Fatwa ID: 08392

Answered by: Maulana Yusuf Badshah

Question:

In the Hadith of the prophet, it is said that Adam was 60 cubits tall and the generations grew shorter til now. Now I am confused about the part of ‘the generations grew shorter’ because remains of humans from about 300,000 years ago show that they were in the similar height range of ours. How should this be interpreted?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Answer:

Although the hadith you refer to does mention that their heights have been decreasing until now, this does not mean that this decrease in height has been happening gradually or equally across the entirety of this time period [1]. Rather, it can be understood that almost all of this decrease in height occurred between Adam a.s and Nuh a.s, a time when there were relatively few humans and thus no fossil records, after which human heights have remained relatively constant [2].

The findings and assumptions of archaeology are heavily constrained by the extremely limited number of samples off which they base their deductions. Thus, when they contradict established hadith, it is generally the case that either the assumptions put forward by archaeologists are false, or the hadith is to be understood differently.

References:

[1] Sahih Al-Bukhari 3326:

حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، عَنْ مَعْمَرٍ، عَنْ هَمَّامٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ آدَمَ وَطُولُهُ سِتُّونَ ذِرَاعًا، ثُمَّ قَالَ اذْهَبْ فَسَلِّمْ عَلَى أُولَئِكَ مِنَ الْمَلاَئِكَةِ، فَاسْتَمِعْ مَا يُحَيُّونَكَ، تَحِيَّتُكَ وَتَحِيَّةُ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ‏.‏ فَقَالَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ‏.‏ فَقَالُوا السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ‏.‏ فَزَادُوهُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ‏.‏ فَكُلُّ مَنْ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ عَلَى صُورَةِ آدَمَ، فَلَمْ يَزَلِ الْخَلْقُ يَنْقُصُ حَتَّى الآنَ ‏”

[2] Fathul Bari, vol. 6, pg. 367, Al-Maktabah As-Salafiyyah:

قَوْلُهُ: (فَلَمْ يَزَلِ الْخَلْقُ يَنْقُصُ حَتَّى الْآنَ) أَيْ أَنَّ كُلَّ قَرْنٍ يَكُونُ نَشَأْتُهُ فِي الطُّولِ أَقْصَرَ مِنَ الْقَرْنِ الَّذِي قَبْلَهُ، فَانْتَهَى تَنَاقُصُ الطُّولِ إِلَى هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ، وَاسْتَقَرَّ الْأَمْرُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ

And only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Yusuf Badshah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham