Why Adam was the first Prophet of Monotheism

For thousands of generations before Adam and Eve all the religions on Planet Earth were human made and polytheistic. From Adam and Eve onwards, all prophets sent by the one and only God to guide humans, were opposed to the worship of idols and submitted only to this one God.

However, in the thousands of years between Prophet Adam and Prophet Abraham, Allah sent thousands of prophets to thousands of tribes and nations on the earth, and not one of them were able to establish an ongoing, imageless, monotheistic community.

“The people of Noah denied before them, and the companions of the well and Thamūd; and ʿAad and Pharaoh and the brothers [neighbors] of Lot; and the companions of the forest, and the people of Tubbaʿ. All denied the messengers [Allah sent] so My threat was justly fulfilled.” [50:12-14]

Since there are over 7.000 languages now spoken in the world, and another 10-20,000 that were spoken over the previous 10,000 years and then died out, all human societies have have been taught the way God wants each of them to conduct their Divine worship (Qur’an 21:25), and the moral behavioral rules they should observe (Qur’an 16:90-92)

So Allah decided to do things in a different way; and Allah decided to make a covenant with a small tribe, and send hundreds of his prophets to this small tribe and worked continually for centuries with the people of this tribe until they were able to establish an ongoing community that would always have a core of righteous and loyal believers.

It is narrated from Abu Dharr that one day he asked the Messenger of Allah: How many prophets are there in all? He replied: One hundred and twenty four thousand. He then asked: How many of them were messenger prophets (with a new written text)? He replied: Three hundred thirteen from the above group. He asked: Who was the first of them? He replied: Adam…The first prophet among Bani Israel was Musa and the last of them was Isa and they were in all six hundred (Jewish) prophets.” (Biharul Anwar, Vol. 11, Pg. 32)

Allah selected Abraham the Hebrew (Genesis 14:13) and the descendants of Prophets Ishmael, Issac, and Jacob to be the first, but not the last monotheistic community. “There is for you an excellent example (to follow) in Abraham and those with him.” [Qur’an 60:4] and “Indeed Ibrahim was a nation obedient to Allah, a Hanif, he was not one of the polytheists.” [Qur’an 16:120].

And: “Who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah while being a doer of good, and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend.” (4:125)

Most people think that Islam started with Prophet Muhammad but he really was the last of the Prophets who were descendants of Prophet Abraham and his three imageless and monotheistic religions. The Qur’an says: “When his Lord said to him (Abraham), ‘Submit,’ he said, ‘I have submitted to the (one and only) Lord of the worlds.’” (Al-Baqarah 2:131)

The Qur’an also mentions Prophet Moses saying: “O my people (Banu Israel), if you have believed in Allah, then rely upon Him, if you would be (Jewish) Muslims [submitting to the one God].” (Yunus 10:84)

Qur’an 5:20-21 states: “Moses said to his people: O, my people, remember the favor of Allah upon you when he appointed among you prophets and made you possessors [of the Land of Israel] and gave you what he had not given anyone among the worlds. O my people, enter the holy land which Allah has assigned to you.”

And the Qur’an tells us about Prophet Solomon and the Queen of Sheba: “She said, ‘My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself (by polytheistic idol worship) and I submit with (Prophet) Solomon to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’” (An-Naml 27:44)

So why was Adam the first Prophet of Monotheism?

Islam teaches that humans are co-regents with God in managing our personal and social lives.

Learning our responsibilities to others as partners begins within our own family and community. The same teaching comes from the Torah of Moses.

In the Jewish religious tradition the great events of the Torah are often retold and re-imagined in order to gain new insights for later generations. A good example of this process, as applied to archetypal humans, is this account of Adam and Eve.

At first, Adam was all alone. He didn’t have parents and he didn’t have children. He did not even have a brother, a sister or a friend to talk to. Adam was lonely, and he was unhappy.

God said to Adam, “It is not good for you to be alone.[Genesis 2:18] But now you are free to do whatever you want to do. When you are alone you don’t have to share things with others. You don’t have to stop talking and just listen when someone else needs to talk to you. You don’t have to help when others need help. You don’t have to care about how someone else feels. If you had a sister or a brother or a good friend, you would have to do all these things and many more.”

“I don’t like being lonely” said Adam, “ I have lots of things for fun and games; but I get bored with them after a while. I have several pet animals, but even having animals is not good enough for me. I still feel lonely and all alone. I need someone who is like me but at the same time is different. I need a partner. Someone to stand by my side and be my best friend. I need someone I can take care of, and who will care for me.”

“I know just what you need.” said God, “What you need is a help mate. A person with a different personality, who can grow together with you in love, and help you become a responsible, kind and loving human being. I am going to form her right out of your side, so she will stand side by side with you as your equal partner, your help mate.[Genesis 2:21-23]

The two of you will be like one pair of hands. You know, one hand cannot wash itself. But two hands can always wash each other. You will have to be responsible for and to each other. You will no longer be independent. You will not be free to do whatever you want anymore. You will have to think about another person’s feelings. You will have to listen to what she tells you. You will have to think less about your self and more about another. I will give you a blessing to help you become a couple.”

God looked down and saw that Adam had fallen into a deep sleep. God hoped that when Adam awoke he would remember all that God had told him. Even if Adam and all his descendants didn’t always become the loving responsible help mates that God wanted them to be, God thought they would become better by trying.

And those who were fully responsible partners and help mates would become God’s blessing for each other. Then the sons of Adam would realize that the daughters of Eve were gifts from God; and that is why Adam became the first Prophet of Monotheism.