Nuh (A.S) was born 146 years after the death of Aadam (A.S).The period between Aadam (A.S) and Nuh (A.S) was 10 centuries.
When Aadam (A.S) died he left many great grand-children, grand-children and children behind. If Aadam (A.S) were told that ''O Aadam, these are all your children,” he would be surprised.
Aadam (A.S) had taught his children to never come in shaitan's trap. He taught them that Allah alone should be worshipped. Many of Aadam (A.S)'s children were very pious and well-mannered and loved by everyone. All the people followed one religion and worshipped only Allah. The people were also aware about shaitan's enmity with ALLAH and human beings. Shaitaan did not like the fact that Aadam (A.S)'s children would go to Jannat and he and his progeny would go to Jahannam. Shaitaan thought, “Now what should be done? If the people were to worship idols or other things and also ALLAH (which is called Shirk or making partners with ALLAH) they thus commit the biggest sin. If ALLAH wishes, every sin will be forgiven on the day of judgement (Qayamat) except Shirk. People doing shirk will go to Jahannam. Shaitaan wanted that the children of Aadam (A.S) indulge in shirk. He thought, “How is this possible?” Shaitaan knew that ALLAH hates shirk and also gets very angry on those who indulge in shirk. It was his motto that all mankind should go to Jahannam. Well, if he tells them directly, they will tell him, “you are Shaitaan; you are the one who misguided Aadam (A.S) so much that you were thrown out of Jannat. You are our enemy.” Now Shaitaan thought of a plan.
SHAITAAN'S PLAN
Shaitaan told the people, “your pious forefathers have died, you must be remembering them.” They said, “Yes, we do miss them.” He replied, “Why don't you draw pictures of them so that you never forget them, hence you can always see them.” He convinced them so much that they readily made pictures of them and made it a point to look at them every day.
Just like humans have progressed from bullock-carts to cars, aeroplanes etc. From photos, they also progressed to making idols. In every house they made an idol but were aware that this idol is only a remembrance of our forefathers; they did not worship them.
Then their children started worshipping the idols. Thus Shaitaan became successful in his mission. The people used to worship the idols and also ALLAH. They thought that if we worship our pious forefathers then they will become happy and our work will be done. They even began to sacrifice animals (qurbani) in front of their idols and would prostate (do sajda) in front of them. Thus gradually they began idol worship.
When they began worshipping idols, ALLAH got very angry and why not?
ALLAH has provided us with land to live on, a roof over our heads, a full meal thrice a day, clothes to wear and various other bounties. Allah makes the rain fall, the farms green and what not. Allah does everything. So, if we give credit to someone other than ALLAH, is it not wrong? Is it not injustice?
ALLAH stopped the rain, but they did not do taubah. How can one do taubah if he believes that he is on the right path?
ALLAH is Rahman (gracious) and Raheem (merciful), so ALLAH sent a Nabi, Nuh (A.S) to them, to guide them towards the right path.
When a king wants to pass an order or a new rule in his country, what does he do? Does he go to every person and tells that this is my new rule, please follow it? No, that is against his status. We know that he will do no such thing. He will send his men to make an announcement. So how do you think ALLAH would guide mankind towards himself? Through prophets, of course!
Allah ta'alas prophets were humans just like us. If they were angels (farishtas) then people would tell them, “we eat and drink, you don’t. We have wives and children to look after, you don’t; so it's easy for you to do ibaadat of Allah but we can't.” Since the prophets of Allah ta'ala were humans they could tell that we are just like you, we need to eat and drink, we too have wives and children, yet we do ibaadat of ALLAH, we obey ALLAH'S commands and do the work of ALLAH.
Amongst the people ALLAH then chose Nuh (A.S) as prophet. There were many rich people but ALLAH knows who is fit for Prophethood. Allah gave Nuh (A.S) the work of davat, i.e. to call people towards Allah, to tell them about the day of judgement, to strive towards attaining Jannat and warn them against Shaitaan's enmity with humans.
Nuh (A.S) was very soft-hearted towards his people. He told his people that he had been appointed as a prophet of Allah. As Nuh (A.S) was a very patient man, he gently tried to bring to their notice, the greatness of Allah. He told them ''who converts night into day and vice-versa? See how Allah made the sun like a ball of fire and the moon like a torch.” He told them about the day of judgement and the bounties of Jannat and warned them against Jahannam.
The people of Nuh (A.S) did not pay any heed to his warnings. They said, “You are an ordinary person and you are living amongst us. How can u be a prophet? Allah could have appointed an angel for this work.” And sometimes they used to say, “Nuh (A.S) wants power.” They even accused him of being a liar.
What must Nuh (A.S) have felt at that time! On one hand his people were accusing him of being a liar and on the other hand he was trying to draw them closer to Allah and achieve Jannat. They continued to call him a liar, a mad-man and power-hungry etc. but Nuh (A.S) did not stop his efforts to bring the people on the right path. He tried to reason with them. He told them, “Allah hates shirk, Allah hates idol worship etc.”, but they were not ready to listen. They said, “How can we leave what our forefathers did?” In fact generation after generation were advised not to listen to Nuh (A.S)
Nuh (A.S) used to tell them,'' I don't expect anything from you all, I will get my reward from Allah in the hereafter (akhirat)''.Nuh (A.S)'s people continued to call him a liar while he on the other hand kept pleading to them. He told them, “O my people fear Allah, the hereafter is certain etc. There was so much love in the heart of Nuh (A.S) for his people! How deeply hurt he must have felt due to their indifference!
Only a few people accepted Nuh (A.S)'s davaat. The rich people were ready to accept Nuh (A.S)'s davit, if he were to ignore the poor. Nuh (A.S) said, “Who will help me in my work for Allah if I were to ignore the poor.” The rich people felt that they were better suited to follow Nuh (A.S)'s deen since they were having all the worldly possessions. Nuh (A.S) told them, “O my people, fear Allah, worship only Allah and surely Allah will forgive you. Allah will give abundance in everything i.e. your children, your belongings, your lives etc. He tried to convince them in every possible manner; he told them about Allah's creations, the uncountable bounties provided by Allah, but, they did not listen. They put their fingers into their ears and sometimes tied a cloth over their ears so that they would not hear him.
So shameless they were that they asked Nuh (A.S), “When will the azaab come, which you are warning us about? Tell us if what you are telling is really true.” Instead of challenging Nuh (A.S) they should have asked Allah for help to understand the truth.
Nuh (A.S) continued his davat, tirelessly, for 950 years. Only 80 of his people accepted Imaan. “O Allah, what patience Nuh (A.S) had! Nine hundred and fifty years!!”
Then Allah revealed to Nuh (A.S) that no more people will get imaan. He then asked Allah to eliminate all mushriks (those who do shirk) from the land.
Allah accepted Nuh (A.S)'s dua and ordered him to build a ship. Nuh (A.S) chose a place outside the city, far from the sea, to build his ship. Allah sent angels to show him how to build it. Nuh (A.S) collected some wood and a few tools and worked day and night to build his ark. His people mocked him, “From when have you become a carpenter? Why build a ship so far from the sea? Will the wind carry your ship to the sea? If so, how?” Nuh (A.S) replied, “Soon you will know who will be put to shame and suffer.” Soon the ship was ready.
Allah had revealed to him that the Azaab would begin when water would overflow from his oven. Nuh (A.S) had been told to collect a pair of each animal into his ship. He did just that. “Will the lions not eat the goats?” he asked. “Well, who has made lions the predators?” Allah asked Nuh (A.S). “You”, replied Nuh (A.S), “Okay, now the lions will be friends with other animals till they are on the ship and I will put love between them so no animal will eat the other.” said Allah.
When water gushed out of the oven, Nuh (A.S), his wives, his children, the 80 of the people, a pair of every animal and bird, except one of his wife and son boarded the ship, water gushed out of every crack in the earth, accompanied by heavy continuous rainfall made the whole earth slowly submerge into water.
Nuh (A.S) saw his son and told him to climb on his ark. He refused and said that the mountain will save him. Nuh (A.S) gave davat of imaan to his son and said, “o my son! Nothing will save you today, except Allah's grace” He again refused, then a huge wave engulfed his son and his son drowned right in front of his eyes. Nuh (A.S) did dua to Allah, “O Allah, my son is of my family and your promise is true.” Allah got angry with Nuh (A.S)'s dua. He told him, “O Nuh (A.S) he was not of your family, his work was different from yours, don't ask for things about which you have no knowledge.”
Nuh (A.S)'s son was a mushrik and Allah does not accept interceding for a mushrik even if he is a nabi's son. Nuh (A.S) had seen his son drowning and was worried about the result of his actions. Nuh (A.S) was drawing people towards Jannat, while his son did not listen and made Jahannam his abode in the hereafter (akhirat).
Each one of us is a slave of Allah, each one of us is the same as the other; the levels of Jannat will not be raised or lowered due to wealth or family backgrounds. The ticket to Jannat is Imaan (to believe that only Allah is worth worshipping) and if the degree of imaan is high the level of Jannat will be raised accordingly. The acceptance (imaan) is our entry ticket to Jannat. If a person is a sinner but has even a trace of imaan then he will be able to enter Jannat after his sins are atoned with the azaab of Jahannam. But if a person has prayed 5 times namaaz, Quran, everything but died without imaan from this world, then he or she will not go to Jannat forever. And no one has the right to intercede for him. Not a Prophet or an angel. This is Allah’s law and Allah is just and not unjust.
So Allah did not allow Nuh (A.S) to intercede for his son. Nuh (A.S) understood his mistake and on the spot asked Allah for forgiveness.
So Nuh (A.S) with all the imaanwalas stayed on the ark. The ark sailed in the water for days and days like a mountain in the sea, with water on all sides. The whole earth was submerged in water; then Allah ordered the earth to swallow up its water and the sky to stop raining.
On the day of Aashura (10th day of Muharram) the ship stopped at a mountain, called Mount Judi. With Allah’s orders Nuh (A.S) got down on land and he thanked Allah for it. All birds and animals were released and Allah gave a lot of Barakat (blessings) in Nuh (A.S)’s children.
When the time of Nuh (A.S)’s death came he called all his sons and told them, “I am giving you my (last) advice in which I command you not to do two things and to do two things.”
“The two things which I forbid you to do are SHIRK and PRIDE, and the two things I command you to do is –
· LA ILLAHA ILLALAH, If all the skies and lands and whatever they contain, are kept on one scale and LA ILLAA ILLALAH on another scale, the second scale will bend and if the skies and the lands are kept, and LA ILLAHA ILLALAH is kept over it, then the skies and lands will break with its weight.
· Pray SUBHANALLAHI WA BHI HAMDIHI, this is the namaaz of all creations and with this kalima’s barakat (blessings) everything will gets its rozi.