Question
When Adam and Eve were on earth, they did not need Houses of worship nor prayers 5 times a day, veils, rituals or Ramadan or images of moons, stars etc. Adam and Eve were freer than doves and traveled the universe over with a happy spirit, naked in their person and body. Why do humans believe that all this religious rituals is going to save them or make them better people, when life originally was a simple garden and rivers and oceans and we had all the love, vegetation, food to eat from a paradise beyond angelical order??
gil
Answer:
It is good to know that your mind is inquisitive. It is a sign of seeking knowledge and pondering over it.
Since your question raises points about salat, veils, Ramadhan, and moon, I am assuming that you are a Muslim; I shall therefore use the Islamic perspective to answer your question. I am going to start with a question:
How do you know that Adam and Eve ever existed on this earth?
If you doubt their existence, then the answer to your question is simple: your question is a fiction based on imagination that has no known historical base, and hence it need not be answered.
If you acknowledge the existence of Adam and Eve on the basis of information given by the Qur’an and ahadith, then you believe that the Qur’an is the Truth and Guidance for the mankind from its Creator- Allah. This leads us to explore the Qur’an and ahadith further to seek the answer of your question.
First, the
life in
إِذ
قال ربك
للملآئكة
إِنى جاعل فى
الارض خليفه
(When your Lord
told the angels, “I am going to make a vicegerent on the earth.”) (Al-Baqarah:
30)
Naturally, when Allah appointed them His vicegerent, He did not leave them unguided and undirected to roam around the earth naked as visualized by you. He had told them their responsibilities and had advised them to live according to His Guidance:
فإِما
ياتينكم منى
هدى فمن تبع
هداى فلا خوف
عليهم و لا هم
يحزنون
(So when the
Guidance comes to you from me, all those who follow my guidance will neither have
fear nor grief) (Al-Baqarah: 38)
Also, they did not live naked either. As soon as they tasted from the forbidden tree, they saw their nakedness; but due to inherent attribute of modesty in their nature, they themselves immediately covered their shame with the leaves of the Garden. Allah points this out,
فلما
ذاقا الشجرة
بدت لهما
سوءاتهما و طفقا
يخصفان
عليهمن من ورق
الجنة
(When they
tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew
together the leaves of the Garden over their bodies) (Al-A’raf: 22)
Moreover, for the progeny of Adam and Eve, Allah had sent down the dress to cover their shame:
يا
بنى ءادم قد
انزلنا عليكم
لباسا يوارى
سوءاتكم
وريشا
(O Children of
Adam! We have bestowed dress upon you to cover your shame and an adornment)
(Al-A’raf: 26)
Yes, you are right that Adam and Eve lived a simple life, but they were asked by Allah not only to worship Him alone, but perform the job of vicegerency, too.
According to many ahadith, Adam was commanded to build a House to worship Allah; the first House which he had built was on the same place where the present House of Allah is located in Makkah. This House got destroyed many times because of many reasons (such as Noah’s Flood) and got rebuilt on the same foundations; Allah mentions one such rebuilding as,
وإِذ
يرفع إِبراهم
القواعد من
البيت و
إِسمعيل ربنا
تقبل منا انك
انت السميع
العليم
(And when
Abraham and Isma’il were raising the foundations of the House, they prayed, “O
our Lord! Accept it from us; you are indeed the Hearer and the Knower!)
(Al-Baqarah: 127)
Now, remember that Adam and Eve were husband and wife, too. They had children. Their children, in turn, had their own children; and the process is continuing. Also, remember that the mankind is put to trials, because of its status and duties of the vicegerency; the progeny of Adam and Eve continuously needed guidance from Allah to learn the norms and duties of life in order to succeed in these trials; therefore, Allah had been sending the messengers with His updated messages (you may call it religions), according to the needs and development of the mankind, to show it the Way of success in the trials:
إِنا
خلقنا
الانسان من
نطفة امشاج
نبتليه فجعلناه
سميعا بصيرا .
إِنا هديناه
السبيل إِمًّا
شاكرا و
إِمًّا كفورا
(Verily we
created man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him, so we gave him
hearing and sight. We showed him the Way, whether he is grateful or ungrateful)
(Al-Insan: 2-3)
When man became fully capable of utilizing his faculties at the highest level, Allah then sent His final Messenger and the final Guidance to mankind to help it to succeed in the trial of this world. This final Guidance teaches mankind to practice five- times salat, veils, Ramadan, and moon sighting, etc.; and the final Messenger has shown us how to practice these teachings in our lives to fulfill the duties of vicegerency. Have we any choice, but to follow them in our lives, if we want to succeed in the trials?
I hope this answer satisfies all the points raised and mentioned in your question. Allah knows the best.
Dr. Syed Hasanuddin Ahmad