What is the origin of the human being? Where did the origin of man come from?
The first humans on earth were Adam and Eve. Allah Almighty created Adam from the soil, and after completing his creation, He blew into him from His spirit. When Adam – upon him peace – came to life, all the angels made a prostration of respect to him by the order of Allah. However, Iblis, thinking that he was superior to Adam in terms of creation and talent, became proud and did not prostrate, so he was expelled from the divine mercy.[1]
After Allah created Adam, He created Eve from Adam’s cartilage or, according to another narration, from his rib. In the Qur’an, it is stated, “It is He who has created you [all] out of one living entity, and out of it brought into being its mate, so that man might incline [with love] towards woman.”[2] The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Treat women nicely, for woman is created from a rib, and the most curved portion of the rib is its upper part, so, if you should try to straighten it, it will break, but if you leave it as it is, it will remain crooked. So, treat women nicely.”[3]
The supreme Creator forbade these first two people who were placed in heaven to eat the fruit of a tree. The envious devil found a way and approached them in a whisper and said: “Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest you should become angels or such beings as live forever.”[4] Thinking that Satan wanted to do them good, they ate from the forbidden tree and drew the wrath of Allah Almighty on them. Allah Almighty taught them the words of invocation. Two people made their first invocation to Almighty Allah as follows:
“Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If You forgive us not and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be lost.”[5]
The prayer of Adam and Eve was accepted, but instead of the life in Paradise, they were sent down to the world to enter Paradise only after passing an ordeal in the world and a strict accounting in the Hereafter.[6] Thus, the human life that multiplied on earth with Adam and Eve and their descendants began. From that time onward, instead of creating man from the soil as in the first creation, reproduction continued with birth. In other living beings and plants, reproduction has been continued through division, grafting, and pollination besides birth.
In the Qur’an, the formation of a child in the mother’s womb is explained as follows: “Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot, We made a (fetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!”[7]
[1] See Sad, 38: 71-76; al-Aʿraf, 7: 12; al-Hijr, 15: 29; al-Sajdah, 32: 8-9
[2] Al-Aʿraf, 7: 189; see al-Nisā, 4: 1
[3] Al-Bukhari, Anbiya, 1
[4] Al-Aʿraf, 7: 20.
[5] Al-Aʿraf, 7: 23
[6] See Ta Ha, 20: 122-123; al-Aʿraf, 7: 24
[7] Al-Muminun, 23: 12-14
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ʿilmi ḥāl) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications