 |
After Adam AS, Allah SWT
blessed the descendants of Adam , his children and grandchildren, and
they spread and multiplied. If Adam AS had come back and seen them
all, and someone had said to him, 'These are your descendants, Adam,'
he would have been astonished. He would have said, 'Glory be to Allah
SWT! These are all my children! These are all my descendants!' Adam's
descendants founded many villages. They built many houses. They
ploughed the land, grew crops and lived in comfort and contentment.
They followed the way of their ancestor, Adam AS. They worshiped only
Allah SWT and did not worship anything else besides Him . They were
one united community. Adam was the one father of all of them, and
Allah SWT was their One Lord.
Satan's envy
Satan had not bowed down
to Adam AS when Allah SWT had commanded him to do so. So he was
driven out and damned for ever. But how could Satan and his
descendants be content with this? Were not people still worshiping
Allah SWT? Were not people still a single community with no
differences? That could not be! Would Adam's descendants go to the
heaven while Iblis and his descendants went to the Fire? That could
not be! Should not he take revenge on the sons of Adam AS so that
they would go to the Fire with him?
Satan's idea
But how could Satan do
that when people were worshiping Allah SWT ? He decided to call them
to worship idols so that they would go to the Fire and never get to
the Heaven. He knew that Allah SWT forgives people all sins, if He
so wills, except one. Allah SWT never forgives people worshiping
other things besides Him or as well as Him. So Satan decided to call
the people to associate other things with Allah SWT so that they
would never go to the Heaven. But how could he persuade them? If he
went to the people and said to them, 'Worship idols. Do not worship
Allah,' they would curse him and chase him off. They would say:
'Allah forbid! How can we associate other things with our Lord? How
can we worship idols? You are a cursed satan! You are a foul satan!'
So Satan had to look for another way, a cleverer way, to get the
people to .do as he wanted.
Satan's trick
There had been men who
feared Allah SWT and worshiped Him night and day and who remembered
Him often. They had loved Allah SWT , so Allah SWT had loved them and
answered their prayers. People loved them and spoke of them with
respect long after they had died and gone to Allah's mercy. Satan was
well aware of this. So he went to the people and mentioned those men.
He said, 'What do you think of So-and-so and So-and-so and
So-and-so?'
They said, 'Glory be to
Allah! They were men of Allah SWT and His friends. When those men
prayed, He answered them. When they asked, He gave to them.' Pictures
of the righteous men Satan asked, 'How great is your sorrow for
them?'
They replied, 'Very great
indeed.' He asked, 'How great is your longing for them?' They
replied, 'Very great indeed!' He asked, 'Why don't you look at them
every day then?' They said, 'How can we do that when they are dead?'
He said, 'Make pictures of them and look at them every morning.'
People liked Satan's idea
and made such pictures and looked at them every day. Whenever they
saw the pictures, they remembered
how those holy men had lived. From pictures to statues In time, the
people moved on from making pictures to making statues. They made
many statues of the holy men and put them in their houses and their
temples.
They still worshiped
Allah SWT and did not associate anything with Him. They knew that
these were only statues of holy men and that they could neither help
nor hurt them nor provide for them. They showed them respect because
they were reminders of the holy men.
As time passed, the
number of statues increased. The people respected them more and more.
They got used to having them around and looked for blessings in them
. Now whenever one of their holy men died, they would make a statue
of him and name it after him. From statues to idols .
Sons saw their fathers
looking for blessings through the statues and saw how much respect
they had for them. They saw them kiss the statues, dress them and
pray to Allah SWT in their presence. They saw them lower their heads
and bow down in their presence.
When the fathers passed
away, the sons added to what their fathers had done. They began to
prostrate themselves before them, to ask the statues for things and
to sacrifice animals to them . In this way the statues were turned
into idols.
People began to worship them
as they had worshiped Allah SWT before. They had a lot of these idols.
One was Wadd. Another was Suwa'. This was Yaghuth. That was Ya'uq. Another was Nasr.
Allah's Anger.
Allah SWT became very
angry with the people . He cursed them. How could Allah SWT not be
angry with the people because of what they were doing? Was this what
they were created for? Was this what they were given provision for?
They walked on Allah's
earth, but rejected Allah SWT! They ate Allah's provision , but
associated others with Allah SWT ! How terrible a sin! Allah SWT was
so angry with the people that He held back the rain and made things
hard for them. Their harvests were small and few children were born
to them. But the people did not learn their lesson from that, they
did not understand. They did not turn to Allah SWT in repentance.
They needed good counsel.
The Messenger
Allah SWT does not speak
to each person individually or tell each one to do this or do that.
The angels are a race just like mankind. It is possible to see them
and hear what they say, if Allah SWT wills. But the angels do not
speak to each person individually either, or tell each one to do this
or do that. Only Allah SWT can choose the person who will receive His
message to give to the people. Allah SWT wanted to send a messenger
to the people who could speak to them and counsel them. Allah SWT
chose to send the children of Adam a man from among themselves to
speak to them and give them good counsel. Man or angel?
Allah wanted this messenger
to be a man and to be one of the people. That way they would
recognize him and understand what he said.
If the messenger had been an
angel, the people might say, 'What has he got to do with us? He is an
angel and we are mortals! We eat and drink and we have wives and
children. How can we worship Allah?' But if the messenger were a man,
he could answer, 'I eat and drink; I have a wife and children. But I
worship Allah. Why don't you worship Allah SWT ?'
If the messenger had been an
angel, the people might say to him, 'You do not get hungry or
thirsty. You do not get ill or die. So you can worship Allah and
remember Him always!' But if the messenger were a man, he could
answer, 'I am just like you. I get hungry and thirsty. I get ill and
will die. But I worship Allah and remember Him. So why don't you
worship Allah SWT? Why don't you remember Him?' In this way the people
would not be able to make up excuses.
Nuh AS the Messenger.
Allah SWT chose to send Nuh
AS to his people. There were wealthy people and leaders among the
children of Adam AS, but Allah SWT alone knew who should carry His
message and who could bear His trust. Nuh AS was a pious and generous man; he was intelligent and forbearing, compassionate and sincere. He
was truthful and trustworthy and known for giving good counsel. Allah
revealed to Nuh AS: 'Warn your people before
a painful punishment comes to them. (71 : 1)
So Nuh AS stood up among his
people and told them, 'I am a faithful messenger to you. (26: 107)
What answer did his people
give to him?
When Nuh AS began to say to
his people, 'I am a faithful messenger to you. (26: 107) some
of them answered back, 'When did this man become a Prophet? Yesterday
he was one of us and today he says, "I am Allah's messenger to
you"!'
Nuh's AS friends said,
'This man used to play with us when we were young and he sat with us
every day. When did he become a Prophet? Was it during the day or the
night?'The rich and proud said, 'Couldn't Allah find anyone except
him? Has everyone else died? Couldn't He find anyone except a poor
man from among the common people?'
The ignorant ones said to
each other:
'This is only a man like
yourselves. If Allah had willed! He would have sent down angels. We
have never heard of this among our fathers! the encients.' (23: 24)
Some of the people said that
Nuh AS only wanted to become a leader, a man of power and position
among them, by saying he was the messenger of Allah.
Nuh AS and his people.
People had got used to
thinking that worshipping idols was the truth and a sensible thing to
do. They thought that anyone who did not worship idols was foolish.
They would say, 'Our fathers worshiped idols, so why doesn't this man
worship them?'
Nuh AS thought that their
fathers were in the wrong and unwise and that Adam AS, who was the
father of the fathers, did not worship idols. He worshiped Allah
alone. Nuh AS thought that the people were in the wrong and foolish
when they worshiped stones and did not worship Allah SWT who had
created them.
Nuh AS stood up among his
people, saying in his loudest voice, ' O my people! Worship Allah!
You have
no god but Him. Truly I
fear for you the punishment of a dreadful day.
The
Council of his people said! 'We see that you are in clear
error. !
Nuh AS said! 'My people!
there is no error in me. But I am a messenger from the Lord of all
the worlds. I convey to you the messages of my Lord and I give you
good advice! for I know from Allah what you do not know. ! (7: 59-62)
'The lowliest follow you'
Nuh AS tried hard to make
his people abandon idols and worship Allah SWT alone. But only a few
of those people who worked with their hands and ate lawful food,
lawfully earned, believed in him. The rich were too proud of being
rich to believe. Their pride kept them from listening to Nuh AS.
Their property and children distracted them from thinking about the
Next World.
They would say, 'We are
nobles and those people are lowly.' When Nuh called them to Allah,
they answered, 'How should we believe you when the lowliest follow
you' (26: 11)
They asked Nuh AS to drive
the poor away. Nuh AS refused and said, “I cannot drive away the
believers. My door is not a king's door. I am only a clear
warner.”(26: 114-15)
Nuh AS knew that those poor
people were sincere believers and that Allah SWT would be angry if he
drove them away. Against the anger of Allah SWT, no-one would be able
to help him. Nuh AS said, “O My people! who could deliver me
from Allah SWT if I drive them away?! (11 : 30)
The argument of the rich.
The rich said to the
people: 'Listen to us. What Nuh AS is calling you to is not true. It
is not good.Why? Because we are the first to sample every good thing.
We have every sort of good food, every sort of beautiful clothes. We
set the fashion and people follow us. We have seen that we do not
want for any good thing, and nobody out-does us in anything in the
city.'
They said about the poor
people who had believed in Nuh AS: 'If there had been any good in
this religion, it would have come to us before these paupers. If it
had been any good! they would not be before us in attaining it.”
(46: 11)
Nuh's call.
Nuh AS went on calling his
people and trying hard to counsel them. He said, '0 my people! I
am a clear warner to you, saying "Worship Allah and fear Him and
obey me that He may forgive you your sins and defer you to a
specified term. When Allah's term comes! it cannot be deferred! If
you only knew. I I I (71 : 2-4)
Allah SWT kept the rain
from them and was angry with them. Their harvests were small and they
had few children. Nuh told them: 'My people! If you believe, Allah
SWT will be pleased with you and remove this punishment.'
Then, when Allah SWT sent
the rain to them and blessed their crops and children, Nuh AS called
his people and said to them: 'Don't you recognize Allah SWT ?
These are the signs of Allah SWT all around you. Can't you see them?
Can't you see the heavens and the earth? Can't you see the sun and
the moon? Who created the heavens? Who placed the moon in them as a
light and made the sun a lamp? He created you and laid the earth as a
carpet for you.'
But the people of Nuh AS
would not understand and would not believe. When Nuh AS called them
to Allah SWT, they put their fingers in their ears. Now, how can
anyone who does not hear a message understand it? How can anyone who
does not want to hear, hear?
Nuh's prayer.
Nuh AS stayed with his
people for nine hundred and fifty years, calling them to Allah SWT,
but his people would not believe. They would not stop worshiping
idols. They refused to return to Allah SWT. How long could Nuh AS
wait? How long could he watch the earth and its people being ruined?
How long could he put up with his people worshiping stones? How long
could he watch them eat from Allah's SWT provisions while they
worshiped something else?
Why did Nuh AS not get
angry?
He was more patient than
anyone else could have been! Nine hundred and fifty years: Glory
be to Allah! Then Allah revealed to Nuh, 'None of your people will
believe except those who have already believed. ' (11 : 36)
When Nuh AS called his
people again, they said, 'Nuhl You have disputed with us and you
have disputed often with us, so bring us what you promised us if you
are speaking the truth. ' (11 : 32)
Nuh AS became angry for
Allah SWT and despaired of those people. He said, '0 Allah, do not
leave even one of the unbelievers on the earth!'
 |
The Ark.
Allah SWT answered Nuh's
prayer and He decided what the fate of the unbelievers would be. All
of them would be drowned in a great flood.Allah SWT wanted to save
Nuh AS and the believers. He commanded Nuh AS to build a great ship,
and Nuh AS began straightaway. The unbelievers from his people saw
him working busily and they mocked: 'What is this, Nuh? Since when
have you become a carpenter? Didn't we tell you not to sit with the
carpenters and iron-smiths and now you have really become a
carpenter!
'Where is this ship
going, Nuh? Everything about you is unbelievable! Is it going to sail
in the sand or climb up the mountains? The sea is a long way from
here. Will the jinn carry it or will oxen pull it?' Nuh AS heard all
that and was patient. He had heard worse things and had been patient.
But sometimes he would say to them, 'You mock us, we will mock you
as you mock. (11: 38)
The Flood.
The promise of Allah SWT
came. We seek refuge with Allah SWT!- It rained and rained until the
sky was like a sieve which could not hold the water. Water poured
down and gushed up and flowed in until it surrounded the people on
every side.
Then Allah SWT revealed to
Nuh AS , 'Take with you those of your people and family who believe.'
Allah SWT revealed to Nuh AS to take with him a pair of every animal
and bird, a male and a female, because the flood would cover the
earth. Neither man nor beast would be saved from it. Nuh AS did so.
With him in the Ark were those of his people who believed in him and
a pair of every bird and animal.The Ark rode with them on waves like
mountains. The people outside the Ark climbed onto every high place
and every hill, fleeing from Allah's punishment. But there is no
refuge from Allah except in Him.
Nuh's son.
Nuh AS had a son who was
with the unbelievers. Nuh AS saw his son in the flood and said, 'My
son, embark with us and do not be with the unbelievers.I He said, 'I
will seek refuge on a mountain that will protect me from the water.
Nuh AS said, 'Today there is no protector from Allah's command
except forthe one to whom He shows mercy.I The waves came between
them and Nuh's son was among the drowned. (11: 42-3)
Nuh AS was sad about his
son. How could he not be sad about his own son? He wanted to save him
from the Fire on the Day of Judgement since he was not able to save
him from the water. The Fire is worse than the water.
The punishment of the Next
World is harsher.
Did not Allah SWT promise
that He would save his family? Yes! And Allah's promise is true. He
wanted to speak to Allah SWT on behalf of his son. 'He is not one
of your family' Nuh called on his Lord and said, 'My son is part of
my family and Your promise is true. You are the most just of those
that judge. (11 : 45)
But Allah SWT does not look
at people's family trees. He looks at their actions. Allah SWT does
not accept pleas on behalf of idol-worshipers. The idol-worshiper is
not part of a Prophet's family, even if he is his son. Allah made Nuh
AS aware of that. He said, 'Nuh , he is not part of your family;
he is of evil conduct. Do not ask of Me that about which you do not
know. I warn you lest you be one of the ignorant. (11 : 46)
Nuh AS became aware and
turned to Allah SWT in repentant. He said: 'My Lord, I take refuge
with You lest I should ask of You something about which I have no
knowledge. If you do not forgive me and show mercy to me, I will be
among the losers. I (11 : 47).
After the flood.
When what Allah SWT willed
had happened and the unbelievers were drowned, the rain stopped and
the water sank away. The unbelievers of the people of Nuh AS were
destroyed. Neither the heavens nor the earth wept for them. It was
said : 'Away with the wrong-doing people ' (11 : 44).
The Ark stopped on Mount
Judi.
It was said, 'Nuh AS,
get down in peace. I (11 : 48) Nuh AS and the people of the Ark
got down and walked on the earth in peace. Allah SWT blessed the
descendants of Nuh AS and they spread in the land and filled the
earth. There were communities among them and there were Prophets and
kings among them.
Peace be upon Nuh among all
beings!
Peace be upon Nuh among all
the worlds! (37: 79)
