The opening chapters of the Book of Genesis mentions ‘Adam’ as the first man which God created. Biblical Adam is created from adamah (earth).
In the Holy Qur’an, Allah informs that He created Adam from a handful of earth taken from the entire world. He was the first prophet of Islam and the first Muslim.
Allah informed the angels that He would create a vicegerent on Earth. However, the angels objected saying that vicegerent would spread corruption and bloodshed. But, Allah allowed Adam to reveal the names of the beasts to the angels, saying, “I (Adam) know what you (Allah) reveal and what you conceal.”
The medieval Muslim scholar Al-Tabari explained that Adam was referring to the evil plans of Iblis (Satan). Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Immortality, and both shared guilt equally; for Eve neither tempted Adam or ate before him; nor is Eve to blame for the pain of childbirth, for Allah never punishes one person for the sins of another.
Adam and Eve were released from paradise and Allah sent them to Mecca, where they repented and were forgiven. At Mecca, Adam built the first Sanctuary “Kaabah” (which the Prophet Ibrahim has later rebuilt). Allah taught Adam the ritual of the Hajj. Then Adam wove the first cloak for himself and the first veil and shift for Eve.
For more information about who was the first man on earth, check this episode of Dr. Shabir Ally at his programme ‘Quran Speaks’.
Ally is a Guyanese Muslim scholar who’s the president of the Islamic Information & Dawah Centre International in Toronto, Canada. He’s a well-known public speaker on Islam and comparative religion.