Part 44

seven heaven s and the seve n earths we re a dark circ le, it wou ld

be fi lled by La lIaha ilIal/ah. G lory and praise be to A lla h,

because in it a re the conn ectio ns to everyth ing and throug h it

all crca tio n is sus ta in cd. I fo rbid you to commit shirk (ascribe

part ners to A llah) and to commit kibr. , Eithe r ' A bdu ll ah or

someone e lse sa id , " 0 , Messenger of A ll ah ! As for shirk, we

know w hnt it is, bu t w hat is kibr? Is it that one of us s ho uld

ha ve a pair o f fine shoes w ith fine straps o n them?" He ~

sa id , "No." T he questioner asked, " Is it that one of us shou ld

ha ve a fine garment w h ich he wears?" He ~ sa id , " No. " T he

202 The Story ofNooh ~

qucstioncr asked, " Is it that one of us has a camel whi ch he

rides?" The Proph ct fi sa id, "No." The questioner then asked,

" Is it that one of us has com panions who si t around hi m?" The

Messenger of A ll ah ~ rep lied, " No." 'A bdullah 4 or another

person sa id, "0 , Messenge r of Allah! Then what is kibr?" He ~

rep li ed, " Ignora nce o f th e truth and disp layi ng contempt toward

people." tI ) The iSllod of this 'I(ldeelh is aut hent ic, though AI-

Bukhari and Mus lim d id not na rrate it.

As for hi s grave, Ibn Jareer and AI-Azraqi narrated on

the au thori ty of' Abdur-Ra hm an Ibn Sabit or another of the

Tab; '0011 in a IIIl1rsal (2) form, that Noah ~ was buried within

the precincts of the Sacred Mosque (in Makkah).

Th is is stronger and more re liable than what has been sa id by

many o f the later sc holars, who claimed that he is in a town, in

a place known today as Kark Noa h. In that place is a mosque

whi ch ha s bee n bu ilt because of these cla ims. And All ah kn ows

( I) This is an authent ic '/{Idee/Ii narrated by Imam Ahmad (21170, No. 6547).

(2) MUI'.w /: A chuin o f namllors which does nOi include a Compa nion ~ .

I-Ie is Hood, son of Shalakh , son of A rfak hshad, son of Sa m,

son of Nooh . ~ . II was said tha t Hood ~ is •Abir, the son

of Shalakh, the so n of Arfakhslmd , the SOil of Sam, the son of

Noo h ~ . T hi s was reported by Ibn Jareer At-Tabari.

I-Ie be longed to a tribe known as 'Ad, son of ' Aws, son of

Sam, son of Noah ~ . They we re Arabs li ving in the wi ndi ng

sa nd tracts (AI-Ahqaj) , which is a moun tai n of sa nd in Yemen,

between Oman and I-I adhramawt, in a land looking out upon

the sea, whi ch is kn own as Ash-Sh ihr. The name o f their va lley

was Mugheeth. They li ved a great deal in tents whic h had huge

poles, as A ll ah, Most High, says, ( Did you (Muhammad.) 110t

sec (thin k) how you r Lord dealt with' Ad (people), of Iram,

w ith lofty po les? ) (SoO/'a" AI-Fa}r 89:6,7) That is, •Ad Iram ,

who we re the fi rst ' Ad. As for the second ' Ad, Lh ey came later,

as we shall make clear in its place. The first ' Ad were' Ad ( of

lram , with lofty po les. The like of w hic h were not crea ted in

the land? ) (Saara" 11 I-Fair 89:7 ,8)That is, the like of the tribe.

It was also sn id that it means: the li ke of whose poles, but th e

correct opini on is the fonner, as we made clear in th e Ttl/seer.

The S/(}/:r ()j/ f(}od .

T he Arabs were known bc fore Isma' cel ~ as AI- 'A rab AI-

'Aribah and they consisted of nUl1l erolls tribes, including: ' Ad ,

T ha mood, Jurh ull1 . Tasl1l , Jadces, Ameem, Madyan, ImlaC] ,

Abi l, Jasim, Qahtall , Banu Yaql un and others.

As for th e Arabised Arabs, they were of the progeny of

Isma 'cc l, the son of Ibrahecm Af-Klmleel (peace be upon

them both), Isma ' cd , was the fi rst to speak c loquent , classica l

Arabi c and he leamed Ihe speech of the Arabs from thc tribe

of JurhU111, w ho ca mped near his mother, I-Iaj ar, in the Sacred

Preci ncts, as we sha ll make c lear in its placc , if A ll ah w ills,

But All ah made him abl e to speak w ith the utmost e loqucnce

and powcrs of e luc idation an d the Messen ger of A ll ah *5 was

li kew isc articul ate in it.

Wha t is lllemH is that ' Ad - the first ' Ad - were the first to

wo rshi p idols aftcr the Great Flood. The ir idols were three:

Sadd , Samood and I-lara . A llah sent to them the ir brother, Hood

~ and he ca ll ed the m to All ah, as I-Ic, Most Hi gh , says after

me nti on ing the peo plc ofNooh ~ and th cir casc in Soorah Al-

A 'raJ, , And to 'A d (people. We senl) their brothe r I lood. He

sa id , "0. my peopl e ! Worship AlIah~ You have no other ilolt

(god ) bu! Ilim . (Lo ila/w il/al/ali: none ha s the right to be

wor~hipped but A !lail), Will YOll not fear (A ll ah}?"" The Icad cr~

of those who di~bclicvcd among hi s peopl e said. "Venly, we

sec you in fooli shness and vc rily. wc think you arl.! one of the

liars:' (llood) sa id. "0, my peoplc~ There is 110 foolishness in

mc_ but (I am) a ~lcssenger from the Lord o f the '.lIam(!('1I

(mankind. jilll1 anc all that ex ists)! I convey unto YOll th e

Messages of Illy Lord. and I am a trustworthy ad\'iser (or we ll

-wisIH:r) for YOli. D,) you wonder Ihat there has come to you a

Reminder (und nn ad\'icc) frol11 your Lord through a man from

amon gs t yo u Ihat he may warn you'! And remcmber that lie

HI(' SltJl y 0/ "ood ~•

mad c you successo rs allcr Ih c pcoplc of Noo h alld increased

you <Imply ill s l alUr~. So remcmber Ih e g races (beslowed upon

you) li'om Allah, sO Ilwl you may be successful." They sa id.

"You ha ve come 10 us Ihal we should worship A ll ah. A lone and

for sa kc Ihal which ollr l ~lI he rs used to worsh ip. So bring us Ihal

Whl.:fcw ilh you ha ve threa tened LI S if YOll arc of the truthful."

(liood) sa id. "Torment and wrath ha ve already 1~lIl en on you

from your Lord. Di spute yo u wilh me over names whi eh you

ha n: named YOll and your t~lIhers. with no au thority from

Allah? Then wait . I am with you among those who wait.·' So

\Vc saved him and those who were wit h him by a Mercy from

Us. and We cu t Ih e 1'00ts oflhose who belied Our I"l.ml (proof's.

e\' iden ces. ve rses. lessons. signs. revelations. etc.). and they

were not bel ievers (Saara" AI-A 'ra[7:65-72)

He, Most Hi g h, says, T hey said , "0, lI ood! No evidence

ha\'c you broug ht us. and we shall n OI lea ve o ur gods for your

(men:) say ing! And we arc not be li evers in YO ll. All that we

say is that some of our gods (dei ti es) have se ized you wilh

ev il (nwdncss ).'· I II:: said , " I call A llah to w iln ess and bea r you

wilness thai I :till ti'cc li'olll that whic h YOLi ascribe as partn ers

in worsh ip with II i111 (Al lah ). So plot aga in st mc. a ll or yo u.

and give me no respit c. I put Illy trust in A ll ah. my Lord and

your Lord~ Th ere is not a moving (liv in g) crcature bu t Il c has

grasp or its for e lock. Verily. my Lord is on the Straight Path

(the truth)." ) (SoO/·ail !-Iooel II :53-56)

He, Most Hi gh , says in Soorah Qad Afialw/-Mu 'minooll (AI-

}\rfu 'minoon) afte r the story of Noo h's peop le: Th cn. after

them. We created <I nothc r ge neration. And We sent 10 th cm a

r..,1csscnger from a mon g thclllscl\cs (say ing). "\\'orship All ah !

You ha ve no ot her ilah(god) but llim. Will yo u not th cn be afraid

(o r Ilim i. c. of Ili s Puni shm ent because of worshipp ing others

besides I-lim)?" And th e ch iefs o f hi s peopl e, who di sbelie ved

and delli ed the Meeti ng in the Hereafter, and to whom We had

g iven the lu xuries and co mforts of thi s life, sa id, " He is no 1110re

than a human be in g like you, he ca ts of that w hich yo u cal, and

drinks of w hat you drink. If you were to obey a human being

like yourse lves. then veril y! You indeed wou ld be losers. Docs

he promise you that when you have died and have become dust

and bones, yo u sha ll come o ut a li ve (resurrec ted)? Far, very far

is th at whic h you arc prom ised. There is nothing but our life

o f thi s world! We die and we live! And we arc not going to be

resurrected! lI e is o nly a man who has in vent ed a lie against

A llah , but we arc not goi ng to believe in him ." He sa id , "0