Part 38

refer to th e pe riod o f his life on Eart h, afte r he wa s se nt down

from Paradi se, that being ni ne hundred a nd thirt y solar yea rs,

whi ch, in lunar yea rs, wou ld be equival en t to nin c hundred

a nd fifty-seven years, To this is added the for ty-three years

whi ch he spent in Paradi se, pr ior to being se nt down to Earth ,

accord in g to wha t wa s said by Ibn Jarccr a nd oth crs. Th is

would make a tota l of a thousa nd years,

What Has Been Mentioned About idrees ;@1

A ll ah, ivl OS I High , says, ( And mcntion in thc Book (th e

Qur'an) Idrccs (Enoc h). Veri ly, he was a man of trut h (a nd ) a

( I) This narration is rai sed to the level of hosol/ by other supporting narra-

tions: it was narrated by Ahmad (2270) on the authority of 'Abdlillah Ibn

176 Melllul/1 0/ ,11(' /J('ulli a/Adam (lml /lis Adrice 10 His

Prophet and We rai ~cd him to a hi gh station . ) (Som-ah M{l/J!am

So Id rees ~ ha s been praised by All ah and He described

him as be ing a Prophe t and a 111<1 11 of truth . He is al so known as

Idress and he was a direct ancestor o f the Messe nger of Allah

:1:5, according to what has been sa id by morc than one scholar

of genea logy. He was the first of the sons of Ada m ~ 10 be

gran ted Prophct hood a ncr Adam ~ and Shec th ~ .

Ibn Ishaq said that he was the first person to write w ith a pen.

I-Ie li ved for three hundred and e ight years of Ada m's li fc. A

group of pco pl e sa id that it was hc who was referred to in th e

hadeeth reporled oll lh c autho ri ty o f Mu'awiyah Ibn A I-I-I akam

As - Su l ami ~, who reported th at when he asked the Messenger

of All ah ~ about wriling in the sa nd, he sa id, "The re was a

Prophet w ho wrote in the sand, so if they do it as he d id, that is

Wi th regard to A ll ah's say in g: ( We raised him 10 a high

stillion ) (SoO/'ah MlIIJ1CU1l 19:57), accord ing 10 what has been

authentica ll y reported in the Saheehain (2) in th e hadeeth of

AI-Ism', the Messe nger of All ah ;tS visited him in th e fourth

A I- ' Awfi reported on the autho rity of ' Abdu ll ah Ibn ' Abbas

.;" Ihal hc sa id regarding th e Words of All ah, Mosl Hi gh: ( We

rai sed him to a high station ) (SoO/'al1 MlIIyalll 19:57), " I-I e

wa s rai sed to the six th heave n and he died the re." Ad-Da hhak

said li kew isc. But the hadeeth in which it is stated that he is

in the fourth heaven, whi ch is agreed upon by AI-B ukhar i and

( I) Narrated by Muslim (537). Abu Dawood (930). An-Nasa'i (1218) and

(2) Narrated by AI-Bukhari (3207) and rvluslim (162).

Alel/fiull of fhe Deafh of Adllmllml /-lis A(/I'ice (() lIis 177

~ . ~ 7'lJ.P~ "

Muslim , is more correc t and it is the op in io n of Mujahid and

Some have claim ed that Idrees did no t li ve before Nooh,

rather, they say that he lived during the time of th e Children

A I-Bukha ri sa id , " It was menti oned on th e authority of

'A bdullah Ib n Ma s'ood ~ and' Abdu llah Ibn' Abbas .;., that

lI yas (Elias) wa s Idrees.(l) They drew support for thi s cla im

from the hadeelh of Adh-Dhuhri , on the authority of Ana s ~

regarding AI-Ism', in w hich it was stated that whe n the Prophet

3i passed by him , he sa id , " Welcome, p ious brot he r and pious

Prophet! " He d id not say as Adam ~ and Ib rah eem ~ had

sa id, " Welcome, pi olls Pro phet and son!" Th ey sa id, " Ifhe was

a direct descendan t o f him , he would have said as th ey did. "

But thi s does not necessa ril y prove their case, because it

m ight be that th e narrator did not remem be r it prec ise ly, or

he may have sa id it by way of indu lge nce and humility and

he did not address h im as a father as Adam , the fat her of the

mankind and Ibraheell1 , the Kllaleel, o f the Most Beneficent

and the greates t of the UIIII- 'AzlII (2 ) - after Muhammad (may

th e Bless ings and Peace of A llah be upon them nil).

(I) Narrated by Al-Bukhari in a IIIII'lIl1a(j form in the Book of the Ah(lcieelh

(2) U11I1- ·A=m: They are Nooh , Ibrahccm , Moosa, 'Ecsa und Muhammad

(peace bc upon thcm all). 'Abdullah Ibn . Abbas said that UIIII- '~bn

means: The Possessors o r Resoluteness and Patience.

He is Noah, SOil o f Lamak, son of Mattooshlakh, th e SOil of

Khanookh (i.c. Id rces), son of Yard, son of Mahla'cc L son of

Qai nan, son of Anush, son of Shecth, son of Ad am, the fath cr

of the ma nki nd ~ .

Hc was born a hund rcd and twe nty-s ix years aOcl' the deat h

of Adam ~ , according to what Ibn Jarecr and ot hers have

Accordi ng to the hi story of the People o f the Scripture, the

period between the birth of Noa h ~ and the dea th of Ada m

~ was a hundred and [arty six years. BUI in fact, the time spall

between them was te n ce nturies, as AI-H afiz Abu I-Iatim Ibn

Hibban said in hi s Saheeh. on the authorit y of Abu Umamah

...;c, who reported that a man sa id, "0, Messenger of Allah!

\Vas Adam a ProphetT Th e Prophet ~ said , " Yes; and he was

spoken to (by A ll ah}. " The man then asked, "And how long

was there betwee n hi m and Noah '1!.i::B?" The Prophet ~ repl ied,

"Ten centuries." (1 ) I say: This is in accordance with the c rite ria

(I) This is an uuthent il; Iwdeelh nurrated by Ibn Hibban in hi s S(lheeh (1-1/69.

The Story uf Noo" ~ 179

for acceptance stipulated by Muslim , though it was not narrated

by hi m or by AI-B ukhari.

It was re ported on the authori ty of' Abdullah Ibn' Abbas ~

that he sa id, " Between Adam ~ and Noah ~ wa s a period of

len centuries - during wh ich <111 of the people fo ll owed Isla m

(Le. submission to Alla h)." (I )

If what is meant by a qam (ceIltury) is a hu nd red years, as

appears to be the case fo r many peopl e, then be tween them is

a period of a tho llsand years, without doub t. Bu t thi s does not

negate th e poss ibili ty that it cou ld be longer, in vicw of w hat

'Abd ull ah Ibn ' Abbas specified, which was Islam, since there

might be other latcr centuries between th em, durin g whi ch the

people did not fo llow Isla m. But th e hadeeth of Abu Umamah

~ proves that the pcriod is restricted to ten centuries and

•Abdulla h Ibn ' Abbas added the add ilional information Ihal all

ofthcm fo ll owed Islam.

But if the mean ing ofa qam is a generation of mankind , as in

thc Words of All ah, Most Hi gh: ( And how man y gene rati ons

have We des troyed after Nooh! ) (Soorah AI-Ism' 17: 17) and

th e Words of I-lim , Most Hi gh: ( Th en, after th em, We created

other generati ons) (SoO/'all AI-Mu 'minooll 23:42) an d Hi s

Words: ( A nd many generati ons in betwccn ) (SoOl-oli AI-

Furqoll 25:38)' a nd Hi s Words: ( And how man y a generation

(past nations) have We des troyed bc fore th cm ) (So01'all

T hc Proph et ~ sa id : " The best of people a rc my ge neratio n," (2)

( \ ) Th is was narrated by AI-Hakim (3654) and he dcclnred it authentic. Adh-

(2) Narrated by Al-Bukhari (6429). Muslim (2533), At-Tinnidhi (3859).

Ibn Majah (2362) and Ahmad (3583), on the authority o r' Abdullah Ibn

180 The Stury of Nuah ~

th e ge ncratio n. before Noah li ved long lives and based on thi s,

the time between Adam ~ and Nooh ~ would be thousa nds

of yea rs. A nd All ah knows bette r.

In short , All ah, Most High, only se nt Noah ~ when idol s

and Tawaglteet (1) had comc to be worshipped and the peop le

had bcgun to crr a nd eommit acts of disbcli cf. Hc, Most Hi gh,

th cn senI him as a mcrcy fo r the slaves; and he was the first

Messe nger sent to the inhabitants of the Earth , as th e peop le of

AI-Mawqif w ill say to him on th e Day of Resurrection. (2)

All ah has told hi s story, the respon se of his peopl e, th e

punishment of t h ~ Flood whi ch descended on those who

d isbe lieved in him a nd how A llah saved him and hi seompan ions

aboard the ship (Ark) in several places in the Qur 'an.

In Saara" A/-A 'raj, I-Ie says, , Indeed, We sent Nooh (Nooh)

to hi s people a nd he sa id , '0. my people ! Worship A llah ! You

Iwve no ot her ilolt (God) but li e. (La ilalta ill-Allah : none has

the right to be wor"h ippcd but A ll ah) . Certa in ly. I fea r for you

the torment of a Great Day!' The leaders of' hi s peop le sa id ,