How Many children did Prophet Adam (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) and Haawa (Eve) Have?
This question is answered as part of the Prophet Adam (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) series. To not disrupt the flow of the story-telling, this page was created separately to answer commonly asked questions.
You can read the full story of Prophet Adam (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) here.
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When reading about the life of Prophet Adam (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ), people often wonder, "How many children did he and Hawwa have together?"
Although the Qur'an and narrations of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) do not mention the exact number, many well-known and respected Historians like Ibn Katheer and Ibn Al-Jawzi have mentioned twenty sets of twins. Each pregnancy gives birth to one boy and one girl.
We know from the Qur'an that it mentions his first two sons. "And recite to them the story of Adam's two sons, in truth, when they both offered a sacrifice [to Allah], and it was accepted from one of them but was not accepted from the other." (Qur'an 5:27). The Qur'an does not explicitly mention the two sons names. Still, it is believed the names of these sons are Qabil and Habil (Cain and Abel). The story of the sacrifice is virtually identical to the revelation stated in the Hebrew Bible scripture.
From this, we gather that Prophet Adam (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) and Hawwa were blessed with twins, Qabil and his sister. Later, they welcomed another set of twins, Habil and their sister.
Qabil being the elder to Habil.
The story continues with Qabil being jealous of Habil and displeased of Allah's plan. This dispute led to the first murder on Earth. These events are given in more detail in the full story of Prophet Adam (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ).
After the death of Habil, it is believed the third son was Sheeth (Seth). Ibn Katheer wrote, "The meaning of the name Sheeth is 'the gift from Allah'; Adam and Hawwa named him Sheeth because they were blessed with him after Habil (Abel) was killed..." He succeeded Prophet Adam (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) in Prophethood and is believed to be the second Prophet. Narrated by Ibn Hibban on the authority of Abu Dharr, who related that Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, "Allah sent down 104 psalms, of which 50 were sent down to Seth." (This hadeeth narrated by Ibn Hibbaan was classified as Saheeh (sound) by some scholars and as Dha'eef (weak) by others.)