Over the years, the average height of the Arab man has really come on in leaps and bounds. Indeed, when we know, based on texts reported from the Sunnah of the noble Prophet and Messenger Muhammad ﷺ, that the first man Allah created measured a height of 60 cubits, we can't help but notice the significant drop in the average height of today's man! We've decided to take a closer look at this subject, and here we'll take a look at how the average height of the Arab man has changed since his creation .
The height of the first man Adam
The authentic texts on this subject are very clear. Adam, the first man, was certainly 60 cubits tall. Indeed, the proof lies in the hadith reported by Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him. He explains that the Prophet ﷺ said
adam was created by Allah with a height of 60 cubits. And then He said to him: go and greet those angels there and listen to their response. For this is the manner of greeting reserved for you and your descendants..
He said: assalamou alaykoum and they answered him wa alaykoum as-salaam wa rahmatou Allah" adding "wa rahmatou Allah". Everyone who enters paradise will look like Adam. But the height of human beings has been regressing ever since " (reported by al-Bukhari, 3336 and by Muslim, 7092).
So 60 cubits represent neither more nor less than 30 metres in height! To give you an idea, 30 meters is roughly equivalent to a building with at least 10 floors. What we also learn from Adam's height is that it will be the height of the people in paradise. We'll tell you more about this in a moment.
The average height of a man in Paradise
Indeed, the haadiths reported confirm that the average height of the first man Adam will be 60 cubits. But also that this average height of the Arab man, or of any other origin for that matter, will be the height of the people in Paradise. Here's the hadith to prove it.
According to Al Miqda, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet said:
"There is no one who dies born or of old age, and certainly people are between that and that, without him being resurrected with the age of 33. If the person is one of the people of paradise, he will be the size of Adam, in the image of Youssouf and with the heart of Ayoub. On the other hand, those who belong to the people of the fire will be as tall as mountains.
(Reported by Al Bayhaqi and authenticated by Sheikh Albani in Sahih Targhib n°3701).
About the average height of a man in Hell
The average height of an Arab or non-Arab man in Hell will be equivalent to that of a mountain. So why will people in Hell be so tall? Well, Imam An-Nawawi has explained that the reason why the people of Hell will be so tall, once in the fire, is because they will suffer more.
(Charh Sahih Mouslim, hadith n°2851). And may the Most Gracious, Most High and Most Powerful preserve us from it.
The average height of the Arab man is not necessarily that of Adam. The one that impresses and intrigues. By the way, a Saudi has decided to create something to help you imagine it. We'll tell you more about it here.
A qamis the size of the average Arab or non-Arab man in Paradise
As explained above, the Prophet Adam was 60 cubits tall. One man wanted to illustrate this same measurement. So he decided to create a garment of the aforementioned measurement. Indeed, it was a Saudi man who came up with the idea.
Hamdane Ben Awdah Al Bouhairi Al Mas'oudi, with his team of 4 seamstresses, had the sublime idea, in 2009, of sewing a qamis the size of Adam, peace be upon him. An impressive piece of work, both in terms of duration and the measurements of the garment in particular.
The impressive work involved
This immense -and the word is weak- Qamis required 18 days of work! But also 40 pieces of fabric and 30,000 spools of sewing thread!
Suffice to say, this Qamis didn't hang by a thread! To conclude this Qamis' impressive measurements, you should know that it ended up measuring 29 meters in its entirety. The sleeves are each 10 meters long, and the collar alone is 2 meters wide and 6 meters in diameter!
This creation by Hamdane Ben Awdah Al Bouhairi Al Mas'oudi clearly shows that Adam's height, and therefore that of the people of paradise, has nothing whatsoever to do with the average height of today's man. In fact, it's worth looking at the references in terms of the measurements of today's man before finishing these few lines.
The difference between the average height of the Arab man and that of other origins
Finally, we'd like to draw a parallel between the average height of the first man created, and today's Arab men, but also men of other origins. These data are based on men aged between 18 and 25.
So, while the average man in France measures 178 cm, the tallest men are to be found in the Low Countries, to be precise, with an average height of 184 cm. As for men from Arab-Muslim countries, we'll tell you right away where they stand in the rankings.
The average height of Arab men in Tunisia is 176cm, as is the case in Turkey. Closely followed by Moroccan Arab men, who average 175cm. Men from the United Arab Emirates come in a close second, with an average height of 173cm.
The differences are minimal, and men of these nationalities follow each other.
Finally, let's face it. In fact, whatever the case may be, the results are indisputable. All these men are far behind the father of mankind, whose sweet name is Adam, peace be upon him. We've finished with this article on the average height of the Arab man, and hope that it will have amazed you with the measurements of the people of Paradise, and made you want to be one of them.