Prophet Nuh and the Great Boat

Prophet Nuh, Alayhi as-Salam, had a message to share.

His people had begun worshipping idols. These were things people treated as gods. Nuh called them to worship Allah Subhana Wattaala alone.

He spoke to them in the daytime. He spoke to them at night. He spoke in front of others, and he spoke to people on their own.

He kept inviting them to turn to Allah Subhana Wattaala and ask for forgiveness.

But many people would not listen.

Some covered their ears. Some laughed at him. Some looked down on the people who believed him because they were poor.

Nuh kept trying for a very long time. The Quran tells us he remained among his people for nine hundred and fifty years.

That is longer than we can easily imagine!

The message did not change because people were unkind. Nuh was not asking them for a reward. He wanted them to listen to the One who had made them and given them so much. He reminded them that they could still ask for forgiveness.

But they kept refusing. It is one thing to ask a question because you want to understand. It is another thing to cover your ears because you will not listen at all. The people had heard Nuh's message again and again. Still, many chose to turn away from it, even while he kept patiently calling them.

Then Allah Subhana Wattaala told him that no more of his people would believe. He gave Nuh a new task.

He was to build a great boat, called an ark.

So Prophet Nuh, Alayhi as-Salam, began to build it, following the instructions Allah Subhana Wattaala gave him.

People passed by and laughed.

But Nuh knew whose instruction he was following. Their laughter did not stop him.

Then the time came.

Water began to rise. The flood that Allah Subhana Wattaala had warned about was beginning.

Nuh took the believers into the ark. He also took the members of his family who were to be saved, and pairs of living creatures as he had been instructed.

The boat carried them through great waves.

There was a very sad moment for Nuh. His son was outside the ark. Nuh called him to come aboard.

But his son thought he could climb a mountain and be safe.

Nuh told him that day no one could be saved from the command of Allah Subhana Wattaala except through His mercy.

A wave came between them. His son drowned.

Nuh cared deeply about his son. He asked Allah Subhana Wattaala about him, and was reminded that his son's actions had not been good.

Nuh then asked his Lord for forgiveness for asking about something he did not fully understand.

The story does not stay among the waves forever.

Allah Subhana Wattaala commanded the earth to take in its water and the sky to stop. The water went down.

The ark came to rest on a mountain called Judi.

Nuh and those with him were given a new beginning, with blessings from Allah Subhana Wattaala.

Think about all the parts of that journey. The long years of calling people. The building of the ark. The great waves. And then, at last, the water going down.

Nuh kept turning to his Lord through it all.

We can learn something from his patience. When a good task is hard, we can keep trying, one small step at a time.

And we can learn something from the people who laughed. Someone being laughed at does not mean they are wrong. We should listen carefully and treat people with respect.

Prophet Nuh, Alayhi as-Salam, stepped into a new part of his life after the flood.

Allah Subhana Wattaala had carried him and the believers through, and their journey would continue on dry land.