Maisonneuve & Larose

Mythic Aspects of the Process of Adam's Creation in Judaism and Islam

Author(s): Leigh N. B. Chipman
Source: Studia Islamica, No. 93 (2001), pp. 5-25
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StudiaIslamica,2001

MythicAspects of the Process of

Adam's Creation
in Judaism and Islam

In memoriam
Hava Lazarus-Yafeh

Introduction
ThispaperaimstoexaminevarioustalesofhowGod createdAdamfrom
clay as an exampleof mythopoetic
activityin Islam. Comparisonof the
Jewish,Islamicand Gnosticmaterialrelatingto thecreationof Adam in
thesethreereligionswillshowthatIslam,farfromrejecting
mythoutright,
in factstandsin themiddleof a continuum
whoseextremesare Judaism
(generallyregardedas lackingin myth)on theone handand Gnosticism
as highlymythical)
on theother.
(generally
regarded
inrecentyears,
The studyofmyth
hasenjoyedrenewedscholarly
attention
andentire
bookshavebeendevotedtothediscussion
ofthequestion"Whatis
thata mythin thecomparative-religious
myth?"'Thereis generalagreement
senseis nota lie or a fiction,
theusualmeaningof
(or comparative-literary)
andcontroversy
confusion
mythin everyday
speech.Beyondthatconsensus,
The
definition
of
most
to
of
this
suited
the
myth
reign.
purpose
paperis that
a sacrednarrative
whichexplainshowtheworldandhumausedin folklore:
nityreachedtheirpresentstate.2This definition
encompassesthetwomost
*
Thisarticle
is basedona chapter
ofmyMA thesis,
oftheCreation
andGnosticaspectsofthestory
"Mythic
MidrashandIslamicLiterature"
ofJerusalem,
ofMan,comparing
(TheHebrewUniversity
1999),supervised
by
andDr.MeirM. Bar-Asher.
I wouldliketothankDr.Bar-Asher
forhiswillingness
to
Prof.Hava Lazarus-Yafeh
andgoodadviceeversince.
a thesisthatwas nearcompletion,
andforhisunfailing
helpfulness
beginsupervising
I wouldliketothankDavidCookandLindaBarron,
ofthispaper.
whoreadearlierdrafts
fromtheQur'anuse R. Bell,TheQur'an:Translated
witha criticalreA noteon translations:
Quotations
is myowntranslation,
as arecitations
1937-39).AllotherArabicmaterial
oftheSurahs(Edinburgh,
arrangement
citea translator.
ofHebrewmaterial
thatdo notspecifically
ofthesubjectareW.G. Doty,Mythography:
TheStudyofMyths
and Rituals(Tuscaloosa,
I. Somesurveys
andMethod(Charlottesville,
andW. Doniger(eds.),MyAth
1996),L. Coupe,Myth
1986);L. Patton
(London,1997).
whicharenarratives
toldas truestories
thecreation
oftheworld
2. Incontrast
tolegends,
setintheperiodafter
theaudiencerealizesarefictional.
See on thisA. Dundes,"MadnessinMethod,
andtofolktales,which
plusa Plea
in: L. PattonandW. Doniger(eds.),Mythand Method(Charlottesville,
forProjective
Inversion,"
1996),p. 147.
rev.ed. (Indianapolis,
motif-numbers
aretakenfromS. Thompson,
Folklore
1966).
ofFolkLiterature,
Motif-Index

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

of anymyth:narrative
and explanation.
important
components
Peoplehave
tried
understand
in
to
the
world
which
and
is anexpresalways
theylive, myth
sionof thissearchforknowledge
butcan
whichis notnecessarily
historical,
take
Theseanswers
provideus withanswerstoourbasicexistential
questions.3
theformofstoriesthatareregarded
themas thebasisfor
bytheculture
telling
itsmanners
andmorals.Theyusuallyinvolvehigher
beings,andoftena certain
versionof themythwill be preserved
in theculture'sscriptures
or recited
A mythis notnecessarily
in thesenseof
an explanation
duringfestivals.
a parnotunderstood;
itis an interpretation,
rather,
makingclearersomething
ticular
theworld.
wayofperceiving
Islamhastraditionally
seenitselfas a religionbasedon divinely-revealed
law (theshari'a),rather
thanon myth.
toachievea pureandperfect
Striving
theguardians
oftheshari'a regarded
ofthe
monotheism,
mythas a remnant
(qussas) whoexpandedand passedon old tales
paganpast,andstorytellers
wereoftenregardedwithsuspicion.4However,thecommentators
on the
and
Hadith
were
unable
to
from
refrain
the
eleQur'an
expanding mythic
inrevelation,
whilepoetsandmystics
mentscontained
eagerlyleaptintothe
ocean of ancientmythological
and interpreted
traditions
themin theirown
itspurposeis to find
tradition;
ways.Thispaperwillnotstudythemystical
thatapparently
was hostileto it.
sparksofmythwithinthetradition
A centralmethodological
tool in thishuntwill be comparison
of early
IslamictextswithJewishsources.Untilrecently
Judaism
the
wasconsidered
anti-mythic
religionpar excellence.This viewwas mostforcefully
expressed bytherenowned
BiblescholarY. Kaufmann,
accordingto whom,Israelitereligiondoes notmerelyopposemyth,butis unableto understand
its
While
the
of
in
Judaism
has
been
controversial
for
myth
question
essence.5
manyyears,moreandmorescholarsarenowoftheopinionthatmythdoes
indeedexistwithinJudaismpossiblydue to a changein theperception
of
no
which
is
seen
as
a
tale
the
from
of
the
but
myth,
longer
gods,
biographies
rather
as a narrative
thatstabilizesandorganizesthevariouscomponents
of
a certainculturewithintheframework
ofmeaningand values.6
Muchof thediscussionof mythin Judaismhas revolvedaboutthecharacterofGod. It is appropriate
to widenthisdiscussiontoincludethefigure
of Adam,theFirstMan, forhe is (paradoxically
or not)an almostsuperhumanbeing,meantto serveas an exampleand paradigmforus, hischilitis worthnotingE. Schweid'ssummary
dren,in ourlives.In thiscontext,
of S. Hirsch'sformulation
of Jewishmythin his Religionsphilosophie
des
within
exists
both
Judaism
within
and
different
Judentums:
Myth
paganism,
in contentbutequivalentin positionand role.Paganmythis an expression
3. A. Schimmel,
theSignsofGod (Charlottesville,
1994),p. 125.
Deciphering
4. TheEncyclopediaofIslam,newedition(Leiden,1960-todate),s.v. "Kass."
5. Y. Kaufmann,
IsraeliteReligion(Jerusalem
andTel-Aviv,1954),passinm.
6. I. Gruenwald,"The Unpreventable
Presenceof Myth- OpeningEssay,"in: H. Pedaya(ed.) Eshel
Beer-Sheva4: MythinJudaism(Beersheba,1996),p. 3.

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MYTHIC ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS OF ADAM'S CREATIONIN JUDAISMAND ISLAM

ofnatural
forceswhichsubmittotheblindconsistency
ofFate,whileJewish
is
the
moral
truth
of
existence.
human
historical,
myth
expressing
spiritual
can all be seen as
Thus,thestoryof Creation,thestoriesof thePatriarchs
historicalmythsexpressingthe laws of the historyof the
paradigmatic
Jewishpeople.7Islam,too,usesmyth
as a paradigm
withtheperforhistory,
iod of theProphetMuhammadand thefirstgeneration
of Muslimsoften
eraofCreationin othercultures.8
takingtheplace oftheprimordial
Another
methodof searching
forthesparksof mythtakesus to thepreIslamicperiod,andtotheGnosticreligion.
Thisreligion,
possiblytheminim
in theMiddle East in thesecondto
(sectarians)of the Sages, flourished
centuries
CE. It is a matterof some controversy
the
fourth
as to whether
GnosticswerehereticChristians,
Jewsor pagans.Theircreationmythis
similarto speculations
current
BCE, based on
alreadyin thefirstcentury
Greekphilosophy
andechoesof whichwe can findin thewritings
ofPhilo
fromthe Platoniccreationmyth
Judaeus.This mythderived,ultimately,
appearingin theTimaeus,combinedwithGenesis.Mythis essentialto the
andcertainmythic
can best
Gnosticsystems,9
elementsin rabbinicthought
as polemicagainsttheGnostics.Someoftheseideasreappear
be understood
in theMuslimmaterials
to be examinedhere.
Gnosticismwas a religioncomposedof manysects and religioussystems.'0The mainsourcethatI havedrawnuponin thispaperis thelongversionof TheApocryphon
ofJohn,whichappearsin codicesII andIV of the
at Nag' Hammadiin UpperEgypt.PearCopticGnosticLibraryuncovered
son definesthisworkas a mythopoetic
exegesis of textsfromGenesis
withAdam'screation(Gen. 1:26ff.,
Gen. 2:7), a Gnosticsyntheconcerned
Jewishexegeticaltraditions
sis of severalnon-Gnostic
relatingto these
texts."In TheApocryphon
ofJohn,theDemiurge,thecreatorgod of this
divine
materialworldandthesonofSophia(Wisdom- thelowestspiritual
a
that
he
the
a
is
As
voice
announces
result,
onlygod.
heavenly
probeing),
claimsthat"Thereis Man and theson of Man,"and theDemiurgeandthe
and Re-Mythologization
of Judaism(Mythand Judaismin the
7. E. Schweid,"De-Mythologization
of Kaufmann,
Buberand Beck),"in: H. Pedaya(ed.) EshelBeer-Sheva4: Mythin Judaism(Beerthought
sheba,1996),p. 344.
see M. Forward,"Islam,"in: J.Holm and
to mythand history
8. For an overviewof Islam's attitude
J.Bowker(eds.),Mythand History(London,1994),pp. 97-118.
forthehistory
of religionsas itsbeingthe
9. GedalayahuStroumsaconsidersGnosticism's
importance
intheancientworldandan attempt
to reversetheprocessofde-mythologiofmythic
lastflowering
thought
of IsraelandtheGreekphilosophers.
See G. Stroumsa,
Another
Seed: Studies
zationbegunbytheprophets
in GnosticMythology
(Leiden,1984),p. 1.
that
was in facta separatereligion,or was merelya tendency
10. The questionwhetherGnosticism
is thesubjectof debate.See, on one
appearedin a numberof religionsandbeliefsystemsin lateantiquity,
in idem.,Gnosticism,
Judaismand EgyptianChristianity
side: B. Pearson,"Introduction",
(Minneapolis,
there:B. Layton,The GnosticScriptures
(New York,1987),pp. xxi-xxii;on
1990),pp. 6-9 andreferences
"Gnosticism":
an argument
a dubiouscategory(Printheother:M.A. Williams,Rethinking
fordismantling
ceton,1996).
in idem.,Gnosticism,
Judaismand Egyptian
I1. B. Pearson,"Biblicalexegesisin Gnosticliterature,"
Christianity
(Minneapolis,1990),pp. 33-34.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

a glimpse
archons,
beingswhotakepartinrulingthisworld,arevouchsafed
thespiritual
oftheAnthropos,
FirstMan whois also theSupremeGod. The
DemiurgeandarchonsdecidetocreateAdamintheimageoftheAnthropos,
and create"theanimateAdam,"a non-material
beingwhichhas a soul
(psyche)butno spirit(pneuma).At thisstage,Adamis incapableofmovementandlieson theground,
untilSophiapersuadestheDemiurgetobreathe
hisspiritintohim.Thus,thedivinesparkthatSophiastolein orderto give
birthto theDemiurgepassesfromhimto Adam.The archonsimmediately
andimprithattheyhavecreateda beingsuperior
tothemselves
understand
son himin a materialbody.12 In otherwords,Adamis composedof body,
withboththebodyandsoulthecreations
oftheforcesruling
soulandspirit,
thisworldandthrough
whichhe is enslavedto Fate.Withinthesoul is the
also calledthe"spark,"partofthedivinepowerwhichhas falleninto
spirit,
ourworldandthebodywas createdtoensurethatitremainshere.In a state
ofnon-salvation,
thespiritwithin
thebodyandsoulis notawareofitselfand
or
is depictedas paralysed,
asleep poisoned;it"doesn'tknow"(i.e.,a-gnosandsalvationareachievedthrough
tic,as itwere).Awakening
gnosis.3
Legendsaboutthecreationof Adamare foundin threemaingenresof
Islamicliterature:
Qur'aniccommentary
(ta'rikh)andstories
(tafsir),
history
a
of theprophets
is
connected
commen(qisas al-anbiya').Tafsir usually
in
text
is
which
the
sentence
tary,
holy
systematically
interpreted,
by senevenwordbyword.14 As representatence,phrasebyphraseandsometimes
tivesof thisgenre,I choseMuqatilb. Sulayman(d. 150/767),'" Tabari(d.
"
310/923)'6 and Ibn Kathir(d. 774/1373). As faras theMuslimhistorians
therewas no realdifference
betweenreporting
thecreation
wereconcerned,
eventsfromthetimeof
of theworld,letalonethatofAdam,andreporting
histheProphetand later- bothkindsofreports
(akhbar)wereconsidered
Tabari,Mas'udi (d.
tory.I haveadducedtheversionsoftheearlyhistorians
345/956)' andMaqdisi (fl.355/966)19of thecreationofAdam- laterhisthethemesthat
torianstendedto repeattheseearlyones,at leastregarding
is
me. Qisas al-anbiya',thestoriesof the(pre-Islamic)
interested
prophets,
of Biblical
thebiographies
thenamegivento a numberof worksretelling
(including
personagesnotregardedas suchin theBible butconsiprophets
suchas
in Muslimtradition),
New Testament
deredprophets
personalities
Jesus,Zachariahand JohntheBaptist,and prophetsfromthepre-Islamic
in
toJohn,"
12. TheApocrvphon
ofJohn(CodexII), pp. 15-25(= B. Layton,"TheSecretBook According
idem,TheGnosticScriptures
(NewYork,1987),pp.39-44).
13.H. Jonas,TheGnosticReligion(Boston,1963),p. 44.
14.TheEncyclopedia
s.v."Tafsir."
ofIslam(Leiden,1913-1936),
see TheEncyclopedia
15.Forhisbiography,
ofIslam,newedition(Leiden,1960-),s.v."Mukatil."
see F. Rosenthal,
TheHistory
16.Fora detailedbiography,
ofal-Tabari(Albany,1989),vol. 1,pp.5-134.
17.Forhisbiography,
see E12,s.v."IbnKathir."
see E12,s.v."Mas'udi."
18.Forhisbiography,
and
b. Tahir;"C. Adang,Muslim
onJudaism
see E12,s.v."Makdisi,
Mutahhir
19.Forhisbiography,
Writers
theBible(Leiden,1996),p. 50.

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MYTHIC ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS OF ADAM'S CREATIONIN JUDAISMAND ISLAM

Arabiantradition,
withothereventsin whichpiousheroesor enetogether
miesofGod wereinvolved.20The twomostfamousexpositors
ofthisgenre
are the Qisas al-anbiya' by Kisa'i2' and 'Ara'is al-majalisby Tha'labi
(b. 1035/427).22
Withregardto theJewishsources,legendsaboutthecreationof Adam
are scattered
rabbinicliterature.
I referred
to sourcesappearing
throughout
in TorahShelemah23
and in thenotesto Ginzburg'sThe Legendsof the
in additionto a systematic
Jews,24
readingof GenesisRabbah25and Pirqe
de-RabbiEliezer.26

The process of Adam's creation

Bothin Judaismand Islammanis conceivedas havinga spiritual
and a
materialcomponent.
The spiritualcomponent
is whatallows manto rise
abovethebeasts.HereI willexaminehowJewishandMuslimsourcesdescribetheprocessof Adam's creationand fromwhatmaterialshe was created. (The processof embryonicdevelopment,
oftendiscussedby these
sourceswithinthe framework
of traditions
about Adam's creation,27
is
ofthe
beyondthescopeofthisarticle.)Thereseemstobe a "mainnarrative"
creationof Adamfromclay and thebreathing
of lifeintohis body,which
in
all
the
almost
sources
examined
while"secondarynarrahere,
appears
tives,"whichare notpartof themainone,appearfromtimetotime.

20. EI2, vol.5, p. 180.

ofthisauthor,
21. Forpossibleidentifications
see EI2, s.v."Kisa'i;" A. Schussmann,
"StoriesoftheProMainlyon thebasis of Kisas al-anbiya'by Muhammadb. 'Abdallahal-Kisa'i,"
phetsin MuslimTradition:
Ph.D. diss.;Jerusalem,
1981),pp. 6-8 [inHebrew].
(unpublished
22. Forhisbiography,
see EI, s.v. "Tha'labi."
23. M. Kasher(ed.), HumashTorahShelemah(Jerusalem,
1926),vol. 1.
24. L. Ginzburg,
TheLegendsoftheJews(Philadelphia,
1909),vols. I (text),5 (notes).
25. GenesisRabbahis an exegeticalmidrashon thebookofGenesis.It comprisespartlysimpleexplanationsofwordsandphrases,andpartlyaggadicinterpretations,
sometimes
relatedtothebiblionlyslightly
cal text.Based on thenamesoftheSages andtheeventsmentioned
GenesisRabbahis usuallydated
therein,
to theTalmudand Midrash
Introduction
to laterthan400 CE, butincludesearliermaterial.
(G. Stemburger,
1996],pp. 277-279)CitationsofGen.RabbaharefromJ.Neusner,GenesisRabbah:TheJudaic
[Edinburgh,
to theBookofGenesis.A NewAmericanTranslation
Commentary
(Atlanta,1985),vol. 1.
the"rewritten
Bible" genre,retelling
theeventsof theBible in a
26. Pirqede-RabbiEliezerrepresents
fashion.However,itcontinues
certainelementsofmidrash(e.g.,giving
continuous
andcoherent
topreserve
toharmonize
thenamesoftraditionists;
notattempting
different
traditions).
Pirqede-RabbiEliezer is dated
toMuslimrule.However,manyveryold tratotheeighthorninth
CE, andcontainsmanyreferences
century
havebeentakenoverfromearliersourcesalmost
here;possiblycompletechapters
ditions,
too,arepreserved
without
ibid.,pp. 329-330)CitationsofPirqede-RabbiEliezer arefrom.G. Friedlanchange.(Stemburger,
der,Pirkede RabbiEliezer.The ChaptersofRabbiEliezertheGreat(New York,1981).
Adam's creationfroma drop(nutfa)relateto embryonic
27. The Qur'anicversesdescribing
development.See, e.g., 16:4,23:14.

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LEIGHN.B.CHIPMAN

The main narrative

The-main
oftheprocessofAdam'screation
narrative
down
canbe broken
intosmallerparts,andthusitcan be seenthatall or someofa limitednumberofcomponents
appearin thesources,withoccasionalvariants:
to him,and
(1) God ordersthatdustforthecreationof manbe brought
Earthrefuses(variants:a. Gabrielaloneis senttobringthedust;b. Gabriel,
MichaelandtheAngelofDeatharesent;c. theAngelofDeathaloneis sent;
d. Iblisis sent).
(2) Dust is takenfromvariousplaces(variants:a. Dust is takenfromall
theearth;b. Dustis takenfromspecificplaces;c. Dust is takenfroma holy
Adam'sdescendants;
e. The dustis particularly
place;d. Thedustinfluences
good).
(3) The moldingofmanfrommud.
(4) An etymological
legendwhyis thefirstman'snameAdam?
God
creates
Adam
withHis hands.
(5)
(6) Adamremainsimmobileforforty
years.
Adam and entershis
(7) Duringthistime,Iblis (= thedevil) threatens
body.
(8) God forcesthesoul toenterthebody.
is breathed
intothebodyvia thehead/nose.
(9) The soul/spirit
(10) Adamhastilytriestoriseand is unableto do so.
(11) Adamsneezesand saysal-hamdli-allah.
are commonto Jewishand Muslimsources
Some of thesecomponents
as thefollowing
table
alike,andsomeappearin onlyone ofthesetraditions,
shows:
1
Source
BT
JT
Gen.R
PDRE
MDHG
a
Jerah.
Muqatil Tabari b,c, d
b
Mas'udi
Maqdisi
Kisa'i
b
Tha'labi b

a, b
c
a, c
c,e

c,d,e
a, d
d
b,d
b,d
d

+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
-

+
-

+
+
-

+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
-

10 11
-

+
+
+

+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+

10

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MYTHICASPECTSOFTHEPROCESSOF ADAM'SCREATION
INJUDAISM
ANDISLAM

BT = BabylonianTalmud;JT= Palestinian
Abbreviations:
Talmud;Gen.
R = GenesisRabbah;PDRE = Pirqede-RabbiEliezer;MDHG = Midrash
ofJerahmeel.29
ha-Gadol;2 Jerah.= Chronicles
thatHe maycreateAdamfromit;
(1) God ordersthatdustbe brought
Earthrefuses.0
Thissubject,whichwas greatly
does not
developedbyMuslimtradition,
butonlyin a relatively
late source,theChroappearin earlymidrashim,
niclesofJerahmeel:
God thencalledGabrielandsaiduntohim:"Go andbringMe dustfromthe
oftheearth,
fourcorners
andI willcreatemanoutofit."Gabrielthenwentto
dustfromtheearth,
buttheearthdrovehimawayand wouldnotallow
gather
himtotakedustfromit.Gabrielthereupon
said:"Why,O earth,
dostthounot
hearken
to thevoiceof theLord,who foundedtheeuponthewaterswithout
Theearth
tobecome
pillars?"
propsandwithout
repliedandsaid:"I amdestined
a curse,andtobe cursedthrough
doesnottakethedust
man,andifGod Himself
fromme,no-oneelse shalleverdo so." WhenGod saw thisHe stretched
forth
His hand,tookofthedustandcreatedtherewith
thefirst
manonthesixthday.'

Herewe havethemotifoftheangels'objectionto thecreationofman,32

on theone hand,and on theother,additionalconfirmation
thatGod had no
in thecreation.
partners
Tabaricitesthreeversionsof thismotifin his Tafsir(all are repeatedin
The firstversionappearsin the
theTa 'rikh),each withitsownsignificance.
on Qur'an2:30:
commentary
[a tradition
goingbacktoIbn'Abbas(d. 68/686)andother
Companions
oftheProphet:]
tobring
...andthenGodsentGabrieltotheEarthinorder
mudfrom
said:"MayGodsavemefrom
her,andEarth
youtaking
anything
andsaid:"Lord,she
from
meorharming
me."So hereturned
without
taking
and
I
Your
to
her."
God
thensentMichael,
it
requested protection granted
and he grantedit to her,returned
and
andEarthrequestedGod's protection,

ofnidrashinz
on thePentateuch
thathas survived.Itis
28. Midrashha-Gadolis thelargestcompilation
consideredtohavebeencomposedin Yemenin thethirteenth
century
byDavid benAmram,whocompiled
andespecially
ofeveryverseaccordingto themidrashic,
Talmudicand gaonictraditions,
theinterpretation
intoa singlewhole.(Stemburger,
Maimonides'interpretation,
Introduction,
p. 354)
weavingthemtogether
livedin Italyor Spain
whoprobably
ben Solomonwas a scriberenowned
forhis accuracy,
29. Jerahmeel
He collateda number
ortwelfth
ofminormidrashim
tocreatea "re-written
century.
duringtheeleventh
Bible,"
oftheworldtothedestruction
oftheSecondTemple.(H.
fromthecreation
calledTheChronicles
ofJerahmeel,
in:M. Gaster,
TheChronicles
Schwartzbaum,
[NewYork,1971],pp.3-9)
ofJerhameel
"Prologemon,"
30. A1241.5.2?- Man madefromclaybrought
by Angelof Death.Motif-numbers
endingin are taken
and
fromH.M. El-Shamy,FolkTraditions
oftheArab World:A GuidetoMotifClassification
(Bloomington
Indianapolis,1995). vol. 1.
31. M. Gaster,The ChroniclesofJerahmeel
(New York,1971),p. 15.
32. A1217.1 - Angelsopposecreationof Man. A fullerdiscussionof theangels' objectionto Adam's
of mythicelementsin Islamic
creationwill appearin myarticle"Adamand theangels:an examination
sources,"forthcoming.

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LEIGHN.B.CHIPMAN
saidwhatGabrielhadsaid.GodthensenttheAngelof DeathandEarth
andhereplied:
askedforGod'sprotection
returning
"MayGodsavemefrom
without
His
command.""
fulfilling
This versionappearsin Mas'udi,3" and in an extendedform,in Kisa'i3?"
and Tha'labi.36In thesetales,as in manyothersrelatingto thecreationof
to thequestionofdeath- theAngelofDeath's
man,thereis also reference
intheprocessofAdam'screationshowsthatlifeanddeathare
participation
intertwined.
Kisa'i evennotesthattheAngelofDeathreceivedhisposition
ofEarth'spleas."7
due to hismercilesswithstanding
on 2:31,goesback
whichappearsinthecommentary
The secondversion,
to Ibn 'Abbas. Hereit is toldthatGod senttheAngelof Deathin thefirst
which
The thirdversion,
place andhe carriedouthismissionsuccessfully.
38
and is
'Abbas
back
to
Ibn
in
the
on
also
17:61,
commentary
goes
appears
of
the
that
of
the
instead
to
second
similar
Death,
version,
Angel
except
very
endswithIblis'
Thistradition
God sendsIblisto bringHimAdam'sdust."9
forIblis' feeling
refusaltobow downto Adamandprovidesan explanation
- he, havingbrought
thedustto God, tookpartin Adam's
of superiority
in
creation.(In the Gnosticmyth,the Earthper se does not participate
withthe
butthearchons,therulersoftheworldidentified
Adam'screation,
fallenangelsandwithSatan'sband,aretheones whocreateAdam.)
a versionaccording
towhichGod sentGabriel,Michael
Kisa'i tooreports
theAngelof Death,to takedustfromtheEarth.However,
and eventually
forEarth'sobjection:WhenIblisheardofGod's
Kisa'i addsan explanation
he wentdowntoEarthandincicreature,
plantocreatea newandhonorable
ted hernotto give dustforthiscreature,
claimingthatGod was aboutto
Hellfire.40
createa beingthatwouldrebelagainstHimandsuffer
(Ironically,
thiswouldbe Iblis' own fate,due to his oppositionto Adam.) This tale,
fromEarthbytheAngel
ofdustbrought
whichendswithhalfofthehandful
of Deathbeingplacedin Paradiseand theotherhalfin Hell,deals notonly
withtheproblemof deathin theworld,butalso withthequestionof preat Adam's
fateswerealreadyforeordained
All of humanity's
destination:
In theparallelversionreported
creation.
byTha'labi,Iblisdoes nottakepart
EarththatHe is abouttocreate
andGod Himselfinforms
in theproceedings
fromherbeings,some of whomwill obey Him and some of whomwill
rebel.41

Tabari,Taf33. Tabari,Jami'al-bayan'an ta'wilavyal-Qur'an(Cairo,1954),vol. 1,p. 203 (hereafter:

sir).cf.idem.,Annalesat-Tabari,ed. M.J.de Goeje (Leiden,1879;repr.1964),series1, pp. 91-92.
34. Mas'udi,Murujal-dhahabwa-ma'adinal-jawahir,ed. Ch. Pellat(Beirut,1979).39.
ed. I. Eisenberg(Leiden,1923),pp. 22-23.
35. Kisa'i, VitaeProphetarum,
36. Tha'labi,'Ara'is al-majalis(Cairo,1340AH), p. 18.
37. Kisa'i, p. 23.
38. Tabari,Tafsir,vol. 1, p. 214.
39. Ibid.,vol. 15,p. 116. Cf.Annales,series1, p. 88.
40. Kisa'i, pp. 22-23.
41. Tha'labi,p. 19.

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MYTHIC ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS OF ADAM'S CREATIONIN JUDAISMAND ISLAM

- and evena parallel

thereis a connection
Accordingto Schwartzbaum,
- betweenthisstoryandthetalesaboutthebandsofangelswhoopposedthe
creationof theworld.One of themostwidespreadmythstellsof thecreationof theworldby a creatorgod who ordersseveralmessengers
(usually
oceaninordertoretrieve
mudfromthesea
three)todiveintotheprimordial
bed.In mostcases,thefirsttwomessengers
failandonlythethird
succeeds
in carrying
outhistask,andreturns
withthemudfromwhichtheEarthwill
be created.42Whilenon-Semitic
versionsofthismythdeal withthecreation
of theEarth,theSemiticversionsdeal withthecreationof man.The basic
idea commonto all versionsis thatthemessengers
oftheCreatorGod have
to gatherclay/mud/dust
etc.;whiletwoof themfail,thethirdis successful.
The authorof themythwishesto showhow the"material"forthecreation
of Earthor of Man was gathered.43
Kisa'i's versionof the story,which
the
close
connection
between
theAngelof Deathand thecreaemphasizes
tionof Adam,expressestheidea thatthecycleof lifeand deathis eternal,
withtheimplication
thatdeathis necessarylesttheearthbecomeovercrowded." In theagaddahappearingin Gen.Rabbah8.4, thefirsttwobandsof
angelsthatopposedAdam'screationareequivalenttothetwosingleangels
thecreation
band,whichsupports
appearingintheMuslimlegend.The third
of man,is equivalenttothethirdangel,whosucceedsin collectingthedust
considersthemidrashin the
requiredforAdam's creation.Schwartzbaum
an attempt
ChroniclesofJerahmeel
to compromise
betweentheTalmudic
of threebandsof angelsand theMuslimtradition
tradition
of threesingle
angelsinvolvedin Adam'screation.45
also notesthatin theBook ofEnoch(datedc. 200 BCE Schwartzbaum
- a pointof similarity
100CE), Raphaelis thelordof Sheol,theunderworld
In
withKisa'i's creation
the
same
that
the
third
story.
way
angel,'Azra'il,is
dustandis rewarded
theAngelof
bybecoming
praisedbyGod forgathering
Death,so Labbiel,whoseband agreesto thecreationof Adam,is named
cf. refa'im- shades,
Raphaeland becomeslordof healing(Heb. refu'oth;
The
late
midrash
in
with
theTalmudiclegend,
accordance
ghosts).
emphasizes,
thatonlytheopposingangelswereburned,whiletheirleaders,Gabrieland
withtheMuslimtradition.6
Michael,weresaved.This,too,conforms
(2) Dust is takenfromvariousplaces.47
BoththeJewishandtheMuslimtraditions
agreethatthedustfromwhich
Adamwas createdwas takenfromtheentireworld.Theydisagreeas tothe
in R. Pataietal. (eds.),
42. H. Schwartzbaum,
"JewishandMoslemsourcesofa Falashacreationmyth,"
StudiesinBiblicaland JewishFolklore(Bloomington,
1960),p. 41.
43. Ibid.,p. 42.
44. Ibid.,p. 44.
see "AdamandtheAngels:an examination
45. Ibid.,p. 49. Fora detaileddiscussionofthesetraditions,
of mythic
elementsin Islamicsources,"forthcoming.
46. Schwartzbaum,
"JewishandMoslemsources,"p. 50.
fromfourdifferent
47. A1241.5- Man was madefromearthbrought
places;A.1241.5.l? - Physicaland
of thedustfromwhichthefirstman
aredetermined
attributes
by characteristics
personality
(temperament)
was created.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

of thisand as to thespecificplaces fromwhichthedustwas

significance
taken.WhiletheMuslimtraditions
thatthe
quotedabovecontinue
bystating
of
dust
from
kind
and
of
of
soil
every
gathered
Angel Death/Iblis
every
humanbeingshave different
and their
characteristics
color,and therefore
skinhas different
colors,Pirqe de-RabbiEliezertellsus thatthedustwas
colors
indeedtakenfromall theworldandwas ofall colors,butthedifferent
fromall
becamedifferent
organsinAdam'sbody,andthedustwas gathered
overtheworldso thattheEarthcouldneverrefuseburialby claimingthat
of
someone'sdustcamefromsomewhere
else.48Perhapsthisis a reflection
realitiesconfronting
thevariousauthors:Islamwas requiredto
thedifferent
ofconverts
frommanyracesandhadanideocope withtherapidabsorption
CE
of
all
of
the
while
Judaism
afterthefirst
believers,
century
logy
equality
therepeated
had to deal witha stateofexileand wanderings.
Additionally,
idea thatthequalitiesof thedustfromwhichAdam was created(soil that
thecharacter
was salty,good,rockyetc.)foreshadow
andqualitiesofhuman
a
in
seems
to
indicate
belief
beingstoday,
predestination.
Another
givedetailsabouttheplacesoforiginofthedust
groupoftraditions
usedto makedifferent
organsin Adam'sbody.The heador theheartusually
receivesthehonorofbeingcreatedfromholydust,takeneither
fromtheLand
of Israel49
or fromMecca. 5oA sub-group
that
the
dust
was taken
emphasizes
fromthemostholyplace:thealtaroftheTempleortheKa'ba,5 respectively.
offered
(In eithercase, thiswouldbe theveryplacein whichAdamhimself
to God.) Kistercitesadditional
traditions
of thiskindandconsiders
sacrifices
thema form
ofpraisetraditions
Places
(fada'ilal-buldanorfada'ilal-amakin).
2
which
Vadet
havecharacteristic
influence
the
there.
qualities,
peopleliving
of angelsforeach country,
while
categories
suggeststhatthereare different
oftheuniverse53
Adamis an absoluteexpression
- theidea ofmanas microalso.
cosm,whichwasheldbytheGnostics,
traditions
that
there
are
Finally,
emphasizethatthe dust fromwhich
connectsthis
Adamwas createdwas dustofhighquality.5 Jewishtradition
to theidea thatthedustwas takenfromtheplace of thealtarof thefuture
whileMuslimsourcesraisetheissuewithintheframework
ofdisTemple,55
cussionsof the meaningof variouswordsdescribingthe materialfrom
whichAdamwascreated.56TheclaimthatAdamwascreatedfromthefinest
48. Pirqede-RabbiEliezer,p. 77.
38a-b.
49. BT, Sanhedrin
50. Kisa'i, p. 24; Tha'labi,p. 19.
51. Muqatil,vol.4, p. 522.
52. M.J.Kister,"Legendsin tafsirand hadithliterature:
The creationof Adamand otherstories,"in
A. Rippin(ed.),Approachesto theHistory
oftheInterpretation
oftheQur'an (Oxford,1988),pp. 101-102.
et l'investiture
de l'hommedans la sunnismeou la 16gended'Adamchez
53. J.-C.Vadet,"La cr6ation
42 (1975), p. 30.
al-Kisa'i,"StudiaIslamnica
54. Midrashha-Gadol,p. 78.
55. JT,Nazir7.4,cf.Pirqede-RabbiEliezer,pp. 35, 38, 65; Midrashha-Gadol,p. 78.
56. Muqatil,vol.2, p. 428; Tabari,Tafsit;vol. 14,pp.27-30;IbnKathir,
al-Tafsiral-kabir(Beirut,1966),
vol.4, pp. 159-160.

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MYTHICASPECTSOFTHEPROCESSOF ADAM'SCREATION
ANDISLAM
INJUDAISM

fromdusttakenfromthemostholyplace,maybe aimedpolemimaterial,
callyatGnosticconceptsofthebodyas createdandactivatedbydemons:In
whilein
thislastconceptionthereis completedemonization
of thebody,57
JewishandMuslimtradition
thebodyis afforded
respect.8
(3) The moldingofmanfrommud.59
Thisprocessis indeedmentioned
in Jewishsources(e.g. Pirqe de-Rabbi
Eliezer),butwhatappearsthereis no morethana listof whathappenedin
takesplace:
everyhouroftheFridayin whichall ofAdam'shistory
thedustfor[the
inthefirst
hourHe collected
Thedayhadtwelve
hours;
itintoa mass,inthethird
bodyof]Adam,inthesecond[hour]He formed

[hour]He gave it itsshape,in thefourth

[hour]He endowedit withbreath,
in thefifth
he
on
his
in
stood
feet, thesixth[hour]he calledthe[ani[hour]
malsby their]names,in theseventh[hour]Eve was joined to him,in the
of thetree,in the
thefruits
concerning
eighth[hour]theywerecommanded
ninth[hour]theywentup to [their]couchas twoand descendedas four,in
in theeleventh[hour]
thetenth[hour]theytransgressed
His commandment,
in
as it is said,
the
twelfth
were
driven
were
forth,
[hour]they
judged,
they
"So he droveouttheman."(Gen. 3:24)"'

In contrast,
Muslimsourcestella muchmoredetailedandcomplexstory
ofa longandmulti-staged
processduringthecourseofwhichdustbecomes
andstinks,andfinallydriesandbecomeshardclay.
mud,themudferments
Sometimeseach stagelastsforty
years.The purposeof these
daysor forty
thegreatness
ofGod,whomoldeda hardandunyieltalesis todemonstrate
dingmaterial:
theAngelof Deathraisedit (= thedust)to Allahand Allah
Afterwards
himtomakeitintomud,andhe fermented
itandkneadeditwith
commanded
their(=
bitterand sweet and saltywateruntilit became mud,therefore
humanbeings') qualitiesare varied"'... Then He kneadedit withAdam's
softmud.ThenHe left
mud,thenleftitforforty
yearsuntilitbecamesticky,
utensils.Andthatis thedry
itforforty
yearsuntilitbecameclaylikepottery
mudwhichis noisywhenyoustrikeit withyourhand,thatis, itproducesa
involvedskilledworkand
sound,so thatit wouldbe knownthatthismatter
and
nature
and
not
cunning(al-tab' wa-'l-hila),
power(al-san' wa-'l-qudra)
forindeeddrymudis notflexibleandis noteasilymolded.62
A HistoryofGnosticism
57. G. Filoramo,
(Oxford,1990),pp. 91-92.
in general,see P. Brown,TheBodyand Society:
58. FortheGnosticattitude
to thebody,and to matter
in earlyChristianity
Men,womenand sexualrenunciation
(New York,1988),pp. 106-112.I owe thisreferenceto David Cook.
59. A1241- Man createdfromclay(earth).
60. Pirqede-RabbiEliezer,pp. 77-78.
61. Tha'labi,pp. 18-19.
62. Ibid.,p. 19.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

This version,by Tha'labi, is the mostdetailed,but Muqatil,Tabari,

Mas'udi andMaqdisi63all refertothislengthy
ofman
process.Thecreation
inGnosticmyths,
andelaborateprocess:Firstthecreatoo,is a multi-staged
tionofthespiritfromsevenelementsbythesevenarchons,thethecreation
of everyorganin thebodyby demons,and finallythedetermining
of the
demonsresponsible
foractivating
thebody.' Perhapstheuse oftheexpression tinlazib (stickyand smellymud)is an echo of theGnostics'negative
attitude
towardthebodyandmatter?
(4) An etymological
legend- whyis thefirstman'snameAdam?6'
Midrashha-Gadolcitesthreesuggestions
of Adam's
foran etymology
on thismatter:
"R. Judah'says:[He is
name,summing
up Jewishtraditions
named]aftertheearth(adama) fromwhichhe was taken.R. Eliezer67
says:
Adam- ashes(efer),blood(dam),bile(mara).R. JoshuabenQarha68
says:
Because he is fleshandbloodhe was calledAdam."' The first
optionis the
onlyone foundinMuslimsources:Adamreceivedhisnamebecausehe was
createdfromthecrust(adim"7or adama)7' of theEarth.Gnosticwritings
whichtheyprobablytookfromJewishsources:
also knowthisetymology,
Adamwas so calledbecausehe crawledupontheearth(adama).72
(5) God createsAdamwithHis hands."7
AmongtheearlyJewishsources,thismotifappearsexplicitlyonlyin
Man nothavingbeencreatedbyDivineWordbut
Abothde RabbiNathan.74
himandraisehimabove all othercreabyGod's Handsis meantto glorify
- as in thistradition,
statedexplicitly
tures.Thisis sometimes
goingbackto
Ibn Ishaq (d. 150/767):"Allah createdAdam fromthecrustof theearth
mud,withHis hand,in
(adamatal-ard),fromstickyclay,fromstinking
his matter
orderto honorhimand to glorify
(amr)7'above theothercrea63. Muqatil,vol. 1,p. 97; Tabari,Tafsir,vol. 1,pp. 202-203;Mas'udi,? 39; Maqdisi,Kitabal-bad' waed. Cl. Huart(Paris,1899),vol.2, pp. 81-83.
'I-ta'rikh,
64. The
ofJohn(Codex II), p. 15,1. 13-p.19,1.6 (= Layton,pp. 39-43).
65. Z183.0.1
? - Meaningofa name.
Apocr.phon
teacherat theacademyat Pumbeamora,d. 299 CE. Prominent
66. R. JudahbarEzekiel:a Babylonian
ditha.(Stemburger,
Introduction,
p. 88)
cal67. R. EliezerbenHyrcanus:a tannawholivedaroundtheturnof thefirstcentury
CE, sometimes
to him (EncyclopediaJudaica[Jerusalem,
led R. EliezertheGreat.Pirqe de-RabbiEliezer is attributed
1971],vol. 6, pp. 619-623).
68. R. JoshuabenQarha:a tannaof themiddleof thesecondcentury
CE, theteacherof R. Judahthe
in his nameare mainlyof aggadicmaterial(EncyclopediaJudaica,vol. 10,
Prince.Sayingstransmitted
pp. 281-282).
69. Midrashha-Gadol,p. 77.
70. ThusinTabari,Tafsir,vol.1,p. 214 andvol. 15,p. 116;Mas'udi,? 39: Maqdisi,vol.2, p. 83; Kisa'i,
p. 23.
71. ThusinTabari,Tafsir,vol. 1,p. 208; cf.Annales,series1,p. 93.
72. TheHipostasisoftheArchons,
p. 88, 1. 16 (= Layton,p. 70).
73. A1210 - CreationofMan bytheCreator.
74. Abothde RabbiNathan,ed. S. Schechter,(London,1887;repr.New York,1997),versionA, ch. 1,
p. 8.
can be understood
as thedivinedispensation
and plan fortheworldin general,and here,for
75. Amnr
in particular.
of God in theQuran,"Acta Orientalia(Copenhagen)23
Cf. J. Baljon,"The amnr
humanity
(1954): 7-18. I thankDavid Cook forthisreference.

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MYTHICASPECTSOFTHEPROCESSOF ADAM'SCREATION
ANDISLAM
INJUDAISM

itis implicit,
tures"
as in thistradition,
whichappearsin
76- and sometimes
on Qur'an,38:75-76and goes back to 'Abdallahb.
Tabari's commentary
"AllahcreatedfourthingswithHis hand:theThrone
'Umarb. al-Khattab:
and Paradiseand thePen and Adam. Afterwards
he said to each thingBe!
In contrast,for the Gnostics,Adam's creationby the
and it was.""77
Demiurge,thecreatorof thisworld,and therulingarchons,is in no waya
sourceof prideor honor.Man is worthy
of respectonlydue to thedivine
to
him
sparkpassed
bySophia.78
(6) Adamremainsimmobileforforty
years.79
a
JewishandIslamictraditions
agreeinsayingthatAdampassedthrough
stagein whichhe was an inanimate,
unliving
body(golem).ThusGen.Rabintohisnostrils'(Gen.2:7): This
bah,forexample,says:" 'AndHe breathed
teachesthatHe sethimup as an unformed
mass(Heb.: golem),filling
up the
Thenhe tossedthesoul intohim."80
space of theearthto thefirmament.
Muslimsources"'connectthisstageto a Qur'anicverse,76:1: "Has there
come uponmana periodof timewhenhe was nothing
worthmentioning?"
Thistimeis theperiodin whichAdamwas an inanimate
body.Someadd to
thedrydescription
thedetailthattheangelsfearedhimat thisstage:
ofthePro[a tradition
goingbacktoIbn'Abbasandother
Companions
himwithHis hands... andcreated
himinthe
phet:]... thenAllahcreated
shapeofa man,andhewasa claybodyforforty
yearsoftheduration
(mniqwhenthey
andtheangelspassedbyhimandwereafraid
saw
dar)ofFriday,
him.AndmorethantherestIbliswasafraid...82
Kisa'i andTha'labiaddtheplacewhereAdamlayinthisstate:He wasplainthespotwheretheangelspassed
ced nextto thegateofParadise,precisely
therainofsorrow
Tha'labialso saysthatwhileAdamlayinanimate,
bydaily."3
and
the
rains
of
for
a
fellonhimforforty
years,
joy
singleyear.Thisis thereahavemanysorrowsandaredrawnto
son,he says,thatAdam'sdescendants
instance
of theconceptthatincidents
pleasureandhappiness"- yetanother
hiscreation
hisdescendants.
toAdamduring
influence
thathappened
Adamlayon thegroundafterthearchons
totheGnosticmyth,
According
he hadan animatebody,he was unabletomoveuntil
createdhim.Although
blewSophia's spirit(pneuma)intohim.85
theDemiurgeaccidentally
76. Tabari,Tafsir,vol. 1, p. 208.
77. Ibid.,vol. 23, p. 185.
78. Filoramo,p. 93.
79. A2141.3- Man madefromclayimageand vivified.
80. Gen. Rabbah,14:4 (Neusner,156).
81. Muqatil,vol. 4, p.522;Tabari,Tafsir,vol.29,p. 202.
82. Tabari,Tafsir,vol. 1,p. 203; cf.Annales,series1,pp. 91-92.
83. Kisa'i, p. 25; Tha'labi,p. 19.
84. Tha'labi,ibid.
85. TheApocqrphon
ofJohn(Codex II), p. 19,11.10ff.(= Layton,pp. 43-44).

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

Adamandentershisbody.86
(7) Duringthistime,Iblisthreatens
This motifdoes notappearin theJewishsources,as accordingto the
Jewishtradition,
Satan(= Iblis)entersthestoryonlyat a laterstage.MuqatilalreadytellsthatIblisentered
Adam'sclaybodythrough
hisanusandexitedthrough
hismouth,
andsaid:"I amfireandthisis hollowclay.FireoverIn thisway,Iblis triesto
comes clay and I will overcomethis[man]."87
overhim.Tabariand
conquerhis fearofAdamandto showhissuperiority
Mas'udi reportthatdespiteIblis fearing
Adammorethantheotherangels
him:
did,he wouldhitorkickhim,enterhimandgo outofhim,andthreaten
Ibliswouldcomeandkickhim,thenAdamwouldring- thatis,makea
sound- andthatis [themeaning
of]Allah'swords"from
claylikepottery"
Ibliswould
thatis notsolid.After
that,
(Q, 55:14),likesomething
blown-up
hisanusandenter
enter
hismouth
andexitthrough
hisanusandexitthrough
- and
- becauseofhisringing
thenwouldsay:"Youarenothing
hismouth,
for
If
I
to
I
will
kill
and
were
made
am
rule
over
you, if
you
nothing!
you,
I
will
to
rule
over
rebel
are
me,
against
you.""
you
Kisa'i adds thatIblis said thatas Adamwas hollow,he wouldhave no
of theway
escape fromhinta(foodor wheat)8- perhapsa foreshadowing
ensnare
him?
which
Iblis
would
by
In contrastto theMuslimtraditions,
in the Gnosticmyththearchons
himin a
byimprisoning
expresstheirfearofAdamandrevengethemselves
intohimandhe is no loncorporealbodyonlyafterspirithas beenbreathed
germerelya claybody.The blowinginof spirit(pneuma)enablesAdamto
archonsrealizethatthey
beginto move,and at thismomentthewatching
- Sophia's powerhas moved
havecreateda beingsuperiorto themselves
force
fromthe Demiurgeto Adam. In response,the archonsvengefully
Adamdownto thebasenessof materialexistence:Theyre-form
him,"out
Andhe
ofdarkness
anddesire,andtheircounterfeit
oftheignorance
spirit...
In otherwords,theoutershellof matter
becamea mortalhumanbeing.""90
to
in contrast
thatenclosesAdam's spiritwas createdat thesecondstage,"9
theJewishandMuslimconceptof thebodybeingcreatedfirst.
inthismotifbetweentheGnosticmyth
It wouldseemthatthedifferences
of it derivefromthe difference
betweenthe
and the Muslimtreatment
vis-aiof thearchonsin thisworldandIblis' relativeimpotence
importance
86. A.54.3.1? - IblisrejectsAdam.
87. Muqatil,vol.1,p. 97.
88. Tabari,Tafsir,vol. 1,pp. 201-202.Cf.Annales,series p. 90: Mas'udi,? 39.
1,
89. Kisa'i, p. 25.
1.
90. TheApocrvphon
ofJohn(Codex II), p. 19,1.32-p.21, 15 (= Layton,pp.44-45).
91. Theremaybe a certainparallelto theZoroastrian
conceptofa doublecreationoftheworld,firstin
ofthespirit(me^n6g)
andtheninthedimension
ofmatter
thedimension
(ge^~g).See S. Shaked,"Thenotions
Acta Orientalia(Copenhagen)33
and gFtigin thePahlavitextsand theirrelationto eschatology,"
nimn6g
(1971), pp. 59-107

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MYTHIC ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS OF ADAM'S CREATIONIN JUDAISMAND ISLAM

vis Allah. Accordingto theGnostics,thearchonscreatedthisworld,and

withinit,Man; according
to theMuslimviewpoint,
Allahcreatedtheworld,
notIblis,and evengave mankindweaponsfordefenseagainstIblis.In the
JewishandMuslimschemeof things,
theworldwas createdbya good and
benevolent
god - and theproblemis explainingthepresenceof evil in the
theworldis all evilfromtheoutset,
world;fortheGnostics,on thecontrary,
and itis necessaryto explainhowa fewelectmaystillcometobe saved.92
(8) God forcesthesoulto enterthebody.93
The idea thatthesoul entersthebodyunwillingly
does indeedexistin
but in relationto Adam's descendantsratherthanto he
Jewishtradition,
himself- one of theangelsforcesthesoul to enterthebodyof everynewIn all theMuslimsourcesexaminedhere,thesoul is unwilling
bornchild.94
to enterAdam's bodybecauseitsorificesare crampedand narrow.Allah
forcesittoenter,saying:"As youentered
so shallyoucomeout
unwillingly,
Thisstoryis notcitedbyTabari,butappearsin Muqatil"sand
unwillingly."
likedin popularcircles,as
Maqdisi,9and itseemsto havebeenuniversally
itis reported
bothbyKisa'i"7andbyTha'labi,whoquotesanonymous
learnedmenas his source:
The 'ulama'said:WhenAllahwanted
tobreath
thesoulintoAdam,He
ittogointohim,andthesoulsaid:A deepentrance,
ordered
a darkentrance.
ThenHe repeated
hiscommand
tothesoulanditrepeated
itswords,
andso
until
atthefourth
timeHe said:Enter
alsoa third
andcome
time,
unwillingly
outunwillingly."9
It seemsthatthisstory'spurposeis to explainhumanity's
fearof death
in the
andstruggles
againstit.Theremayperhapsbe an echoofGnosticism
towardsthebody.(Tha'labi does notmakethedissoul's negativeattitude
tinction
betweensoul and spiritthattheGnosticsystemsdo, accordingto
in thearchonsand onlythespiritis of
whichbothbodyand soul originate
heavenlyorigin.)
is breathed
intothebodyvia thehead/nose.99
(9) The soul/spirit
intoAdamis thephysicalmanifesThe breathof lifethatGod breathed
tationof thespiritualelementsin man.All the sources,bothJewishand
thehead,
enteredAdam's bodythrough
Muslim,agreethatthesoul/spirit
the
whilesomeare morepreciseby statingthatthebreathenteredthrough
thenose.Midrashhanose- probablybecausewe do in factinhalethrough
92. Stroumsa,
p. 33.
93. A185.12- Deityprovidesmanwithsoul.
vol. 1,pp. 56-59and notesthereto.
94. See Ginzburg,
95. Muqatil,vol. 1, p. 97.
96. Maqdisi,vol. 2, p. 87.
97. Kisa'i, p. 26.
98. Tha'labi,p. 20.
99. E703.1? - Soul createdin AdamfromGod's breath.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

Gadol explainsthischoice,sayingthatthemouth,
eyesandearsareall liable
to
to be theorgansof sin.Onlythenoserejectsevil smellsand is attracted
to
the
in
the
that
same
the
flee
from
cleave
sin
and
ones,
good
way
righteous
Torah.'"
The MuslimsourcesfromTabarionwardsadd thateveryorganof the
bodythatthespiritreachedbecamefleshand bloodand startedto work."'
Kisa'i describesthefirstthingsthatAdamsaw and heard:"And thespirit
enteredfromthecrownofhisheadtohiseyes,andAdamopenedthemand
on the
beganto look at hisclaybodyandcouldnotspeak,and saw written
awningof theThrone(saradiq al-'arsh): Thereis no God butAllah and
Muhammad
is theMessengerofGod intruth.
Thespiritreachedhisearsand
- Adam'sfirst
he begantoheartheangels'praisesin theair"'02
experiences
wereconnected
totheworshipofGod. Kisa'i also statesthatthisentireprocess lastedfivehundred
years.103
thespirit
The Gnosticequivalentofthismotifis theDemiurgebreathing
transfers
intoAdam- thushe mistakenly
thepowerof hismother,
Sophia,
intoAdamandcauseshimto be hissuperior.'"
(10) Adamhastilytriestoriseandis unabletodo so.
Thismotifappearsonlyin Muslimtraditions,
thatbefore
105whichreport
hadtimetopassthrough
all partsofAdam'sbodyandchange
thesoul/spirit
themintofleshandblood,hetriedtoriseandwasunabletodo so. Thismotif
theQur'anicverses"Manis apttobe hasty"
seemstobe aimedatexplaining
(17:11) and "Man was createdof haste"(21:38), as one or bothof these
withit.Thiscouldalso be an expression
versesinvariably
appearstogether
inthefaceofGod: Man cando nothing
without
God's
ofMan's helplessness
assistanceandguidance.
(11) Adamsneezesandsaysal-hamdli-allah.
Adam's firstdeed is to praisehis Creator- on thispointtheJewishand
areagreed:
Muslimtraditions
Adamstoodonhistwofeetandlookedupanddown... andsawall the
andbegantopraise
creatures
thattheHolyOne,blessedbe He,hadcreated,
107
name.
hiscreator's
itwanhimuntil
histoesandthen
itreached
Andthespirit
passedthrough
itreturned
them
therefore
butdidnotfindanopening;
tedtoleavethrough
thenostrils,
andhe sneezedfrom
to theheadandwentoutthrough
that,
100.Midrashha-Gadol,pp. 78-79.
101.Tabari.Tafsir,vol. 1,p. 202. cf.Annales,series1,pp.92-93;Maqdisi,vol.2, p. 87; Tha'labi,p. 20.
102. Kisa'i, p. 26.
103.Ibid.,p. 27.
104. Filoramo,pp. 92-93.
105. Muqatil,vol. 1, p.98; Tabari,Tafsir,vol. 1, pp. 201-202;Mas'udi,A41; Maqdisi,vol. 2, p. 87:
Kisa'i, pp. 26-27;Tha'labi,p. 20.
106. A1319.9- Originofsneezing:A1537- Originofsocial
etiquette,
107. Pirqede-RabbiEliezer,pp. 35-36.

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MYTHICASPECTSOFTHEPROCESSOF ADAM'SCREATION
INJUDAISM
ANDISLAM

thenostrils,
becauseitleftthrough
andsaid:"Praised
be God(al-hamd
liallah)!"andthatwashisfirst
speech.
t08
to St. Irenaeus,
CE, the
According
BishopofLyonsin thesecondcentury
GnosticsbelievedthatafterSophia'sspirit
passedintoAdam,he immediately
lefthiscreators
andpraisedAdamQadmon,hisdivinearchetype.'"
Inthesame
way,AdamQadmiaor AdamKasia,theFirstMan of thegnosticMandaean
himanda similar
sect,"0sneezesandblessesthecosmiclightthatcreated
thing
"' We canlearnfrom
this
ofthefirst
human.
happensatthetimeofthecreation
thatoneofman'smostimportant
functions
is topraiseGod.Thisideacanalso
oftheNusayri-'Alawite
itself
whichconsiders
be foundinthewritings
religion,
In a protooftheShi'a andcontainsmanyGnosticelements.
to be a splinter
Nusayriwork,Kitabal-haftwa-'l-azilla,theworldthatexistedbeforeour
Therethesouls(calledazilla,shadows,orashbah,figures,
worldis described.
and alternatively
notevenwho theythemselves
were,
lights)knewnothing,
them.The first
untilAllahtaught
(andmostimportant)
thingthatAllahtaught
Him."2 In addition,
afterthecreation
ofAdam
themwas to praiseandglorify
in theworldofpre-existence,
God madea covenant
withhimandhisdescencalledtheHijab (veil) had taught
dantsafterthedivinehypostasis
themthat
a bookwritten
inthenineteenth
thereis noGodbutAllah."3However,
century
to Christianity,
paintsa verydifferent
picture.
by a Nusayriwho converted
arepresented
as lightsandstars
There,thesoulsintheworldofpre-existence
liketheangelsin orthodox
thatthought,
Islam,thatno beingmorehonorable
couldpossibly
be created.
Thismistake,
andtheaddi(akram)thanthemselves
of 'Ali b. AbiTalibas theincarnation
ofGod(as
tionalsinofnon-recognition
himtobe),ledtoa severepunishment:
consider
theNusayris
Theywerelowewheretheywereplacedinbodies
redtoa basedwelling-place
(darsiflaniyya),
would
offleshandblood(hayakilbashariyya).
Onlythosewho,in thefuture,
'Ali
would
be
allowed
to
return
to
the
incarnation
of
the
regions;
upper
identify
a
forever."'
therestwouldcontinue
to be reincarnated
114 Thesewordsindicate
andtopraise
inthisworldis toknowhisCreator
clearbeliefthatman'spurpose
him.
108. Muqatil,vol. 1,p. 98.
109. St. Irenaeus,AgainstHeresies1.30.6(= Layton,p. 176).
in
110.The Mandaeansarean ancientMiddleEasternsect,stillexistingin Iraq.Theirreligionoriginates
of
oftheCommonEra,anditssourcesarestillshadowy.The Gnosticcharacteristics
thefirstthreecenturies
ofthesoulthrough
thissectincludethebeliefintheillumination
knowledgeofitsdivineorigin;a cosmolotheheavenlyspheres
thesoul's ascensionthrough
ofevil archonswhosepurposeis toprevent
gicalstructure
an early
of Adam'screationsimilarto thatof Saturninus,
to be unitedwiththesupremegod; a description
ritesof
aresupport
ofmarriage
anda complexritual,including
characteristics
Gnosticteacher.Non-Gnostic
inotherGnosticsects.Forfullerdiscussion,see theworksof E. Drower.
baptism,thatareunknown
111. E. Drower,TheSecretAdam(Oxford,1960),pp. 26, 35.
ed. A. TamerandIgn.-A.Khalif6(BeiKitabal-Haftwa-'l-Azillat,
112.al-Mufaddal
b. 'Umayral-Ju'fi,
rut,1960),p. 30.
of Adam'sawakening(p. 26).
113.Ibid.,p.31; cf.Kisa'i's description
114. Sulaymanal-Adhani,
al-Bakuraal-Sulaymnaniyyva
(n.p.,n.d.),pp. 59-61.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

Withinthepale ofMuslimorthodoxy,
Kisa'i andTha'labistateexplicitly
In thesetraditions,
thatAdamwas createdto praiseGod."15
thefirsttahmnid
be
God"
"Praised
is
almost
li-allah)
alwayslinkedtosnee(saying
al-hamd
meanttoexplainwhyone mustsayal-hanmd
zing;thisis an etiologicalmyth,
li-allahaftersneezing.

Secondarynarratives
(1) Adamis createdandrogynous
the god who is the
In Gnosticmythological
systems,theAnthropos,
divinearchetype
ofAdamandin whoseimageAdamis created,is androgynous,bothmale and female."116Adam's corporealbodyis also createdthis
way,untilhe is dividedintotwo- a mananda woman."'7An echo ofthese
talesmaybe foundin thefollowing
fromGenesisRabbah:
midrashim,
benEleazar:"When
theHolyOne,blessedbeHe,came
SaidR.Jeremiah
tocreatethefirst
as itis said'Maleand
man,He madehimandrogynous,
He them
nameMan[= Adam].'(Gen.5:2)"
female
created
andcalledtheir
"' "When
theHolyOne,blessedbeHe,created
SaidR. SamuelbarNahman:
him
withtwofaces,thensawedhimintotwoand
thefirst
He
created
man,
madea backononesideanda backontheother.""'9
theGnostic
Thedifference
between
andthemidrash
liesinthefactthat
myth
a
in
is
resolve
themidrash's
to
contradiction
thetwostories
of
possible
purpose
creation
in theTorah,between"Male andfemalemadeHe them"(Gen.1:27)
totheoriand"He tookoneofhisribs,"(Gen.2:21) without
givingsignificance
form.
UnliketheGnosticmyth,
themidrash
doesnotconsiginalandrogynous
an idealperfect
form.
Fromthispointofview,thereis nodiffederandrogyny
rencebetween"sawedhimintotwo"and"maleandfemalemadeHe them."
ofmyth,"
or"analtoUrbachseesthisas a definite
exampleof"a kindofkilling
as no conclusion
is derivedfromthermidrash.'20
HereI
soullessmyth,"
gether
if
for
no
conclusion
is
to
be
derived
from
Adam
do see a mythic
dimension,
if
in
first
as
fact
this
has
no
then
created
at
androgynous,
significance, why
being
it?Manymidrashim
toAdamraisehimabovethestabother
tomention
relating
'21thesemidrashim
man.According
to Urbach,
tureofan ordinary
appearonly
when
the
Gnostic
sects
wereactive.Cannotthese
fromthethird
CE,
century
thetreatment
ofAdam'sandrogynous
motifs,
including
past,be seenas poleand/or
itsinfluence?
micsagainstGnosticism,
115. Kisa'i, p. 26; Tha'labi,p. 20.
116. Filoramo,
p. 58.
117. TheRevelationtoAdam,p. 64, 11.22ff.(= Layton,p. 55).
amnora
oftheturnofthethird
118.R. SamuelbarNahman:a Palestinian
CE; one oftheforemost
century
ofaggadahofhistime.(Encyclopedia
transmitters
Judaica,vol. 14,pp. 812-813).
119.Gen. Rabbah,8:2 (Neusner,73).
and Beliefs(Jerusalem,
120,E.E. Urbach,TheSages: TheirConcept.s
1975). p. 228.
121.Ibid.,pp. 228-230.

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INJUDAISM
MYTHICASPECTSOFTHEPROCESSOF ADAM'SCREATION
ANDISLAM

Thismotifdid notappearin theMuslimsources.

(2) Adamis createdfromthetailbone.
Accordingto Muqatil,"thefirstorganthatwas createdin Man was the
tailbone,afterwards
[Allah]assembledfromittherestofhis creation[i.e.,
therestofthebody]andthelastofAdam'sorganstobe createdwas thefingernail.AndtheEarthwillconsumeall ofthecorpse'sbones,exceptforthe
tail bone - save thebones of theprophets- and thattheEarthwill not
22
consume.Fromit menwillbe reassembled
on theDay of Resurrection."
The idea thatthereis a bonein thebodythatneverrotsand fromwhicha
new body will be createdafterthe Resurrection,
also exists in Jewish
sources,as shownbythefollowing
story,fromGenesisRabbah:
- mayhisbonesbe pulverized
- askedR. Joshua
Hadrian
benHana-

inthebodywilltheHolyOne,blessed
beHe,make
whatpoint
niah,'23
"From
intheagetocome?"He saidtohim:"He
mansprout
up[intheresurrection]
outofthenut(luz)ofthespinalcolumn."
willmakehimsprout
12

The idea oftheluz was known,atleastamongMiddleEasternJews,until

moderntimes.125I did notfindin Jewishsources(on thebasis of theindex
of TheLegendsoftheJews),thatAdamwas createdfromhis tailbone.

Conclusions
Muslimand Gnosticwritings
showsthaton the
Comparisonof Jewish,
have a higher
of
Adam's
Muslim
sources
of
the
creation,
process
subject
mythicalcontentthandoes the midrash.Most of the componentswith
are morecommonor morehighlydevelopedin Islam,
mythicsignificance
elementsthatexistonlyin theMuslimsources.
and therearemythic
idea thatGod orderstheEarthtosupplyHimwithdustforthe
The mythic
creationofMan existsonlyin one latemidrashic
source,whilein theMuslimsourcesitis extensively
developed,especiallyinTabariandtheqisas alRegardingtheessence of thisdust,thequestionsthat
anbiya' literature.
The mainpoint
themidrashand theMuslimsourcesare different:
interest
the
influence
of
without
all
Muslim
sources,
is
by
exception,126
emphasized
122. Muqatil,vol. 2, p. 429.
CE andone oftheleadingsagesof
123. R. Joshuab. Hananiah:a tannaofthefirstandsecondcenturies
of theTemple.Famousforhis polemicsagainsttheChristians
aferthedestruction
thegeneration
(Encyclopedia Judaica,vol. 10,pp. 279-281).
Lev.Rabbah18.1,EcclesiastesRabbah12.5.
124.Gen.Rabbah28.3 (Neusner,
p. 295). Parallelversions:
125.Drower,ibid.,p. 29, n. 5.
discussionoftheprocessofAdam'screation,
126. IncludingIbn Kathir,whohas no narrative
presumathatdoes notstickcloselyto the
campaignagainstanyinterpretation
blyan expressionof his unrelenting
ofa genre,'in:
Qur'anictextSee N. Calder,"TafsirfromTabarito Ibn Kathir:problemsin thedescriptions
G.R. HawtingandA.-K. Shareef(eds.),Approachesto theQur'an (London,1993),p. 124.

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LEIGH N.B. CHIPMAN

- We arelookingfor
theduston thecharacteristics
ofAdam'sdescendants
answersto thequestion:Whyare peopledifferent?
Meanwhile,almostall
themidrashic
stories,whether
theyclaimthatAdam's dustwas takenfrom
all theworldorwhether
theydetailwhichplacesgavedustforwhichorgans,
statethatat leastpartofthedustwas takenfromtheplaceofthealtarofthe
future
Temple- herewe are lookingforan answerto thequestion:What
makesmanwhathe is? Is his bodypureor defiled?The answersuggested
is thatthebodyis holyandworthy
ofrespect,7 certainly
bythesetraditions
the
with
Gnostic
which
of
a point polemic
regardsthebodyas the
myth,
workoftheevil archons.
tothe
As notedabove,theMuslimsourcesdevotea greatdeal ofattention
mud"byGod,andtoIblis' entry
processofAdam'screationfrom"stinking
The midrashdoes notseem
intoAdam'sbodywhilehe was stillinanimate.
was
betweenAdamandSatanbeforetheformer
tohavean idea ofa struggle
fullyconscious,whichis so conspicuousin theMuslimsourcesand which
ofproudIblis:Thesetraditions
tothecharacter
dimension
addsanother
give
toAdamand
thatcan explainwhyhe feltsuperior
information
us additional
thereis no need
refusedto bow downbeforehim.In theGnosticmaterial,
ofthespiritinto
untilAdamis madeconsciousbythetransfer
fora struggle
hisbody- up to thatpoint,theDemiurgeandarchonsareclearlyhissuperiors.
intothebody,theMuslimsources
As forthebreathingofthesoul/spirit
thebodyandhowmuchtimewas spent
describethesoul's passagethrough
thatbecomemoreand moredetailedas we go
in each organ- descriptions
Such
in timeand as we pass fromscholarlyto popularliterature.
forward
is notto be foundin themidrash,althoughthemidrashdoes
development
in
raisea questionthatMuslimsourcesignore:Whywas thesoul breathed
thenose?
through
OnlytheMuslimsourcestellthatAdam triedto risein hasteand was
Adam's
unableto do so, andthathe sneezedbeforepraisingGod (although
The
in
the
as
that
midrash
a
detail
is
of
God
well).
many
appears
praise
whichappear
citedin severalversions,
detailsandthelongtales,sometimes
evenfragwiththeshorter,
sometimes
intheMuslimsources,incomparison
dimenindicateheretooa greater
storiesofthemidrash,
mythical
mentary,
material.
the
rather
than
in
Jewish
sionin theMuslimmaterial
examined,
of
is theconception
One oftheissuesclearlyarisingfromthesetraditions
Adam as the patternof mankind.Adam's firstdeed was to praiseGod.
Man's roleis to knowGod's deedsand to praiseHim.This idea is expressed in all the sources,Jewish,Gnosticor Islamic, examinedhere.It is
alwaysrecountedthatAdam praisedGod, eitherconsciouslyor inadvertantly
(e.g. bysayingal-hamdli-allahaftersneezing).As Adamis thepatandcircusesoftheGentiles,
are
thatifstatuesofkings,setup in thetheatres
127.Cf.Hillel's comments
ofrespectandarecleanedandpolished,howmuchmoreshouldhumanbeings,createdin
considered
worthy
God's image,takecareoftheirbodies,whichis thatimage(Lev.Rabbah33.3).

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MYTHIC ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS OF ADAM'S CREATIONIN JUDAISMAND ISLAM

ternand exampleforhis descendants,

we too,thechildrenof Adam,are
boundtopraiseGod.
In thesame waythatsons are similarto theirfathers,
and whathappens
theirsons,so are we all, Adam's children,
influences
to fathers
influenced
notonlybyAdam'ssin(as Christianity
wouldhaveit)butbyeverything
that
"2
he underwent
the
of
his
creation
and
after.
during process
immediately
The factthatAdam'sexampleinfluences
hisdescendants
is especiallyprominentin Muslimsources,whereone mayalso findhintsof beliefin predestination.
Not onlyAdam's deeds are to be imitated
by his descendants,
buteven thedustfromwhichhe was createdand theeventsthatoccurred
Ifwe are
ofhisdescendants.
priortohisbeinggivenlifeaffectthecharacter
raceand color- thisis becauseAdamwas createdof different
of different
coloredclays;ifwe meetan acquaintanceand greethimwithsalam 'alaykum- thisis becauseAdamdidso; ifwe arecapableoflearningandacceptingGod's guidance- itis becauseAdamwas capableof this.
LEIGHN.B. CHIPMAN

The HebrewUniversity
ofJerusalem

theprocess
ofAdam'screation
is thecauseofhumanity's
128.FortheGnostics,
present
plight.

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