It was likewise recorded by Imām Aḥmad.

His words, exalted is He:
“Then he led them on by deception; and when they tasted of the tree, their nakedness became apparent to them and they began to fasten together over themselves leaves of the Garden” (al-Aʿrāf 22)
correspond to His statement in Sūrat Ṭā Hā:
“They both ate of it, whereupon their nakedness became apparent to them and they began to fasten together over themselves leaves of the Garden” (Ṭā Hā 121).

Eve ate from the tree before Adam, and she was the one who urged him(1) to eat from it—Allah knows best.

On this point rests the ḥadīth transmitted by al-Bukhārī: Bishr ibn Muḥammad related to us, ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, Maʿmar informed us, from Hammām ibn Munabbih, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said words to the same effect:

“Had it not been for the Children of Israel, meat would never have spoiled; and had it not been for Eve, no woman would ever betray her husband.”(2)

He alone reports it through this particular chain.

The two Imāms(3) likewise included it in their Ṣaḥīḥ collections by way of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from Hammām, from Abū Hurayrah. Aḥmad and Muslim also related it(4) through Hārūn ibn Maʿrūf, from Abū Wahb, from ʿAmr ibn Ḥārith, from Abū Yūnus, from Abū Hurayrah.

In the Torah that is now in the hands of the People of the Book it says that the one who led Eve to eat from the tree was the serpent, which, they claim, was among the most beautiful and imposing of creatures. Eve, acting on its word, ate and then gave Adam—peace be upon him—to eat, without any mention of Iblīs. Thereupon their eyes were opened and they realized that they were naked, so they sewed together fig leaves and made girdles; the text also states that they had been naked all along.

Wahb ibn Munabbih likewise said: Their covering had been a mantle of light over his private part and hers.

What appears in this Torah of theirs is a mistake, an alteration, and a mistranslation. Rendering speech from one language to another is not easy for everyone—especially for someone who does not know Arabic well and who is not fully versed in the meaning of his own Scripture. Hence their translation(5) contains many errors, both in wording and in meaning.

The majestic Qur’an, however, indicates that they did have garments, as in His saying: “He stripped them of their garments so as to show them their nakedness” (al-Aʿrāf 27). This pronouncement is not to be set aside for any other statement; and Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Ishkāb related to us, ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, from Saʿīd ibn—