The Height of Prophet Adam:

Publisher: Beacon Books, Oldham, UK: 2022, xix + 151 pp. ISBN: 9781915025326

The Height of Prophet Adam not only examines the apparent conflict between scientific and archaeological knowledge with regard to the hadith about the height of Adam, upon him peace, which states that he was sixty cubits (approx. 90 feet) tall and humankind has since been decreasing in height, but—more importantly—it constructs a framework for all such investigations (chapter 1), examines all the chains and variants of the hadith (Introduction and Part II), digs deep into Islamic scholarly tradition to engage with pre-modern studies on the hadith and its apparent conflict with archaeological data (chapters 2–3), explores ways in which the hadith can be understood (chapters 4–6), examines the related issue of miracles and natural laws (chapter 7) and provides a concise summary of the work in a concluding chapter.

In addition to these chapters, the book contains an “Introduction” by the author, which provides an overview of his methodology, a note on Israelite narrations, introductory remarks on the grades of hadith, and a useful discussion on the “definition of dhira[”, the term used in the hadith for length. An “Afterword” by Jonathan Brown discusses another related topic: Isra’iliyyat. Gems of wisdom and insights from the Islamic scholarly tradition are spread here and there in the text: “Mulla [Ali Qari (d. 1014 AH) reminds us of the ancient adage: ‘first stabilize the throne, then engrave it (thabbit al-[arsh thumma [nqush’” (p. 15).