11. Hud

The task of calling upon people to bow to God relates purely to the Hereafter. In order to ensure its success, it is absolutely necessary that there should be no disputes relating to money, land or property between the call-giver and his addressees. The call-giver himself has to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining a normal atmosphere between himself and his addressees, and for that purpose, he should unilaterally put an end to all types of material and economic disputes. That preacher who, on the one hand, makes a plea for the acceptance of Truth and, on the other, agitates and makes demands about worldly things is not a preacher in the real sense but a charlatan. He can have no value in the eyes either of his addressees or of God. The test of the addressee is that he should be able to see the greatness of Truth in an ordinary man. Conversely, the preacher should not welcome an irreligious person simply because he possesses property and status, nor should he disregard a religious person simply because he does not possess the trappings of worldly pomp and glory. If a preacher does so, it means that by word of mouth he delivers sermons about the importance of the Hereafter, while in practice he proves himself to be one who attaches greater importance to the world. Obviously, this amounts to contradicting oneself, and the word of such a person has no value in the eyes of others.

Noah did not indulge in disputes or debating sessions ( jidal) with his community. He used simply to present his righteous message to them in a serious manner. But his serious call appeared to his community to be quite the opposite. The reason for this is man’s weakness: when he himself is affected, he loses all seriousness. He does not see things in the light of reason or proof. He straightaway rejects the Truth without giving it serious consideration. Even the solid reasoning of the preacher appears to him to be meaningless discussion and jidal. The statement, ‘Noah, you have argued with us, and argued to excess’ is not intended to indicate what Noah said, but rather shows how little importance was attached to his word by his hearers. Similarly, the demand for their own punishment made by Noah’s opponents was not really seriously meant, but was intended rather to ridicule Noah. What is really meant was, ‘See, this person is talking of something which is never going to happen.’ They thought that their position was so strong that there was no scope for any punishment to be meted out to them. Adopting this attitude, they said, ‘Bring on us that punishment of which you have been warning us, as a result of our rejection.’ And since, according to them, such punishment was never going to occur, their statement implied: ‘We are based on Truth and you on untruth.’ Noah replied that they were looking at the matter in the context of his personality and it was because he was a weak person, that they were unable to understand how any punishment could ever come upon them. He added that had they looked at the matter in relation to God, they would not have taken this stand, because then they would have realised that God’s retribution against the transgressor in this world was as certain as the rising of the sun and as terrible as the eruption of an earthquake. Acceptance of the message of the missionary of Truth mostly depends on the hearer not looking at it in the context of the messenger’s personality, but rather valuing it on the basis of its content. Since Noah’s community took his word as that of an ordinary man, he said that with that mentality they would never be able to discover the real value of what he had to say. Therefore, the only option now left to them was to wait for the Day when God would appear right in front of them.

Noah did not indulge in disputes or debating sessions ( jidal) with his community. He used simply to present his righteous message to them in a serious manner. But his serious call appeared to his community to be quite the opposite. The reason for this is man’s weakness: when he himself is affected, he loses all seriousness. He does not see things in the light of reason or proof. He straightaway rejects the Truth without giving it serious consideration. Even the solid reasoning of the preacher appears to him to be meaningless discussion and jidal. The statement, ‘Noah, you have argued with us, and argued to excess’ is not intended to indicate what Noah said, but rather shows how little importance was attached to his word by his hearers. Similarly, the demand for their own punishment made by Noah’s opponents was not really seriously meant, but was intended rather to ridicule Noah. What is really meant was, ‘See, this person is talking of something which is never going to happen.’ They thought that their position was so strong that there was no scope for any punishment to be meted out to them. Adopting this attitude, they said, ‘Bring on us that punishment of which you have been warning us, as a result of our rejection.’ And since, according to them, such punishment was never going to occur, their statement implied: ‘We are based on Truth and you on untruth.’ Noah replied that they were looking at the matter in the context of his personality and it was because he was a weak person, that they were unable to understand how any punishment could ever come upon them. He added that had they looked at the matter in relation to God, they would not have taken this stand, because then they would have realised that God’s retribution against the transgressor in this world was as certain as the rising of the sun and as terrible as the eruption of an earthquake. Acceptance of the message of the missionary of Truth mostly depends on the hearer not looking at it in the context of the messenger’s personality, but rather valuing it on the basis of its content. Since Noah’s community took his word as that of an ordinary man, he said that with that mentality they would never be able to discover the real value of what he had to say. Therefore, the only option now left to them was to wait for the Day when God would appear right in front of them.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.

The faith required of man is one at which he has arrived as a conscious and voluntary decision. Those who do not accept the Faith, in spite of the Prophet’s best missionary efforts, prove that they are not yet ready to become the Faithful of God of their own free will. The second stage for such people is having their freedom taken away and then being directly presented before God in all His Majesty, so that what they had not accepted as believers they should have to accept as criminals and be made to face the punishment befitting their arrogance. After hundreds of years of Noah’s missionary efforts, this stage had come for his community. Thereafter, Noah was told that, after having fully discharged the responsibility of preaching God’s word he should build an Ark, so that when the flood sent by God came to drown the arrogant people, he and his companions in Faith could take refuge in it. Noah then built a large boat with three decks. This took several years. While Noah was working on the boat along with his companions, the arrogant people of the community used to see it as they came and went. They thought that all talk of punishment was simply imaginary, and when they saw that a boat was even being built for protection from that imaginary punishment, they started ridiculing Noah much more. When a man amasses wealth by means of arrogance and injustice, one who is enamoured of appearances will take him to be successful, judging by his worldly assets. But one who knows that the world is subject to moral laws, will see in the aforesaid person’s temporary success a glimpse of his total destruction in the Hereafter. Such superficial people of Noah’s community made fun of him but, in reality, they were themselves about to become the subject of ridicule.

The faith required of man is one at which he has arrived as a conscious and voluntary decision. Those who do not accept the Faith, in spite of the Prophet’s best missionary efforts, prove that they are not yet ready to become the Faithful of God of their own free will. The second stage for such people is having their freedom taken away and then being directly presented before God in all His Majesty, so that what they had not accepted as believers they should have to accept as criminals and be made to face the punishment befitting their arrogance. After hundreds of years of Noah’s missionary efforts, this stage had come for his community. Thereafter, Noah was told that, after having fully discharged the responsibility of preaching God’s word he should build an Ark, so that when the flood sent by God came to drown the arrogant people, he and his companions in Faith could take refuge in it. Noah then built a large boat with three decks. This took several years. While Noah was working on the boat along with his companions, the arrogant people of the community used to see it as they came and went. They thought that all talk of punishment was simply imaginary, and when they saw that a boat was even being built for protection from that imaginary punishment, they started ridiculing Noah much more. When a man amasses wealth by means of arrogance and injustice, one who is enamoured of appearances will take him to be successful, judging by his worldly assets. But one who knows that the world is subject to moral laws, will see in the aforesaid person’s temporary success a glimpse of his total destruction in the Hereafter. Such superficial people of Noah’s community made fun of him but, in reality, they were themselves about to become the subject of ridicule.

When the Ark was ready, stormy winds started blowing at God’s behest. Torrents of water started gushing out of the ground and there was continuous rainfall. So much so that there was water everywhere and all the people were drowned. The only survivors were a few human beings and some animals who had boarded Noah’s Ark. Even Noah’s son was drowned. In the eyes of God a man’s worth is judged according to his deeds and not according to relationship, even if the relationship is with a prophet. When all those destined to perish had drowned, God commanded the storm to stop and it stopped; the water drained into seas and rivers and the earth again became habitable.