Adam - Behind the Song

First, let me start off by laying down a few ground rules and make sure I am clear on a few important things. The point of recording "The Signs of God" was to take a look at the 7 major stories that the Qur'an and Bible both share. The purpose is to start conversations between Christians and Muslims beginning with what we have in common. There will be absolutely no attacking of either religion or holy book. There will also be no attempting to convert Muslim to Christian or Christian to Muslim. We want to first celebrate what we share. No lasting relationships are ever formed out of argument, they are formed out of Honor. Now that we have that clear, let's begin.

So, let's start off at the beginning...way back...all the way to the beginning! Most of us are familiar with Adam (Adem) (peace be upon him) and Eve (Hawwa) (pboh) and the garden of Eden. What an amazing place Eden must have been! Paradise on earth! Unfortunately for us, the father and mother of humanity messed up. Adam (pboh) and Eve (pboh) sinned. They were commanded to not eat of one tree in the whole garden. But, there was a tempter in the garden known as Satan or Iblis. Let's first look at the generous Qur'an and read the account of this moment.

And We said: O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye freely (of the fruits) thereof where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers. (35) But Satan caused them to deflect therefrom and expelled them from the (happy) state in which they were; and We said: Fall down, one of you a foe unto the other! There shall be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a time. (36) Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful. (37) We said: Go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance, there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. (38) - Al-Baqara 2:35-38

We can see that God is merciful! Praise be to God that He is the relenting and the merciful. If He was not, we would surely be lost! We also see that God gives a guidance and those that follow God's guidance will not fear or grieve. So what exactly happened when Adam (pboh) and Eve (pboh) ate of the tree?

Therefor we said: O Adam! This is an enemy unto thee and unto thy wife, so let him not drive you both out of the Garden so that thou come to toil. (117) It is (vouchsafed) unto thee that thou hungerest not therein nor art naked, (118) And that thou thirstest not therein nor art exposed to the sun's heat. (119) But the Devil whispered to him, saying: O Adam! Shall I show thee the tree of immortality and power that wasteth not away? (120) Then they twain ate thereof, so that their shame became apparent unto them, and they began to hide by heaping on themselves some of the leaves of the Garden. And Adam disobeyed his Lord, so went astray. (121) - Ta-Ha 20:117-121

Adam (pboh) and Eve (pboh) did not know of their nakedness. They were without shame, thirst, or hunger! But when they ate of the tree, they suddenly were full of shame. They immediately tried to cover their own shame by heaping leaves upon their nakedness. Let's now look at the Old Testament's (Tawrat) account of this moment.

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
- Genesis 3:6-10

Adam's (pboh) nakedness and shame caused him to fear God and hide. This was not the way God interacted normally with Adam (pboh). Adam (pboh) and Eve (pboh) had been naked the whole time they were in the garden, but have never experienced shame until they disobeyed God.

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity [hatred]
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [seed] and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.” -Genesis 3:13-15

God places a curse upon Satan as his punishment for tempting Adam (pboh) and Eve (pboh) to sin. God says that there will be hatred between Satan and the descendants of Eve. (pboh) There is something very important here. The offspring of Eve (pboh) will crush the head of Satan, and Satan will strike the heel of the offspring of Eve (pboh). Let us come back to this another time.

So, now here we stand with Adam (pboh) and Eve (pboh). Still covered in the shame of their nakedness. What can be done to resolve this? Let us look at the generous Qur'an once again!

They said: "our Lord! we have wronged our own souls: if Thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy we shall certainly be lost." (23) (Allah) said: "Get ye down, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood― for a time." (24) He said: "therein shall ye live and therein shall ye die; but from it shall ye be taken out (at last)." (25) O ye children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment [a garment] upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you, But the raiment [garment] of righteousness,― that is the best. Such are among the signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition! (26) - Al-Araf 7:23-26

Adam (pboh) knew that if God did not forgive him and show him mercy, he would be lost forever! But God the merciful gave him and his wife a garment to cover their shame. We see this in the Old Testament account as well.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. - Genesis 3:21

God gave them a temporary covering for their shame and nakedness. Many scholars believe that this is the first account of a sacrifice being made to forgive sins. We will take a look later at the story of Abraham (peace be upon him) as it involves a sacrifice being made. Most Muslims will be familiar with The Blessed Feast عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īd al-’Aḍḥá that celebrates Abraham's (pboh) obedience to God. But, for now, we will save that story for later! Let's look one more time at the passage from Al-Araf.

O ye children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment [a garment] upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you, But the raiment [garment] of righteousness,― that is the best. Such are among the signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition! (26) - Al-Araf 7:26

We see that there is another raiment [garment] that God gives. Something better than a temporary covering. Something that can cover our shame and make us beautiful in God's sight again! It is the raiment [garment] of righteousness. This is a sign from God. This is a warning and advisement from God. This is a great mystery! We should ask God to reveal something more from this. What is this garment of righteousness that only God can give?

It is important for us to continually ask for God's guidance as we study His Word! We never want to make inferences and decisions based only on our own preconceptions and opinions!

O God, guide us as we search for Your Truth! Reveal to us what You want us to see!

Lastly, here are the lyrics to the song "Adam" Feel free to listen to the song while reading the lyrics. The music player should be to the left. Just click on Adam and it should play.

Enjoy!

-Reuben

Oh Adam, where have you gone,
where have you gone?
We used to walk together...
Oh Eve, what have you done,
what have you done?
Is paradise lost forever?

But this is what I'll do to make this right,
To make you beautiful in my sight

I will give you a garment of Righteousness
that will cover up all your shame
This is a sign to you, this is a sign of God

Oh Children what have you heard,
what have you heard?
Why did you question my Word?
Oh Satan what have you done,
what have you done?
I'm placing this curse upon you.

The seed of the woman will be against you,
you will strike his heel but He will crush your head

He will give them a garment of Righteousness
that will cover up all their shame
This is a sign to you, this is a sign of God

I will give you a garment of Righteousness
that will cover up all your shame
This is a sign to you, this is a sign of God

 

Song by Song

So, I thought I would take the next few weeks to post details and explanations for each song from the new album. Many Muslims and Christians will probably listen to the songs and immediately be familiar with the story. I think it would be great to take a look at each story and what the Qur'an and the Bible both say about these amazing moments in God's story. It would be great to begin with the common ground we share and see what God shows us through these moments of reflection on God's mercy!



First we will begin with the story of Adam/Adem (peace be upon him). I hope to post in the next day or so.

Thanks for reading

-Reuben

Album Available Now

The Signs of God is now available on iTunes and Amazon!