❖ Question:
A speaker claimed during a sermon:
“The body of Ādam (علیہ السلام) was still moist with clay when the Nūr (light) of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had already been created, and he was already a Prophet.”
Is this claim supported by authentic Hadith?
❖ Answer:
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، أما بعد!
The claim is a combination of two widely circulated but unsubstantiated Hadiths often quoted in Sufi and certain Ḥanafī circles, especially among Barelwi scholars.
✦ The Two Popular Hadiths Under Review:
① “أَوَّلُ مَا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ نُورِي“
(“The first thing Allah created was my light”)
② “كُنتُ نَبِيًّا وَآدَمُ بَيْنَ الْمَاءِ وَالطِّيْنِ“
(“I was a Prophet while Ādam was between water and clay”)
➊ Hadith: “أَوَّلُ مَا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ نُورِي“
✧ Authenticity Status: ❌
- Imām Ibn al-Ḥājj al-Mālikī included it in al-Madkhal (1/148) without a chain of transmission (isnād).
- A hadith without isnād is rejected by consensus.
- It contradicts multiple authentic narrations.
✧ Established Authentic Hadith:
“The first thing Allah created was the Pen.”
Narrated by ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit
📚 Musnad Aḥmad: 5/317, Tirmidhī (Kitāb al-Sunnah): 2154
✔ Graded Ṣaḥīḥ
Other narrations show Allah created:
➊ Water
➋ ʿArsh (Throne)
➌ Pen
➍ Heavens and Earth
📚 Tafsīr al-Suddī, Fatḥ al-Bārī: 6/289
✧ Refutation from Qur’an and Sunnah:
- The Qur’an confirms that the Prophet ﷺ is from the descendants of Ādam:
“All mankind are the children of Ādam”
📚 Tirmidhī, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Ḥibbān
- And Ādam (علیہ السلام) was created from clay, not light:
“And Ādam was created from what has been described to you (i.e., clay).”
📚 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2996
- The Prophet ﷺ explicitly denied being anything other than human:
﴿وَلَا أَقُولُ إِنِّي مَلَكٌ﴾
(Sūrah al-Anʿām: 50)
➋ Hadith: “كُنتُ نَبِيًّا وَآدَمُ بَيْنَ الْمَاءِ وَالطِّيْنِ“
✧ Status: ❌
- Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī cites al-Sakhāwī and al-Zarkashī stating:
“No origin for this exact wording has been found.”
📚 al-Sirāj al-Munīr: 3/94
- ʿAlqamī, quoting Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Zarkashī, and others:
“This version has no basis.”
- Ṣaghānī:
Declares the narration as fabricated (موضوع)
📚 Tadhkirat al-Mawḍūʿāt, p. 86
✅ Authentic Version:
“كُنتُ نَبِيًّا وَآدَمُ بَيْنَ الرُّوحِ وَالْجَسَدِ“
(“I was a Prophet while Ādam was between soul and body”)
📚 Reported by:
- Ibn Saʿd – al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā 7/60
- Abū Nuʿaym – Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ 9/53
- Musnad Aḥmad 5/59, 5/379
- al-Bukhārī – al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr 7/374
- al-Ḥākim – al-Mustadrak 2/609
- Tirmidhī – 3609 (Kitāb al-Manāqib)
✔ Ḥākim declared it ṣaḥīḥ, and Tirmidhī called it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ
✧ Explanation by Scholars:
al-Manāwī (رحمه الله):
“The meaning is that Allah had decreed Prophethood for the Prophet ﷺ even before the soul was breathed into Ādam — in the realm of al-Arwāḥ (souls).”
📚 Fayḍ al-Qadīr 5/52
📚 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ: 4457
📚 al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 1856
✔ This narration refers to divine decree, not physical creation.
✔ It indicates that the status of Prophethood was assigned to the Prophet ﷺ in the pre-temporal realm.
✦ Additional Note:
Imām Waliyyullāh al-Dihlawī (رحمه الله) also discusses this in depth in Fuyūḍ al-Ḥaramayn and other writings.
He affirms that this concept pertains to metaphysical realities, not material pre-existence.
❖ Conclusion:
The two commonly quoted narrations:
➊ “أَوَّلُ مَا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ نُورِي“
➋ “كُنتُ نَبِيًّا وَآدَمُ بَيْنَ الْمَاءِ وَالطِّيْنِ“
are:
✘ Fabricated or baseless in wording and chain
✘ Should not be attributed to the Prophet ﷺ
✘ Contradict authentic narrations and Qur’anic facts
✅ The only authentic narration is:
“I was a Prophet while Ādam was between soul and body.”
— which refers to divine knowledge and decree, not physical creation.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
