The pre-Adamite hypothesis or pre-adamism is the theological belief that human (or intelligent yet non-human creatures) existed before the biblical character Adam. Pre-adamism is therefore distinct from the conventional Abrahamic belief that Prophet Adam AS was the first human. Advocates of this hypothesis are known as “pre-Adamites”, along with the humans who they believe existed before Prophet Adam AS.
In early Islam, a common belief held that mankind is actually the successor of other intelligent creatures such as Jinn and Hinn. Medieval Muslim traditions often referred to the Jinn as pre-Adamites, depicted as human-like in various ways. Although the notion of Jinn as pre-adamites was generally accepted, the idea that before the known Adam there lived other humans was a controversial one.