History of Mankind

Prologue:

We all know the famous story of how Hazrat Adam (PBUH) & his wife Eve came about into existance. We also know how and why they were thrown out of paradise, onto the Earth. This book starts off with the story of their sons, Habeel and Qabeel.

Chapter 1: Sons of Adam and Eve

The story of Habeel and Qabeel holds a great lesson for the present and future generations. Its purpose is to enlighten us towards the evilness of unjust killings and destruction. 

When Hazrat Adam (PBUH) and Eve settled down on Earth, the process of reproduction began; each pregnancy produced two offsprings, a boy and a girl. At that time, son and daughter of the same pregnancy were treated as real brother and sister, amongst which marriage(Nikah) is not permitted. Because at that time, there was noone except children of the same parents, Allah Almighty allowed the marriage between the son and daughter of different pregnancies. This was a special proclamation in the Shariah (Islamic law) in the time of Adam (PBUH), which is no longer permitted in Islam. 

During the time of Qabeel's pregnancy, the girl that was born alongside him was extremely beautiful, whereas the girl born with Habeel was less beautiful. According to the Shariah, Habeel had to marry Qabeel's sister and vice versa. However, at the time of their marriage (Nikah), Qabeel demanded to marry his own sister therefore became angry and an enemy to Habeel. This was the beginning of lust for beauty, which overcomes wisdom, leading mankind towards destruction and loss.

Hazrat Adam (PBUH) did not accept this proposal of Qabeel as it was against the Shariah, so in order to resolve this issue, he suggested that both of his sons offer sacrifice before Allah. The person whose sacrifice is accepted will be allowed to marry the beautiful girl - Adam (PBUH) had complete faith in Allah that He will accept the sacrifice of the righteous son.

In those times, the procedure to declare the acceptance of sacrifice by Allah was through the appearance of fire, which would devour the object of sacrifice. 

Both Habeel and Qabeel prepared their objects for sacrifice. As Habeel was a breeder of cattle and goats, he prepared the healthiest of the ram out of the herd for his sacrifice. On the other hand, Qabeel was an agriculturist, therefore he produced the most inferior heap of grain for the sacrifice. He did not care if the sacrifice was accepted or not, he was determined to, not in any circumstances, allow Habeel to marry the beautiful girl. 

Allah Almighty accepted the sacrifice of Habeel; a fire appeared from the sky and devoured the sacrifice of Habeel, whereas the sacrifice of Qabeel was left untouched. This event was a great honour for Habeel and a great disgrace for Qabeel. Qabeel was filled with utter jealousy and told Habeel that if he dared marry his sister, Qabeel would kill him. 

Qabeel laid the foundation of this trait of jealousy and lust for beauty. Jealousy and anger made him blind and insane. He could think of nothing else, but to kill his own brother and achieve his goal - the beautiful girl.

Habeel tried to explain to hs brother that if his sacrifice wasn't accepted by Allah, it's not Habeel's fault and nor is it Allah's, it was his own evil desires. Habeel suggested that Qabeel ask for forgiveness from Allah and repent for his mistakes, instead of wanting to kill his own brother. Habeel said: "My death will not make your sacrifice acceptable before Allah".

When Habeel saw Qabeel making preparations for killing him, he said, "Look Brother, I will not fight against you in retaliation, because I fear the Lord of the Universe; Who created you and me and counselled to respect each other's lives. If you kill me, the sin of my murder will be on your shoulders and you will be amongst the ones who are loathed by our God, Allah Almighty." But Qabeel did not listen to his brother's advice, his jealousy made him determined to kill Habeel.

Qabeel decided to kill Habeel, but he didn't know how, as noone had ever been killed before. This is where Satan comes in, who is the arch enemy of humans as he had pledged that he will try his best to lead astray, from the path of righteousness, all the descendents of Adam (PBUH). 

Satan appeared before Qabeel in disguise, he placed a bird on a stone and killed it with another stone. Through this way, Satan taught Qabeel the method of killing. After learning about this method, Qabeel waited till he saw Habeel asleep at a lone place. He killed his own brother with a heavy stone and became the first killer of mankind on the face of the Earth. Qabeel became a loser in this world and the hereafter as Allah Almight was very angry at him. 

A Hadith states that "whenever any unjust murder is performed in this world, its sin falls on the neck of Qabeel as well, because he was the founder of this cruelty". This hadith reveals the fact that a person should never originate a particular crime as it becomes a tool for the future generations and the founder of the crime will be held equally responsible for those crimes performed by others.

Habeel was one of the most favourite bondsmen of Allah, so it was necessary to keep the Sanctity of the Corpse and reveal the correct method of burial to the descendents of Adam (PBUH). Since no humans had died before this incident, Qabeel did not know what to do with the corpse of Habeel. Allah Almighty sent a crow infront of Qabeel - the crow had a dead crow in its beak. Qabeel saw the crow dig a pit in the ground, place the dead crow in it and cover the ground back with the soil. Qabeel carried out the same procedure with the dead body of his brother, Habeel.

Qabeel became a victim of the wrath of Allah. His unjust actions affected every object on land too. Trees became thorny, food spoiled, fruits became sour, water became salty and the whole Earth was clouded with dust.

When Hazrat Adam (PBUH) came to know of this incident, he did not smile for a hundred years!

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The next chapter will be about the story of Hazrat Noah (PBUH) - the famous story of Noah's Ark!