Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Forty Hadith, An Exposition Thirty-Eighth Hadith: The Meaning Of God’s Creation Of Adam In His Image بِالسَّنَدِ المُتَّصِلِ إلَى الشَّيْخِ الجَلِيلِ عِمَادِ الإسْلامِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَعْقُوبَ الكُلَيْنِي، رِضْوَانُ اللهِ عَلَيْهِ، عَنْ عِدَّةٍ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ عَبْدِاللهِ بْنِ بَحْرٍ عَنْ أَبِي أَيُّوبَ الخَزَّازِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ أبَا جَعْفَرٍ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ عَمَّا يَرْوُونَ أنَّ اللهَ خَلَقَ آدَمَ عَلَى صُورَتِهِ، فَقَالَ: هِيَ صُورَةٌ مُحْدَثَةٌ مَخْلُوقَةٌ.
وَاصْطَفَاهَا اللهُ وَاخْتَارَهَا عَلَى سَائِرِ الصُّوَرِ المُخْتَلِفَةِ، فَأَضَافَهَا إلَى نَفْسِهِ كَمَا أَضَافَ الكَعْبَةَ إلَى نَفْسِهِ وَالرُّوحَ إلَى نَفْسِهِ فَقَالَ: ﴿بَيْتِي﴾ ﴿وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِي.﴾ With my chain of authorities reaching up to the august shaykh, the Pillar of Islam, Muhammad ibn Ya’qub al-Kulayni (R) from a group of our , from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid, from his father, from ‘Abd Allah ibn Bahr, from Abu Ayyub al-Khazzaz, from Muhammad ibn Muslim, who said: I asked Abu Ja’far (A) concerning that which is narrated, that God created Adam (A) in His form (surah literally, form, image).
He replied, “It is a form that was originated and created. He elected it and chose it over all the other different forms and attributed it to Himself, in the same way that He has attributed the Ka’bah and the Spirit (ruh) to Himself, saying: ‘My House (2:125, 22:26),’ and ‘I breathed into Him of My Spirit.
(15:29, 38:72)’[^1] Exposition The tradition mentioned in the first part of this noble tradition was one which has been well-known all along since the times of the Imams (A) to our own times, and its has been continually cited in the books of the Shi’ah and the Ahl al- Sunnah . Hadrat Baqir (A) has confirmed the authenticity of its origin while explaining its meaning.
However, there is a tradition reported by Shaykh Saduq in ‘Uyun akhbar al-Rida with his chain of authorities from the Eighth of the Imams (A) whose meaning is as follows: Husayn ibn Khalid says, “I said to Hadrat Rida (A), ‘O Son of the Messenger of God, the people narrate that the Messenger of God (A) said, “God created Adam in His own image.” ‘The Imam said, ‘God damn them! They have omitted the first part of the tradition. The Messenger of God (S) passed by two men who were abusing each other.