english
  • Home
  • Visit Old Site
  • Visit the new site

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The story of Prophet Nooh (peace be upon him)







The story of Prophet Nooh -I

The story of Prophet Nooh -II

The story of Prophet Nooh -III




The Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) had left his progeny in a state of social and moral health but gradually they began to forget the teachings of Allah. They adopted the wrong path and indulged in corruption and depravity. They became mean, evil-doers and greedy. They cheated and hurt one another. They began to worship idols and forgot to pray to Almighty Allah. The entire society had been split up into different sections and this state of affairs had given birth to oppression and injustice.

The Advent of Prophet Nuh (Noah)

Under these circumstances Allah, the Most Merciful, wanted the people to be good again. He sent Nuh as His apostle for the reclamation of the depraved humanity dwelling in that part of the earth which is called 'Iraq in the present era. Those people believed in Allah but they associated other gods with Allah, the Supreme. The priests of these deities exercised great control over all affairs. The people offered sacrifices in the name of their deities to please them. They spent the money lavishly and thus their condition became miserable.


The Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) like other prophets was sincere, pious, patient and trustworthy. He was strong in his will and determination. Angel Gabriel (Jibra'il) conveyed him the teachings from Allah. He was commanded to reform the people who had been led astray by the Satan. He kept on preaching the faith of Allah and directed the people to pray to One God. He advised them to refrain from doing evil deeds. The Holy Quran affirms his endeavors to reform his people :


"He (Nuh) said: O' my people! serve Allah. There is no god other than Him. If you refuse, verily I fear for you chastisement of a grievous day. The Chiefs of his people said: Most certainly we perceive you in clear error. He said: O' my people! There is no error in me but I am an Apostle from the lord of the worlds. I deliver to you the message of my Lord and I counsel you right (Surah 7: Verses 59,60)


Again in the following Verses the Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) warned his people by declaring:

"O' my people! Surely I am a plain Warner to you bidding you to serve Allah and be mindful of your duty to Him, and obey me so that He may forgive your faults." (Surah 71: Verses 2-4)


The Prophet Nuh (Noah) was Opposed


Most of the people did not believe in the Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him). They made fun of him and ridiculed him as a mad man. Whenever he tried to convey the message of Allah to them, they began to thrust their fingers into their ears. They persisted in their infidelity and proudly disdained his counsel to do good deeds. The people were so stubborn under the influence of their priests that they paid no heed to the message of Allah and their aversion rapidly increased. At last in sheer disgust the Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) had to cry out:


"My Lord! Leave not upon land any dweller from among the disbelievers. For surely if You leave them, they will lead astray Your servants and will not beget any but immoral ungrateful offspring. My Lord! Forgive me and my parents and him who enters my house believing, and the believing males and females and do not increase the unjust in aught but destruction." (Surah 71: Verses 26-28)


Consequently Almighty Allah answered the prayer of Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) by asking him to build an ark (a very big boat). The Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) knew that Allah planned to drown all those sinners who had rejected His Commandments. He began to build the ark with the help of his followers. They went on working constantly from dawn to dusk. When the boat began to take shape, the disbelievers made fun of them. The transgressors thought that the Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) and his followers were becoming crazy and were losing their balance of mind. The Holy Quran says:


"And he began to build the ark and whenever the chiefs among his people passed by him, they deride him but he said: Though you scoff at us now, we will scoff at you in Hereafter." (Surah 11: Verse 38)


Calamity Befalls

When the big ark was completed, the sky became cloudy. It started to rain in torrents. The streams became bulging with water. The Valleys were in the grip of food. There was water everywhere. The lightning was frightening and the thunder made the hearts pound fast. Every one was scared and worried except the Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) and his Followers. The Holy Quran gives the description of this terrible deluge :


"So We opened the gates of the heavens with water pouring down and We caused the earth to gush forth its springs, so the water of the heavens and the earth gathered together according to measure already ordained." (Surah 54: Verses 11, 12)


The Prophet Nuh (peace be upon trim) called on his family and followers to embark the boat. They came rushing to the ark. There was a special place in the boat for all the animates including human beings and their animals. The ark sailed amid waves like mountains while the streams of water were rising fast and filling many houses with water through the windows and the doors. Many houses collapsed and dashed to the ground. Some of them tried to swim but in vain. They were in a pathetic condition but they deserved it. The son of Nuh was separated from him because he was an evil-doer. The Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) prayed to his Lord and said:

"Surely, my son belongs to my family and Your promise is true. Allah said: Surely, he is not of your family. He is of evil conduct, therefore ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge." (Surah 11: Verses 45, 46)


In the meantime the water rose higher and higher. The whole area was under the sway of flood and all the disbelievers were drowned. The Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) and his followers were safe and sound in the ark which was floating without any obstruction of huge waves. Finally the rain stopped and the water abated. The sky became clear.


The Prophet Nuh And His Followers Remain Safe


The Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) and his believers sheltered in a safe place. They built new houses and worked hard in the fields. The next generation which sprang up from the survived believers included God-fearing persons. They worshipped one God and acted according to His teachings. The Prophet Nuh (Noah)(peace be upon him) lived for about 950 years. After this dreadful destruction the people abstained from committing sins for sometime. Afterwards they began to be loose in their actions.

................................................................................



Noah’s Deluge Story



The Glorious Qur’an talked about the past nations and their stances towards the messengers of Allah (exalted be He). One of the stories mentioned in the Qur’an is that of the prophet Noah (peace be upon him) and the Deluge; Allah says in Surat Al-Shu’araa (The Poets):


(The people of Noah rejected the messengers (105) when their brother Noah said to them “Will you not fear Allah? (106) Surely I am a faithful messenger to you (107) So fear Allah and obey me (108) And I do not ask you any reward for it, my reward is only from the Lord of the worlds (109) So fear Allah and obey me” (110) They said “Shall we believe in you while the meanest follow you?” (111) He said “And what knowledge have I of what they do? (112) Their account is only with my Lord, if you could perceive (113) And I am not to repulse believers (114) I am only a plain warner (115) they said, “If you desist not, O Noah! You shall most certainly be stoned to death”(116) He said, “O my Lord! Surely my people have rejected me (117) Therefore judge Thou between me and them with a just judgement, and save me and those believers who are with me”(118) So We saved him in the Ark filled (with all creatures) (119) then we drowned the rest afterwards (120) Verily there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe (121) and verily your lord is The Mighty, The Most Merciful (122))


And says in Surat Noah, in verses (1, 2):


(We sent Noah to his people, saying: “Warn thy people before a painful retribution afflicts them” (1) O my people! Surely I am a plain warner to you (2) )


The Miracle of Predicting the Unknown: This story is considered one of the greatest images of predicting the unknown, and it is certified by modern archaeological finds.


The story of the Deluge in Ancient civilizations


It’s well known that the deluge stories were widespread all over the world for a very long time. For, there are many deluge stories in some of the Ancient Near East societies, India, Burma, Malawi, Australia, islands of the Pacific, and all the Red Indian societies. The most important of these stories are the Sumerian and the Babylonian deluge stories, and the Jewish deluge story as mentioned in the Torah. Despite the falsifications that fill these stories, they all agree that a deluge had happened and that there was a righteous man who built a ship and embarked in it of each kind two, male and female; his family and the believers who followed him.


First, the Sumerian Deluge Story: Till late last century, people were believing the Torah to be the first source of the deluge story; but modern discoveries proved that this is not true. For, in the year 1853, a copy of the Babylonian deluge story was found. Between 1889-1900 A.D, an American expedition prospected in Iraq for the clay tablet that contains the Sumerian deluge story in Nippur. The tablet can be dated by its script to the era of the famous Babylonian king “Hammurabi”.


The Sumerian Deluge Story in Brief : The story is telling about a pious king called “Ziusudra” who was serving God in reverence and humbleness. “Ziusudra” was informed of the decision of the assembly of gods; as they would send a great deluge accompanied by heavy rains and storms. The deluge raged for seven days and seven nights and wiped out the earth. “Ziusudra” was described as being the “ the preserver of the seed of mankind.”


Second, the Babylonian Deluge Story:


1- The Epic of Gilgamesh: On 3rd December 1872 A.D, Sydney Smith managed to collect the fragmentary pieces of the Epic of Gilgamesh and put it together. It is written in 12 anthems or rather “tablets”, and the deluge story is written in the 11th one.

The story in brief is telling about a man called Gilgamesh who was told by the Deities to build a great boat and convey on board the seeds of every living thing. They told him that the breadth of the boat would equal its length, the heaven would rain in abundance...etc. At last, the boat rested on Mount Nisr (between Lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers).


2- The Story of Berosus: In the 1st half of the 3rd century B.C, in the days of “Antiochus ?” (280-261 B.C), one of the priests of the great Babylonian god “Marduk” called “Berosus” wrote the history of his country (Babylonia) in Greek in a three-volume book. The deluge story was mentioned in the book; as there was a king called “Xisuthras” to whom the Deity appeared in a vision and informed him that all mankind would perish by a deluge, and commanded him to build a ship and go on board of it when the deluge commences. Soon afterwards; “Xisuthras” built a vessel 1100 yards in length and 44 yards in breadth, conveyed on board provisions for food and drink, and introduced into it animals, both fowls and quadrupeds.


Third: The Jewish Deluge Story as Mentioned in the Torah: The story was mentioned in the Genesis (chapters 6:9) and it goes as follows:


5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them." (Genesis 6 [The Flood])


Then God repeated His command in the next chapter:

1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family…. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights…. 5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him…all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened…. 17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water…. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. (Genesis 7)


4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8)


In spite of the distortion that fills these texts, they all confirm the deluge story. Besides, they; generally, correspond with the Qur’an.

NOW, who told “Mohammad” (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about a story happened thousands of years before his birth?!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Archaeological Finds in Iraq Prove the Deluge Story

In 1928, the archaeologist sir Leonard Woolley, found in “Ur” an alluvium deposit which is up to 8 feet thick, and he considered it to be a tangible proof of the Sumerian deluge. It is to be noted that this alluvial deposit lies above and below archaeology of the Ubaid period which represents Early Dynastic ? period in southern Iraq. Afterwards, Woolley went to dig 300 yards southeast of “Ur” to see how far this alluvium deposit goes. Digging results were positive, the thing that made Woolley associates the stratum with the flood mentioned in the holy books.

Sir Leonard Woolley tells us that he found in “Ur”, below the construction layer, an alluvium deposit (16 feet thick) full of painted pottery mixed with flint implements and glass which dated back to 2700 B.C. He also found that “Ur” was living under this deposit during the pre-deluge period. Woolley went on to say that the cause of the complete disappearance of this painted pottery, that was widespread all over the countries of Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was the Deluge that perishes the inhabitants of these counties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finding the Remains of Noah’s Ark

In 1959, archaeologists discovered the remains of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat in Turkey (or what is known as Mount Judi). The American “Life” magazine, on Sept. 5, 1960 (page 2), published an article covering the finding of Noah’s Ark supported by some pictures.

Ron Wyatt, an amateur archaeologist, visited the site in 1977 and asserted that site is 6,300 feet above the sea level and 200 miles from the nearest sea.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discovering Evidences of Life before the Deluge

Washington-NASA: hundreds of meters below Black Sea surface, American Explorers found the remains of an inhabited site in region inundated by a cataclysmic flood 7,500 years ago. This discovery equals the discovery of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii that was destroyed by the Vesuve Volcano (Vesuvius) many centuries ago.

Reuters mentioned in a report in this respect that one of the explorers, Robert Ballard, said that his team from National Geographic Society found a rectangular skeleton on a depth of 310 meters below the sea level, which indicates that this site was once inhabited by humans before it was inundated by a great deluge.

Ballard said, in a phone call from the search ship (Northern Horizon), that the find is great, and its architecture and pieces of art dated back to the modern Bronze Age (i.e. 7000 years ago). Moreover, the site included many remnants of human habitations below water surface, which indicates that a large number of people were once living there. Ballard sees that this site surpasses in its importance the find of the wreck of the Titanic 1985. He added that his team reached this find before the 3rd day of the 2nd week of the five-week expedition, and the team members hope to reach more finds. Before bringing anything to the surface, the team will dry up the site and take precise documentary photos.


Artifacts found at the bottom of the Black Sea.The beam shows signs of being worked by tools or implements

The discoveries were found by the help of sonar scans, and photographed by a remotely-operated vehicle (Argus), equals the electric washing-machine in size, which was connected with the search ship through fiberglass cables. The rectangular skeleton was 15 meters in length and 4 meter in breadth.

References : 1- Mohammad Bayoumi Mahraan’s “Historical Studies from the Glorious Qur’an”2- www.geocities.com/islamicmiracles/woodenplatefound.html

--------------------------------------------

Other information:

http://amjintl.org/library/books/HadhratNuh.pdf


0 comments:



This is the right time to know Muhammad PBUH

حــــــان الوقت لتتعرف على محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم
This is the right time to know Muhammad (PBUH)

www.rasoulallah.net
 

Islam Is The Road of Paradise © Disclaimer: The script is free and Hosting by blogger