Those who uphold this opinion—that the covenant was taken from Adam’s progeny, and this is the view of the majority—find support in a report cited by Imām Aḥmad (1). He said: “Ḥajjāj narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to me, from Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī, from Anas ibn Mālik, that the Prophet ﷺ said:
‘On the Day of Resurrection a man from among the people of the Fire will be asked, “If you possessed everything that is on the earth, would you offer it as a ransom for yourself?” He will reply, “Yes.” Allah will then say, “I required of you something far easier than that: I took a pledge from you while you were still in Adam’s loins that you should not associate anything with Me, yet you insisted on committing shirk against Me.”’
Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim recorded this ḥadīth through Shuʿbah (2).
Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related—from al-Rabīʿ (3) ibn Anas, from Abū (4) al-ʿĀliyah, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb—regarding Allah’s words, “And when your Lord took from the children of Adam—from their loins—their progeny …” (al-Aʿrāf 7:172) and the verse that follows:
“On that day Allah gathered before Him all who would come from Adam until the Day of Resurrection. He created them, fashioned them, then caused them to speak, and they spoke. He took from them the covenant and pledge and made them bear witness against themselves: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They replied, ‘Yes indeed’ (al-Aʿrāf 7:172).
“Then He said: ‘I call the seven heavens and the seven earths to witness against you, and I call your father to witness as well, lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were unaware of this.” Know that there is no deity but Me, no lord but Me; do not associate anything with Me. I shall send to you messengers who will remind you of My covenant and pledge, and I shall send down My Book to you.’ They said: ‘We bear witness that You are our Lord and our God; we have no lord but You, no god but You.’ Thus they pledged obedience to Him on that day.
“He then raised up their father Adam so that he might look at them, and he saw among them the wealthy and the poor, those of handsome form and those of lesser appearance. He said, ‘My Lord, would that You had made Your servants equal!’ Allah replied, ‘I have willed that I be thanked.’
“Adam also noticed the prophets among them, gleaming like lamps, enveloped in light; they were bound by another covenant concerning messengership and prophethood. Concerning this Allah says: ‘And [remember] when We took from the Prophets their pledge, and from you, and from Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus son of Mary; and We took from them a solemn covenant’ (al-Aḥzāb 33:7).
“It is likewise what He means by, ‘So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth—the innate disposition of Allah upon which He has created mankind. No change should there be in the creation of Allah’ (al-Rūm 30:30); and by His words, ‘This [Muhammad] is a warner like the former warners’ (al-Najm 53:56); and by His words, ‘We found most of them true to no covenant; indeed, We found most of them defiantly disobedient’ (al-Aʿrāf 7:102).”
This narration was recorded by the leading scholars—ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn Jarīr, and Ibn Mardawayh—in their Tafsīrs, through the chain of Abū Jaʿfar (5).
It has likewise been transmitted from Mujāhid, ʿIkrimah, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Qatādah, al-Suddi, and others