Polytheism: The Sin committed by The First Human Couple

...  He has commanded that you worship not except Him. ... [Q12:40] 
Mission of the Messengers - XXXII 


Abstract

The first shirk (polytheism) was committed by the first human couple. Shirk is a grave injustice, and unforgivable if a person does not repent from it in this life. 

Full Text 

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّاهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلًا خَفِيفًا فَمَرَّتْ بِهِ فَلَمَّا أَثْقَلَت دَّعَوَا اللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ آتَيْتَنَا صَالِحًا لَّنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ

فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمَا صَالِحًا جَعَلَا لَهُ شُرَكَاءَ فِيمَا آتَاهُمَا فَتَعَالَى اللَّهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

أَيُشْرِكُونَ مَا لَا يَخْلُقُ شَيْئًا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ

It is He who created you from one soul nafs (مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ) and created from it her its her mate that he might dwell in security with her. And when he covers her, she carries a light burden and continues therein. And when it becomes heavy, they both invoke Allah , their Lord, "If You should give us a good [child]  صَالِحًا, we will surely be among the grateful."

But when He gives them a good [child]صَالِحًا, they ascribe partners to Him concerning that which He has given them. Exalted is Allah above what they associate with Him.

Do they associate with Him those who create nothing and they are [themselves] created?

[Al-Quran 7:189-191, Translation: Sahih International, edited in italics]

The Quran informs us of the creation of the first human nafs, which is feminine, the creation of her male mate from that first nafs herself; the mating of this first human couple, and the subsequent conception and birth of the first human baby. 

While the baby is developing in the womb, they pray for the child to be صَالِحًا (root: ص ل ح), words formed with which are translated in shades of right, reform, amend. I understand this to imply the development of a healthy baby. They pray that if they are granted a healthy baby, they will be grateful to Allah ﷻ .   

However, when the baby is born, they commit the sin of associating partners to Allah ﷻ  . Thus, the first shirk (polytheism) was committed by the first human couple. Shirk is a grave injustice, and unforgivable, if a person does not repent from it in this life. In Surah an-Nisa` we find this fact mentioned twice:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا

God forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with God is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed.

[Al-Quran 4:48, Translation: Yusuf Ali]

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا

God forgiveth not (The sin of) joining other gods with Him; but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins than this: one who joins other gods with God, Hath strayed far, far away (from the right).

[Al-Quran 4:116, Translation: Yusuf Ali]

Surah Luqman stresses on the wisdom of gratitude. Luqman begins his advice to his son thus:  

وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ

Behold, Luqman said to his son by way of instruction: "O my son! join not in worship (others) with God: for false worship is indeed the highest wrong-doing."

[Al-Quran 31:13, Translation: Yusuf Ali]

Who were the first human couple? The Quran does not mention them by name nor does it give any details about them. The popular belief across Abrahamic religions is that Adam (عليه السلام)  and Eve were the first human couple. Obviously, The Bible and The Quran are informing us of different events: 

• The Quran 7:189 informs us of the very first human female nafs, and her male mate, as discussed above, 
• The Bible Genesis 1 27 is informing us of the creation of humans: 'male and female He created them', and 
• The Quran 75:39 is informing us the creation of humans: male and female, and 
• The Bible Genesis 2 7 is informing us of the creation of Adam from the dust of the Earth

However, there is no direct mention of Adam (عليه السلام)  being the first human. He was the first human khalifa (Q2:30). The Quran 3:59 compares Adam (عليه السلام) and Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) :

إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ

The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he was.

[Al-Quran 3:59, Translation: Yusuf Ali]

Perhaps the Adam (عليه السلام) mentioned in The Quran was the first of a specie of the genus Homo, our Most Recent Common Ancestor, the y-chromosomal Adam of our specie, as discussed in another post. Surah al-A`raaf ayat 11 indicates the presence of other humans prior to Adam (عليه السلام): 

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ لَمْ يَكُن مِّنَ السَّاجِدِينَ

And We have certainly created you, [O Mankind], and given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated.

[Al-Quran 7:11, Translation: Saheeh International]

The surah goes on to inform us of the story of Adam (عليه السلام) and how Satan (Iblees) led him to sin through deceit. Then, towards the end, ayat 7:172 informs us of an event that involved the sons of Adam (عليه السلام) and all their progeny:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ شَهِدْنَا أَن تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَٰذَا غَافِلِينَ

أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ

وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls أَنفُسِهِمْ: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! we bear witness. Lest you should say on the day of resurrection: Surely we were heedless of this.

Or you should say: Only our fathers associated others (with Allah) before, and we were an offspring after them: Wilt Thou then destroy us for what the vain doers did?

And thus do We make clear the communications, and that haply they might return.

[Al-Quran 7:172-174, Translation: Shakir, edited to retain the arabic word nafs]

The DEEN (الدِّينِ)
The Quran defines the deen-e-qayimah (standing laws || right religion || the religion the correct ) in three ayat (Q9:36, Q12:40, Q30:30). The following is how I have come to understand them:  

Related Posts: 

Creation
The First Humans  

Birthday Celebrations
The Same Religion (الدِّينِ)   

Humans: Extinct & Extant 
The Creation & Emergence of Species  

Mission of the Messengers & Related Posts 

Last updated on: November 16, 2022