And whoever says that Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend, Moses, Jesus, and the others derived their knowledge of Allah only from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has spoken falsely. Rather, Allah revealed to them and taught them. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not yet exist when they were created, and those who come earlier do not derive their knowledge from those who come later.

His statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “I was a prophet while Adam was between spirit and body”—or, in another wording, “I was recorded as a prophet”—is like his statement:

“I am indeed recorded with Allah as the Seal of the Prophets while Adam still lay in his clay form.”

For Allah created Adam’s body and, before breathing the spirit into him, recorded and made known what would happen among his descendants. Thus, He recorded Muhammad’s prophethood and made it known. Likewise, it is established in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The creation of each of you is gathered in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop, then he becomes a clinging clot for a similar period, then a lump of flesh for a similar period. Then an angel is sent to him and instructed concerning 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 thus explained, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that after the fetus’s body is created in its mother’s womb, but before the spirit is breathed into it, its provision, lifespan, deeds, and whether it will be wretched or blessed are recorded. In the same way, the account of the foremost of Adam’s descendants was recorded while Adam still lay in his clay form, before the spirit was breathed into him.

As for the wording quoted by some people:

“I was a prophet while Adam was between water and clay,”

this report is invalid both in its transmission and in terms of reason. Adam was not between water and clay; rather, clay consists of water and earth. He was, however, between spirit and body. Thus, this and similar reports concern