The Civilizational Myth Of Adam And Eve
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
15 November
2022
Adam And Eve Were Neither Biological Nor
Spiritual Parents Of Mankind
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While I
admire T
O Shanavas' erudition, I can't digest his overweening statement that,
"Adam was the first prophet preaching Islam to human species drawing them
out of animality to humanity."
This sounds
haughtily supercilious and I compare it to Rudyard Kipling's highly racist and
disparaging, ' White man's burden.' The
myth of Adam and Eve is integral to all three Semitic faiths, viz, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam and the followers of these three faiths claim that Adam
preached Judaism, Christianity and Islam depending upon the Semitic faiths
followers belong to.
But the
Muslims are most vocal in their claim as Adam being the first prophet to preach
Islam. I'm sorry, this claim holds no water. Let me dissect this claim before
detonating it. If Adam was the first prophet preaching Islam, what was the role
of Eve? Doesn't this spurious claim further buttress the fact that out of 1
lakh 24 thousand messengers sent down by a fictional Allah, none has been a
woman? Is your Allah or god as gender-biased as you're ? Why hasn't there been
a female prophet or messenger thus far? Isn't your Islam like all other faiths
rabidly misogynistic?
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Also
Read: Adam and Eve: The Spiritual, Not Biological, Parents
of Human Species
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Islam and
Semitic faiths believe that Adam and Eve existed roughly 10 to 12 thousand
years ago. But evolutionary and archaeological findings point out that Homo
Sapien Erectus (early humans like us) existed nearly 50 thousand years ago.
Before that Neanderthals existed. Agrarian Human civilization started roughly
15 to 20 thousand years ago. Cults, sub-cults and animism groups existed prior
to organized faiths and the first monotheistic faith came into existence nearly
4 thousand years ago in the form of Zoroastrianism.
Even before
Islam, there were Judaism and Christianity. But Adam chose to preach Islam! Allah
hu Akbar! This sounds like Zakir Naik's most goatish thinking that every
child is born with Islam as Islam is an individual's faith by default.
Coming back
to Adam and Eve, they were neither biological nor spiritual parents of mankind.
These characters just didn't exist. Concocting them and weaving a cobweb of
lies and myths will not help your Islam or mankind surge ahead. Thomas Tweed
considered the story of Adam and Eve as an Ethnic or Civilizational Myth to be
debunked for the intellectual and non-denominational progress of mankind. See,
" Thomas Tweed, " Between the living and the dead: Fieldwork,
history, and the interpreter's position " (NY University Press,
2002).
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A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/civilizational-myth-adam-eve/d/128400
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