The big flood = our generations came from the noah's ark...
Prophet Nuh
He was Nuh Ibn Lamik, Ibn Mitoshilkh, Ibn Idris (Enoch), Ibn yard, Ibn Mahlabeel, Ibn Qinan, Ibn Anoush, Ibn Seth, Ibn Adam the Father of Mankind (PBUH).
Nuh was born one hundred and twenty six years after the death of Adam. Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "The period between Adam and Nuh was ten centuries." (Sahih Bukhari, Nuh was born 1056 years after Adam's creation (or after he left the Garden of Eden). For many generations Nuh's people had been worshipping statues that they called gods. They believed that these gods would bring them good, protect them from evil and provide all their needs. They gave their idols names such as Waddan, Suwa'an, Yaghutha, Ya'auga, and Nasran, (These idols represented, respectively, manly power; mutability, beauty; brute strength, swiftness, sharp sight, insight) according to the power they thought these gods possessed.
Originally these were the names of good people who had lived among them. After their deaths, statues of them were erected to keep their memories alive. After sometime, however, people began to worship these statues. Later generations did not even know why they had been erected; they only knew their parents had prayed to them. That is how idol worshipping developed. Since they had no understanding of Allah the Almighty Who would punish them for their evil deeds, they became cruel and immoral.
Ibn Abi Hatim related this story: "Waddan was a righteous man who was loved by his people. When he died, they withdrew to his grave in the land of Babylonia and were overwhelmed by sadness. When Iblis saw their sorrow caused by his death, he disguised himself in the form of a man saying: 'I have seen your sorrow because of this man's death; can I make a statue like him which could be put in your meeting place to make you remember him?' They said: 'Yes.'
So he made the statue like him. They put it in their meeting place in order to be reminded of him. When Iblis saw their interest in remembering him, he said: 'Can I build a statue of him in the home of each one of you so that he would be in everyone's house and you could remember him?'
They agreed.
The essence of this point is that every idol from those earlier mentioned was worshipped by a certain group of people. It was mentioned that people made picture sand as the ages passed they made these pictures into statues, so that their forms could be fully recognized; afterwards they were worshipped instead of Allah.
It was narrated that Umm Salmah and Umm Habibah told Allah's Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about the church called "Maria" which they had seen in the land of Abyssinia. They described its beauty and the pictures therein. Therefore, disbelief in Allah, or polytheism, results in the loss of freedom, the destruction of the mind, and the absence of a noble target in life. (By worshipping anything other than Allah, man becomes enslaved to Satan, who is himself a creature and becomes harnessed to his own baser qualities).
Into this environment Allah sent Nuh with His message to his people. Nuh was the only intellectual not caught in the whirlpool of man's destruction which was caused by polytheism.
Allah is His Mercy sent His messenger Nuh to guide his people. Nuh was an excellent speaker and a very patient man. He pointed out to his people the mysteries of life and the wonders of the universe. He pointed out how the night is regularly followed by the day and that the balance between these opposites were designed by Allah the Almighty for our good. The night gives coolness and rest while the day gives warmth and awakens activity. The sun encourages growth, keeping all plants and animals alive, while the moon and stars assist in the reckoning of time, direction and seasons. He pointed out that the ownership of the heavens and the earth belongs only to the Divine Creator.
Therefore, he explained to this people, there cannot have been more than one deity. He clarified to them how the devil had deceived them for so long and that the time had come for this deceit to stop. Nuh spoke to them of Allah's glorification of man, how HE had created him and provided him with sustenance and the blessings of a mind. The people listened to him in silence. His words were a shock to their stagnating minds as it is a shock to a person who is asleep under a wall which is about to fall and who is vigorously awakened. This person may be alarmed and may even become angry although the aim was to save him.
Nuh's people were divided into two groups after his warning. His words touched the hearts of the weak, the poor, and the miserable and soothed their wounds with its mercy. As for the rich, the strong, the mighty and the rulers they looked upon the warning with cold distrust. They believed they would be better off if things stayed as they were. Therefore they started their war of words against Nuh.
First they accused Nuh of being only human like themselves. He, however, had never said anything other than that. He asserted that, indeed, he was only a human being; Allah had sent a human messenger because the earth winhabited by humans. If it had been inhabited by angels Allah would have sent an angelic messenger.
The contest between the polytheists and Nuh continued. the rulers had thought at first that Nuh's call would soon fade on its own. When they found that his call attracted the poor, the helpless and common laborers, they started to verbally attack and taunt him: 'You are only followed by the poor, the meek and the worthless.'
Thus the conflict between Nuh and the heads of his people intensified. The disbeliveers tried to bargain: "Listen Nuh, if you want us to believe in you, then dismiss your believers. They are meek and poor, while are elite and rich; no faith c an include us both." Nuh listened to the heathens of his community and realized they were being obstinate. However, he was gentle in his response. He explained to his people that he could not dismiss the believers as they were not his guests but Allah's.
Nuh refuted the arguments of the disbeliveers with the noble knowledge of the prophets. It is the logic of intellect that rids itself of personal pride and interests.
The rulers were tired of Nuh's arguments. Allah the Exalted related their attitude
The battle continued; the arguments between the disbeliveers and Nuh became prolonged. When all the refutations of the disbeliveers collapsed and they had no more to say, they began to be rude and insulted Allah's prophet: 'The leaders of his people said: "Verily, we see you in plain error." (Ch 7:60 Quran)
Nuh continued appealing to his people to believe in Allah hour after hour, day after day year after year. He admonished his people and called them to Allah day and night, in secret and openly. HE gave them examples, explained Allah's signs and illustrated Allah's ability in the formation of His creatures. But whenever he called them to Allah, they ran away from him. Whenever he urged them to ask Allah to forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears and became too proud to listen to the truth.
It happened that every passing generation admonished the succeeding one not to believe Nuh and to wage war against him. the father used to teach his child about the matter that was between himself and Nuh and counsel him to reject his call when he reached adulthood. Their natural disposition rejected believing and following the truth.
Nuh saw that the number of believers was not increasing, while that of the disbeliveers was. He was sad for his people, but he never reached the point of despair.
There came a day when Allah revealed to Nuh that no others would believe. Allah inspired him not to grieve for them at which point Nuh prayed that the disbeliveers be destroyed. Allah accepted Nuh's prayer. The case was closed, and He passed His judgment on the disbeliveers in the form of a flood. Allah the Exalted ordered His worshipper Nuh to build an ark with His knowledge and instructions and with the help of angels. Nuh chose a place outside the city, far from the sea. HE collected wood and tools and began to day and night to build the ark. The people's mockery continued: "O Nuh! Does carpentry appeal to you more than prophethood? Why are you building an ark so far from the sea? Are you going to drag it to the water or is the wind going to carry it for you?" Nuh replied: "You will come to know who will be put to shame and suffer."
The ship was constructed, and Nuh sat waiting Allah's command. Allah revealed to him that when water miraculously gushed forth from the oven at Nuh's house, that would be the sign of the start of the flood, and the sign for Nuh to act.
The terrible day arrived when the oven at Nuh's house overflowed. Nuh hurried to open the ark and summon the believers. He also took with him a pair, male and female, of every type of animal, bird and insect. Seeing him taking these creatures to the ark, the people laughed loudly: "Nuh must have gone out of his head! What is he going to do with the animals?"
Nuh's wife was not a believer with him so she did not join him; neither did one of Nuh's sons, who was secretly a disbeliever but had pretended faith in front of Nuh. Likewise most of the people were disbeliveers and did not go on board.
The scholars hold different opinions on the number of those who were with Nuh on the ship. Ibn Abbas stated that there were 80 believers while Ka ab al Ahbar held that there were 72 believers. Others claimed that there were 10 believers with Nuh.
Water rose from the cracks in the earth; there was not a crack from which water did not rise. rain poured from the sky in quantities never seen before on earth. Water continued pouring from the sky rising from the cracks; hour after hour the level rose. The seas and waves invaded the land. The interior of the earth moved in a strange way, and the ocean floors lifted suddenly, flooding the dry land. The earth, for the first time was submerged.
Nuh called out to his son, who had separated himself (apart), "O my son! Embark with us and be not with the disbeliveers." The son replied, "I will betake myself to a mountain, it will save me from the water." Nuh said: "This day there is no savior from the Decree of Allah except him on whom He has mercy." And a wave came in between them so he (the son) was among the drowned.
Nuh called upon his Lord and said, "O my Lord! Verily, my son is of my family! Certainly, Your Promise is true, and You are the Most Just of the judges." HE said: "O Nuh! Surely, he is not of your family; verily, his work is unrighteous, so ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you be one of the ignorants."
Nuh said: "O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have Mercy on me, I would indeed be one of the losers."
With the issue of the divine command, calm returned to earth, the water retreated, and the dry land shone once again in the rays of the sun. The flood had cleansed the earth of the disbeliveers and polytheists.
Nuh released the birds, and the beats which scattered over the earth. After that the believers disembarked. Nuh put his forehead to the ground in prostration. The survivors kindled a fire and sat around it. Lighting a fire had been prohibited on board so as not to ignite the ship's wood and burn it up. None of them had eaten hot food during the entire period of the floor. Following the disembarkation there was a day of fasting in thanks to Allah.
The Quran draws the curtain on Nuh's story. We do not know how his affairs with his people continued. All we know or can ascertain is that on his deathbed he requested his son to worship Allah alone, Nuh then passed away.
Abdullah Ibn Amru Ibn Al as narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "When the death of the Messenger of Allah Nuh approached, the admonished his sons: 'Indeed I would give you far reaching advice, commanding you to do 2 things, and warning you against doing 2 things as well. I charge you to believe that there is no god but Allah and that if the seven heavens and the seven earths were put on one side of a scale and the words "there is no god but Allah" were put on the other, the latter would outweigh the former. I warn you against associating partners with Allah and against pride." (Sahih al Bukhari)
Some traditions said that his grave is in the Scared Mosque in Mecca, while others said that he was buried in Baalabak, a city in Iraq.
PEACE
*lynne*,
