Ādam Denied, So His Children Deny

This happened when Ādam was created, very early in time. Ādam was supposed to live a thousand years; that's the time Allah (swt) told Ādam he would live. So now Ādam is living in dunyā, and years and years are passing by. Then, when he was 960 years old, the Angel of Death came to Ādam and told him: are you ready to die? Because the Angel of Death takes permission from the Anbiyāʾ. Are you ready to die? Ādam said: I still have forty years to live. Allah told me that I'm going to live a thousand years; I still have forty years to live. The Angel of Death said: didn't you give forty years of your life to your son Dāwūd? Ādam denied. Ādam denied. This hadith is ṣaḥīḥ. Ādam denied.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: fa-jaḥada Ādamu fa-jaḥadat dhurriyyatuh — Ādam denied, so the children of Ādam, they deny. Wa nasiya Ādamu fa-nasiyat dhurriyyatuh: and Ādam forgot, and his children forget. Wa khaṭiʾa Ādamu fa-khaṭiʾat dhurriyyatuh: and Ādam made mistakes, and his children make mistakes.

Ādam forgot. See, sometimes we forget, and that is human nature. And it is said that the name insān, insān, comes from nisyān. Insān in Arabic comes from nisyān, which is forgetting. It's a human nature: we forget.

And when we forget, we reject. Ādam denied — denied that he gave forty years — because he forgot. He wasn't lying. We need to understand that. Ādam forgot. Ādam is a Nabī of Allah (swt), and the Anbiyāʾ of Allah are maʿṣūmūna ʿan al-kadhib: Allah (swt) made them infallible from falling into these sins. So Ādam, he forgot that he gave this promise. Ādam forgot, and Allah (swt) forgave him. This was a mistake from Ādam — and this is a Nabī of Allah.