Stories of the past: Major prophets from Bible & Qur’an

 

Name of the Prophet: Adam (pbuh)

Timeline: About 6,000 years ago

Area: Most probably the present day Iraq.

Religious philosophy: Worship the one God

Do Remember: This Adam (peace be upon him), the progenitor of the present human race, is only the first link in the present cycle, and not the very first man in God’s creation. The branches and sub-branches of human tree having spread forth in different parts of the world, passed through different cycles of rise and fall, destruction and progress, ignorance and guidance, even much before this Adam, who appeared approximately 6000 years ago.

The Law Introduced Through Adam (pbuh)

Under the guidance of God, Adam (pbuh) built the House of God in Arabia. This house kept them focused and united them. It is the same house, which is presently called the Kaa’ba in Saudi Arabia.

Basic rules for living in society were taught to the people through Adam (peace be upon him). The fundamental rights given to all people through Adam (peace be upon him) are mentioned in the Holy Quran as,

It is decreed for thee that thou shalt not hunger therein nor shalt thou be naked; And that thou shalt not thirst therein, nor shalt thou be exposed to the sun.” (20:119, 120)

In other words, provision of food, clothing, shelter and water to the people was fixed as the duty of the authorities. So through Adam (peace be upon him) a social order for the progress and prosperity of its people as well as of the future generation was established. Adam (peace be upon him), as has already been stated, was appointed as the prophet in the Garden of Eden near Babylon in Assyria or present day Iraq.

Hence, Adam (pbuh) conveyed the message of God to the people and was successful in his assignment. A progressive society governed by the divine rules was established on our planet by him.

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Join me to praise the lord and His Messenger: God is the Greatest and Long-live the name of Prophet Adam (pbuh)

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Name of the Prophet: Noah (pbuh) / Nuh (as)

Place of Birth: Iraq (Genesis 11:9)

Age / Era / Timeline: About ten centuries after Adam (pbuh)

Religious philosophy: Worship the one & only God

The Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

He was a just man and perfect in his generation and Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9).

The people of his time had become worldly and were involved in social and moral evils. They had forgotten the real Creator and the laws of Adam, instead they and had started worshiping the idols. They had many idols, the principal ones being Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth, Yauq and Nasr.

About the religion of Noah, the Holy Book Quran says [42:14]:

He has prescribed for you the religion which He enjoined on Noah, and which We have now revealed to thee, and which We enjoined on Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying, ‘Establish obedience to God in the earth, and be not divided therein. Hard upon the idolaters is that to which thou callest them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He pleases, and guides to Himself him who turns to Him.’

God appointed Noah (pbuh) for the guidance of mankind for his age.

The Holy Quran says:

We sent Noah to his people and he said, ‘O my people, worship Allah (God, the one lord), you have no other god but Him…’” (7:60)

[7:64] ‘…an exhortation has come to you from your Lord through a man from among yourselves, that he may warn you and that you may become righteous and that you may be shown mercy…’

[Didn’t I say that prophets and messengers are made ‘from among ourselves’?]

On hearing this message, the chiefs of his people said, Surely, “We see thee to be in manifest error.” (7:61)

[7:62] He said, ‘O my people, there is no error in me, but I am a Messenger from the Lord of the worlds.

[7:63] ‘I deliver to you the messages of my Lord and give you sincere advice, and I know from Allah what you do not know.

[7:65] But they accused him of falsehood… 

Only a handful of weak ones, the poor and the youth, believed in him. He preached to his people day and night, and spoke to them in public and in private. He reminded them of the great favors and bounties that God had bestowed upon them and also warned them of the evil consequences of the rejection of the divine message. But all his preaching and warning, his sympathy and solicitude were treated with ridicule, opposition and abuse. Instead of following him whose heart was full of love for them, they chose to follow their false leaders.

Despite the bitter opposition of the chiefs Noah (pbuh) continued his preaching.

The chief of his people, who disbelieved, replied, “We see thee nothing but a mortal like ourselves… And we do not see in you any superiority over us; nay, we believe you to be a liar.” (11:28)

The chiefs persuaded the people to continue the worship of idols saying Noah (pbuh) was just a man like them who only sought to gain superiority over them. Noah (pbuh) tried to convince them about God. He advised them to seek forgiveness of the Lord, as He is a great Forgiver of sins and enumerating the benefits of belief in One God, he further drew their attention to the great creation. But all his advice fell on deaf ears.

So when Noah’s (pbuh) exhortation and preaching throughout his prophetic life proved a voice in the wilderness, God revealed to him:

… Noah, None of thy people will believe except those who have already believed; grieve not, therefore, at what they have been doing.” [11:37]

After the intimation from God that none of his people will believe in him anymore, Noah (pbuh) offered the following prayer to God:

My Lord, leave not of the disbeliever’s even one dweller in the land; For, if thou dost leave them, they will only lead astray Thy servants and will beget none but sinners and disbelievers. My Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and him who enters my house as a believer, and the believing men and the believing women; and increase Thou not the wrong doers in aught but in ruin.”[71:29]

God commanded Noah:

And build thou the Ark under our eyes and as commanded by our revelation. And address Me not concerning the wrongdoers. They are surely going to be drowned.” (11:38)

As commanded, Noah built the Ark. The chiefs of his people ridiculed this move of his and termed it as an act of a lunatic. So he [Noah] prayed to his Lord, saying:

I am overcome so come Thou to my help.”

God heard Noah’s (pbuh) prayers and soon after, at the appointed time, came the great deluge, which fell in torrents. Earth burst forth with springs and both waters met according to the decree of God. 

[7:65] … so We saved him and those with him in the Ark, and We drowned those who rejected Our Signs. They were indeed a blind people.

The might of the chiefs and their arrogance was brought to naught by God. The deluge consumed all opponents of Noah (pbuh) including his disbelieving son, while Noah (pbuh) and his followers were saved. Their ark anchored at Mount Al-Judi. Judi (Djudi) is a lofty mountain mass in the district of Bohtan, about 25 miles north-east of Jazirah ibn Omar in 37 degrees east longitude and 30 degrees north in latitude. It owes its fame to the Mesopotamian tradition, which identifies it, and not Mount Ararat, the mountain on which Noah’s (pbuh) Ark rested.

The story of deluge with some variation is to be found in almost all countries.

The Law / Book / Religion Introduced Through Noah (pbuh)

Noah (pbuh) visited the house of God built by Adam (pbuh). According to Al-Arzaki, Noah (pbuh) carried out major repairs to the House of God after the Deluge (Akhbar Mecca) and performed the Pilgrimage (Al-badaya 1:119). The worship of one God was revived in that area after long time, and the example of Noah (pbuh) did indeed infuse afresh the love of God in his people.

His law contained basic principle of the unity of God ‘Worship the one Lord, the only God as the Holy Quran states: 

He has prescribed for you the religion which he enjoined on Noah.” [42:14]

About the religion of Noah, the Holy Book Quran says [42:14] He has prescribed for you the religion which He enjoined on Noah, and which We have now revealed to thee, and which We enjoined on Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying, ‘Establish obedience to God in the earth, and be not divided therein. Allah chooses for Himself whom He pleases, and guides to Himself him who turns to Him.’

…and a few other commandments to suit his time.

The law introduced through him remained in force about a thousand years (29:15). Many prophets followed his law until God revealed a new one. It extended to the time of Abraham (pbuh) who was of his party (37:84).

It seems that the first fifty years of Noah’s (pbuh) dispensation were years of all-round spiritual progress and regeneration. After that however moral decadence and degeneration set in and his people gradually became degraded morally, till their degeneration became complete in nine hundred years.

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Join me to praise the lord and His Messenger: God is the Greatest – Long-live the name of Noah (peace be upon him)

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Continue reading: Stories of the past: Major prophets from Bible & Qur’an – Part 2