THE JOURNEY OF FAITH

Why are the Stories of the Prophets Important?

• Can a ship sail on land?!
• Have you ever imagined someone willing to sacrifice his son out of obedience and submission to God? Difficult, isn’t it?
• Is it possible for a man to prefer prison over yielding to temptations and desires?
• Is there a sea that can part in two, a child that speaks from the cradle, or acompanion saying to his friend, while danger surrounds them, “Do not be sad”?
• Can you imagine what he felt as he spoke those words?

To some of us, these questions might seem strange, and answering “yes” may seem almost impossible. But in reality, all of these had happened.

And there is something that links all these seemingly unbelievable events. What is it?

The answer is faith in God. God supported His prophets who believed in Him and relied on Him with miracles in ways beyond human imagination. And now, let us ask this question Why stories of the prophets are worthy to be mentioned?

Because it contains the answers of the questions above.

And here the story of prophet Noah is being narrated:

• “Noah” (peace be upon him):

dedicated his mission for calling his people to believe in God alone and

abandon the worship of idols.

He used various methods to persuade them, including public and private

preaching, urging them to seek God’s forgiveness.

Despite his persistent efforts, his people rejected him, mocked him, and continued in their disbelief. Even his wife and son did not believe in his message and remained in their disbelief.

Following God’s command, Noah built a large ark, his people mocked and ridiculed him, and dismissed the possibility of the impending punishment he had warned them about.

When the time came, he was instructed to take pairs of each type of animal along with the believers on the ark. His wife and son did not join him due to their disbelief.

Then God sent rain from the

heavens, unlike anything the earth had ever seen before or would ever see

again, pouring down like the mouths of water skins.

He commanded the earth to burst forth with springs from all its valleys and regions, as described in the verse:

 {فَدَعَا رَبَّهُۥۤ أَنِّی مَغۡلُوبࣱ فَٱنتَصِرۡ (١٠) فَفَتَحۡنَاۤ أَبۡوَ ٰ⁠بَ ٱلسَّمَاۤءِ بِمَاۤءࣲ مُّنۡهَمِرࣲ (١١) وَفَجَّرۡنَا ٱلۡأَرۡضَ عُیُونࣰا فَٱلۡتَقَى ٱلۡمَاۤءُ عَلَىٰۤ أَمۡرࣲ قَدۡ قُدِرَ (١٢) وَحَمَلۡنَـٰهُ عَلَىٰ ذَاتِ أَلۡوَ ٰ⁠حࣲ وَدُسُرࣲ (١٣)}

 (Al-Qamar: 10-13).

The disbelievers were punished with a great flood that drowned them all. Meanwhile, the ark sailed safely,

carrying Noah, the believers, and the animals until the waters receded.

Allah does not test us to punish; rather, He tests us to evaluate our sincerity and level of submission.

 As for our:

• Prophet “Ibrahim” (peace be upon him):

and the story of sacrificing his son Ismail (PBUH), what mayseem impossible to us was a test from Allah for Prophet Ibrahim.

Hecommanded him in a dream to

sacrifice his son. It is known that the dreams of prophets are revelations and truth. Prophet Ibrahim responded to Allah’s command and accepted it.

He informed his son about the dream, and immediately Prophet Ismail did not object as mentioned in the Qur’an:

{فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ ٱلسَّعۡیَ قَالَ یَـٰبُنَیَّ إِنِّیۤ أَرَىٰ فِی المنام أَنِّیۤ أَذۡبَحُكَ فَٱنظُرۡ مَاذَا تَرَىٰۚ قَالَ یَـٰۤأَبَتِ ٱفۡعَلۡ مَا تُؤۡمَرُۖ سَتَجِدُنِیۤ إِن شَاۤءَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِینَ}.

This clearly reflects the strong upbringing instilled by Prophet

Ibrahim in his son. In truth, the father prepared to sacrifice his son what immense faith and sincerity!

But before Prophet Ibrahim could carry out the command, a divine

intervention occurred and Allah

ransomed Prophet Isma’il with a great sacrifice “horned sheep“.

When Ibrahim proved his sincerity, Allah brought an end to the trial. the purpose of the test was not punishment but evaluation. Thus, both father and son were saved.

This story reveals obviously the importance of obeying Allah and submission to Him and surrender to his orders and trust in Him.

The wonders in the story of Prophet “Ibrahim” continue. I do not think we have ever heard of someone being thrown into a fire, yet the fire

did not burn even a small part of him.

“Ibrahim” (PBUH) was a prophet known for his strong faith. When he was young, his people worshipped

idols, but Ibrahim (BPUH) believed that this is wrong. After they was not

convinced by his call to worship Allah without idols ,He destroyed the idols and as a result for that, he was

punished by being thrown into the fire.

However, the surprise was that the fire became cool, and Ibrahim

(PBUH) was unharmed. This showed that Allah protected him because of

his faith.

• The character of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) (PBUH):

was marked by faith and patience qualities that became clear later in his encounter with his brothers, who abandoned him and threw him into the bottom of awell when he aws child .

Then, they deceived their father by claiming that a wolf had devoured him while he was playing, but their father did not believe them and instead held onto the hope that God was protecting his son.

The sincerity of Prophet Yusuf’s (PBUH) faith is evident when he

resisted the temptations of the wife of Al-Aziz, turning to his Lord and choosing imprisonment over

succumbing to desires and committing sins.

The story of Yusuf’s life is filled with valuable and moral lessons, from his confrontation with the wife of Al-Aziz and enduring imprisonment, to interpreting the king’s dreams. By God’s grace, he rose to become the Aziz of Egypt, gaining power and

authority.

When his brothers, who did not recognize him, came from Syria seeking food for their family, Yusuf

demonstrated great patience and

forgave them despite the injustice they had done to him. This level of

forgiveness is something that would

be difficult for anyone else to achieve, but God made this trait a characteristic of His prophet, allowing everyone to learn from his inspiring story.

“Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya” said,: “You will never truly achieve servitude as long as there remains something in your heart for other than Allah.”

As known; the prophet Yusuf peace be upon him was beautiful and his father loved him more than his brothers, this which sparkled anger and envy from

his brothers. Their resentment to Yousif drove them to get rid of him by throwing him in the well.

And then series of struggles of Yousif’s life started untill Allah saved him finally from all exams that faced him and became “by the grace of Allah” the minister of Egypt as mentioned in the Qur’an;

ۥ {قَالَ إِنَّكَ ٱلۡیَوۡمَ لَدَیۡنَا مَكِینٌ أَمِینࣱ}

Allah Glory Be To Him caused reasons to make his father see him again after around forty years.

This drives us to think that:

If affliction increased, sure it will pass away.

Allah tested Prophet Yaaqoub in his son to remove from his heart the attachment to Joseph.

The notion of, Empowerment comes after affliction, is clearly applies to Yosuf’s story like the test of throwing into well, wife of Aziz,and going to prison.

One of Allah’s names is Al-hafidh “The Preserver”:

If Al-hafidh wanted to preserve you from the danger; He will keep you away from danger or make danger knows no road to reach you, or make you both meet but won’t hurm you at all, This is very clearly found in

• different stations of the story of “Musa” (peace be upon) him:

It is the more story mentioned in the Qur’an and reveals the sensation of how to be in God’s presence.

The first station when the prophet was a baby child, and circumstances around him was full of dangers.

At that time Fir’awn was killing male babys because he wanted to maintain his throne. Then Allah revealed to Musa’s mother to put him in a box and then put it into the river, as mentioned in Surah Al-Qasas:

{وَأَوۡحَیۡنَاۤ إِلَىٰۤ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰۤ أَنۡ أَرۡضِعِیهِۖ فَإِذَا خِفۡتِ عَلَیۡهِ فَأَلۡقِیهِ فِی ٱلۡیَمِّ وَلَا تَخَافِی وَلَا تَحۡزَنِیۤۖ إِنَّا رَاۤدُّوهُ إِلَیۡكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ ٱلۡمُرۡسَلِینَ}

The river drove the small baby to the palace of Fir’awn. His wife picked up him and Allah controlled her heart and made her feel compassion with that

child and then she convinced her husband not to kill him but instead, to take care of him.

The second station when Musa

PBUH was sent to people of Israel to call them to believe only in Allah not Fir’awn.

God supported him by miracles which made magicians believe in his honest and truth. Then Fir’awn and his

soldiers chased the Prophet Musa and the believers untill they reached to the see.

Now the sea is in front of them and

Fir’awn and his soldiers behind them, then Allah revealed to the Prophet to hit the see with his stick then the sea divided in half. After they had passed,

Fir’awn and his soldiers followed them but Allah ordered the sea to return to its nature to left the

disbelievers drown.

Finally, the disbelievers drowned in the see, while the prophet Musa and the believers were saved.

 Is there anything harder for women than to be accused of their honor?

• God tested “Mariam the Virgin” with a difficult trial:

 when He chose her to give birth to a sonwithout a father.

How could she bear the accusations of fornication from her people while being an example of purity and chastity?

Yet, she believed that her Lord would not forsake her and would grant her victory.

So, God made her son, Isa, speak and defend her while still an infant in the cradle, revealing to the people God’s message to him and the faith he shared with his mother, expressing himself as aservant and prophet of God.

God also granted him the ability to

heal the sick and raise the dead, with His permission.

Some people opposed him and plotted to kill him, but God protected him by raising him to the heavens.

As Muslims, we believe that he will return before the Day of Judgment to bring justice and peace.

In the end, Isa PBUH foretold the

coming of another prophet after him, who is Prophet “Muhammad” (peace be upon him). This is mentioned in the Qur’an:

{وَمُبشرًا بِّرَسُولٍ يَأْتِّي مِّن بَعْدِّي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ{

• Why should prophet “Muhammad” (PBUH) be more beloved to us more than ourselves or our relatives or anyone else?

The prophet endured in the sake of dāwa to Allah what no human can endure. His biography is full of

sacrifices, For Example but not limited; His trip to At-Taif that show his sincerity and perseverance in his call to Allah.

When he invited people to worship Allah Almighty, no one responded to him. Instead, they denied him and threw stones at him until his feet bled. Afterward, he left ddened, prayed for Allah saying: “O Allah, I complain to You of my weakness, my lack of resources, and my humiliation before people, O Most Merciful of the merciful.”

Then the angel “Gabriel” came to him and said: “O Muhammad, Allah has heard your prayer and says to you: If you wish, I will cause the two mountains to collapse upon them.”

But our Noble Prophet responded with forgiveness, saying: “Perhaps Allah will bring forth from their descendants those who worship Allah alone without partners.”

For this reason, the Noble Messenger taught us the greatest lesson in forgiveness and mercy. The truth of what Almighty Allah said is affirmed:

 {وَمَاۤ أَرۡسَلۡنَـٰكَ إِلَّا رَحۡمَةࣰ لِّلۡعَـٰلَمِینَ}

Our greatest teacher taught us the meaning of bestowed mercy, and that the destruction of the Kaaba is easier for Allah than the killing of an innocent soul.

Through our Messenger’s story, we learn that Islam does not advocate violence, but rather mercy and forgiveness.

The biography of prophet Muhammad is rich of examples that raise the spirit of faith and encourage us to keep going through the journey of faith.

Another example; one of the most beautiful moments that proves his

faith was when he was in the cave of Thawr with his companion Abu Bakr, and the disbelievers of Quraysh were surrounding the cave searching for them. He comforted his companion by saying:,

 {إِذۡ یَقُولُ لِصَـٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحۡزَنۡ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَا}

This which is called the “Having a good opinion of Allah”.

To conclude, we have to take care of stories revealed by Allah “stories of prophets” more than other novels written by literates; as it contains what doesn’t found in any other stories. like God’s wisdom and justice and how Allah glorified His faithful slaves.

Allah revealed to His Prophet “Muhammad” (BPUH) these stories as an amusement for him and his companions in their times of adversity, in order to learn from its morals, and we also have to do so. And know that you can not survive without Allah’s help. No magic is bigger than the miracles of Allah (SWT).

Ask for Allah’s guidance when you feel empty inside or stuck on something. Listen to Allah’s command.

Resources:

• كتاب البداية والنهاية لابن كثير.
• كتاب تاريخ الطبري.
• كتاب تفسير ابن كثير .
• الحافظ بن كثير.