Is Man created in the Image of God? 

In a recently held interfaith discussion, the Christian and Jewish representatives explained that man is created in the image of God. They quoted from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. Obviously, they were referring to the English Bible as only a few can refer to the original language of the Torah or Injîl.

There is not much difference in various translations of the Bible. With the exception of Young’s literal translation that reads “And God prepareth the man in His image; in the image of God He prepared him, a male and a female He prepared them,” all other translations, read  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

The Muslim representative concurred with them and said Islam also believes that man is created in the image of God. He quoted a hadith from Sahih Muslim that reads “When any one of you quarrels with his brother, he should avoid his face for Allah created Adam in his [or His own] image.” (Hadith 4731)

Even though the speaker did not mention this, but there is another hadith in Sahih Bukhari that gives slightly different information: “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah created Adam in his (image) form and his height was sixty cubits….(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 5873)   

Do the three monotheistic religions have the same opinions on this issue of the image of a man or is there a difference. If the claim of the Muslim representative based on the hadith is accepted, then one has to come up with a newer understanding of several Quranic verses that inform the believers that there is nothing like him (42:11) or “He cannot be comprehended by vision but He comprehends everything. He is the All-Subtle and the All-Aware. (6:103) or “Moses prepared for receiving Directives which Allah revealed to him and said, “O my Rabb, show Yourself to me so that I may behold you.” Allah replied: “You shall not see Me, but look towards the mountain - if it remains firm in its place then you shall see Me. “When Allah disclosed His glory on the mountain and caused it to crumble into pieces Moses fell into a swoon. When he came to himself, he exclaimed:” You are much above our imagining. I turn to You in repentance and am the first of those who believe,” (7:143) or “And there is none co-equal or comparable to Him.”

So the idea of creating Adam or the first human being in His own image is a very questionable idea. It becomes more problematic when we look at the description of human beings in the Quran. In Sura (chapter) Nisa ayah (verse) 28 the Quran mentions that “man was created weak,” in sura Ibrahim, aya 34, it is said “verily, man is indeed an extreme wrongdoer, a disbeliever (an extreme ingrate who denies Allah’s Blessings by disbelief, and by worshipping others besides Allah, and by disobeying Allah and His Prophet Muhammad). In Sura A- Nahl aya 4, the Quran explains that “man becomes an open opponent.” In sura Isra, aya 11, the Quran explains “man is ever hasty” and in aya 100, man is ever miserly.” In Surah Kahaf, aya 54, Allah reminds humans, “human being is ever more quarrelsome than anything.” In aya 19 of chapter 70, the Quran further explains, “man was created impatient.” Surah 90, aya 4 reads, “We have created man in toil.” In Surah 97, aya 6, we are reminded that “man does transgress (in disbelief and evil deed).” Finally, in sura 103, aya 2, pronounces, “Verily, man is in a loss.”

In another set of explanation, the Quran elaborates, “And indeed, We created man from dried (sounding) clay of altered mud.” (15:26), “We created man (Adam) out of an extract of clay (water and earth)” (23:12), or “Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was not a thing worth mentioning.” (76:1), “He has created man from a clot.” (96:2)

No where does the Creator mention that He created the first human being in His image. Moreover, none of the abovementioned descriptions about human beings can apply to God, Almighty.

By supporting the idea of man created in the image of God, some of our scholars have unnecessarily and unconsciously, defied the principles of monotheism explained in the Quran. Obviously, the Creator is different than the creation. The two are not alike. Rather than establishing the supremacy of the Quran on Sahih Muslim collection, some scholars have tried to provide justification for the narration mentioned above. In one of the authentic website, it is said that “Ibn Abbas narrated: Once as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him, turned his gaze to the Ka’ba, he said, “Blessed be you the House of Allah, How great are you! And how is great is your right but the in the sight of Allah the right of the believer is greater than your right.” (Shu’b al-Iman, Hadith 3853. Classified as Sahih by Albani in Sahiha 3420)

“If Holy Ka’ba can be called the “House of Allah,” just like “Bethel,” without bringing in any mental picture, why a similar expression cannot be used for something more respectable without any suggestion of anthropomorphism?” This, however, is like comparing apples with oranges.  One knows that the word bait is used in an allegorical sense. However, when one refers to the image of Adam like the image of Allah, one assumes that Allah can be recognized by an image. This is a very primitive understanding of God who in the early stages of human ignorance was always viewed as a deity represented in stones or in some visible objects.

Imam Al-Nawawi (d. 676 A.H.) also wrote a commentary to this Hadith. He said; “And scholars have differed on its meaning. One group [of scholars] said subject of ‘his image’ is person who is fought with, and this is the evident from the narration of Muslim. Another group said, the subject is Adam and this is a weak opinion. And (yet another) group (of scholars) said it refers to Allah Almighty. And (in that case) it is (only) to emphasize the esteem (of a human) and importance just like the Almighty says, “Camel of Allah”, and as it is said of the Holy Ka’ba, “House of Allah” and likewise. And Allah knows the best!” (Sharah al-Nawawi 8/440)
Other scholars explain that the meaning of the Hadith is that Allah gave Adam attributes that in a way resemble His own attributes. And these attributes are the [seven] attributes of meaning [e.g., life, power, knowledge, will over his actions, hearing, seeing, and speech]. Also He has made Adam a storehouse for many of His names... So some people have the name "al-Karim" (the Generous) become apparent on them [and thus they engage in acts of generosity]. Some people have the name "Al-Rahim" (the Merciful) become apparent on them [and thus they show mercy to the creation of Allah]....Ibn `Ajibah]
Some scholars of tasawwuf explain the relationship between the three aspects of the human (body, mind and soul) and the three aspects of Allah (actions, attributes and entity). And argue that tt is through the body of the human that he can experience Allah's actions, through the mind/heart that he can experience Allah's attributes and through the soul can experience Allah's entity. Thus, Allah has created the three aspects of the human as mirror image compliments of His three aspects (which He has told us about). And this is hinted at in the hadith "Indeed Allah has created Adam in His image]."

Many of these explanations are beyond the framework of the Quranic statements that clearly define human beings and their behavior and attitude in general. The dominant aspect of this behavior is man’s ability to constantly commit mistakes and constantly seek repentance, an attribute that can never be associated with God.

Based on the Quranic guidance, it is almost not appropriate to claim that man was created in the image of God. What is compiled in this aspect must be minutely and critically examined before passing a judgment on the dhat (Entity) of Allah.
Aslam Abdullah is the Editor of the English Weekly Muslim Observer, published from Detroit as well as thedirector of the Islamic Society of Nevada.

 AA