Denial Of A Prophet^-AS Is The Denial Of Prophethood

The people of Prophet Nuh^-AS refused to believe in him^-AS. This indeed was the denial of the very office of Prophethood, rightly taken as denial of all the Prophets^-AS. He^-AS was not a stranger for them, being one of them, and they were well acquainted with his^-AS personality. Yet when they raised a finger on his^-AS conduct, he^-AS reminded them that he^-AS was Allah^-SWT's Messenger and as such trustworthy, for he^-AS tells them only what Allah^-SWT Commands him^-AS to. So they must fear Allah^-SWT , refrain from His^-SWT defiance and obey him^-AS, which indeed was Allah^-SWT's obedience.

Wages For Preaching And Worships

And they must also take note that he^-AS was not demanding any wages for his efforts in conveying Allah^-SWT's Message. Rather he^-AS expected his^-AS reward from Him^-SWT , the Sustainer of entire universe. This point has been discussed earlier that taking wages for propagation of religion and worships is not permitted. Mufti Muhammad Shafi^-RUA asserts in his Mu'arif-ul-Quran that our righteous predecessors had declared such emolument as forbidden, though the later scholars allowed it only under compelling circumstances. The best course of action, however, is to adopt other permissible means of earning livelihood and not to look for wages on preaching or worships.

For The Worldly, Rich And The Poor Are Two Nations

Prophet Nuh^-AS asked the people to refrain from Allah^-SWT’s disobedience and pay heed to his^-AS message. They refused on the ground that the few who had become believers were impoverished and ignoble, that is, they belonged to the lower strata of society. For lovers of the world, the rich and the poor are two separate nations. They see all the virtues in the affluent, while meanness for them lies in poverty. With Allah^-SWT , however, virtue lies in obedience; regardless of the fact whether one is poor or rich and meanness lies in disobedience. So he^-AS told his^-AS people that their thinking was incorrect for it is Allah^-SWT Who requites and is Aware of secrets of the hearts. And their condition that the poor be put aside so that they could become believers, was unacceptable. However, they too were welcome to embrace the faith and join those who had already done so. The decision was theirs while his^-AS assignment was just to forewarn them of the horrible consequences of evil precepts and practices. To adopt the means to avert destruction was, of course, their problem.

This straight talk infuriated them and they warned him^-AS against saving or doing anything incompatible to their social set up. They cautioned him^-AS not to introduce any new system, and threatened to stone him^-AS to death if he^-AS did so. After a very long time, when he^-AS had lost all hopes, he^-AS prayed to Allah^-SWT : ‘O Rabb^-SWT ! My people have decided to kill me as well as all the believers, and I have no hope that they will ever accept my message. So decide between us that the defiant are destroyed and we are saved from them as well as the infliction." So Allah^-SWT sent His^-SWT punishment, which spared Prophet Nuh^-AS and all those who boarded his^-AS Ark, while the rest perished in the Deluge. This story has been recounted as a great admonition and highlights the consequences of defying a Prophet^-AS. However, majority of the people still remain deprived of faith whereas Allah^-SWT is Potent over destroying them too. Yet He^-SWT is Merciful that they enjoy a respite.