The Role of Hawwaʾ in Sliping Adam from the Viewpoint of Shii and Sunni Exegetical Traditions

Some dogmas and commonly held beliefs are sourced from inauthentic traditions which have been accepted without reflection and verification, and passed down over the centuries. One such belief is about how Ḥawwāʾ was responsible for Sliping Ādam through her wiles. In this article, we have attempted to evaluate the correctness of this belief from the viewpoint of both Shīʿa and Sunnī narrations. To this end, after studying all the narrations related to the Slip of Ādam, we have categorized them into three groups. The first group is made up of those narrations that consider Ḥawwāʾ as the one responsible for causing Ādam to stray. The second group portrays Ḥawwāʾ as Satan’s
partner in the temptation of Ādam. The third group considers Ḥawwāʾ to be free from any wrongdoing and innocent of this accusation, and portrays her to have fallen prey to the temptations and lies of Satan just like Ādam. By examining the chains of transmission and content of these narrations, it becomes evident these traditions have weak
chains. However, the content of the third group of traditions is in accordance with Qurʾānic teachings as well as some other authentic Shīʿa traditions, whereas the narrations of the first two groups are in contradiction with verses of the Qurʾān, even if they may agree with the text of the Torah. Since some of the narrations are from the People of the Book, there is a strong possibility that they were transferred from the traditions of the Jews.