Teachings and Commentary 20-28
Thus, Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam presented all such points to his people that might help
in opening their hearts and minds for accepting the truth. But despite all of Nooĥ’s
logical, rational and convincing explanations, people did not listen to him. Instead
they listened to those leaders who were misguiding them to maintain the status quo
and thus protect their leadership, power and influence in the society. So, after
describing all he had done in carrying out the mission given to him by Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta’aala, Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam sums up the disbeliever’s insolence and insistence
on evil in the next few verses.
21 Nooĥ prayed, “My Lord! My people have disobeyed me, and have followed those leaders
whose wealth and children have made them even bigger losers 22 and who have deployed
an immense web of plots. 23 They have told people, ‘Never abandon your gods and
never abandon Wadd and Suwaa‘, nor Yaghooth and Ya‘ooq and Nasr.’ 24 These leaders
have already mislead many, and Lord, do not increase the wrong-doers except in misguidance.”
To keep people from believing in Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam and Islam, the religious and
political leaders had fabricated a variety of propaganda schemes which they kept
on repeating so frequently and in so many different ways that people believed them
to be true and valid. The propaganda they used has been hinted at different places
in the Qur-aan. They would say things like:
§ Nooĥ is an ordinary human being, how can we believe that Allaah sends him messages
when none of us have ever had or witnessed that experience;
§ He is making this claim just to become a greater leader than everyone else;
§ Had Allaah wanted to send someone, He would have sent an angel;
§ If Allaah had selected him, he would have all the treasures and wealth as well
as the knowledge of unseen and not subject to human sufferings and setbacks;
§ There is nothing extraordinarily special about him on the basis of which his claim
is accepted;
§ He is crazy or possessed by a Jinn;
§ His followers are only some outcasts who have accepted his claim without much
thought;
§ Had his claims made sense, the leaders and intellectuals of the society would
have endorsed him and followed him; and
§ So on and so forth.
They would use such propaganda to convince people not to forsake their idols and
to stick with their existing fantastic lifestyle. To make it sentimental, they would
appeal people not to forsake the idols by naming some of their favourite ones such
as Wadd, Suwaa‘, Yaghooth, Ya‘ooq and Nasr, which Arabs were also familiar with.
At that stage, it had become evident that there could not come out of them even
a single more believer. So Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam prayed to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala
requesting Him to take the final step and destroy the disbelievers so that Nooĥ
‘alayhissalaam and his followers (the Muslims) could establish a clean and pure
society according to the Islamic system of justice, peace and excellence. His supplication
for the destruction of the disbelievers starts in verse 24 and ends with verse 28.
But as soon as his supplication is initiated in verse 24, Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala
interrupts the flow and informs of the disbelievers’ destruction through a parenthetical
comment in verse 25, before letting the words of Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam’s supplication
complete in verse 26-28. This is to indicate the effectiveness of Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam’s
supplication and Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s responsiveness to the prayer of
a messenger.
25 Because of their sins, they were drowned, then made to enter Fire, so they did
not find any helpers besides Allaah.
In addition to informing us of their immediate destruction by drowning in the flood,
the verse also mentions their ultimate punishment in Hell. For the benefit of those
who believe in gods other than Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala, the verse also points
out that, when the destruction came, there was none to help the disbelievers because
their presumed gods were false and fabricated.
The remaining text of Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam’s prayer follows:
26 Nooĥ continued his prayer, “My Lord! Do not leave upon the earth even a single
inhabitant from the disbelievers. 27 If you leave them, they will indeed mislead
Your slaves and they will breed none but wicked disbelievers. 28 My Lord! Forgive
me, my parents, whoever enters my house as a believer, and all the believing men
and the believing women; and do not increase the wrong-doers in anything except
destruction!
Although there was absolutely no hope for any of them to become a believer, even
then a door of repentance was kept open for them in case anyone changed his or her
mind at the last moment. When people were finally warned that they would be destroyed
by a great flood, they were also offered a final opportunity so that if anyone changed
his or her mind, they could come to Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam’s house and accept Islam,
before the signs of the storm appeared.
Obviously, as is commonly known, the believers were saved from destruction because
they boarded the boat that Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam had built before the storm arrived.
As all people except those in the boat were destroyed, all human beings of the world
today have descended from Nooĥ ‘alayhissalaam and the Muslims who boarded the boat
with him. Logically that should have been the end of the idol worship, especially
those idols that were worshipped by the people who were destroyed. However, it is
so ironic that the idols mentioned in this Soorah were being worshipped in Arabia
at the time of the revelation of these verses. The following is their description:
§ Wadd had as shape of a huge man and was god of Banee Kalb branch of Qudhaa‘h tribe
and was erected at Doomatul-jandal. It was also called Wadd, the Father. Quraish
of Makkah also revered it, but called it Wudd.
§ Suwaa‘ was shaped like a woman and was erected at Rubaaŧ, near Yanboo’. She was
goddess of Hudzail tribe.
§ Yaghooth was shaped like a lion. It was erected at Jurash, between Yemen and Ĥijaaz.
Some clans of Ŧay tribe and Madzjiĥ tribe worshipped it.
§ Ya‘ooq was shaped like a horse and was worshipped by a clan of Hamdaan tribe of
Yemen .
§ Nasr was shaped like a vulture and was erected at Balkha’. It was worshipped by
a clan of Ĥimyar. It was also known as Naswar.
As the Qur-aan has mentioned their names in two groups, it indicates that the first
two Wadd and Suwaa‘ enjoyed a higher status than the other three. Presence of some
people among Quraish bearing names such as ‘Abdi Wudd (slave of Wudd) and ‘Abdi
Yaghooth (slave of Yaghooth) indicates that they also revered those idols.
The point to ponder is: How did the Arabs end up worshipping the idols whose worshippers
were all destroyed? It appears that Shayŧaan uses history, archaeology and human
love for their “heritage” as his tools for trapping people to re-engage in the evils
that had been eradicated by the previous prophets and messengers.
In this age of enlightenment, we see many people reviving and re-adopting many evils
of the past under various pretexts. Even Muslims have adopted so many evils of the
past that were eradicated by our Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and previous
prophets. Relying on their books and traditions, and without being very vigilant,
many Muslims have adopted Jewish and Christian ways that were not approved of by
Allaah and His messengers. Similarly many Muslim populations are proudly associating
themselves with pre-Islamic heritage of Jaahiliyyah.
If Muslims want to remain believers in Islam, they must reject whatever was rejected
by the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his companions, and they must
abandon anything they have adopted from the previous civilizations that was not
part of the collective views and practices of the companions of the Prophet ŝall
Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. The pure Islam is only that what was preached, practised
and approved by the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and collectively by his
companions. Anything added later on is innovation brought in from other sources.
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