I am writing
about the key event of Quran, it is going to be a series for children, in
simple language which will help them to understand the fundamental concept of
Quran. I am starting with the story of Noah. Although the story is for children,
but the central ideas are taken from Quran. The references from Quran are cited
in the beginning of the paragraph.
The Story of Noah
Once upon a time nearly
five or six thousand years ago, there was a green valley, surrounded by lofty mountains.
A mighty and powerful nation was living there. In those ancient times, it was
very difficult to travel. Modern transport was not available. Every tribe was a
self -contained unit, living undisturbed in their own space. The land was
fertile and the crops were yielding maximum results. The sun, in the morning
and evening brought gold and purple images in the sky. The inexpressible pure
air and clean fresh water from the mountains made the people strong and healthy.
Their granaries were full and they were living in peace and security.
Warning of Allah
(Surah7, verse59)
(Surah11, verse25, 26) (Surah23, verse23-29)
Noah, who was one of them, came to warn them about the
consequences of their actions. “I am a messenger of God,” he declared, “the
purpose of my mission is to tell you that there is only one God, therefore
everyone must follow his laws”.
The people
of the valley were surprised to see the change in Noah: he was one of them, but
he never spoke like this before. The real opposition came from the rich people.
The rich chieftains said “Noah you are a man like us, you only want to show
that you are superior to us, and for that you have concocted this story that you
are a messenger from God. If God wants us to change, He could send an angle to
guide us. We think you are a liar”
(Surah23, verse 25)
The other rich chieftain, who knew that Noah had been living
a remarkably simple and pious life and it would not be easy to make people
believe that he was a liar, changed his strategy. He said, “Noah had gone mad.
Just wait for some time and everybody would realize it.”
(Surah11, verse 27-31)
Noah understood what game the rich chieftains were trying to
play, so he said, “I am not mad. God had honored me with his revelation. I was
not asking for any money; I wanted to work for you and remove the unfair ways
from society. However, you were not willing to accept any reform. I couldn’t
force it on you.” One of the rich chieftains pointed out that the people who
followed Noah were the most abject members of the society and their following
carried no weight in their eyes. The reality was that they had divided the
society according to the work people did. Noah was against this discrimination.
All human beings are equal; to discriminate among them on the basis of work is
wrong.
Noah also declared that he was only a human like the rest of
them. He had no treasures, no knowledge of the future, he was not an angel; he
was a messenger of God to inform them that the result of wrong action would
fall upon them.
The rich chieftains excited the mobs
by saying, “We must follow the footprints of our forefathers and worship our
gods, Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth Yauq,
and Nasr.”
Most of the members of Noah’s nation followed the rich chieftain, who had
accumulated a lot of wealth. “He had many sons to help him.” They said, “What
can Noah give us? If we follow our chief he can help us in many ways.” So they
left Noah and joined the chieftains.
(Surah29, verse14)
Noah lived with his people for a
long time. According to the Bible and the Quran, he lived with his people and
tried to mend their ways with no result.
During this long period, he explained to his nation the dire
consequences of wrong doing. The unruly, proud, and stubborn nation paid no
heed to his warnings, nor cared for his compassion. “If you don’t stop telling
these low-class workers that all human beings are equal, we will stone you to
death,” declared the chieftains.
(Surah11, verse36-39)
(Surah ,verse )
God revealed to Noah that he should stop worrying about these
proud unreasonable people, and build an ark for himself and his followers. God
also told him that all his family, with the exception of his son and wife, would
be safe. Noah started to build an ark under the direction of God with nails and
wood. Whenever the chieftains passed by,
they mocked and made fun of Noah. “Look at this fool; he is building an ark on
the land without a drop of water. What is this tomfoolery? Instead of building
an ark, why don’t you bring the doom upon us,” they mocked.
(Surah11, verse33)
“To bring the doom is not in my hands. Only God can do it,
but be rest assured you cannot win and defeat his laws,” was the reply they got.
continued
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