The Story of Our Master Noah (pth) (Part one)
The Almighty God has mentioned three nations in the Holy Quran from the beginning of the human existence on earth, which came in succession of each other. At first He the Almighty mentions the people of our Master Noah (pth) then Thamoud and A’d people, these three examples of a destructible damned people are enough to be considered as a lesson and exhortation to whom of those who are seeking to purify themselves and be saved from Hell-Fire, thereby the Almighty God mentions them in The Holy books exhorting us from conducting their path.
The bestowed Mercy:
My dear students:
A long space of time passed over Adam’s sons after his death, then they went astray form the path of right and drew far from God.
So, the Almighty Al'lah sent them our Master Noah (pth) in order to warn them of the results of their deeds and remind them of Allah and their life to come.
They were taking idols as gods, worshipping them instead of Allah.
The most famous and the greatest of these idols to them were Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth, Ya’uq and Nasr, God says: {And they have said: 'You shall not leave your gods, nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth, nor Ya'uq, nor Nasr}
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 71, Noah, Verse 23
What are the indications of these names according to their belief?
They pretended that:
Wadd [21] establishes the relationships of intimacy among people.
Suwa [22] seeks after their good and happiness.
Yaghuth [23] succors them when hardships.
Ya’uq [24] prevents evil and disasters from them.
As for Nasr [25], it is the most grand and the head of these gods.
They claimed the above mentioned without knowing that the Creator Who has created the entire universe and the Provider Who supplies each of their beings with life unceasingly is the Steering God, alone.
He is alone Who manages the requirements of the universe, succors man when surrounded by adversities and inflicted with hardships, and hinders evils from them if their acts become good.
So, He drives to every human what is proportional to his deed.
These people broke off their link with their Provider and linked their hearts to their idols.
They thought that things and affairs in this universe happen randomly and through no account and accordingly, the hardships and mishaps which they were afflicted by are not related to their deeds.
Therefore, they asked these idols to bring them goodness and to draw off distress form them.
Had they only minded, they would have known that only the Creator is the Doer – Executor – and the Organizer of affairs of the entire universe.
So, none can harm or profit another, nor can one bring goodness for or drive evil away from another.
Thus, When God, The Almighty, afflicts someone with distress, none can draw it off except Him, and if He pleases gift to someone of His obedient people, none will be able to drive His favor away.
But since these people – our Master Noah’s folk – were far away from God without believing certainly; Therefore, they fell under what they fell of error.
They drew astray form God and misguided a lot, yet their disbelief added them nothing but loss.
The Origin of Idolatry
Idolatry arose among the previous nations but out of the extremism in religion and exceeding the bounds laid down by God for mankind.
As God, the Almighty, had ordered the angels to prostrate themselves to and bind up with our Master Adam (cpth); He also ordered Adam’s sons to bind themselves up with their Messengers and to enter into His Presence through their company so that they would be a shining sun for their spirits and a light for their hearts.
So, by the envoys of Al'lah they can reach knowing Him, and by the light coming into their spirits from Him, those who are entering into God’s presence through Al'lah's envoys can see the Godly Perfection.
This clarifies God’s Saying: }Verily, the prophet is always communicating with Allah, and His angels are communicating with him. You who believe, communicate, then, with him and submit whole heatedly}.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), Verse 56
So, the communication with prophet, in its reality, is but a link and coupling with this Noble and pure spirit and draw nearer to Al'lah through this noble spirit, so as to be a shining sun for the spirit bound up to it and alight for the believer’s heart who communicates with Al'lah through its company.
After his death, Adam’s sons relied on this important point in their approaching towards their Provider .
Some of them were righteous who were entering into God’s presence and whose spirits became worthy to be a shining lamp for their contemporaries.
But, after these good men had died, Satan came and whispered to the oblivious people to make effigies representing them, reminding people of those good men and increasing love in the heart of who looks at them.
Then, time passed over these effigies when the oblivious people forgot those good men and the entering into the Presence of the Provider of all the worlds with them. Long time passed, step by step people forgot those good men and to those effigies, they limited their spirits’ facing and stuck, thinking that they had might and power. Thus, their spirits broke off their link to God and they fell into what they fell of polytheism and farness off God.
Accordingly, it becomes obvious to us that binding up with the Noble Messengers (envoys) then with the righteous men coming after them is right and a requisite precept as long as it be a means serves drawing nearer to Allah.
But if man confined his spirit to the messenger, the sacred man or the worthy guider and tended only to him without directing himself through his company towards God; this would be the polytheism itself which is more similar to idolatry’.
Now, we can have a reasonable attitude between those who exceeded the bounds of their religion restricting their direction to the creature instead of the Creator; so they fell into polytheism due to their turning away from God, and those who denied coupling with worthy men and denied entering into God’s presence through the Noble Messenger.
Then, neither the former ones were right concerning their polytheism and going away from God nor were the latter denying the means and disconnecting form God’s Messenger.
The middling and right position is that the believer should approach towards only God through the companionship of the closer to Allah who are alive. There, he will see Al'lah's Perfection and Justice and witness that only His Command directs the whole universe.
Thus, he will certainly have the knowledge of certainty that: There is no God but Allah.
Heart-Coupling should be but with the Alive
The function of the perfect guider comprises two duties:
1- First, he guides you, by his saying, to Allah and acquaints you with the indication to Allah that His Messenger brought.
2- Besides that, he would lead you, if you were sincere and spiritually bound up with him, to the love of God’s Messenger (cpth) who is greatly interested in the entrance of the whole creation to Allah.
So, by means of your true love to this perfect guider; your spirit will be impressed with the elevated love to God’s Messenger that impressed in this guider’s spirit and sooner you will find yourself bound up with this Noble Messenger, clung to him and never separated from him.
If your guider found you coupled spiritually with God’s Messenger, then he would say to you: ‘Adhere to this entrance, for my task towards you is over as I have conveyed you to him whom God, the Almighty, made an entrance for the worlds and ordered all the believers to bind their spirits up with him, that is, to communicate with him.
The example of the guider here is as that of a boat which carries those who want to travel and transports them from the shore to the large ship.
So, the boat’s task is confined to transporting from the shore to the ship without exceeding that, while the Ship sails to the deep seas, seas of Divine knowledge and witnessing the Godly Perfection.
Thus, the ship is only one, whereas the boats which transship travelers to it are many.
When this guider dies, his function will end and move to another alive one after him. To such spiritual coupling with God’s Envoy the Noble Verses refers as God says: {Verily, the prophet is always communicating with Allah, and His angels are communicating with him. You who believe, communicate, then, with him and submit whole heartedly}.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), Verse 56
The Almighty Al'lah has ordered all the believers to adhere to and bind up with this Noble Messenger and never separate their spirits form him, this meaning is confirmed to you within God’s saying:}And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and never separate yourselves from him}.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 3, Al ‘Imran (The Family of ‘Imran), Verse 103
This Rope is but God’s Envoy (cpth).
As for following the guidance of the guiders coming after the Envoy (cpth), it is referred to by the Noble Verses, God says: {Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining favor and forbidding disgraceful acts. And it is they who are the successful} (the doers of what results in good for them).
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 3, Al ‘Imran (The Family of ‘Imran), Verse 104
After the Messenger, these guiders invite you to proceed the path of right.
So, if you follow their guidance got form God’s Messenger; the confidence in God’s satisfaction with you will arise in your spirit there upon, you will approach towards the almighty Al'lah, and by such approaching, the perfection will be imprinted on your spirit, so you will love the owners of perfection, love your leader and guider. then, through him you will shift to the love of God’s Envoy as mentioned before.
What did Our Master Noah invite his people to?
Our Master Noah began with inviting his people to worship Al'lah alone. Such inviting to worship only Al'lah is the soul of all the heavenly religions and the essence of the whole Envoys’ mission, to that the Noble Verses indicate, God says: }Indeed, We sent Noah to his people and he said: “O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him. Certainly, I fear for you the torment of a Great Day!}
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 7, Al-A’raf (The Heights), Verse 59
Al'lah also says: }And to 'Ad (people, We sent) their brother Hud. He said: “O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him”. {
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 7, Al-A’raf (The Heights), Verse 65
Al'lah the Almighty says too: }And to Thamud (people, We sent) their brother Saleh. He said: “O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him” {
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 7, Al-A’raf (The Heights), Verse 73
}And to (the people of) Midian, (We sent) their brother Shu'aib. He said: “O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him”. {
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 7, Al-A’raf (The Heights), Verse 85
Thus, every Envoy was inspired by God to invite his people to worship only Al'lah.
The Noble Verse indicates that fact, God says: }And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Mohammad ) but We inspired him that there is no God but Me, so worship Me (Alone and none else). {
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 21, Al-Anbiya’ (The Prophets), Verse 25
It is intended by worshipping Al'lah the Almighty, to obey Him by applying His orders without obeying anyone beside Him.
That is our Master Noah’s mission and the whole messengers’ (Peace is through him and them).
Since the call for worshiping Al'lah requires acquainting people with Him; therefore God's saying: '' Worship Allah '' was always followed by His saying: “You have no other God but Him”, Revealing to them that God is Who deserves obedience and there is no other god beside Him, for God is the Controller whose Hand organizes the affairs of the universe and directs all the creatures it contains whatever they are: Small or big, grander or minute:
The sun, the moon, the Earth, the planet, the wind, the clouds, the rains, the thunderbolts, the lightning, the thunders, Man and animal and even each of the Creatures moves by the Command of this Provider, He is alone the Driver of all that and the Responsible of steering them.
After acquainting his people with the necessity of obeying Allah Whom there is no God but Him, our Master Noah (cpth) wanted to draw their attention to the cosmic signs under their sights which indicate to God’s Omnipotence, Might and Wisdom in managing His creatures’ needs, so that if they think about the creation of Heavens and Earth, and the signs they include, they might magnify and remember their Provider; consequently their spirits would submit and surrender to Him.
To those signs (cosmic wonders) which our Master Noah had called his people’s attention to, the Noble Verses indicate as God says:
{why do not you aspire to revere Al'lah * although he has created you in gradual stages * See you not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another. * And has made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp. * Allah has brought you forth form the Earth like a plant; *
Afterwards He will return you into it, and bring you forth again *
And Allah has made for you the earth wide spread * so that you may advance in great strides in faith – through it.}
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 71, Noah, Verses 13-20
Through these Verses you can see that the belief which is not based upon thinking and contemplation, and does not produce in its owner’s spirit revering and glorifying the Creator, is unprofitable and unavailing for its possessor.
In order to be straight within his Creator’s Command and worship Him sincerely; man should precisely think, consider and contemplate this universe a speculation and contemplation that are originated from the sincerity of seeking the knowledge that makes its owner acquainted with the Creator and reaching the truth.
If the spirit was so truthful, then it resorted to think of this universe, its consideration would certainly lead it to glorify this universe, consequently to magnify and revere the Creator. Thereupon, it will yield and comply submissively with Him, driven Willingly to obey Him, it will worship God truly, abide by and apply brought by the Noble Envoy where it dares not breaking His orders or disobeying Him in anything.
Yes, it (the spirit) will submit and surrender to its Creator and no doubt, this will make it confident of His Satisfaction with it, so it will turn its face towards Him.
To this important point the reported invocation of the Prophet’s Saying – Mohammad (cpth) – refers when he says, “O, God of all! You alone we worship, with You alone we communicate and to You alone we prostrate”.
So, if man worships and obeys His Provider Properly, he will be able to communicate with Him, that is to enter into Allah Presence and attain the spiritual communication with Him.
Absolutely, this link and true facing purify spirit from the dirties of wicked desires as the Godly light cleanses the spirit from what had been attached to it, so it will be pure, immaculate and having the finery of perfection and virtue .
By my life! That is the only way leading to refine the human spirits and uplift them to the highest positions of perfection and humanity; for the noble moralities are obtained from Allah and to Him, alone, the seekers of reaching virtue return as He is the Owner of Supreme Attributes and the Source of endless perfection.
Praise be to Al'lah, with all His Supreme Names the Provider of all worlds.
Questions:
1- What thoughts about the idols did the people of our Master Noah (pth) have in their mind? What requirements did they want to get through these idols?
2- Why does the Almighty God order humankind to link their spirits (hearts) to their Noble Envoys (cptt)?
3- How did idols- worshipping come into existence?
4- The Almighty God says: And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and never separate yourselves from him…} Who is the Rope of Al'lah? What is the way to hold it fast?
5- Explain the Noble call of the Envoy (cpth) (“O, God of all! You alone we worship, with You alone we communicate and to You alone we prostrate”)?