Part 39

'Ve ril y, we sec yo u in plain error. ' (Noah) sa id. -0, my peop le!

There is no error in mc, but I am a Messenger from the Lord

of the 'Alameel1 (mank ind, j in n and all that exists)! I convey

un to you thc Mcs~age5 of my Lord and give si ncere advice

to YO lt. And I know from Allah what you know not. Do you

wonder th at there has eomc to you a reminder from your Lord

th rough a man fTom a mongs t YOll, tha t he may warn you, 50 that

you may fea r A llah and th at YOlllllay rece ive (1Ii s) Mercy'!' But

th ey be li ed him , so We saved him and those along w ith him in

( I) T{/\l"(Igheel: (sing. is Taghool) Those who call to the worsh ip of other

than Allah or who arc worshipped besides Allah and they accept and are

pleased with that \\ orship.

(2) The wkhreej for lhl S will be given later.

HIt! SIUI:\' o/Nooh -2.i 18 1

thc ship, a nd We d rowned thosc who belied Ow' Ayllf (proofs,

evide nces, Verses. lesso ns, s igns, rcve lation s, ctc.). Thl:Y wcre

indeed a blind peopl e, ) (SoO/'oll AI-A '1'af7:59-64),

Hc, Most High, says in 500rah )OOI1I1S, ( And rec ite to th em

the news ofNooh. Wht::n hc said to his peop lc: ' 0 . my people,

if my stay (with YOll) , and my rcminding (you) of the Ayol of

AlInh is ha rd on YOll , then I pu t my tru st in A ll a h. So devise

your pial, you and your partncrs, and Ict not your plo t be in

doubt for you. Th en pass your sentence on mc and g ive me no

rcspite. But if YOll tum away (from accepting my doct rine of

Islamic Monotheism, (i .c. to worship nOll e but Allah). then no

reward havc I asked or you; my rcward is onl y from A llah and

I have becn comma nd ed to be one oflhe Muslim s (t hose who

submilloA ll ah's Will)':' , (SaO/'ail )001111S 10:7 1,72)

He, Mo st Hi gh , says in 500/'011 As-Sa./Jat, And indeed

Nooh (Noah) invoked Us, and We arc th e Bl.!st or

answcr (the rcquest) . And We n.:sc ucd him <lIH.l llis I ~llllil y from

th e grcat di strcss (i ,I.!, drowning). And, hi s progeny, thcm We

made th e survivors (i .e, Shel11, Ilam and Japh cl h). And len for

hi m (a good ly rcmcmbrance) amo ng gc nerat ions to come in

lata times: Salol/1/111 (peace) be upon Noah (from Us) among

the 'Alameen (mankind. jinn and all that exists)!" Vcril y, thus

Wc rcward the MIII/.\·;I1(){J/1 (those who do good - see v, 2: 11 2).

Veri ly, he (Noah) was one of Our believing slaves, Then We

drowned the other (disbe lievers and polytheists, c tc.) (5001'011

He, Most Hi gh, says in Soorah Bora 'alt (A IM Tawbah) , ( Has

not the story rcaeht::d thcm of those bcfore thcm? The people of

Noah .. Ad and Thamood, th e people of Ibraheem, the dwcll ers

of Madya n (Midian) and th e c ities overt hrown (i.c. thc pcople

to whom Loot [Lot] preac hed) , to thcm camc their Mcsse ngers

182 The SIal)' of Nooh W

with clear proofs. So it wa s not All ah Who wron ged th em, but

they L1sed to wrong themselves ) (Soorali At-Tawbah 9: 70)

Hi s story has already been mentioned in Soorah YOOI/IIS and

In Soora" Subliou (AI-Isra '), He, Most High, says, ( 0 ,

offspring of those whom We carricd (in the ship) with Noa h!

Veril y, he was a grateful s lave. ) (Soorall AIIsm ' 17:3) And

He, Most High, al so said in the same Sooralz , ( An d how many

generation s have We destroyed after Nooh! And Suffi cient is

your Lord as Knower of all things and Beho lder o f th e sins of

Hi s slaves. ) (Soora" AI-Isra ' 17: 17)

He, Most Hi gh, says in Soorah Qaf, ( Deni ed befo re them

(i.e. these pagans of Makkah who deni ed you, 0 , Mu hammad ,)

the peop le of Nooh, and the dwellers of Rass, and Thamood,

and ' Ad, and Fir'awn (Pharao h), and the brethren of loot (lot) ,

And the dwe ll ers of the Wood, and th e peopl e of Tubba '; all of

them deni ed (their) Messengers, so My Th reat look effect.)

He, Most High, says in Soorah At-Tahreem ( All ah sets forth

an example for those who di sbeli eve, the wife o f Noah and the

wife of Loot. They were under two of Ollr ri ght eous s laves, but

they both betrayed their (husbands by rejecting their doc tri ne)

so they (Noah and Loot) bcncfi ted them (their respecti ve

wives) not aga inst A ll ah, and it was said, ' Enter the Fire along

with those who enter ' !" ) (Soorah A tTahreem 66: I 0)

As for the detail s o f what be fell hi m at the hands of his

peopl e, it is taken from the Qur ' an and the SIIIIfW/t and the

trad iti ons. We ha ve pre viously mentioned a re po rt on the

author ity of ' Abdullah Ibn ' Ab bas ";" that he said, " Between

Adam . and Noo h : was a per iod of ten centu ri es, during

The SIOl:1' (if Nuoh ~\ 183

which all or the peopl c follow ed Is lam. " Thi s was narrated

by AI-Bukhari.(l) We me ntioned that the mea nin g or qam is

"generation" or a hundred yea rs.

Then, an er those righteous generations, it happened that the

people or tha t time reverted to idol wo rship and the reason fo r

that wa s narrated by AI-Buk hari , on the authority or 'A bdullah

Ibn 'Abbas ~, in the ta/seer or th e Words o r All ah, Most Hi gh:

( And th ey have sa id, ' You shall not leave yo ur gods, nor shall

you leave Wadd. nor Sliwa', nor }'aghooth, nor )'a 'ooq, nor

Nasr (names ort he ido ls)' . ) (Soo ra" Nooh 7 1:23), in which

he said, "These were names or righteous men rrom among the

people or Nooh and when they died Satan in cited their peop le

to (prepare) and place idol s at the places where they llsed to sit,

and to call those idol s by their names. The people did so, but

the idol s we re not wors hipped till those peopl e (w ho in itiated

them) had died and the origin or the idol s had become obscure,

whereupon people began worshipping them. " 'A bdu llah Ibn

'Abbas 4 added, "Th ese ido ls, which had been worshipped

by the peop le or Nooh ~ , later becamc the idol s which the

Arabs worshipped. " ' Ikrimah said likew ise, as did Ad-Dahhak ,

Qatadah and Muhammad Ibn Ishaq.

It has bcen confirmed in the Saheehaill rrom th e Messenger

or Allah j'5 that when Ul1lm Salamah \;" and Umm I-Iabeebah

~t mcntioncd th e church whic h they saw in Abyssinia in whi ch

there we re pictures, the Messenger of A ll ah ;}.l sai d, " If any

relig ious man di es amongst those people they will build a place

of worsh ip a t hi s grave and make these pictures in it. They

will be the wo rst creature in the sight of All ah on the Day or

(I) The wkhreej for this narration has already been given.

(2) Narrated by AI-Bukhari (427) and Mustim (528).

184 7111: Sw"y {~f Nooh ~

And what is mcant is tha t whcn the corruption spread on the

ea rt h and the sco urge of worshipp ing idols beca mc widespread

therein, Allah sent His slave and I-lis Messenger, Nooh ~

to call them to the worship of Allah, Alone, without partners

and to forbid th em from worshipping other than Him. He

was the first Messenger sent by Allah to th e pcople of the

Earth, as eo nfirmcd in the Sallee/will, 0 11 the au thority of Abu

Hurairah ...t,D, who reported li-OIll th c Prop het 1i1 that he said, in

the hadeelh of Ash-Sila/a 'all (th e Intercession), "They will go

10 him and say, '0, Adam! You arc the fat her of all manki nd,

and Allah created you with His Own Hands, and ordered the

angels to prost rate for YOll , and made you li ve in Paradise.

Wi ll you nol intercede for LIS with your Lord? Don ' t you see in

what (m ise rable) state we are, and to what co ndi ti on we ha ve

reached?' On that, Adam wi ll rep ly, ' My Lord is so Angry,

as I-Ic has never been before and wi ll never bc in the future ;

(besides), He forbade me (to cat from) the trec, but I di sobeycd

(Him), (J amlVorried about) myselr. Myselr. Go to somebody

else; go to Nooh.' They will go to Nooh and say, '0, Noah!

You are the first amongst the Mcssengers of Alla h to the people

oflhe Earth, and Allah named you a thankful slave. Do you Il ot

see in what a (m iserable) state we nrc and to what co nditi on we

have reached? Will you not interccde for us wi th your Lord?'

Nooh will rcp ly, 'Today my Lord has become so Angry, as He

has ncver been before and will never be in the fu ture. Myse lf!

Myse lf! " til And he mentioncd the hadeelh in its entirety. I-Ie

also related it in the sto ry of Noah $B_

When Allah sen t Noah ~~ , hc called upon thcm to wo rship

on ly Allah, Alone, withou t partners and 110t to wo rship any

idols or graven images or any Taghool wi th I-lim and to

acknow ledge His Oneness and thc facl that nOll e has the right

( I) NarrJicd by AI-Bukhari (3340 and 4712) and Muslim (194)_

]11t! Story' ofNrHJIi ~ 185

to bc worsh ipped bu t I-Ic. Th cre is no lord but He, just as He