arthra

I was curious in tracing down some of the sources of the traditions of more than one Adam and just taking a brief googling around the net found the following information.



Let's consider some of the sources of the tradition that there were many Adams:

(1)

Al-Razi, Tafsir-e-Kabir, 19:179.
Imam Razi has recorded the following words:

“Indeed, before our father Adam, one million or more Adams have passed.”

Wkipedia has a brief citation on the Tafsir-e-Kabir:

Tafsir al-Kabir (The Large Commentary, also known as Mafatih al-Ghayb, Keys to the Unknown) is a classical Islamic Tafsir book, written by the well-known Persian Islamic theologian and philosopher Muhammad ibn Umar Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149-1209).[1] The book is an exegesis and commentary on the Qur'an, and is ten volumes in length. It is not unusual for contemporary works to use it as a reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafsir_al-Kabir_(al-Razi)

(2)


Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas, cousin of the Prophet, his companion and a famous commentator of the Quran, gives more astonishing information, while explaining the Quranic verse 65: 12, in which it is said:

(It is Allah who has created seven heavens, and likewise earths. His commandments descend through them, so that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that He has knowledge of all things. ) (36)

Ibn-e-Abbas, when questioned about this, said:

If I tell you its details, you would disbelieve me and you would reject it. (Then he said)

There are seven earths, and every earth has prophet like your prophet, Adam like Adam, Nuh like Nuh, Ibrahim like Ibrahim, and Jesus like Jesus. (37)

36.Quran, 65:12

37.Al-Suyuti, Durr al-Manthur, 5:581-582


Where's this from?


Origin and Evolution: Summer 2002 Issue

Who was Al-Suyuti?


Imam al Suyuti (Souyouti) (c. 1445-1505 CE) ( جلال الدين السيوطي) , the famous Egyptian writer, religious scholar, juristic expert and teacher whose works deal with a wide variety of subjects in Islamic theology. Suyuti adhered to the Shafi'i Madhab.


What about the Durr al-Manthur?


From a wikipedia article:

Al-Durr Al-Manthur Fi Tafsir Bil-Ma'thur (Arabic: الدر المنثور في التفسير بالماثور‎), The Scattered Pearls: Intertextual Exegesis, is an authoritatve Sunnitafsir (exegesis or commentary of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam), written by the prominent ImamJalal al-Din al-Suyuti d. 911 AH (1505 AD)[1], who also authored the Tafsir al-Jalalayn. The exegesis explains each passage of the Qur'an by the reports and narrations from Muhammad, his Companions and the immediate generations following the Companions. Suyuti compiled all the reports and narrations that he could gather for each particular passage - even contradictory reports, as can be seen in the narrations gathered explaining verse 33:33:
Dur al-Manthur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So it would appear that this book the Durr al-Manthur is an authoritative Sunni tafsir..

tonyfish58

Very Interesting - it may shed light on this passage

Thus hath Muḥammad, the Point of the Qur’án, revealed: “I am all the Prophets.” Likewise, He saith: “I am the first Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus.” Similar statements have been made by Imám ‘Alí.

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh XXII Page 51

By saying the First Adam, does that mean there were more? And this passage First & Last Adam

Baha'u'llah wrote: ' ...how many are those who, through failure to understand its meaning, have allowed the term "Seal of the Prophets" to obscure their understanding, and deprive them of the grace of all His manifold bounties! Hath not Muhammad, Himself, declared: "I am all the Prophets?" Hath He not said as We have already mentioned: "I am Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus?" Why should Muhammad, that immortal Beauty, Who hath said: "I am the first Adam" be incapable of saying also: "I am the last Adam"? For even as He regarded Himself to be the "First of the Prophets" - that is Adam - in like manner, the "Seal of the Prophets" is also applicable unto that Divine Beauty. It is admittedly obvious that being the "First of the Prophets," He likewise is their "Seal." .. ' - Book of Certitude *

Cheers Tony

armin

First Adam refers to the cycles, the 500,000 year cycle of the Baha'i faith for example. From my understanding, the next Manifestation of God will be considered the Second Adam.

arthra

What prompted this thread was that a question came up about Adam on another forum.. I quoted the following from the Kitab-i-Iqan:

Likewise, strive thou to comprehend the meaning of the melody of that eternal beauty, Husayn, son of Ali, who, addressing Salman, spoke words such as these:

"I was with a thousand Adams, the interval between each and the next Adam was fifty thousand years, and to each one of these I declared the Successorship conferred upon my father."

He then recounteth certain details, until he saith:

"I have fought one thousand battles in the path of God, the least and most insignificant of which was like the battle of Khaybar, in which battle my father fought and contended against the infidels." Endeavour now to apprehend from these two traditions the mysteries of "end," "return," and "creation without beginning or end."

~ Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 167

So the question came about traditions and I found the two posted ones in my initial post above..anyway I it interesting and decided to share it here...