The first human being and the first prophet — taught the names of all things, tested, and taught how to turn back. Told for children, with every passage referenced.
Published 2026-09-07 · 5 min read · By the Maktab Quran Team
Adam was the first human being and the first prophet. Allah taught him the names of all things, told the angels to prostrate to him, and Iblis refused out of pride. Adam and Hawwa were told not to approach one tree, they did, and then they were taught the words that bring a person back.
Key takeaways
Start at about four. It is the first story in the Quran’s order and the easiest to tell.
The one idea: everybody slips. What matters is what you do next — and Allah taught Adam the words to say.
Main passages: 2:30-39, 7:11-25 and 20:115-123.
⚠️ The Quran does not blame Hawwa. They both ate and they both repented — a very common addition from elsewhere.
The Quran never says what the tree was. It is not an apple in the Quran.
Before Adam was made
The Quran opens this story with a conversation. Allah tells the angels that He is placing a khalifah — someone who will act on the earth — and the angels ask a question: will You place one who causes corruption and sheds blood? Allah answers, I know that which you do not know (2:30).
It is worth telling a child that the angels asked. It shows a question is not rudeness, and it sets up everything that follows.
The names
Then Allah taught Adam the names — all of them — and put them before the angels, who could not supply them. Adam could (2:31-33).
This is the part children remember, and it is the part worth pausing on. The first thing said about the first human is that he was taught, and that knowing was what distinguished him. For a child sitting down to learn to read the Quran, that connection is worth making out loud.
Iblis refuses
Allah told the angels to prostrate to Adam and they did — except Iblis. His reason is recorded in his own words: I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay (7:12).
So the first refusal in the Quran is not laziness or forgetting. It is pride, and it is argued for. Children grasp this quickly if you let Iblis speak for himself rather than describing him.
The tree, and what came after
Adam and Hawwa were placed in the Garden and told to eat freely from it, but not to approach one tree. Iblis whispered to them both until they ate (7:19-22, 20:120-121).
Read the next part carefully, because most retellings change it. The Quran says they both ate. It records what they both said afterwards: Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will surely be among the losers (7:23). And in 2:37 it says Adam received words from his Lord — he was taught how to come back.
That is the shape of the whole story: a slip, and then a way back that was given rather than earned. It is why this account is a comfort to a child rather than a warning.
Where the story is in the Quran
Read the passage itself with your child rather than only the retelling. Four verses of the actual Quran are worth more than a page of summary, and a child who has heard the story then meets it in the words it was revealed in.
Where
What is in it
2:30-39
The angels’ question, the names, the prostration, the tree, and the words of repentance Adam was taught.
7:11-25
Iblis’s reasoning in his own words, the whispering, and the du’a they both made.
20:115-123
The same account with the emphasis on forgetting and on guidance being sent after.
5:27-31
The story of Adam’s two sons — often told alongside, and a harder story for older children.
The one idea to leave a child with
Everybody slips, including the very first human being. What the Quran records is not the slip but the return — and the words for returning were taught, not invented. A child who takes only that from this story has taken the right thing.
What age is this story for?
From about four. It is short, it has a clear shape, and it needs no background. Around seven a child starts asking why Iblis refused, which is the real question in the story and worth answering rather than deflecting. The account of Adam’s two sons in 5:27-31 is usually better left until nine or ten.
What most retellings add
Three things get attached to this story that are not in the Quran, and a child who learns them will have to unlearn them later.
The apple. The Quran does not name the tree at all. Neither does any authentic hadith. The apple comes from outside the Islamic tradition entirely.
Blaming Hawwa. The Quran consistently uses the dual — they both ate, they both were whispered to, they both said the du’a. The version where the woman is tempted first and then tempts the man is not the Quranic account. This one matters, because children carry it into how they think about themselves and each other.
Long descriptions of the Garden. Detailed accounts of what it looked like, how long they were there, and what Adam was made to feel come from israiliyyat — narrations from earlier communities. They are not necessarily false, but they are not something to teach as though the Quran said it. Saying “we are not told” is a real answer, and children accept it more easily than adults expect.
Free printable: all 25 prophets, with references
One sheet with every prophet named in the Quran, what each is known for and exactly where the account appears — for the fridge or a weekend-school folder.
Let your child read this in the Arabic it was revealed in
One-to-one Quran classes for children with qualified teachers who teach the meaning alongside the letters. Female teachers available as standard. First class free.
Adam. He was both the first human being and the first prophet, and the Quran begins its account of prophethood with him in 2:30-39.
Is the fruit in the story of Adam an apple?
No. The Quran never says what the tree was, and no authentic hadith names it. The apple is not from the Islamic sources at all.
Does the Quran blame Hawwa for the tree?
No. The Quran uses the dual form throughout — they both ate, and they both made the du’a in 7:23 asking forgiveness. Blaming her alone comes from outside the Quran.
What du’a did Adam make?
“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will surely be among the losers” (7:23). It is short enough for a young child to learn, and it is a du’a for any mistake.
Why did Iblis refuse to prostrate?
Pride. He said it himself: “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay” (7:12). The Quran presents it as an argument he made, not a slip.
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