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Ibn Jarīr and Abu ash Shaykh mentioned on the authority of Muhammad Ibn Ka’b, that he said: “The souls affirmed Him with faith and knowledge before their bodies were created.”
Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated on the authority of Muhammad bin Ka’b who said: “Allah created the souls before He created the bodies, and He took their covenant.”
Ibn ‘Abd al Barr narrated in the book ‘At Tamheed’ via the chain of as Suddī, on the authority of Abī Mālik and Abī Sālih, on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbās and Murrah al Hamdānī, on the authority of Ibn Mas’ūd, and people from the companions, regarding His saying:
﴾وإذْ أخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ﴿
They said: When Allah took Ādam out of Paradise, before He sent him down from the sky, he wiped the right side of his back, and took out from it white offspring like pearls in the form of small particles and so He said to them, “Enter Paradise due to My mercy.”
And He wiped the left side of his back, and brought out black offspring from it, in the form of small particles, and He said “Enter the fire, and I do not care.”
That is His saying: “And the companions of the right” [Al-Waqi’ah: 27], “And the companions of the left” [Al-Waqi’ah: 41].
Then He took the covenant from them and said: “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Definitely.”
So a group gave (Him their oath) willingly and a group gave it unwillingly…
Then He and the angels said:
{شهدنا أن تقولوا يوم القيامة إنا كنا عن هذا غافلين} {أو تقولوا إنما أشرك آباؤنا من قبل}
They said “So there is no one from the children of Adam except that they know Allah, that He is their Lord, and that is His saying:
﴾وله أسلم من في السماوات والأرض طوعا وكرها﴿ [Āli ‘Imrān: 83].
And that is His saying:
﴾فلله الحجة المبالغة فلو شاء لهداكم أجمعين﴿ [Al-An’ām: 149],
meaning the day He took the covenant.
Ibn Jarīr mentioned, on the authority of Abu Muhammad, a man from the people of Madīnah, who said: I asked ‘Umar Ibn al Khattāb about His saying:
﴾وإذ أخذ ربك من بني آدم من ظهورهم ذريتهم﴿
He said: I asked the Prophet ﷺ as you asked me, and he said: God created Adam with his hand and breathed into him from His soul, then He seated him, and wiped his back with His right hand and took out a creation, and said: “A creation I created for Paradise.” Then He wiped his back with His other hand – and both of His hands are right – and He said: “A creation I created for the fire, they will do what I willed of actions, then I will end with the worst of their actions and enter them into the fire.”
‘Abd Ibn Humayd, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in ‘Zawāid al Musnad’📚, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Abī Hātim, Abū ash Shaykh, Ibn Mandah in the book ‘Arrad ‘alal Jahmiyyah’📚, Al Lālakā’ī, Ibn Mardawayh, Al Bayhaqī in ‘AlAsmā was Sifāt’📚, Ad Dayyā’ in ‘AlMukhtārah’📚, Ibn ‘Asākir in his ‘Tārīkh’📚, all mentioned, on the authority of Ubayy Ibn Ka’b, regarding His saying:
﴾وإذ أخذ ربك من بني آدم من ظهورهم ذريتهم﴿ till His saying: {بما فعل المبطلون},
he said: He gathered them all and made them souls in their forms, then He made them to speak so they spoke, then He took from them the pact and the covenant, and made them bear witness over themselves “Am I not your Lord?”, they said “Definitely”, He said “I make to bear witness over you the seven heavens, and I make to bear witness over you your father Ādam; so that you cannot say on the Day of Standing (ie Judgment Day): Indeed we didn’t know about this. Know, that there is no god worthy of worship other than Me, and there is no Lord other than Me, and do not associate with Me any partner, indeed I will send to you messengers to remind you of My pact and covenant, and I will send down to you My books.” They said “We bear witness that you are our Lord and our God, there is no Lord for us other than You, and there is no god worthy of worship for us other than You.” So they agreed, and Ādam was raised over them looking at them, so he saw the rich, the poor, the beautiful and other than that, so he said “O my Lord if only you had made your slaves equal?” He said “Indeed I loved that I be thanked.” And he saw the prophets amongst them like lamps, upon them lights, and they were specified with another covenant regarding the messengership and prophethood, that they would convey, and that is His saying:
﴾وإذ أخذ من النبيين ميثاقهم﴿ [Al-Ahzāb: 7],
and it is His saying:
﴾فطرت الله التي فطر الناس عليه﴿ [Ar-Rūm: 30],
and regarding that He said:
﴾وما وجدنا لأكثرهم من عهد وإن وجدنا أكثرهم لفاسفين﴿ [Al-A’rāf: 102]
And regarding that He said:
﴾فما كانوا ليؤمنوا بما كذبوا به من قبل﴿ [Yūnus: 74],
he (Ubayy) said: Allah knew that day who disbelieved in Him and who believed in Him, and the soul of ‘Īsā was from amongst those souls which took their pact and covenant in the time of Ādam, and Allah sent him to Maryam in the form of a man:
﴾فتمثل لها بشرا سويا﴿ [Maryam: 17]
Ubayy said: so he entered from her mouth.