Hawwa represents, on the one hand, womanhood and, on the other, the
source of human population. In fact, her name means"the source of
life". Hawwa also has another meaning which is used todenote a reddy
colour that is closer to the darker tone. There is an opinion that
this could allude to her skin colour.
The name Hawwa itself isnot mentioned in the Qur'an but is mentioned
in hadeeth literature. For it is there that we get such information as
the meaning of her name, how she was created andhow many children she
had.
For instance, Hawwa, according to the Qur'an, was created from Adam
(see Surah an-Nisaa:1 and Surah az-Zumar:6). From Bukhari, this was
further elucidated and we find that Hawwa was created from the upper
rib of Adam.
Narrated Abu Huraira (r) Allah's Apostle (s) said:"Treat women nicely,
for a woman is created from a rib, and the most curved portion of the
rib is its upper portion, so, if you should try to straighten it, it
will break; but if you leave it as it is, it will remain crooked. So
treat womennicely." (Bukhari) This hadeeth does not literallymean that
women are crooked or evil by nature. What it means is that women are
delicate and should be treated gently and with care. Furthermore, it
has been explained that the breakage of the rib in case one tries to
straighten it, stands for divorce which is the natural results of
disagreement between the wife and her husband. In the Qur'an, the
story of Adam and Hawwa can be found in three places, namely Surah
al-Baqara:30-39, Surah al-A'araf:11-25, and Surah Ta-Ha:116-123.As the
story goes, Allah created Adam from clay and taught him the names of
things, that is knowledge. Then Allah said in the Qur'an (surah
Ta-Ha:116-123):
When We said to the angels, "prostrate yourselves to Adam",
theyprostrated themselves, but Iblis: he refused. Then We said "O
Adam! Verily this is an enemy to you and your wife: so let him not get
you both out of the Garden, so that you art landed in misery. There is
therein (enough provision) for you not to go hungry nor go naked. Nor
to suffer from thirst, nor from the sun's heat.
But Satan whispered evil to him. He said "O Adam! Shall I lead you to
the tree of eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?" In the
result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to
them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the
Garden: Thus did Adam disobey his Lord and fell into error.
But his Lord chose him (for His Grace): He turned to him and gave him
guidance. He said "Get you down both of you, alltogether, from the
Garden, with enmity one to another: but if as is sure, there comes to
you guidance from Me, whosoever follows My guidance will not lose
hisway nor fall into misery.
In all cultures and its religious beliefs, traces ofthe story of Adam
and Hawwa can be found, though it has been greatly distorted. However,
it is important to note that the Quranic story of Adam and Hawwa
differs from the Old Testament in that :
(i) Both Adam and Hawwa were equally guilty of disobeying Allahby
eating from "that" tree. "That" tree does notmean an apple tree. Only
Allah knows what fruit"that" tree bears.
(ii) Allah forgave Adam's and Hawwa's sins before their descent to earth.
(iii) It was part of Allah's will that Adam and Hawwa were to reside
onearth. For, Allah in surah al-Baqara, ayah 30, He said that He is
creating Adam as a vicegerent on earth. Furthermore, from the hadeeth
we have: Abu Hurairah reported: The Apostle of Allah (s) said: 'When
Adam and Moses held a discussion, Adam won. Moses said:"You are the
same Adam who set people astray and had them ousted from Heaven". Adam
asked: "Art you the same Moses whom Allah gave knowledge of all things
and honoured you with Apostleship?" He replied:"Yes!" Adam said: "And
yet you accused me of that which has written inmy fate!" (Al-Muwatta')
When Adam and Hawwa landed on earth they were separated. According to
traditions Hawwa landed in Jeddah while Adam landed somewhere in India
(some say in Sri Lanka). Then on the ninth of Zhuh Hijjah, they met at
'Arafat. Thus, began their life together on earth till they were
called back to Allah.
Hawwa gave birth twenty times and each time she had twins with the
exception of her last birth, where she gave birth to only a son. In
other words, she had thirty-nine children in total. The gap between
each birth was two years.
Origin: http://homepages.tig.com.au/~umm_pub/Food.html#FrstWmn
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