HAZRAT NOOH (alaihis-salaam)
Almighty Allah states in The Holy Quran: "Peace be upon Nooh among all nations. This is how we reward the good-doers. Verily, he was among our true believing servants." There is an entire Surah in The Holy Quran which is named ‘Nooh’. In total he is mentioned 43 times in the Quran Shareef, and his story appears in numerous places in the Holy Quran. Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) was the great grandson of Nabi Idrees (alaihis-salaam). Between the two there were 10 generations, as it is mentioned in authentic hadith narrated by Imam Bukh~ri and others.
Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) was sent as a Prophet to his people after they had started worshipping idols. He was therefore the first Prophet sent for this purpose., i.e. to invite people to the oneness of Allah and towards Islam. It is said that Hazrat Nooh was fifty years old when he became a Nabi. He lived in Iraq, and that was where he spent most of his time.
THE ORIGIN OF IDOLATRY
A famous and authentic Muslim historian and Alim, Imam Ibni Katheer (rahmatullahi alaihi), gives a detailed account of how idol-worship started in the world. We shall summarize this account for you.
Among the generations that came between Nabi }dam and Hazrat Nooh (alaihimas-salaam) there lived some very pious people. Some of their names are mentioned in Surah Nooh, such as, Wadd, Suwaa', Yaghooth, Ya 'ooq, and Nasr. These people were saints who were devoted to the worship of Allah, and they had a large following. When they died, people were very sad and missed them a great deal. Some of their followers cried for days out of mourning. One day, upon seeing the extreme grief and sorrow of these followers, Shaytaan came to them in the form of a human being and offered to draw pictures of these holy men which they could keep in their homes as reminders. This was accepted and soon all of them had pictures of their pious leaders in their homes. They drew inspiration for their ibadat from these pictures and the sight of these holy man lessened their grief. It was a great means of solace for them.
When these followers died, their sons grew up and continued keeping these pictures. However, Shaytaan again came in human form and offered to transform these pictures into images, which he did upon their consent. Later he managed to convince the younger generation, who had no idea why these pictures and images were made, that their forefathers actually worshipped them.
The newer generation started to worship these images, and thus began the evil of idol-worship on earth. The exact names of these pious people, as mentioned above, were given to the idols. Shaytaan kept on appearing to them with new ideas and suggestions, such as asking things from these idols, making dua to them for rain, etc.
As time passed, these images were modified and beautified, and eventually people forgot entirely about Allah and focussed all their attention on these images. Every generation that came after them, indulged in this form of worship, until Allah decide to appoint Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) as a Messenger to save these people from this evil sin.
He therefore invited them to the worship of one Allah, and to submit to His Law. Needless to say, this message was rejected, because people were so deep-rooted in idolatry that they were not prepared to forsake their beliefs in these idols. Hazrat Nooh used different ways and methods to explain the truth to them, but to no avail. He spoke to them in public and in private, at night and during the day, and kept on reminding them of the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah, but only a handful of people listened to him and accepted his message. These sincere ones who came from poor communities, were called mu'mineen or believers. For the rest, their hatred against Hazrat Nooh only increased.
BUILDING THE FIRST SHIP
Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) preached the message of Islam among his people for nine hundred years. When the kuffar in those days passed away, they would leave behind a wasiyyat (instructions) to their children not to believe in Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam), but to continue rejecting him. Such was the severity of their kufr. In this manner, every generation exhorted the next to commit kufr against Allah and His Rasool, Nooh (alaihis-salaam).
Allah then revealed to Nabi Nooh (alaihis-salaam) that now none of his people was going to embrace Islam, except those that already have done so. He was commanded to build a ship, but at that stage the world had never ever heard of a ship. Therefore, he was shown by Hazrat Jibreel (alaihis-salaam) how to construct a ship. Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) was therefore the first person on earth to build a ship, and through him mankind came to know about this technique for travelling over water.
The Ship
The ship was built according to specifications laid down by Allah. He built it from teak wood and both the inside and the outside was coated with a layer of tar. The ship was about 138 metres in length, 23 metres wide, and 14 metres high. It had three decks of equal height. The lower deck was for animals, the middle for human beings, and the top deck for birds. It also had a flat roof, and several windows and a door on the side. Hazrat Nooh was shown how to build a pointed bow at the front, so that the vessel could plough through water easily.
It took him fifty years to build this ship. Some Ulema say the reason for this lengthy period was that trees had to be specially planted and grown, then chopped down and cut up for the wood that was to be used in manufacturing the ship. The work on this ship was undertaken and completed in a small but very important and central musjid in the city of Kãfa, Iraq. This was known as the Musjid of Nooh.
The Kuffar in those days used to mock at him and his small band of followers who were assisting him in building the ship. When they were told that a great flood was to strike them soon, they scoffed and made even bigger mockery. For at that time there was a severe drought. Where would floods come from, they thought? Secondly, how would this ship sail when there was no river in sight? But Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) and the Muslims paid no attention to their jeering and insults. They continued with the command of Allah to build the ship.
THE GREAT FLOOD
Next to the musjid where the ship was being built, was the clay oven of Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam). This oven was actually a huge hole dug into the ground, in which they used to bake their bread. Allah informed Nabi Nooh (alaihis-salaam) that when water starts gushing out from this hole, that was a sign of the beginning of the flood. Nabi Nooh (alaihis-salaam) was then to order the believers, who numbered about 80 men and women, as well as animals, to board the ship. When the level of the water rose, the ship would begin to float automatically.
When the ship was completed, the command of Allah came. It started to rain, and then Hazrat Nooh noticed water flowing out of this clay-oven. He immediately ordered all the believers to embark, and took a male and female species of each animal and bird onto the ship was well. The drizzle of rain soon changed to a downpour. Then the rain started falling in torrents. Water flowed from every hole, spring, and fountain on earth. Soon the ship was afloat on high, raging currents of water. It is said that the level of the water rose about 10 metres higher than the tallest mountain on earth at that time! No place on earth was spared. Every area of the world was swamped in this flood and all people drowned, except for the occupants of the ship. The world had never ever witnessed a flood of this nature, nor was such a calamity ever to occur again till before Qiyamat.
When embarking on the ship, they were commanded to take the name of Allah, and when disembarking, to recite the praises of Allah for saving them from disaster. Three sons of Nabi Nooh (alaihis-salaam) were with him on this ship. They were, Saam, Haam, and Yaafith. The fourth son, Yaam, was an unbeliever, so he drowned with the rest of the knffar. In spite of Nabi Nooh pleading with him to board the ship, he refused, saying that he will take to the high mountains and be saved. But this was not to be, and he too perished. Three wives of Nabi Nooh were also saved, while the fourth one drowned because she too was among the kuffaar.
The flood started on 10th Rajab, which was the day they all embarked on the ship of Nooh (alaihis-salaam), and it subsided on 10th Muharram. So for six months this ship and its passengers sailed the flood waters. Eventually it came to rest on Mount Joodiy, which is part of a Mountain range in Eastern Turkey, close to the border of Iran. (Today this mountain is named ‘Mt. Ararat’) On this day (10 Muharram) they all got off the ship and Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) ordered them to observe a fast as thanksgiving unto Allah. Recently excavators have discovered parts of this ship, and some Muslim countries have preserved these parts as holy relics.
AFTER THE FLOODS AND HAZRAT NOOH’S DEATH
After the floods Hazrat Nooh and his followers started civilization all over again. They built towns and settlements and had to do farming to grow fruit and vegetables. From these 80 believers different languages developed. They married among themselves and produced children. In this manner the world began to be populated once more with only Muslims. Remember that all mankind were destroyed in the floods. Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) and his people had to populate and develop the world all over again. For this reason Hazrat Nooh is known as the second }dam. Soon thereafter Nabi Nooh passed away. According to the most authentic reports he is buried somewhere in the Musjidul-Haraam of Makka. His age was1,000 years according to the Holy Quran.
THE SONS OF NABI NOOH
The three sons of Nabi Nooh mentioned above were saved from the floods, and they later on became the ancestors of all mankind, the Ambiyaa and their nations.
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HAZRAT NOOH (alaihis-salaam)
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