In the second scenario, Adam dwells in a paradisical Garden with his wife identified as Ḥawwāʾ in Islamic tradition.

In a comment on Tafsir al-Baydawi, Gibril Haddad explains "he is also an archetype for the Attributes of Allah Most High such as His life, knowledge and power, although an incomplete one."

All angels bowed down, except Iblis (Arabic: إِبْلِيسْ, romanized: Iblīs) and is cast down from heaven and becomes the enemy of Adam and his offspring.

[6] In the story of the Garden, God tells Adam and Ḥawwāʾ that they are not allowed to consume the fruit of the "tree of immortality" (which Islamic tradition identifies with wheat).

Islamic exegesis regards Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise not as punishment for disobedience or a result from abused free will on their part, but as part of God's wisdom (Arabic: حكمة, romanized: hikmah) and plan for humanity to experience the full range of his attributes, his love, forgiveness, and his creative power.

He based his anthropology on Qur'anic verses such as "He who has created you [all] out of one living entity, and out of it brought into being its mate, so that man might incline [with love] towards the woman" (7:189).

According to Tafsir al-Baydawi (d.1319), Adam might stand for an original pattern for all of the spiritual and the corporeal existence or serving as a way for angels to obtain their allotted perfections by submitting to God's command to prostrate before him.

[15] When Iblis failed to submit to God's command, he attributed injustice to the reality (Arabic: ٱلْحَقُّ, romanized: al-haqq).

[17] These arguments are, however, rejected by those who argue that prophethood does not start with preaching God's word and instead begins at birth itself.

For that reason, many Muslim exegetes do not regard Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise as punishment for disobedience or a result from abused free will on their part,[18]: 171  but as part of God's wisdom (Arabic: حكمة, romanized: hikmah) and plan for humanity to experience the full range of his attributes, his love, forgiveness, and power to his creation.

Some Muslim scholars view Adam as an image for his descendants: humans sin, become aware of it, repent (Arabic: توبة, romanized: tawbah), and find their way back to God.

[20] A position, especially found among Mu'tazilites and some Asharites, holds that angels are superior due to their lack of urges and desires.

[21] Maturidism generally does not think any of these creatures is superior to the other, and that angels' and prophets' obedience derive from their virtues and insights to God's action, but not as their original purity.

[23] It is evident from the Qur'an that Adam was the father of contemporary humanity,[17]: 21  but the claim that there was sentient life before him is debated.

According to the Majallat Al Azhar, nowhere within Islamic texts is it prescribed how long humans existed and every Muslim is free to think that is right, and that the notion of a young earth derives from biblical reports (Israʼiliyyat).

[25] Only in one brief reference by Al-Tabari, it is Iblis, not Azrael who collects dust from earth, leading to his claim to be superior.

[25] Both Jewish and Muslim sources agree that dust for the creation of Adam's body was taken from the entire world, and often a specific sacred place.

[25] According to the Muslim interpretation, dust collected from all around the earth explains the differences among humankind, such as skin-color, but insist that humanity as a whole is united and stems from the ancestry of Adam.

Ibn Ishaq meanwhile was quoted as saying Hawwa’ bore Adam a total of 40 children, male and female, in sets of twins from 20 pregnancies.