In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The story of our mother Hawwa (Eve).
The characteristics of Hawwa as reflected in her daughters.
Allah the Almighty says:
"But Satan caused them to slip from it."
"And he removed them from that [condition] in which they had been."
"And We said, 'Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another.'"
"And for you on the earth is a place of settlement."
"And enjoyment for a time."
“Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful.” (2:37)
"Then He accepted his repentance."
"Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful."
Understanding the nature of Hawwa,
through the lens of the sacred texts,
the Qur'an and the Sunnah,
makes it easier for a man to know how to interact with her,
and to understand her behaviors,
the source of these behaviors,
and how to excuse her,
and how to provide the correct guidance.
A man cannot achieve happiness with Hawwa
unless he understands her nature,
so he does not burden her beyond her capacity,
nor does he demand of her what contradicts this nature.
The family of our father Adam with our mother Hawwa
was not mentioned at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah
except for a wisdom we are intended to grasp,
and to act upon accordingly.
When our father Adam and our mother Hawwa
ate from the tree due to Satan’s deception,
Adam did not exploit the situation,
nor did he cast the blame solely upon Hawwa,
while absolving himself of the error.
Rather, he moved to correct the mistake
through repentance and turning back to Allah the Almighty.
When a rational person is reminded of Allah, he remembers and repents,
and does not justify his error to himself.
This is what Adam and Hawwa did.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
clarified for us the position of Hawwa
regarding eating from the tree,
and the effect of this position on her daughters throughout time.
Al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"And His saying, 'as enemies to one another'—
it is possible that 'one another' refers to certain species,
meaning the enmity between mankind and the jinn,
if the pronoun 'go down' refers to Adam, his wife, and Iblis.
It is also possible that it refers to the enmity between individuals of the human species,
if the pronoun 'go down' refers to Adam and Hawwa.
In that case, it serves as an announcement to them
of one of the consequences of their action,
which is inherited by their descendants.
This is the origin of the appearance of differences in their creation,
in that their disobedience left an imprint on their own souls,
and the souls of their descendants,
a propensity for deception and guile,
in line with the saying of Allah the Almighty:
“O ye who believe! Lo! among your wives and your children there are enemies for you, therefor beware of them. And if ye efface and overlook and forgive, then lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (64:14)
For character is inherited.
And how could it not be,
when it is something that is transmitted through frequent interaction and companionship?
Abu Tammam once said:
"Had you been with me, you would have infected me with your forbearance, for nobility is contagious."
The connection between this effect
and the act that caused it,
which is the eating from the tree,
is that eating from the tree was a violation of the command of Allah the Almighty,
a rejection of it,
and a poor opinion of the benefit therein.
What prompted them to violate it was greed and the desire to secure a benefit for themselves,
namely, immortality in Paradise and the exclusive enjoyment of its bounties,
along with a poor opinion of the One who forbade them from eating from it,
even though He had informed them that if they ate from it,
they would be wronging themselves,
due to Iblis saying to them:
“Then Satan whispered to them that he might manifest unto them that which was hidden from them of their shame, and he said: Your Lord forbade you from this tree only lest ye should become angels or become of the immortals.” (7:20)
"Unless you should become angels or become of the immortals."
Thus, the enmity between individuals of mankind,
despite their natural inclination toward familiarity, affection, and unity,
is characterized by the rejection of that familiarity and unity
for the sake of securing a personal benefit,
and neglecting the benefit of others.
Therefore, there was inevitably a link between that thought which drove them to eat from the tree,
and its effect which remained in their souls,
and which they would pass on to their offspring,
so the offspring are created with their minds predisposed to that character
which had occurred to the minds of their parents.
There is no doubt that this character, which returns to preferring oneself for good
and having a poor opinion of others,
is the source of all enmities,
because one person does not show enmity toward another except for believing there is a conflict of interest,
or due to a poor opinion of them regarding harm.
In this is an indication of a moral issue,
which is that the origin of morals, both good and bad,
lies in virtuous and evil thoughts.
Then, the thought transforms if an action follows it, becoming a character trait.
And if its possessor resists it and does not act upon it,
that resistance becomes a cause for the fading of that thought.
For this reason, the Shari'ah warned against intending to commit sins,
and the reward for refraining from an intended sin is a good deed.
It also commanded virtuous thoughts,
so the mere intention to do a good deed is a good deed,
even if one does not perform it.
And acting upon that intention is ten good deeds,
as mentioned in the authentic hadith:
"Whoever intends to do a good deed but does not do it,
Allah records it with Him as a complete good deed."
Then he said: "And whoever intends to do a bad deed and does it,
it is recorded as one bad deed."
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
And He made the pardoning of the whispers of the soul
a favor and forgiveness from Allah the Almighty,
in the hadith:
"Indeed, Allah has pardoned my Ummah for what their souls whisper to them."
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
Bearing witness to this meaning mentioned by al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur
is what came in the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
regarding the forgetfulness of Adam and the betrayal of Hawwa.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"When Allah created Adam,
He wiped his back,
and there fell from his back every soul
that He would create from his descendants
until the Day of Resurrection.
And He placed between the eyes of every one of them
a glimmer of light.
Then He presented them to Adam,
and he said, 'My Lord, who are these?'
He said, 'These are your descendants.'
He saw a man among them,
and the glimmer between his eyes pleased him.
He said, 'My Lord, who is this?'
He said, 'This is a man from the last of the nations of your descendants,
called Dawud (David).'
He said, 'My Lord, how much have You set for his lifespan?'
He said, 'Sixty years.'
He said, 'My Lord, increase his lifespan by forty years from my own.'
When Adam’s lifespan ended,
the Angel of Death came to him.
He said, 'Do I not have forty years left of my lifespan?'
He said, 'Did you not give them to your son Dawud?'
He said, 'So Adam denied it,'
'and his descendants denied it.'
'And Adam forgot,'
'and his descendants forgot.'
'And Adam erred,'
'and his descendants erred.'"
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi.
This is regarding Adam.
As for the hadith of Hawwa,
on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him,
he said:
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"Were it not for the Children of Israel,
meat would not have rotted.
And were it not for Hawwa,
no woman would ever betray her husband."
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
Al-Qadi 'Iyad,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
His saying,
"And were it not for Hawwa,
no woman would betray her husband,"
means that she is their mother,
so they resemble her in birth,
and the trait is inherited,
because of what happened to her in the story of the tree
with Iblis.
And Ibn al-Jawzi,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"As for Hawwa’s betrayal of her husband,
it was in neglecting
the advice regarding the tree,
and nothing else.
The meaning is that the Children of Israel,
when they were forbidden to store food,
they disobeyed, so the meat spoiled,
and the situation became consistent
for everyone who stores food.
And when Hawwa betrayed
her husband,
the situation became consistent for her daughters."
And al-Tibi,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"And were it not that Hawwa betrayed Adam
by enticing him,
and inciting him to violate
the command regarding eating from the tree,
and established this Sunnah,
no woman would have followed it
with her husband."
And Ibn Hajar,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"'No woman would betray her husband'—
there is an indication in this to
what happened from Hawwa
in her adorning herself for Adam
to eat from the tree,
until he fell into that.
So the meaning of her betrayal
She accepted what was made appealing to her
by Iblis, until she made it appealing
to Adam, peace be upon him.
And since she is the mother of the daughters of Adam,
they resemble her in their nature,
and in the inheritance of traits.
Thus, there is hardly a woman
who is free from betraying her husband,
whether in action or in speech.
The intended meaning of betrayal
here is not the commission of indecencies;
far be it from that, and certainly not.
Rather,
when she inclined toward the desire of the self
to eat from the tree,
and made that seem good to Adam,
this was considered a betrayal of him.
As for those who came
after her among women,
the betrayal of each one
of them is according to her own circumstances.
Close to this is the hadith:
"Adam denied,
so his descendants denied."
In this hadith,
there is an indication to console men
regarding what they encounter from their wives,
by reflecting on what occurred
from their great mother.
And that this is part of their nature,
so one should not be excessive in blaming
one from whom something occurs
without intentionality,
or by way of rarity.
And it is incumbent upon them
to be mindful of this,
regarding indulgence in this behavior,
but rather they should restrain themselves
and struggle against their desires.
And Allah is the One whose help is sought.
We shall continue in a
future meeting, if Allah wills.
And praise be to Allah,
the Lord of the worlds.
The story of our mother Hawwa.
The story of our mother Hawwa.