seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 7:54. Your Lord is God; He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself on the Throne. The night overtakes the day, as it pursues it persistently; and the sun, and the moon, and the stars are subservient by His command. His is the creation, and His is the command. Blessed is God, Lord of all beings.
55. Call upon your Lord humbly and privately. He does not love the aggressors.
56. And do not corrupt on earth after its reformation, and pray to Him with fear and hope. God’s mercy is close to the doers of good.
57. It is He who sends the wind ahead of His mercy. Then, when they have gathered up heavy clouds, We drive them to a dead land, where We make water come down, and with it We bring out all kinds of fruits. Thus We bring out the dead—perhaps you will reflect.
58. As for the good land, it yields its produce by the leave of its Lord. But as for the bad, it produces nothing but hardship and misery. Thus We explain the revelations in various ways for people who are thankful.
59. We sent Noah to his people. He said, “O my people! Worship God; you have no god other than Him. I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous Day.”
60. The dignitaries among his people said, “We see that you are in obvious error.”
61. He said, “O my people, I am not in error, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds.”
62. “I deliver to you the messages of my Lord, and I advise you, and I know from God what you do not know.”
63. “Do you wonder that a reminder has come to you from your Lord, through a man from among you, to warn you, and to lead you to righteousness, so that you may attain mercy?”
64. But they called him a liar. So We saved him and those with him in the Ark, and We drowned those who rejected Our revelations. They were blind people.
This is from the commentary.
In the words Rabb al-‘ålamßn there is also a deeper reference, as shown in 1:1a, to the spiritual evolution of man which is being worked out under the Divine plan, and the ‘arsh is mentioned specially in this connection, as man’s perfection does not consist in the working of the material laws which prevail in the universe but in the spiritual laws which are needed for his perfection. The amr (affair) whose regulation is so often mentioned in connection with ‘arsh is really the spiritual kingdom, what Jesus calls the kingdom of God. This is made clear in 32:5; see 32:5a. The spiritual perfection of man is specially mentioned in connection with ‘arsh in 40:15: “Exalter of degrees, Lord of the ‘arsh, He makes the spirit (i.e., Divine revelation) to light by His command upon whom He pleases of His servants, that he may warn (men) of the day of Meeting.” The Lord of the ‘arsh is thus clearly stated to be the Sender of revelation to man to bring about his spiritual perfection. Still more clearly in the same s∂rah, the righteous servants of God who deliver the Divine messages to men are called the bearers of the ‘arsh. Speaking of the messages of the messengers of God and how the people give them the lie, it is added: “Those who bear the ‘arsh and those around it celebrate the praise of their Lord and believe in Him and ask protection for those who believe” (40:7). The bearers of the ‘arsh are, in fact, the bearers of the Divine message.
It may be noted here, however, that the Holy Qur’ån does not support the idea of a world deluge, for it plainly states here that Noah was sent only to his people, i.e. not to all nations. Only the people to whom Noah delivered his message called him a liar, and only those were drowned who rejected the message of Allåh delivered through Noah
‘Åd was the grandson of Aram (mentioned in 89:7), who was a grandson of Noah, and the tribe of ‘Åd spoken of here is called the first ‘Åd (53:50), as distinguished from the tribe of Tham∂d, which is called the second ‘Åd. This tribe lived in the desert of al-A√qåf (46:21) which is marked on the maps of Arabia and extends from Oman to Ïa˙ramaut. Rodwell’s view, that “the two tribes of ‘Åd and Tham∂d — the latter of whom is mentioned by Diod. Sic. and Ptolemy — lay to the north of Mecca”, is wrong in respect of the tribe of ‘Ad, though it is tolerably true so far as the tribe of Tham∂d is concerned. Sale has the following account of this tribe in his Pr. Dis.: “ ‘Åd was an ancient and potent tribe of Arabs and zealous idolaters. They chiefly worshipped four deities, Såqiyah, Ïåfi˚ah, Råziqah, and Sålimah, the first, as they imagined, supplying them with rain, the second preserving them from all dangers abroad, the third providing food for their sustenance, and the fourth restoring them to health when afflicted with sickness”.
So... the flood didn't happen. Well then... get Arsh over here and explain please. Actually, Arsh is like Heaven, I think.
There have always been Believers since Adam. It's really really difficult to imagine an earth that only had one man who loves God.... but that's what the Bible Story about Noah and the Ark tells us. Noah caught all kinds of grief for building an Ark in the middle of the desert. Noah took his wife and three sons and their wives on an boat and closed the door. They were the only ones left of the human race. God wiped every single human on earth away. Just like when Noah's cousin Lot left Sodom on the run, Noah built a boat and locked everyone else out.... including Cousin Lot and his family. Yep... I can see how the Muslims would give that story as little value as the idea of Mary being a goddess.
So.... according to the commentary, the rain that Noah is associated with.... well it's actually the "Word of God" coming down from God through Noah.
Humans are always putting God in a box. God can't do this.... God can't do that. God would do this.... God wouldn't do that. It's a shame we don't put our preachers and priests in a box. If God wants to wipe off the face of the earth and start all over again, or He wants to blow earth into bits and pieces and start all over, well God can do it.
Shoot.... man thought the earth was flat and the sun revolves around the earth. How do we know the other planets in the system aren't "pre-earth"? How do we know they weren't the prototype for earth?
If God wants to wash the earth, it's God's to do with as He chooses. There's a place where everyone Believes that God is the Only True Living God. Arsh is the place where that God resides. It's Heaven. Arsh is Heaven. We don't know what happened to all the souls on earth when the floods began. We assume they all floated away.... but to where? I'm sure some kids consider there must have been a mass burial, but where?
I've heard it said that there are traces of the flood still evident in places like the Grand Canyon. Are their drown bodies in those layers? What about the bones of the creatures? Where are they? These are just some things to think on.
"You bet your sweet Arsh" will be the new catch phrase.... right?
