Introduction to Early Days: Creation of the Universe and the Beginning of Mankind

This work is an abridged treatment of the beginning of creation drawn from Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah (The Beginning and the End), the monumental historical encyclopaedia by the great Shafi'i scholar Ismail ibn Kathir. Ibn Kathir was a student of Ibn Taymiyyah and one of the foremost hadith scholars and historians of the eighth century AH.

The book opens with the creation of the heavens and earth, the angels, the jinn, and then Adam — tracing the early narratives of the prophets from the Quran, Sunnah, and the reliable reports of earlier scriptures. Ibn Kathir applied rigorous hadith methodology to these accounts, accepting only what is supported by sound evidence and cautioning against Israelite traditions (isra'iliyyat) that contradict the Quran and Sunnah.

This section covers the stories of the Prophets, the six days of creation, the creation of Adam and Hawwa, their descent to earth, and the early history of humankind — providing an Islamic cosmology rooted in Quranic and prophetic sources.