Eve ("Hawwa")
By Sister Aishah Ho from Hawwa magazine
Hawwa was the first woman and the first Muslimah to be created
by Allah (s.w.t).
Hawwa represents, on the one hand, womanhood and, on the other,
the source of human population. In fact, her name means "the
source of life". Hawwa also has another meaning which is used
to denote a reddy colour that is closer to the darker tone. There
is an opinion that this could allude to her skin colour.
The name Hawwa itself is not mentioned in the Qur'an but is mentioned
in hadeeth literature. For it is there that we get such information
as the meaning of her name, how she was created and how many children
she had.
For instance, Hawwa, according to the Qur'an, was created from
Adam (see Surah an-Nisaa:1 and Surah az-Zumar:6). From Bukhari,
this was further elucidated and we find that Hawwa was created from
the upper rib of Adam.
Narrated Abu Huraira (r) Allah's Apostle (s) said: "Treat
women nicely, for a woman is created from a rib, and the most curved
portion of the rib is its upper portion, 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." (Bukhari) This hadeeth
does not literally mean that women are crooked or evil by nature.
What it means is that women are delicate and should be treated gently
and with care. Furthermore, it has been explained that the breakage
of the rib in case one tries to straighten it, stands for divorce
which is the natural results of disagreement between the wife and
her husband. In the Qur'an, the story of Adam and Hawwa can be found
in three places, namely Surah al-Baqara:30-39, Surah al-A'araf:11-25,
and Surah Ta-Ha:116-123. As the story goes, Allah created Adam from
clay and taught him the names of things, that is knowledge. Then
Allah said in the Qur'an (surah Ta-Ha:116-123):
When We said to the angels, "prostrate yourselves to Adam",
they prostrated themselves, but Iblis: he refused. Then We said
"O Adam! Verily this is an enemy to you and your wife: so let
him not get you both out of the Garden, so that you art landed in
misery. There is therein (enough provision) for you not to go hungry
nor go naked. Nor to suffer from thirst, nor from the sun's heat.
But Satan whispered evil to him. He said "O Adam! Shall I
lead you to the tree of eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?"
In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness
appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering,
leaves from the Garden: Thus did Adam disobey his Lord and fell
into error.
But his Lord chose him (for His Grace): He turned to him and gave
him guidance. He said "Get you down both of you, all together,
from the Garden, with enmity one to another: but if as is sure,
there comes to you guidance from Me, whosoever follows My guidance
will not lose his way nor fall into misery.
In all cultures and its religious beliefs, traces of the story
of Adam and Hawwa can be found, though it has been greatly distorted.
However, it is important to note that the Quranic story of Adam
and Hawwa differs from the Old Testament in that :
(i) Both Adam and Hawwa were equally guilty of disobeying Allah
by eating from "that" tree. "That" tree does
not mean an apple tree. Only Allah knows what fruit "that"
tree bears.
(ii) Allah forgave Adam's and Hawwa's sins before their descent
to earth.
(iii) It was part of Allah's will that Adam and Hawwa were to reside
on earth. For, Allah in surah al-Baqara, ayah 30, He said that He
is creating Adam as a vicegerent on earth. Furthermore, from the
hadeeth we have: Abu Hurairah reported: The Apostle of Allah (s)
said: 'When Adam and Moses held a discussion, Adam won. Moses said:
"You are the same Adam who set people astray and had them ousted
from Heaven". Adam asked: "Art you the same Moses whom
Allah gave knowledge of all things and honoured you with Apostleship?"
He replied: "Yes!" Adam said: "And yet you accused
me of that which has written in my fate!" (Al-Muwatta')
When Adam and Hawwa landed on earth they were separated. According
to traditions Hawwa landed in Jeddah while Adam landed somewhere
in India (some say in Sri Lanka). Then on the ninth of Zhuh Hijjah,
they met at 'Arafat. Thus, began their life together on earth till
they were called back to Allah.
Hawwa gave birth twenty times and each time she had twins with
the exception of her last birth, where she gave birth to only a
son. In other words, she had thirty-nine children in total. The
gap between each birth was two years.
Origin: http://homepages.tig.com.au/~umm_pub/Food.html#FrstWmn |
