Mocked, ignored, and willfully misunderstood, the message of Noah had nonetheless fulfilled the mission. Only a few amongst the poor understood. They had so little, they were less easily distracted. With few worldly resources, they couldn’t lie to themselves. Poverty and hardship brought clarity. With all illusions of self sufficiency stripped away, they relied on their Creator for all their needs. They found peace and comfort in Noah’s message and accepted it immediately.
The elites of the city mocked the message. How could they accept an idea that appealed to the most wretched? “Backwards, religious fools,” they thought. “Who believes in that stuff anymore? We are modern.” Blinded by arrogance, their wealth and status became barriers to recognizing the truth.
The command came. Build the ark. Take with you the few believers and pairs of all kinds. Safe passage will be provided to a new place. You can establish a new community based on truth and belief.
It began to rain and the people of the town laughed, confident that their wealth and technology would keep them safe. The water began to rise. But there was always so much to do and to look at. They loved to spend and focus on outward beauty and fleeting trends. When they got bored of one thing, they were on to the next. There were endless distractions; all they had to do was lift their phones every time they didn’t want to face the pain and emptiness of their lives.
It began to flood. They became concerned, not a laughing matter anymore. They were drowning in their lies, delusions, and arrogance. Even with all the pain in their lives, they were adamant. Life was all about pleasure. They denied any greater purpose, insisting “There is no God. The universe has no owner. We are not accountable to anyone. Enjoy as much as possible. If something goes wrong, numb it, bury it, sweep it away. Don’t think about it.” They avoided reflection at all costs, unwilling to confront the void they had chosen within themselves.
When they couldn’t ignore the pain with shopping, travel plans, and nights out, they began to reach for other things. Maybe drugs or alcohol could take them to a higher place, somewhere beyond the reach of the raging floodwaters. But the wave came, relentless and unstoppable, washing them and their lies away. While they could deny their Owner, the wave could not.
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Noah completes his mission, having delivered a clear message and warning to his people. Board the ark of belief while there is still time. Connect to your Creator to navigate through life’s floods. Nothing in this material world will give you true and everlasting security. Do not squander your life.
Can the message of Noah help me weather life’s storms? Can it help me overcome the flood of material culture? Let’s journey through the verses of the Quran to explore this timeless narrative and uncover it’s profound relevance to our lives today.
Quran chapter 11, verse 25:
Surely We sent Noah to his people. He said, “Indeed I am sent to you with a clear warning”
11:26 “That you should worship none but Allah. I truly fear for you the torment of a painful Day.” 1
Noah was sent. He did not act according to his own volition. He was assigned this mission by God. He was sent to his own people, speaking their language and understanding their ways. He delivered a simple warning. Worship none but God, or face the pain of a purposeless life that ends in total annihilation. Do I experience pain when I don’t worship? Do I find peace when I connect with, attach to, and acknowledge my Creator, a Conscious Being? Am I designed this way?
I didn’t create myself nor did I choose to exist. Therefore, I need to be created. I must have a Creator. And, whatever made me, must have made all human beings. We share the same basic blueprint in anatomy, cell structure, consciousness, intellect, and feelings. Like all humans, I am interconnected with the universe through which I am sustained so perfectly. All of this order necessarily points to a conscious Orderer and existence giver, or in other words, the Creator.
From this, I can comfortably conclude that the One that created me is the One who created the entire universe. I observe the world around me, the atmosphere, plant and animal life, and see how everything works in perfect harmony. I notice how creation is infused with wisdom, beauty, and purpose. Everything I see is continuously changing, being sustained, while following a created order. The interconnectedness of the universe, requiring infinite knowledge, design, order, and wisdom, is a proof of the absolute power of its Creator.
Consider an apple. The apple didn’t choose to exist, nor did it spontaneously create itself. Therefore, the apple’s existence necessitates a conscious will. The Being that deliberately brought a single apple into existence must also be the One who brought all the apples that have ever existed and will exist into existence. The Creator of the apple tree must have also made all the plant life that exists, has ever existed and will ever exist. This Being must have made the planet that sustains all the plant and animal life. It must have made the universe and the galaxies that hold all the planets and all celestial bodies. This Being, that is orchestrating this perfectly integrated universe for billions of years, must be absolute and all powerful.
If I enjoy the sweet flavor of the apple, that feeling of enjoyment must have been created by this Being. If I am grateful for it, then that sense of gratitude must also be created. He must be the source of all gratitude felt by all the beings that He created. If I experience mercy, He must be the source of all the mercy in the universe. As I am a conscious being that experiences enjoyment, gratitude, and mercy, my Creator must be conscious and the source of all consciousness in the universe. For example, matter does not inherently possess the quality of consciousness. Like an apple, even subatomic particles that exist in a particular manner, moving in a perfect order, lack consciousness themselves. This necessitates that a conscious Being must be causing them to act. The One who executes His will onto subatomic particles, entire galaxies, and creates a simple apple and complex human feelings must be an Absolute Creator, this is what I refer to as God. In the language of the Quran, He is called “Allah.”
Through worship, I can connect myself to my Creator, all powerful, and infinitely merciful. In the way I find the universe existing, and by investigating it with the guidance of the Quran, I understand that my life is not a series of random, meaningless events. I know that there is Absolute wisdom in all of my experiences, whether I like the experiences or dislike them. I can look for the wisdom in it, learning and responding accordingly. Because my Creator is conscious, I can communicate with Him. I can ask for help, guidance, forgiveness, strength, and for relief. I can express gratitude, and acknowledge His absolute qualities such as power, mercy, etc. Through this connection, known as worship, my feelings are satisfied. I feel peace. I feel secure. I experience His mercy.
When I attach to creation and not my Creator, I experience pain when there is loss. Because everything is transient, this loss is unavoidable. My family, friends, health, money, indeed everything, eventually fades away. Even the joy of a beautiful day slips into non-existence. This constant cycle of transience fills me with anxiety, stress, and grief.
When one thing leaves, or I get bored of it, I am on to the next and the next, in a futile attempt to fill the void. Without attachment to a conscious Creator, I chase endless attachments to meaningless objects and experiences. My life becomes a series of purposeless events, like a flood that will culminate in my inevitable annihilation with my bodily death. Without connection to my Creator, I feel purposeless and suffer from lack of inner contentment.
11:27 The disbelieving chiefs of his people said, “We see you only as human beings like ourselves, and we see that no one follows you except the lowliest amongst us, who do so hastily without thinking. We do not see anything that makes [all of] you any better than us. In fact, we think you are liars.” 2
The elites of the city rejected the message outright, calling the believing community liars, without giving any consideration to its content. Fixated on Noah, they dismissed the message due to the humble nature of his followers. How could a mere man, no different than themselves, make such a grand claim? They wondered, blinded by arrogance. How could he have been given knowledge of this message? Why would the wealthy and powerful follow a message that appeals to the poor and wretched?
11:28 He said, “O my people! Consider if I stand on clear proof from my Lord and he has blessed me with a mercy from Himself, which you fail to see. Should we [then] force it on you against your will? 3
Noah reminds them that the message is based on all the evidence around them. The apples, trees, and indeed the entire universe bear witness to their Creator. These things cannot come into existence spontaneously or randomly, but are given deliberate existence by a conscious Being.
Noah differs from the townspeople, not in his essence, nor in social status but because he was selected to deliver the message. This message of God is never coerced. People have been given the ability to accept and reject ideas. It is therefore impossible to coerce belief. They have chosen to be blind to reality by simply closing their eyes to it.
11: 36 And it was revealed to Noah, “None of your people will believe except those who already have. So do not be distressed by what they have been doing. 4
After endlessly inviting his people to the reality of the message, only a few believed. The others rejected the message. Noah’s mission to convey the message was complete. The command came to build the ark.
11:37 And build the Ark under our [watchful] Eyes and direction, and do not plead with Me for those who have done wrong, for they will surely be drowned.”5
The ark’s construction is being witnessed by and directed by God, Himself. The ark, representing the prophetic message of belief, is designed to provide us with secure passage through life’s storms. Those who board it, place their trust in Him. They know that everything that they experience is coming from One with infinite wisdom and grace.
No appeal will be made for those who willfully deny God. How can an appeal be directed to the very One being denied? Those who are bent on denial of their Creator and persist in wrongdoing seal their own fate. They destined themselves to drown in their own delusions by choosing a meaningless life. They chase after transient attachments that never fully satisfy their human spirits. They choose a life of endless pleasure seeking without acknowledging the Source of their existence and all that they experience.
11:38 So he began to build the Ark, and whenever some of the chiefs of his people passed by, they mocked him. He said, “If you laugh at us, we will [soon] laugh at you similarly.
11:39 You will soon come to know who will be visited by a humiliating torment and overwhelmed by an everlasting punishment.”6
Consider if any believer has experienced this: mocked for being old fashioned, for being ignorant of modern norms, for the way they dress, for laying out a prayer mat at a workplace, for fasting when others are eating, for being non-conforming, for saying “no” when others say “yes.” Yet, with the security that comes from their conviction, believers also scoff at the ignorance and struggles that come with disbelief.
Does humiliation and torment visit disbelievers? With a material and secular worldview, human beings reduce themselves to a mere physical, material, animal existence driven by a raging ego. This reduction is a warning. If this disgraced state is not confronted and rectified, it risks becoming a permanent condition.
11:40 [And so it went on] till, when Our judgement came to pass, and waters gushed forth in torrents over the face of the earth, We said [onto Noah]: “Place one board of this [ark] one pair of each [kind of animal] of either sex, as well as thy family – except those upon whom [Our] sentence has already passed- and all [others] who have attained to faith!”- for, only a few [of Noah’s people] shared his faith.
11:41 And he said “Board it!, In the name of God, it will sail and cast anchor. Surely my Lord is All Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
11:42 And [so] the ark sailed with them through waves like mountains. Noah called out to his son who stood apart, “Oh my dear son! Come aboard with us and do not be with the disbelievers.”
11:43 He replied, “I will take refuge on a mountain, which will protect me from the water.” Noah cried, “Today no one is protected from Allah’s decree except those to whom He shows mercy!” And the waves came between them, and his son was among the drowned.7
Believers are given access to the ark by fully committing to the prophetic message. On it, is a passage to peace, forgiveness, and mercy. They successfully navigate through life’s storms without drowning. They are anchored to a secure existence.
As the ark sets sail, Noah sees his son, cries out and offers him a final chance to board. But his son is resolute in disbelief and delusion. He takes refuge from mountain-sized waves on a mountain, and not with God, the Creator of the mountain and the waves.
This moment reveals the obstinacy of disbelief. Even while drowning in the struggles of secular life, a disbelieving perspective often clings to more of the material world for salvation. Seduced by the world, while willfully rejecting its Owner, this perspective seeks refuge in unconscious matter. But the mountain, like the water, is God’s creation and under His control. The only way to be saved is through acknowledgment of the Owner of the mountain, water, and indeed, the entire universe.
Noah successfully completes his mission, delivering a clear message to his people. We should not think that anything in this material world will rescue us from our problems. Through our life experiences, we all have the opportunity to bear witness to the fact that the world itself cannot rescue us, let alone itself. Everything is being sustained by God. We should not squander our lives. Rather, we should board the ark of belief while there is still time and connect to our Creator to navigate through the storms of life.
Evidence Based Belief 