 |
| By Abu Yahya (in Urdu). |
Translated by Kamran Saeed, Fizza Rashid, Waseem Aslam & Bilal Khan |
Chapter 9: The Nation of Noah and The Ones who distorted their Faith
Thoughts about my teacher Farhan Ahmad and Jamshaid had caused a deep silence to prevail over me. Saleh had a pretty good idea about it. To divert my attention, he said:
"You have forgotten that actually we had come to meet the last Prophet, May peace be upon him. You have sat down here on the way. Now he himself has asked for you."
"Has father not met the Prophet yet, May peace be upon him?" Anwar spoke sounding very surprised. Saleh clarified:
"Every person who is successful in the Plane of Judgment first goes straight to the last Prophet. Over there, the Prophet rewards him, by giving him a glass of Kauthar with his own hands. His family members are also called there on this occasion. After this, these people go and sit down in an elated and celebrative mood by the pond or, what your father calls, ‘a lake’. However, your father wanted to roam in the Plane of Judgment, thus prior to the meeting with the Prophet, on his request, he was sent back to the Plane of Judgment. However, now the Prophet himself has called for him."
"Is everything alright? Why has he been summoned? Naimah inquired.
Saleh replied:
"The reason is that as the accountability of different nations has continued, now it is the turn of the nation of Prophet Noah. But they have denied having received any message of God from Noah, May peace be upon him.”
"What sort of talk is that? How can they say that they have not received any message from God? They were drowned in the world because they denied the message of Prophet Noah. After this Judgment from God, how can they stand in front of God and state that Prophet Noah did not pass any message from God to them?" Arifa queried with surprise.
Leila further added to her comment:
"And even if these people have become stubborn and decided to lie about this, the Qur’an stated that the mouths of such people will be shut and their hands and feet will be asked to bear witness. So how can these people saying these things?"
Saleh elaborated:
"The people who are saying this are not those people from the nation of Prophet Noah who incurred the punishment. These are those people from his children who embraced faith on him and then the siblings of these faithful people inhabited the world. Nevertheless, a significant number among them were those people among whom, no more prophets were sent after Prophet Noah. These people sufficed on the guidance of Oneness of God and Day of Judgment, which was in essence a remnant of prophet Noah’s teachings ... even though after the passage of such a long time they may not recognise it in its original capacity and they may even have somewhat distorted its shape. It is for this reason that they have denied any knowledge of this guidance from Prophet Noah."
I interrupted the discussion to further clarify Saleh's reply:
"Look, the fact of the matter is that majority of the humanity descended from Prophet Noah. A number of groups among them, particularly the descendants of his son ‘Shem’, who inhabited the central areas of the Earth like Middle East and its adjoining areas, are those who were the beneficiaries of a continual chain of prophets and messengers. But many groups of humanity did not have the opportunity of directly benefitting from a prophet after Prophet Noah. In particular, after Prophet Abraham no prophets were sent outside his descendants. It is these people who are now considered as either descendants of Prophet Noah or to belong to his nation. At the time of accountability, they have been presented along with the nation of Prophet Noah. However, these people did not directly know the teachings of Prophet Noah or appreciate their relationship to him in a way other people like the People of the Book and the Muslims did. Therefore, these people denied ever having received the message of Prophet Noah and, their refusal is not entirely unjustified either."
Saleh added:
"Abdullah is correct. The fact of the matter is that people from the nation of Prophet Muhammad delivered the message of God to these people from the nation of Prophet Noah. For this reason all the initial and final witnesses from the nation of the last prophet are being called upon to bear witness as in the previous world, they clarified the truth to these people by their actions. Today these witnesses will testify that one way or the other, they managed to convey the message of Oneness of God to these people; this message was the real inheritance of the teachings of Prophet Noah and got forgotten in the later times. But following the advent of the last prophet, this message was preserved till the Day of Judgment and his followers fulfilled their responsibility of passing it to the children of Noah."
Naimah looked towards me and asked:
"Then why were they not presented along with the nation of the last prophet?"
"If they had embraced Islam then that is what would have happened. However, they did not do so and continued to follow the disfigured religion of their ancestors. Since every nation is being presented for accountability along with its respective prophet, all such people have been brought forward as the nation of Prophet Noah; the reason for this is that their forefathers had embraced faith in Prophet Noah." I replied and then summarised the discussion in these words:
"In short, Prophet Noah delivered the message of God himself to the initial portion of his nation while the Muslims delivered it to the last section, as they were the upholders of the message of Oneness of God and Day of Judgement, which was the main message of all prophets including Prophet Noah, May be upon all of them."
“Come on Abdullah, we need to go as we have been called for…” Saleh said to me.
So, we both got up and started moving towards our destination.
Once again, we were in the presence of the last prophet of God, Prophet Muhammad, May peace and blessings be upon him! He had the same radiance on his face, the same attractiveness, and same aura that I had noted when I saw him first time. I felt that I had known him for centuries. His love seemed to grow even more at that time. I was sitting at the back end of his gathering of companions, staring at his glowing face as he talked with them. Then someone went close to him and said something in his ear.
Saleh whispered in my ear:
“This is his servant, Anas and he is telling him about you.”
At the same moment, the Prophet raised his head to look at me and welcomed me with a heartening smile. This confirmed what Saleh had whispered in my ear. Then he smiled and said to the people sitting around him:
“The nation of one of the forefathers of humanity and prophet of God Noah has refused to accept his testimony by saying that he did not directly deliver any message to them. In fact, my followers delivered the message to them. All those of you sitting here believe in all prophets of God, and the religion that I passed on to you is the same religion that was given to Prophet Noah. It is therefore, you responsibility to present yourself in the court of the Almighty on behalf of Prophet Noah and testify that the invitation to belief in one God and righteous deeds that Prophet Noah extended to his followers, and which I passed on to you, you delivered it to his nation without any omissions or additions, thereby fulfilling his and my mission.
He then asked his companion Abu-Bakr sitting next to him to stand up.
Abu-Bakr stood up. The Prophet then said to the people sitting around him:
“This is my friend Abu-Bakr. In addition to him, there are representative followers of my nation present here ranging from my time to all the way to the time just before the Day of Judgement. All of you should go to the court of the Almighty following his lead and be witnesses to the truth that you bear.”
The Prophet stood up as he finished his sentence, following which everyone else also stood up. Abu-Bakr kissed his hand and moved on. Following his lead, everyone kissed the Prophet’s hand. My turn was at the end. I also availed this auspicious honour. Then all of us set off towards the Plane of Judgement with the most honourable Abu-Bakr in the lead.
I was walking right at the back of the group along with these exalted personalities. Saleh was not with me. Before departing from the Prophet’s gathering, he told me that I would have to give the testimony on my own. Although, he did say that he would meet me on the way back.
On the way, a thought came in my heart that I am not worthy enough to represent the nation of the last prophet amidst such honourable and exalted personalities. This feeling overwhelmed me so much that I decided to quietly abscond from the group. Who would notice? The Almighty would call someone else from my era in my place. I started to walk slower with these thoughts in my mind. Soon, I was quite far back from the rest of the group. I decided to avail this opportunity and just as I turned around to head back in the direction of the pond of Kauthar, I heard a voice behind me say:
“Abdullah! What are you doing?”
I nervously turned around and saw Abu-Bakr standing behind me. I felt ashamed. It felt as if I had been caught stealing. My initial inclination was to make an excuse, but then I realised that this is not the world; God may reveal the truth to him that very moment. Therefore, I told him the whole story and in addition, also requested him to take someone else along instead of me.
Abu-Bakr started laughing; then he said:
"God selected people for the testimony himself. He is the one who informed me through an angel, the reasons for your intended action.” He gently held my hand and started to walk forward. On the way, he advised me:
“Listen Abdullah! The Almighty himself has selected every person in this group. Do you know what the criterion is for selection?”
I silently looked at his face. He answered the question himself:
“In the eyes of your Lord, the most eligible people to bear witness are those who rose above all prejudices, emotions and desires to make submission to the truth their prime concern, and then dedicated their lives to the Oneness of God and hereafter. In your era, the religious people may have managed to rise above their desires but most failed to overcome prejudice and emotions. Sectarian and communal priorities had enslaved their thoughts. They would accept only those ideas, which were proposed by people from their own sect. They would call people only towards their sect. They used to live their lives under the strong influence of the perceived greatness of their leaders. In contrast, you lived your life only under the influence and appreciation of the greatness of the Almighty. You accepted the truth no matter what the cost and applied it in your life, regardless of any prejudice. The Oneness of God was your main concern; the biggest objective of your life was to help people prepare for this encounter with their Lord. In addition, you did not confine your work just to your own nation; rather, you were involved in a long struggle to spread Qur’an’s message of Oneness of God and the hereafter amongst the non-Muslim nations. These are the reasons that led to your selection today.”
Prophet Noah, with his hands held together in front of him, was standing to the right side of the Divine Throne. All of us, under the leadership of Abu-Bakr, the Truthful stood behind him. In front of us, till the eyes could see, there was a sea of human beings. Every one of them appeared worried and looked ill. They were standing with their heads bowed. Their faces looked grey with fear. In the surroundings, apart from a faint whisper, no other voice could be heard. This was the nation of Prophet Noah, who in fact were people born to his children.
In a little while, a loud voice was heard:
"The witnesses of Noah be presented in the court."
I thought that now Abu-Bakr would move forward and say something. But at this juncture, I saw that the last prophet came and stood in front of the Throne.
A voice was heard:
"Speak O' Muhammad! What do you want to say?"
The Prophet spoke in the presence of the One and Only:
"My Lord! You gave me prophethood and revealed your Book upon me. In that Book, you told me that Prophet Noah also brought with him the same religion that you endowed me with, which propagated a belief in the one and only God. I bore witness upon the same righteous religion on my nation, and now these people are present here in front of you to bear witness that they took this righteous religion to the children of Noah without any addition or omission."
The Almighty said:
"You have spoken the truth. Present your followers."
"On this, Abu-Bakr took a few steps forward and stood next to Prophet Noah. All of us also moved forward and stood behind him.
A voice was heard:
"Who are you?"
Abu-Bakr, May God be pleased with him, introduced himself and then introduced each of us by stating our names and the time periods we lived in. He stated that we were all from the nation of Prophet Muhammad. He said that the final prophet bore witness of the true religion upon us and told us that Prophet Noah also brought the same religion with him. He further stated that we then took this religion of Prophets Noah and Muhammad to all the nations of the world. Then he said that we also took this truth to those people who were present in front of the Almighty as the nation of Prophet Noah.
After this evidence, there was no excuse left for the nation of Prophet Noah. It was apparent that the religion of Prophet Noah was the same as that of Prophet Muhammad and that his followers delivered this religion to the rest of the world. Now the accountability of the nation of Prophet Noah was to take place in light of this evidence. Our work was complete. Therefore, we began our return journey.
Our group was moving along our return journey. This time the leader of our small convoy was the final prophet himself. In the company of angels, we were passing through the Plane of Judgement, heading towards the Kauthar. I was staying at the back of this group, afraid of embarrassing myself. Suddenly someone put a hand on my shoulder and said:
"And where were you trying to run away to, my friend?"
I looked back and saw Saleh who was smiling. I remained silent, feeling embarrassed. He spoke laughingly:
"Praise the Lord, that the leader of the group was Abu-Bakr. If Umar was in his place then he would have given you at least a few lashes as punishment!"
I also started to laugh. After a pause, I said:
"In fact, it is not Abu-Bakr or Umar. Umar would have done exactly the same as Abu-Bakr. The reason is that the being that arranged for this is the same. That is my merciful God, who has concealed my sins, throughout my life."
A worrying thought then came to my mind. I asked Saleh:
"By the way, how did you know about me? Does everyone know about this?"
"No, no ... Abu-Bakr is very kind-hearted; he did not say a word. As for me, I knew about it as God sent a message to Abu-Bakr regarding this through me. Albeit, your statement is correct. Guess what was the message that the Almighty asked me to take to Abu-Bakr?"
He answered his own question without waiting for my reply:
"Look after my servant. In his humility, he is about to neglect his responsibility."
I bowed my head with mixed feelings of embarrassment and gratitude. After a few moments, I inquired from Saleh:
"How is the accountability going in the Plane of Judgement?"
"The evidence against nations of various prophets is being presented. All prophets and messengers are giving testimony that they passed the message of God to their respective nations. After this, the sins of all those people whose deeds were largely in accordance with the teachings of the prophets are forgiven and their success is announced." Saleh replied.
I recalled everything. Saleh had told me previously that after this initial period of accountability, the general accountability would start. I felt a hope that perhaps at this stage, a decision for salvation of my son Jamshaid may be announced but obviously, there was nothing I could do for him. I inquired from Saleh:
"What is the state of people over here?"
"Don’t ask! No one is able to comfort anyone. Furthermore, no one knows what is going to be his fate."
We were walking behind the convoy chatting with each other, when suddenly a loud roar erupted. The reason for this uproar was that a huge crowd of Muslims was heading towards the Prophet chanting his name. They were screaming, crying, and begging the prophet to help them. They were saying that they were his followers. However, the angels were beating them with lashes to keep them away. These people had become so fed up due to the hardships in the Plane of Judgement that despite being beaten up, they were still trying to move towards the Prophet. The Prophet appeared to them as the only ray of hope.
On seeing this scene, the Prophet, May peace be upon him, called the head of the angels to him and asked him for the reason this treatment was being meted out to these people, despite the fact that they claimed to be his followers, ascribed their faith to him and mentioned his name in their proclamations of faith. The angel answered with utmost respect:
"O Prophet of God! No doubt they take your name but, you are not aware of all sorts of innovations that these people introduced in your religion after you had left the world."
On hearing this, expressions of extreme dislike appeared upon the face of the Prophet and he said:
"May those people be distanced from me who after me altered the religion I brought!"
After saying this, the Prophet turned and walked on towards the pond of Kauthar, with the rest of the people in the convoy following suit. I was also about to move forward but Saleh stopped me by saying:
"Wait and see what happens here."
I saw that the angels then started to attack these people heartlessly. In the mean time, more angels joined them from the left side of the Plane of Judgement. They started to beat these people mercilessly. Their strength was such that when they lashed out once with a whip, thousands of people were hit by it, thrown yards away shouting and screaming. In a short while, the entire area close to the pond was clear of people. Beaten up and crying with pain, these people who had invented new beliefs and actions in the religion of Islam, left that place, moaning their humiliation and ill-fate.
I was standing next to Saleh witnessing these pitiful scenes. I thought to myself that these were those unfortunate people for whom, the guidance of the Qur’an and the practical example of the Sunnah of the Prophet was not sufficient. Therefore, they made additions and alterations to the religion and thus tried to deface it. They used to posses some sort of senseless logic for their misguided and bad deeds. When someone with insight tried to draw their attention towards their fallacies, they would become their mortal enemies. They were told that there was no room for inventing beliefs outside the Qur’an and no deeds apart from the ones that were part of the Sunnah would be reliable in the court of the Almighty, but they regarded such talk as absurd and remained engrossed in their misguided ways. However, they had suffered the consequences of this attitude today. As I was thinking about this, Saleh said to me:
"Abdullah! I have not managed to understand this habit of human beings. Why is it that after receiving such clear guidance, all nations of the prophets indulged so much in innovations?"
"You have asked a good question. I also deliberated a lot on this during my previous life. In my opinion, the real reason for this is exaggeration and extremism. Human beings are very emotional beings by nature. They go to extremes in either direction. The followers of the prophets also suffered from it. Some people, on account of their inclination towards materialism, forego the teachings of the prophets, while others went to the other extreme, in their love for prophets and righteous people and enthusiasm for worship. It is these exaggerations and extremist behaviours that became the main reasons for innovations in religion."
Saleh nodded on hearing my reply and said:
"The biggest example of this extremist behaviour and exaggeration were the Christians. On one hand, they discarded the Law brought by Prophet Moses. On the other hand, they invented a creed of self-denial and introduced such worships, practices, and innovations, into the religion, that it became extremely difficult for an ordinary person to live a normal life while maintaining a religious identity. In addition to the innovations in deeds, exaggeration in beliefs also became apparent amongst them in its ultimate extreme. Despite being a nation with so many prophets, they managed to invent a wife and a Son of God. But my friend, the truth is that you Muslims were not far behind them either!"
He said the last part of his statement with a lot of emphasis. I replied without hesitation:
"And today, both Christians and Muslims have had to suffer the consequences of it."
As I said this, I could visualise the scenes of events that I had just witnessed a few moments ago.
Source: http://www.understanding-islam.org.uk/archives/when-life-begins-preface/chapter-4-naimah/926-when-life-begins-chapter-9.html |
Articles
Home Page