It was noted earlier (1) that al-Faḍl ibn Mūsā transmits this ḥadīth from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Saʿīd, and that Imām Aḥmad likewise relates it (2) through ʿAffān, Ḥammād ibn Salamah, Ḥumayd, al-Ḥasan, from an unnamed man. Ḥammād said, “I think he is Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Bajalī,” from the Prophet ﷺ: “Adam met Moses…,” and he narrated its purport.

People have taken divergent positions regarding this ḥadīth. Some of the Qadariyyah rejected it because it affirms the prior divine decree. Others from the Jabariyyah seized upon it as proof for absolute compulsion, for at first glance it seems to support them when it states, “So Adam bested Moses,” after he cited the earlier divine writ; the answer to that will come presently.

Still others (3) say that Adam prevailed because Moses reproached him for a sin from which he had already repented, and “the one who repents from sin is like one who has no sin.” It has also been said that Adam prevailed because he was older and earlier; or because he was Moses’ father; or because each of them belonged to a different revealed law; or because the meeting occurred in the Barzakh, where—according to their claim—moral responsibility no longer applies.

The correct view is that this ḥadīth has reached us in numerous wordings, some only by meaning, and these require scrutiny. The main versions in the two Ṣaḥīḥs and elsewhere revolve around Moses blaming Adam for expelling himself and his offspring from the Garden. Adam replied:

“I did not expel you; rather, the One who linked the expulsion to my eating from the tree is the very One who ordained, decreed, and wrote it before I was created—Allah ﷿. You are reproaching me for something that is not truly attributable to me. My part was only that I was forbidden to eat from the tree and I ate; but making the expulsion follow from that was not my act. I did not drive you, nor myself, out of Paradise. It was Allah’s power and action, and He has wisdom in that. For this reason Adam prevailed over Moses.”

Whoever denies this ḥadīth is simply being obstinate, for it is mass-transmitted from Abū Hurayrah ﵁—whose fairness, memorization, and precision are beyond question—and it is also reported from other Companions, as we have mentioned.

Those who twist it with the previously cited interpretations remain far from both its wording and its meaning. None of them present a stronger case than the Jabariyyah, yet even their argument falters for several reasons:

First: Moses عليه السلام would not reproach someone for a matter whose doer has already repented.

Second: Moses himself killed a person he had not been commanded to kill, and he sought Allah’s pardon, saying, “My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me,” and He forgave him (al-Qaṣaṣ 16).

Third: Were it acceptable to answer every rebuke for sin by invoking a prior decree written for the servant, this would open the door for everyone