to the angels, ‘Indeed, I am creating a human being from clay’”—the verse. The hadiths concerning Adam’s creation and the breathing of the spirit into him are well known in the books of hadith, Quranic commentary, and other works. Thus, he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated “that he was a prophet—that is, he was recorded as a prophet—while Adam was between spirit and body.”

This—and Allah knows best—is because it is at this stage that the decree entrusted to the angels responsible for creation is determined. It is determined for them and made known to them, and what will happen to the created being is recorded before the spirit is breathed into it. This is illustrated by the hadith of the truthful one whose truthfulness was confirmed, recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim in their two Sahīh collections and in the other principal hadith collections. It is among the widely transmitted hadiths that the scholars have accepted and unanimously affirmed as true. It is the hadith narrated by al-Aʿmash, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the truthful one whose truthfulness was confirmed—told us: ‘Each of you is brought together in his mother’s womb as a drop of fluid for forty days, then becomes a clot for a similar period, then a lump of flesh for a similar period. Allah then sends the angel, who is commanded to record four matters. He is told: “Write down his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed.” Then the spirit is breathed into him.’”

He also said:

“By Him in whose hand is my soul, one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until only a cubit separates him from it. Then what has been written overtakes him, and he performs the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters the Fire. And one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Fire until only a cubit separates him from it. Then what has been written overtakes him, and he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters Paradise.”

Since the truthful one whose truthfulness was confirmed stated that the angel records a person’s provision, deeds, lifespan, and whether he will be wretched or blessed after the body has been created but before the spirit is breathed into it, and since Adam is the father of mankind, it was likewise fitting that, after his body had been created and before the spirit was breathed into him, there should be recorded what would come to be