Prophet Nuh – Part 3
Building the Ship, the Flood, and Kinaa’n
Since Prophet Nuh’s initial dawah and mission went on for 950 years without the people paying any heed to his call for awakening, Prophet Nuh was asked to build a ship. Allah instructed him to build it and then wait for water to start coming out of the “tanoor” (a pit). Then, his family as well as one pair from each species of animal was to board the ship. While Prophet Nuh was building the ship, the ignorant taunted him, saying they were located in a rather dry area with no use for such a big ship. However, once water started coming out of the tanoor, Prophet Nuh boarded his believing family members, his 40 followers and a pair of each animal onto the ship. Allah then sent rain from the sky that the earth emitted in full force. The ship started sailing with its passengers aboard, while the disbelievers left behind, drowned.
One of the disbelievers was Prophet Nuh’s own son, Kinaa’n. Prophet Nuh told him to change his ways and submit to Allah, but he refused. When Prophet Nuh warned him that the flood will not spare any disbeliever he said, “I will climb the mountains.” Prophet Nuh asked Allah to save his son:
“And Nuh called to his Lord and said, ‘oh Allah indeed my son is from my family and your promise is true and you are the best of the leaders.’”
This ayat makes many people think that Allah promised Nuh to save his son. However the promise only included his believing family members, not the ones who did not submit to Allah.
After Prophet Nuh made this Dua, Allah said:
“Oh Nuh, he is not from your family, his actions were not right, do not ask me what you do not have the knowledge of. I advise you or else you will become of the ignorant people.”
After this response Prophet Nuh asked for forgiveness immediately, admitting that he was not aware, and fearing that if Allah does not forgive him he will be in great loss.
Lessons Learned:
“It” is IMPOSSIBLE - Let’s rethink the statement:
This was the same attitude that the people of Nuh had. They mocked him for building a ship in a place where there was no water because they thought it was impossible for the ship to sail. Of course from a human being’s perspective it was impossible, however Allah is capable of anything and everything. In current times, we focus a lot on data analysis, research, and scientific facts which are important to equip and prepare ourselves for what is yet to come. The scientific data and knowledge we have is all from Allah, however the important thing to realize is that nothing is absolute. Allah can create anything at any time that may be beyond our ability to control.
My dad is ….. A doctor? An engineer? A politician? A lawyer? An Imam? So …?
Kinaa’ns father was the second messenger of Allah – a man with so much patience that he gave dawah for 950 years. Yet, even Kinaa’n was not saved. In front of Allah SWT, titles, wealth, caste and blood are just attributes that we created. They have no value. Allah clearly told Prophet Nuh, your son is not from your family because his way of life is not right. Titles and wealth may save us in this world, but in front of Allah, we are accountable for every single action we take. Allah doesn’t support nepotism. It just doesn’t work that way.
The Love of a Father:
The mother’s love is always a topic of discussion. Sadly we fail to highlight the love of a father, especially in the Muslim world. Within the Muslim community, we tend to associate the father with the qualities of a protector, a caretaker, the man of the house etc. We forget that a father’s heart is also tender and loving towards his children. Prophet Nuh’s dua is a clear example of this. Despite enduring the hardship of dawah for 950 years and continuous rejection from his son, who could have been his biggest supporter, Prophet Nuh still made dua for him.
How much knowledge do we have?
If we measure it with paper degrees, alot! However compared to the knowledge of Allah, we have nothing. Sometimes we know the how but not the why, other times we know the why but not the how. We are only capable of acquiring the limited knowledge that He has written for us and wants to give us. That is why there is no shame in saying “I don’t know” when we truly do not know.
