be legitimate. Generally speaking, you should not be fighting but sometimes something happens somebody is you know, pushing you and you push back or whatnot, you know, and it's not good to do that. But it is allowed to do that. I will profit so set I'm set if you are going to do that then do not hit the face area. Do not hit the face

area, because Allah xojo created Adam in his image, okay, for in the la hora, aka Adam, Allah surah t. Now, obviously, this phrase has generated a lot of discussion and yes, even controversy, and that is because what exactly does it mean? Allah created man in His image, Allah created Adam in his image. And of course this notion of Allah creating man in his image is something that is clearly also biblical. By the way just because it is biblical doesn't mean it's an Islamic it could be that the both of them originated from Allah subhana wa Tada. So just because something is found in the Bible, and the older New Testament doesn't necessarily negate it. At the same time. It gives us some

pause and thoughts and say, Okay, hold on a sec, what's going on over here. So in Genesis, chapter one, verses 26, to 27, in the translation of the Bible, of the Old Testament, and God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him male and female created he

them. So God created man in his own image, hold up a love who are them either surah T, it is almost the same verbatim to verbatim. Now, the question is that, what is the interpretation of this phrase? And, of course, this notion of Allah creating Adam in his image, it is something that all theological schools have discussed and interpreted in their own different ways, because the notion of Allah attributes for those of you that are aware of anything to do with Islamic theology, you know that the most contentious issue of our history when it comes to theology, the most debated issue, the central core of the debates of Islamic theology, revolve around the concept of Allah's

attributes. This is what the majority of earlier books talk about, how do we understand those attributes that are somewhat humanistic, or the technical term anthropomorphic. So when Allah says that he has a hand or two hands, when the Prophet system said, your Lord is not one eyed when the Quran says, Your Lord has risen over the throne, when the Quran mentions that so many other

verses over the profitsystem talks about a lot coming down every third of the night, the last other night, and the Quran mentions wotja, our book or your LORD shall come. So these are all adjectives and verbs and adverbs that are being used to describe Allah subhana wa Tada. And it generated controversy since the second generation not amongst the Sahaba. Amongst the Sahaba, it was too early, they were not talking about this issue at all. However, when Muslims came into to Roman lands, and Christians were talking about this issue. So they also absorbed it, I have a more much more technical talk, which you can find on my YouTube channel, it is called the C fats controversy

in early Islam. C fat is the attributes if you really want to know some advanced stuff. And that's a very technical talk about where this originated, you can go listen to that talk. For our purposes, we need to understand that different theological schools came into existence with regards to how we should understand these attributes. And there are for the purposes of our lecture, let's say, three primary philosophies if you'd like you have the martez data. And then you have the Sunni groups of color, like the shadow and maturity, and then you have the authority or the Salafi school. So these are the three main trends that historically are represented in the oma. And as for the martez data,

they are non Sudanese. And what this means is that they're not really concerned about the books of Hadith. That's really the main difference between us and them, is that for them, and this is why for them if the Hadith doesn't make sense, then it's not authentic. If the Hadith does not make sense we'll just reject the Hadith the processing did not say it that so for them, they're not that concerned with isnaad analysis. So I'll call the Abdul Jabbar who is their main theology and died 400 something for 30 something good God, I'll call them the Jabbar is their main figure, who wrote many many books about theology, many volumes he wrote about mortality theology. He mentions the

Hadith that we just talked about. Allah created Adam in his image and he comments had the hill Akbar La Jolla Jews autosteer Coby ha it can at Mohali fatale Adela tipalti are these types of narrations It is impossible is not allowed for us to believe in them. Now your Jews, we are not allowed to believe in them. In other words, he is saying the Prophet system could never have said this. Why? Because it contradicts evidences that are clear cut, that Allah is unique that Allah is laser committed he Shea that Allah is not like any entity or human being. And now we come across this hadith that says that Allah created man in His image. So the more ethnicity philosophy, which is

then taken up by many other strands of Islam twelver Shia ism has absorbed more intensity theology when it comes to the the attributes of Allah

five or Shia Islam which is ad sheer ism has also absorbed this evolved ism which is in Oman and other places that also absorbed this. So all of these schools will basically say the process of did not say this end of story, okay, no way they're going to accept that the Prophet system said that Allah created Adam in his image. Now, once again, to be technical here, we have to be fair, we are people of justice and truth. They are not rejecting the Prophet sallallahu. If you send them, they're rejecting these narrations as having come from him. And there is a huge difference between the two, to reject something from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi. wasallam, is frankly, Cofer, if you

were to say, I don't care what the process said, I'm going to reject it, then you are rejecting Allah, His Messenger and you're not a Muslim. But these theologians and these trends, they are skeptical of the preservation of Hadeeth and not of the theoretical applicability of the heavy, they're skeptical that heavy has been preserved, and these trends are still there.

Round across the globe, you can call them neo mortiser lights. There are many famous thinkers and they're very popular across the cultures and globe simply because frankly, at one level, they do appeal at one level, they do appeal to the, the mindset of many people educated in the Western world, they appeal to that mindset. And so they're very famous speakers in Urdu, in Arabic and in English, who are on this trend of being highly skeptical of Hadith. And taking undertaking the preservation of Hadith is not being something that is normative, that they're very rigid. If it doesn't make sense, then we don't have to really worry about these not these are certainly at

they're coming from Jewish and Christian sources. And of course, they will point out that this is literally almost word for word it is biblical, God created man in His image Holla Holla, Amada surah t. So that's their version. Now me personally, and this is not this time to go into this, this this point here, that I am not a part of that trend, and I affirm the books of Hadith and Sunnah. And I believe that they have done an amazing job in preserving. I mean, obviously, not every book of Hadith preserves everything. Again, that's an advanced topic. But overall, the methodology of the scholars of Hadith has been an amazing effort that has allowed us to sift through and we have what

is called halbertal been preponderance of the evidence, we have that not certainty for every Hadith, but we can be fairly certain if the Prophet system said it or not. And because of this, obviously, I am

affirming the mainstream Sunni models of Hadith. And so, according to those models, this hadith is in body and in Muslim and in Muslim, and in without and so basically, it's in the majority of books of Hadith. And the factors involved in Muslim means it has been vetted by the highest standards, it's more difficult. So this is the highest standard, Allah created Adam in his image now, however, it might be in body and Muslim but believe it or not, some of the early scholars of Hadith actually did find this hadith problematic. And amongst them was none other than EMA Malik. Now remember, Imam Malik died 179 and that's two generations before emammal Bahati Imam Al Bukhari died 256 and between

body and Mr. Maddock, there is a person he doesn't know return your medic directly. He's two generations after you my mother. So EMA medic, you know, he's flourished. 150 higit. Alright, so he's early on EMA Malik actually would not narrate this hadith and he forbade people to narrate this hadith. He did not like this hadith. And his students later on interpreted this, that he didn't want to cause fitna, he didn't want to cause confusion with this difficult Hadees because people might get wrong thoughts or bizarre thoughts. And so EMA medic did not like narrating this hadith. Now, some have interpreted this to mean that he considered the Hadith to be weak. And that is an

interpretation that one can derive from the text. And others have interpreted this to mean that no, he considered the Hadith to be authentic. But he thought that this hadith is going to confuse the people and is going to give them ideas that are unbefitting of Allah subhanho wa Taala either case, is that he felt uncomfortable narrating these a hadith in public and it is not in his motto, by the way, this hadith is not in his famous water. So this is a mathematics, philosophy or position about this particular Hadith. And in contrast to this, Imam Ahmed, for example, was very blunt that this is a Hadith of the Prophet system. And yes, Allah created man in His image, and we're going to

accept it. And so Mr. Muhammad has a different philosophy about these Hadith. And some of those, some of the modern followers remember

those that are on the 30 or the Salafi strand. So they have taken this head these to be a very important heavy so much so that entire treatise ease and a 400 page book or 350 page book and our times, literally in our generation has been written about this hadith and many famous odema wrote, you know, approved of this book, as we'll get to inshallah, in today's lecture. Now, before we dive in deeper into this issue, we also have to mention that one can also talk about this hadith from a different perspective. So to be to be simplistic here, this Hadith, Allah created Adam in his image, there are two different questions to ask ourself, the first question is, who is being referenced?

When Allah says Allah created Adam, in his image? Is the his a capital H. Allah created Adam in God's image? Or is the his a smaller h Allah created Adam in

His image and then his refers to somebody else not Adam. So this is the first question. Now, once we answer this question, once we answer this question, then if we say that the his is a capital H and refers to Allah, then we get to the second question, which is, how do we understand that Allah created Adam in Allah's image? Okay, that's if we understand Allah created Adam and Allah's image, because we do have the option as we're going to see a number of scholars interpreting Allah created Adam in his with a small age. So let us answer the first question that what did our earlier scholars say about the meaning of this Hadith, who does the his refer to? So we have actually three, three

opinions over here, three opinions over here. The first opinion is that Allah created Adam in his image means the image of the one you are fighting, and you're thinking of punching him. The profitsystem is saying, Do not punch Do not hit on the face, do not strike the face. Because that person you're striking, Allah created Adam, in that image, it's as if you're striking your own father. This is the meaning of the Hadith, okay? Because the Hadith says that if one of you fights, let him avoid the face for Allah created Adam in his image, meaning the person you're fighting, he is a human being, and would you hit your father, no. So then avoid the face, because that is a noble

part of the body, and the structure of the face, the the form of the face, it is unique to mankind, and Allah created your father and his father, Adam, in that image. So this is one interpretation. And it is the interpretation of quite a number of our earlier scholars. A second interpretation, which is very fairly common, fairly common. A second interpretation is that the his goes back to none other than our father, damn it, his setup. Allah created Adam, in the image of Adam, Allah created Adam, in his form, his is Adam. So it doesn't go back to Allah. Now, by the way, both first and second interpretation. We don't have to then worry about the attribute controversy, because then

we are saying, this hadith is not related to the attributes of Allah, this hadith is describing aadam. So it's not

in the realm of the problematic attributes. Allah has a hand Allah has a face, Allah has, you know, eyes, these are mentioned in the Hadith, right? And we talked about different schools and how they interpreted them. And again, I mean, I've spoken about this in many different lectures

for Actually, I have a q&a on this as well on my channel. What is the difference between selfies and machetes? I also have when I talked about when I talked about the Day of Judgment, and I mentioned which are a book your LORD shall come on the Day of Judgment. I mentioned the different interpretations go listen to these, these lectures here, is there and I'll also very briefly summarize in 1015 minutes as well, because this is not the goal to teach you different theologies right now, but you should be aware that there are different ways of interpreting the attributes of a law historically. And as we said, there's three primary schools as I said, I didn't go into them I

did not go into a lot of detail. The Martha Zilla, negate the process and even said it the Sunni people of Kalam these are the Chinese in the activities, they would affirm if the Hadith is authentic, that the profitsystem said it, but then they would say that but you are interpreting it in a literal manner in an anthropomorphic manner. And what is meant is something that is figurative. So when Allah says hand he means the power he doesn't mean a yet you know, when Allah says I am or I he means that Allah is looking at that the context is Allah is looking upon is gazing upon us. And it doesn't mean that there's an eye. And then of course, you have the the 30 school, in my mind is

the one who's most famous for this had been Tamia as well. And they are the ones who said, any noun or verb or adjective that occurs in the Koran or soon ascribed to Allah, we stick with it. And we understand the linguistic meaning, and we don't understand the modality we don't understand the specifics of how nor should our mind go there. So we affirm the word and we leave the modality to Allah Subhana what to Allah, as for the second group, which is the Chinese authorities, they affirm the word but they say that the firm the word exists, they said different but they say that it cannot mean it cannot mean what you guys think it means it cannot mean that Allah has an EIN or a yet no,

because Allah does not have body parts and Allah is the you know, not a body or whatnot. And so obviously, the hadith of Allah being a creating Adam in his image, if the H is capital, then the visitor and other groups are going to end the news are going to all have an interpretation. And if the

Ah is small than these three groups become irrelevant because now we're not worried about the issue of the attribute. So back to our three category three opinions. Number one, it goes back to the one whose face it is. Now, this, this interpretation, by the way, does not square up with both narrations of the heavy because there's two narrations of the Hadeeth. The first of them

is in Sahih. Muslim, there are prophets of Allah, why do you send them said when one of you fights avoid the face because Allah created Adam in his face? Okay. Maybe we understand this hadith refers to the person you're fighting. How about the other added which is in Bukhari and Muslim that Abu huraira says, Hola, Hola. Hola, Adam, Allah sudo su nigera. Allah created Adam in his image, and he was 60 cubits tall. And when He created him, he said, go and say Salaam to the angel, there is no fighting going on in that Hadith, there is no person that is being hit or the intention to hit in that Hadith. And the phrase is the same hudec Allah who Adam Allah surah T. Therefore, this

interpretation, although it has been, it has been offered by a number of scholars of kadem. In reality, it doesn't hold up for the simple reason that the first headache which is actually the more well known and the more authentic asst body and Muslim has nothing to do with fighting. It is simply Allah created Adam in his image, so it cannot be in the image of the one fighting. So we now get to the second interpretation, which is actually as I said, fairly common, and that is that his means Adams image, and this is the default or standard position of many of the scholars of qalam, including urban hedger, and for dinner, Rosie under Duany and a call to b and a solusi. And these

are all famous scholars of the the Sunni kaname or the the Ashanti and the mighty the Kalam however, it is also found within a 30 strands as well. And there are a number of scholars, prominent dissenting voices who disagreed with the other interpretation, which is number three, we're going to come to that. And this group sided with position number two, right? and foremost, amongst them was the great scholar of Hadeeth, Eben hoceima. Even Jose Medina 311, he wrote, and he wrote a famous book. So haven hoceima, which is one of the four sahoo books you have body Muslim, even Jose Mavin headband, these are the four books of sahid that were written, and Jose was considered number three

of the site after Bukhari and Muslim and he also wrote a book called kibito heat and in that book, it aberto hate what is classified terracotta butterhead is a book that is about Allah's attributes. And in that book, he mentions this hadith and he says that, that and that let me quote here that so Allah surah t Haleakala. Mata, Mata Hara, for one and apolar, who are Rockman sefa to mincy, fatty that e Jalla. wa ala. And so he is saying, when Allah says Allah created Adam, in his image when the profitsystem said, Allah created Adam in his image, he means in the image of Adam, not as some people who don't have knowledge assume that in the image of a rush, man, no, rather Allah created

Adam in the image of Adam. Now, what does it mean Allah created Adam in the image of Adam, it is something that even khateeb and others they mentioned this, and even hedger also mentions this, in his commentary, if I tell buddy, I've been hijab mentioned this as well, he says, The point of this hadith is as follows is very simple and interesting. Allah created Adam, fully formed in the image of a human being, Adam did not go through multiple phases. Adam did not come out as a baby and then become larger and larger and then go through teenager and puberty. No, Allah created Adam in his final form, perfect. That's what the Hadith means. hallak Allahu Allah surah T. Allah created Adam,

in his image completely when Allah said couldn't find a corn that was already fully formed. That's the meaning of the Hadith. According to so many roadmap, and also in our times are in the generation before us. I mean, our generation, two decades ago, the famous scholar of Heidi Barney, Muhammad Nasir, the famous scholar of Hadith, he also was very strict in this interpretation, saying that this is the interpretation of the Hadith, Allah created man. In the image of man, Allah created Adam in the image of Adam, this is the second interpretation, and it is well known and famous interpretation. The third interpretation is the interpretation of imaginative and humble and those

who followed that interpretation of the sifat. They consider this hadith to be of the divine attributes headed, and they were very forceful in rejecting opinion number one and opinion number two

So much so that he Mamba. Hamad,

very harshly denounced anybody who had opinion number two as being somebody who's deviated from the correct understanding, and he's subscribing to one of the extreme groups like the Japanese or whatever azeema. Muhammad is well known for saying on many of the of the issues that have the attributes, he has a very hard line stance when it comes to the attributes issue. And he might Mohamad Rahim, Allah Allah believed that Allah created man in His image. And he said that this is a honor to men, and that we don't think too deeply about what the implications of that are, we simply affirm that Allah has a form or image, Allah has a surah This is what the Mohammed said that Allah

has a surah. But his surah is not the surah that we understand. And that however, you know, Adam was created, that there is some in his in its own way, just like Allah, according to that interpretation of Islam, that Allah subhanaw taala has a face that is befitting him, and Allah has a hand that is befitting him. So to this, that Allah has a surah, that is befitting obviously, this type of speech, it completely goes against the second strand, which is the machete and maturity and of course, the first strand immortalized would completely rejected. So again, this is not the time to get into all of these technical details, you have to understand these are bygone controversies that have shaped

1000 millennia of our history, and so much has been written. So I'm now talking about the issue of Adam. But we have to just introduce these other controversies in this in this regard. So he mama and others, they mentioned as evidence, another version of this hadith.

And that version is from aroma rhodiola one. So the versions I quoted you are from Abu hurayrah there's another version from intermodal, the old one, and that goes as follows that even Omar said that, that took up the hill which do not consider somebody's face to be ugly or do not curse the face for a law created Adam, in the image of a rough man Hello, hello Adam. Allah Surah Rahman. Now, this version doesn't have a pronoun. The previous version has a pronoun, Allah created Adam in his image. So now we can debate What does his mean even rumors version doesn't have a pronoun. It has a law created man, Allah created Adam in the image of a rough man call us there is no interpretation

according to this version. However, as is always the case some spices and salt is added. This version is highly contested. It is not found in the standard books of Heidi it is not found in body and Muslim and, and and misleading. My mother is actually found in the very tertiary works.

Such as

Vishal medicean died in his book is also found in our Ronnie's Kabir so it's not found in the the primary books, even though they're all synced up as soon. So you'll find this narration in the tertiary books, it's not found in the primary. And, frankly, there's a lot of discussion whether it's authentic or not. And

I think it is not authentic in the first place. And also, by the way, Chanel, Barney, he has a number of pages discussing this idea, this version. And he says that version is completely inauthentic. padishah. It is unacceptable. The correct version is the Abu huraira version, which is Allah created man in His image. And then avani said his means Adams image Allah created Adam and Adams image. And that's an interpretation of a beautiful zema. And it is the tribulation of basically majority of scholars, as we said, of the Sunni column strand. Now, Mr. Mohammed, as I said, and those who followed him, and that includes great luminaries like Ubuntu, me like him and

him in our times, those that you know, the selfie strand of Islam, the 30 strand of Islam, the majority of them, almost all of them other than, you know, Shahada and Bernie and his students, pretty much the rest of the strand in our times, has taken this to be one of the main attributes of Allah subhana wa Tada. And they have written many treatises on this, and they have quoted him, as Mr. Muhammad said, that we do not explain what this means we have no right to explain it, we simply leave it as it is in the Hadith. And this is the position as well of Ibn taymiyyah that he said Allah has a surah that befits him, just like he has a yet and a watch that befits him and we don't

think about this too much. And they also mentioned a logical interpretation that why this interpretation makes sense. And they say the context of hitting somebody Haleakala is that

That's a little bit watch don't hit the face. Because Allah created man in Allah's image right? Now they say that. Why would? Why would the face be forbidden? If Allah created Adam with the face and this man with the face? Then why would the face be off limits? This is what the notion is that why mentioned this? Because in the end of the day, didn't Allah create Adam with two hands? So then we if we're hitting somebody with pushing somebody pushing him with the hand, right? Didn't Allah create Adam like he has created us, yet it is only the face that is mentioned here. And so if that is the case, then it seems to be that the face is something special. And so this group says that

that speciality is that in some way, fashion or form, we don't think too deeply about it, that Allah as origin has a surah and Adam had a surah. And Allah fashioned as the Hadith says, Hello, hello, Adam, either surah t. Now, this issue, as I said, became highly contentious, again, in our times, meaning 2030 years ago, and there was back and forth between many scholars and whatnot. And one of the famous scholars of the movement by the name of God, he wrote an entire book off data to demand for healthy Adam either suited to man, the belief of the people of a man that Allah created Adam, in the image of a man. And this book was highly encouraged. And many people wrote introductions,

including the Grand Mufti of Saudi, which should have been because he wrote an introduction where he praised the book, and he said, this is the correct belief and what not. And then, of course, other reputations followed and whatnot. Now, I'm gonna, you know, wind up with my own thoughts over here. And they mirror what I have said, what I have said in this topic, for other for other lectures and for other q&a that I've done, and that is that, you know, these topics, once upon a time were considered to be very hot topics. And people genuinely got angry and considered other Muslims to be deviance and evil over these interpretations. And this shows us that controversies themselves are

waxing and waning, that controversies, they envelope a society and everybody becomes the talk of the town. And then a century later, nobody is even aware of this controversy. The only people who still make this a controversy are those who are taught the historical controversy in their mother says, and they come out and they then continue with these controversies, inheriting the dogma that they have learned from their teachers. 1000 years ago, this controversy occurred 1200 year 1100 years ago, it occurred literally a millennia ago, for the average Muslim, I guarantee and you know, this your listeners that the average Muslim is not concerned about what this hadith means they accept it

for as it is, and they're not worried about the implications, it doesn't affect their daily life at all. It doesn't even affect their email in Allah subhana wa tada and their understanding of the worship of Allah, it is a bygone controversy. So I have held this position for the longest time and I continue to hold it. These controversies should not become modern controversies, keep them in graduate seminars amongst advanced students of knowledge in closed rooms, keep that alive that that happened in the year 300. Hedge around the year 450. This happened, go ahead and teach them because that's a part of our heritage. But it is a mistake of the highest magnitude for people involved in

academic Islam, to take these controversies and bring them up in front of the masses. And in fact, to be brutally honest, I sympathize with EMA madico hemma Hello to Allah who did not even like this heavy to become a topic of discussion. He just didn't he understood. What is the point? What is the point of the average Muslim getting involved? What does this headache mean? Look, let's just leave it as it is. And Allah subhana wa tada knows best. And frankly, the second interpretation does make a lot of sense. And that's the interpretation of Hosea and others that Allah created Adam in the image of Adam, Allah did not cause Adam to be born and grow up No, Allah created Adam in final form.

So even this, you know, the the controversy is done. But even if you want to follow position number three, or position number two, you know what, follow it no big deal, the most important thing, there's no need to create animosity or hatred or division. There is no deviancy of holding one of these positions, dear Muslim, if you feel this way, then I think you're not looking at the broader picture. The the broader picture is that we have far, far bigger issues to worry about. And I have said this in many gatherings that I'm asked that especially when people graduate from a particular School of Theology, and they're now become adamant in that school. And they're debating people of

the other school. I say to them, you know, you are debating

Over the attributes of God, and your teenage children are debating over the existence of God. You're debating over the attributes, and the next generation is talking about the existence of Allah. Where are you? And where is the next generation? Keep these topics to those students. And with hikma not that you teach students to hate others, but rather you derive historical lessons and you contextualize and yes, it's important to know, the past, but these controversies are bygone, and we should not resurrect them amongst the masses and have internet pages refuting this and doing that, okay, the average Muslim is struggling just to be a good Muslim, believe in Allah pray five times a

day, let's leave the discourse at that level. And as I said, if you want to study Islam full time, then learn to study these, and put them in their historical perspective. And so in my humble opinion, this issue should not be an issue. It is a non issue. It is something we discuss as a historical remnant of the past, it was something that caused some controversy. And you know, people have in our times are far different controversies with the envelope does everybody's talking about this, you know, you know, realities of gender. And this becomes everybody's talking about it. I assure you, within 100 200 years, people are going to be looking at this discussion as something

antiquated, they would move on, move on to something else, such as the way of you know, history, such as the web intellectual ideas. So for us to live in the past and go back and talk about this, Jeff said this and he said that you must be deviant you must be wrong. Subhan Allah, Eman and taqwa transcends your understanding of this Hadeeth it is possible you believe in position number two, position number three, and you're still righteous people worshipping Allah, and it's possible you believe in these positions, and you're not a righteous person. So bottom line, I think that the second interpretation does make a lot of sense, Allah created Adam in the image of Adam, but even if

you wish to go with position number three, or position number two, based upon you know,

principles of Colombia or whatnot, so be it. These are trends that have existed in the oma for the last 1000 something years, and we are not going to make any major issue about this insha Allah to Allah, there is another topic, but we have to now wind down here, inshallah, but I will just briefly mention that the next issue we'll be discussing, is going to be the verses and the Hadith, about the creation of our mother Hawa from our father Adam, that what is the information that we have about the creation of Hawa our mother, and what was she created from? And is it true that she was created from a rib or something these are things that are found in our tradition? So how do we understand

all of these that will be in shallow to other our topic for our next lecture, I wanted to just keep this about this one topic so that we keep our mind focused until that time which is cool. Okay, said I'm on a computer which will walk you over again.

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