Welcome to our weekly program “Path Towards Enlightenment” in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an.

We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 14 and 15 of Surah Ankabut:

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِينَ عَامًا فَأَخَذَهُمُ الطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ

فَأَنجَيْنَاهُ وَأَصْحَابَ السَّفِينَةِ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا آيَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ

“Certainly We sent Noah to his people, and he remained with them for a thousand-less-fifty years. Then the flood overtook them while they were wrongdoers.”

“Then We delivered him and the occupants of the Ark, and made it a sign for all the nations.”

If you recall, the previous ayahs of this Surah dealt with the general trial of people, but from here onwards the ayahs of this Surah refer to the hard trials of some of the prophets of the and the nations to whom they were sent. These ayahs inform us of how the believers lived under acute pressure and how they exercised exemplary patience until final victory. These ayahs in addition to being a form of inspiration for the neo Muslim companions of the Prophet of Islam as well as present-day Muslims, who live under the harsh pressure of the powerful enemies, also serve as warning to the enemies about the painful end that awaits unrepentant sinners and disbelievers. God Almighty’s use of the term “a thousand years save fifty years” in the ayah, while He could have said 950 years from the beginning, refers to the greatness and length of this time, because the figure ‘one thousand’ which is used in the form of ‘a thousand years’ for ‘the length of the time of propagation’ is considered a very enormous figure. This number of years was not the whole lifetime of Noah, though the present versions of the Torah wrongly mention this figure for his entire lifetime, but he lived another length of time after the Great Flood. Some narrations say that, in principle, the people of Noah had a long lifetime and, in this course, Noah had also been extraordinary. This proves that if God the Almighty Creator Wills, a human being is such that he can have a long lifetime.

As indicated by the next part of the ayah, the nation to whom God had sent Noah did not believe in his mission and continued their sinful ways despite being given such a long respite by the Almighty Creator. This means that at the time of the occurrence of the Great Flood that ended their sinful life and washed away their towns, these people were going on with their sinful ways. In other words, if they had repented and reformed themselves by heeding the laws of God, the All-Merciful would not have subjected to them to such a severe punishment.

The next ayah, that is number 15, means to say that God delivered from the huge flood Prophet Noah and the small group of firm believers that was with him on the Ark he had built on Divine Commandment. As per the words of the holy Qur’an the account of Noah has been made a sign and warning for all people until the Day of Resurrection, because the event of the Ark separated the believers from disbelievers and distinguished the righteous ones from the guilty ones, in order to prove that Noah was truthful and the people to he preached with patience and endurance, were infidels.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Propagation and training need patience, endurance and resistance.

2. Long life is possible if God Wills since He is the Creator.

3. If Noah lived for over two millenniums, then no one should have any doubt about the current 1,200 year long life of the Prophet of Islam’s 12th and Last Successor, Imam Mahdi (AS), who is in occultation and will appear in the end times as the savior of humanity.

4. The end of the sinners, who do not repent, is terrible in the transient life of this mortal world as well.

Now we read ayahs 16 and 17 of Surah Ankabut:

وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّـهَ وَاتَّقُوهُ ۖ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

إِنَّمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ أَوْثَانًا وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًا فَابْتَغُوا عِندَ اللَّـهِ الرِّزْقَ وَاعْبُدُوهُ وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ ۖ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

“And Abraham, when he said to his people, ‘Worship Allah and be wary of Him. That is better for you, should you know.”

“In fact, instead of Allah you worship idols, and you invent a lie. Indeed those whom you worship besides Allah have no control over your provision. So seek all [your] provision from Allah, and worship Him and thank Him, and to Him you shall be brought back.”

These ayahs refer to Prophet Abraham who never spared any efforts to invite people towards monotheism, and warned them of the consequences of disbelief including the worshipping of idols. He told the disbelievers that these lifeless objects crafted by their own hands, have no power over anything, and cannot meet their needs; so turn to Allah and seek provisions from him, since He Alone is worthy of worship and thanks, and to Him is your eventual return when your brief life ends in this transient world.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Worship of God without piety is useless.

2. It is an unforgiveable sin to worship idols and to deny the existence of God Almighty.

3. We should always be grateful to God for His blessings and worship Him alone, without ascribing any partners to Him.

Now let us read ayah 18 of Surah Ankabut:

وَإِن تُكَذِّبُوا فَقَدْ كَذَّبَ أُمَمٌ مِّن قَبْلِكُمْ ۖ وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُولِ إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ

“And if you belie [the Prophet’s teaching], then [other] nations have belied [likewise] before you, and the Prophet’s duty is only to communicate in clear terms.”

Prophet Abraham told the idol worshippers that their belying him and refusal to heed his words are nothing new, since the sinful nations of the past had also behaved in this wrongful manner towards the prophets sent to them, and suffered the painful consequences. As the Messenger of God, Abraham told them that the duty of the Prophet is only to explain to them everything in clear terms for their own benefit.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Prophets do not force people to believe in God, since their duty is only to convey to them the Divine Commandments in clear terms, so as to arouse their conscience and save them from self-destruction.

2. Those who belie the Prophet do so at their own peril, and if they heed the words of the Divine Messengers, it will be to their own benefits and the blissful life of paradise in afterlife.

FK/AS/ME