booke

298chapter five2. The name of Adam’s wife is not given. Her role in the sin is soinsignificant that her name is nowhere mentioned in the entireBook. It is certainly not \aw§"—as is so often claimed in the tafsÊrliterature—which is the Arabic version of the name in Hebrew.3. Adam either commits the original sin alone (såra 20) or togetherwith his wife (såras 5 and 2), but in both accounts it was the Devil(shayã§n) who, by his whispers, instigated the act of disobedience.4. A snake or a viper is not mentioned in the Book. This differs significantlyfrom the Biblical account where the snake entices Eve to eatfrom the forbidden fruit.5. The verses do not mention any item of clothing belonging to Adamand his wife—neither in Paradise nor on earth. It is only said thatboth become aware of their nakedness and that ‘they began to sewtogether the leaves of the Garden over their bodies…’ (7:22).This last aspect is particularly important since it points out that theoriginal sin of Adam and his wife was accompanied by the discoveryof their nakedness. The effort of the two to cover their nakedness(first with the leaves of the Garden, then with clothes) finally resultsin God’s sending down of ‘raiment’ to the children of Adam (humankind):O you children of Adam! We have [made you aware of ] [anzaln§#alaikum lib§s an ] how to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornmentto you. But the raiment of righteousness—that is the best. Such areamong the signs of God, that they may receive admonition! * O youchildren of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you, in the same manner asHe got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment,to expose their shame; for he and his tribe watch you from a positionwhere you cannot see them. We made the evil ones friends (only) tothose without faith. ( Al-A#r§f 7:26–27)The significance of this sequence of events is that in order to establishwomen’s dress code in MuÈammad’s (ß) messengerhood, one has tostudy in general the clothes that early humankind wore in order tocover their nakedness before one can embark on a more specificstudy of particular items of clothing, such as the Èij§b, the jilb§b, orothers.Being Covered (lib§s)The Arabic term lib§s connotes that something or someone is covered.The term can literally mean a garment that covers the whole