`Hazrat
Nuhas
(Waqfe Nau syllabus age group 9-10)
Who and When:
Hazrat Nuhas was born in 3078BC. His father Lamech was born in 3255 BC and was 182 years old when Hazrat Nuhas was born. He lived 9 generations after Hazrat Adamas.
Where:
Hazrat Nuhas is believed to have lived in Mesopotamia in Southern Iraq in a valley surrounded by mountains from which many springs flowed. Hazrat Nuhas was a law-bearing prophet. He was a righteous man sent to save a wicked world plunged in sin. He was not a leader of the tribe or a rich man, but even before being called to prophecy he worshipped God faithfully.
Mission:
God charged Hazrat Nuhas with the duty of preaching to his people to make them abandon idolatry and to worship only the One Creator and to live good and pure lives. Although he preached the Message of God with immense zeal, his people refused to mend their ways. He prayed to Allah Almighty and warned is people of a punishment that would befall them if they displeased God. However, they mocked him and accused him of being a liar and mad. This situation continued for a very long time and Hazrat Nuhas only had a handful of followers; even his wife and son were disbelievers. Despite this, Hazrat Nuhas had great faith in this mission and warned the people that they could try their utmost to end his mission but they would not succeed. After receiving information that no more people would enter his fold, Hazrat Nuhas made the following prayer to Allah the Almighty:
“My Lord, leave not in the land a single one of the disbelievers; for if thou dost leave them, they will only lead astray Thy servants and will not give birth but to a sinner and a disbeliever.” (11:32)
Maryam 42
Allah decided to eliminate the disbelievers off the face of the earth and instructed Hazrat Nuhas to build an ark big enough to hold all the believers and a pair of any animal they would need. When his enemies saw him building an ark they mocked him as they could not see any reason for building an ark. When Allah’s Punishment came the sky filled with dark clouds and it began to rain in torrents and the springs began to gush with water. Allah talk Hazrat Nuhas prayers for his journey including:
“My Lord, cause me to land a blessed landing, for thou are the Best of those who bring men to land”. (23:30) Allah saved Hazrat Nuhas and his followers and the ark came to rest on a mountain called Al Judi. When the ark stopped Hazrat Nuhas sent out a raven to see if there was any dry land, but he raven retuned to the ark. After several attempts Hazrat Nuhas sent out a dove, which returned with an olive branch, indicating the water as receded completely. The olive branch was also a symbol that Allah has blessed Hazrat Nuhas, his people and their future generations. The influence of Hazrat Nuh'sas preaching and prophethood spanned 950 years according to Quran. (ch29, vs15)
43 Maryam