THE
FALL OF THE ARROGANT
STORIES OF ARROGANCE AGAINST
ALLAH AND THEIR FATE
“SO WE SIEZED EACH ONE FOR HIS
SIN AND AMONG THEM WERE THOSE UPON WHOM WE SENT A STORM OF STONES AND AMONG
THEM WERE THOSE WHO WERE SIEZED BY THE BLAST AND AMONG THOSE WERE WHOM WE MADE
THE EARTH SWALLOW THEM AND AMONG THOSE WERE WHOM WE DROWNED”
SURAH AL-ANKABUT (29:40)
QAZI WAJDAN UL HAQ
DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF MALAKAND
INTRODUCTION
In every
era, there have been people who challenged ALLAH (S.W.T) with arrogance and
they were destroyed. This booklet is a small effort to bring forward the true
examples of arrogance. Their end was destruction, not by chance but by divine
decree.
As
a young boy myself I felt it was important to compile all of the stories in one
book so it can be easily accessed.
May
this small work awaken the hearts of everyone including me before our arrogance
turns into regret, and before the doors of mercy are closed upon us.
-Qazi Wajdan
Department of Biotechnology
CHAPTER 1 “SHADDAD”
THE PARADISE BUILDER
Buried in the sands of time is a king,
who refused to surrender to ALLAH (S.W.T), his name was SHADDAD. People of his
time were blessed with way more than we can imagine but the way he along with
his nation perished is a lesson for all Muslims to remember.
The nation of Aad lived in a place
called al-ahqaf, an area in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula
specifically in the region of Hadramat in the modern day Yemen. The Aad is said
to have built impressive structures and lived in grand cities. The style is
characterized by its harmonious blend of nature and built environments. It
reflects the cultures profound respect for the natural world.
Allah almighty mentions this nation in
the holy Quran saying he created no nation like them. Allah almighty had
bestowed countless blessings upon this nation. They were granted vast lands,
fertile soil and abundant resources including water, fruits and livestock.
Allah had given them these blessings as a test to see if they would be grateful
and obedient to him.
When shaddad heard about paradise and
its characteristics, being rebellious, he decided to build his own paradise in
this world.
Shaddad got a very large city built,
its houses were made of gold and silver bricks, the pillars were made up of
ruby and emerald, floors of the houses and pathways were also made up of
jewels. Jewels were laid at many places on which streams were made to flow.
Various trees were planted for the purpose of shade and beauty.
All the means of comfort and luxury
were gathered in that city in a span of 300 years.
After the completion of his paradise,
shaddad along with his ministers of his kingdom left for the paradise he got
built. The journey of one day and one night was still remaining when a
terrifying voice was heard from the sky; he and his entourage were struck by a
thunderous cry from heavens which instantly destroyed them at the threshold of
the city. Shaddad and his companions met a dreadful end at the age of 900.
The
Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) said: “No one shall enter paradise who has in his
heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride.”
Sahih
Muslim 91
No matter how powerful and wealthy a
man becomes, if pride fills his heart and he challenges Allah, his downfall is
certain. This is not just a historical tale, it is a reminder for today’s
arrogant minds that think science, wealth or authority can replace the
submission of Allah (S.W.T).
CHAPTER 2 “ABRAHA”
THE ARMY OF ELEPHANTS
In the year that our beloved
Prophet (P.B.U.H) was born, a great incident took place that has been engraved in the pages of history ever since.
Abraha was the governor of Yemen on
behalf of the king of Ethiopia. Abraha decided to build a beautiful house
similar to the Kabah in Sana which was the capital of Yemen. He wanted people
to come to Sana to perform pilgrimage instead of Makkah. Furthermore, he wanted
to divert the trade and business from Makkah to Yemen so that his city can
flourish and become wealthy.
When the Arabs found out that a house
(church) has been built to compete with the Kabah, a man from the Quraish tribe
of Makkah came there and relieved himself (stools and urine) in it, soiled its
walls and went away. According to some narrations some Arab youngsters lit a
fire close to the church which spread and burnt the church down. When Abraha
found out what has been done to his beautiful church, he was enraged and
decided to raise an army to invade Makkah and demolish the Kabah.
Abraha left Yemen with his great army
which also consisted of eight elephants until he reached the vicinity of
Makkah. The Elephants were given to Abraha by the king of Ethiopia; the biggest
elephant was named Mahmood. The great army camped in a place and stole about
two hundred camels that belonged to the prophets grandfather Abdul Mutalib.
When Abdul Mutalib was informed about what has happened to his camels, he and a
few of the leaders of Quraish decided to go and negotiate with Abraha for the
release of their livestock. When Abraha saw Abdul Mutalib approaching, he
descended from his throne as a show of respect. When Abraha was asked about the
release of the camels he was shocked as Abdul Mutalib didn’t ask about the
attack on the Kabah. Abdul Mutalib told Abraha:
I am the owner of the camels so i
asked you about them, the Kabah is Allah’s and he will look after it.
Abraha ordered the camels to be
returned to the Prophets grandfather who then returned to Makkah. On reaching
Makkah, Abdul Mutalib and a few individuals went to the Kabah and supplicated
to Allah to protect it from this great army. After they had finished their
supplication Abdul Mutalib took refuge in the mountains as they had conviction
that the punishment of Allah was going to befall on the army of Abraha.
The army of Abraha started its
assault towards Makkah when suddenly it was overtaken by flocks of birds,
flocks after flocks, air-raiding the army with small stones .There never fell a
stone on a soldier except it dissolved his flesh and burst it into pieces which
resulted in them perishing with a total destruction. Abraha fled away while his
flesh was bursting into pieces until he died on the way back to Yemen. Such was
the victory
bestowed by Allah the All-Majestic,
All-Powerful to the people of Makkah and such was the protection provided by
Him for His House.
This great event took place in the
month of Muharam about fifty or fifty five days prior to the birth of our beloved
Prophet (S.A.W). After Allah had destroyed this great army, the Arabs started
having great respect for the tribe of Quraish as they believed that Allah
accepted their supplication and destroyed Abraha on their behalf.
Prior to the prophet’s birth many
supernatural events occurred which were intended to prepare the world for the
great event that was going to take place, the birth of the best of all mankind,
Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W).
“Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with
the owners of the elephants?
Did he not make their plot go astray? And he
sent against them birds in flocks, striking them with stones of hard clay, and
made them like eaten straw”
Surah al-Fil (105:1-5)
No one who sets out to destroy the
Kabah can survive, no matter how powerful their army may be.
CHAPTER 3 “NAMROOD”
THE FIRST TO CLAIM DIVINITY
He was the king who ruled over the
earth and its inhabitants. He was the first to claim divinity and placed a
crown on his head. Namrood was the first to sell his soul to the devil in
exchange for power and authority. Iblees taught him magic and how to enchant
people making him the greatest ruler over them. After learning all forms of
magic from Iblees, he followed his orders and killed his own father, seizing
power.
Obeying every command of Iblees,
Namrood became a powerful ruler and a skilled sorcerer. He ruled with an iron
fist and was feared by all. He had an invincible army, and he was the first to
wear a golden crown on his head. He declared, "We are the kings of the
whole world and all that’s on it."
Namrood began using his power
conquering neighboring lands. He continued conquering lands until he became the
ruler of 7 regions. He controlled the food supplies and resources and decided who
had access and who did not.
Namrood said that he would murder the
one who does not acknowledge him as a god.
The then prophet, Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S)
was also put in fire because he did not acknowledge him as a god. The fire
became cool by the command of Allah (S.W.T).
On the other hand, Allah (S.W.T) sent
an angel in the form of human towards Namrood. The angel said: “your god says
believe in me and I will sustain your kingdom”. Namrood said “which god? Only I
am god”. The angle asked him three times to which Namrood refused.
As a result of defiance of Namrood, Allah
(S.W.T) sent an army of mosquitoes upon the army of Namrood. The mosquitoes
were in such a number that the sunlight could not be seen. The mosquitoes ate
the flesh of his army, sucked their blood leaving only bones. This scene was so
horrific that Namrood could only see it and do nothing.
Afterwards, by the command of Allah
(S.W.T), a mosquito entered the brain of Namrood through his nose and started
eating it, to which Namrood got mad and started beating his head with a wooden
stick. The mosquito would stop biting when the stick was beaten on his head.
400 years passed in this situation and finally, Namrood died in disgrace.
Arrogance
and the rejection of truth will ultimately lead to a downfall no matter how
powerful you are.
CHAPTER 4 “SAMIRI”
THE GOLDEN CALF
After prophet Musa (A.S) led the nation
of Israel out of the slavery in Egypt and they crossed the Red Sea by the
miracle of Allah, he went to Mount Sinai for forty nights to receive divine
guidance.
During his absence, a man named Samiri
saw an opportunity. Though he was among the people of Musa (A.S), his heart was
filled with spiritual corruption.
Samiri took gold from the people,
jewelry that they carried from Egypt, and melted it into a shape of a calf,
claiming:
“THIS IS YOUR GOD AND THE GOD OF MUSA,
BUT HE HAS FORGOTTEN”
SURAH TAHA (20:88)
He deceived the people by making the
calf produce a sound (with a trick involving wind), and many began to worship
it. Despite Harun (A.S) warned them to stop this shirk but they ignored him and
started worshipping the calf following Samiri.
When Musa (A.S) returned, he was
shocked and furious. He scolded his people and his brother for allowing such a
misguidance, and then he confronted Samiri.
Samiri replied that he saw something
that others did not. He claimed that he took a handful of dust from the
footprint of the angel that came to deliver the message and used it in the
idol, saying it had power.
Musa (A.S) declared his punishment:
“GO! YOUR PUNISHMENT IN THIS LIFE IS
THAT YOU WILL SAY TOUCH ME NOT! AND INDEED, YOU HAVE AN APPOINTED TIME YOU WILL
NOT FAIL TO MEET”
SURAH TAHA (20:97)
Samiri was banished from society. He
became like a cursed outcast, a man who could never be touched or approach
others.
ONE CORRUPT VOICE CAN MISLEAD
THOUSANDS IF PEOPLE LOSE THEIR FAITH
CHAPTER 5 “STEPHEN HAWKING”
“THE MIND THAT DENIED ITS MAKER”
He was a man of immense intellect but
he denied the existence of Allah (S.W.T) despite having every sign within and
around him.
He was one of the most celebrated
scientists of the 21st century. Born in 1942 in Oxford UK, he was
diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) at a young age of 21 and he was
expected to live only a few years but against all odds with Allah (S.W.T)’s
will, he lived for more than 50 years using a wheel chair and a speech
generating device.
He became famous for his work on black holes, time, space and cosmology.
He was also famous for his bestselling book A Brief History of Time.
Many admired his intelligence and ideas
but during his search of the origins of the universe, Hawking reached a tragic
conclusion.
“THERE IS NO GOD”
Hawking’s stance on God was a central
theme in his work and public persona. He argued that science could provide a
much better convincing explanation of the universe than religious beliefs. He
famously stated that:
“THERE IS NO GOD. NO ONE DIRECTS THIS
UNIVERSE”
Despite his immense scientific
contributions, he publicly rejected the belief in God in his later years.
In the Grand Design (2010), he stated: “because
there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from
nothing…it is not necessary to invoke God…”
Knowledge without humility leads to
darkness. Hawking explored the cosmos but he denied the One who created it. He
lived his life in a world of marvels but refused to see the maker behind them.
A man who could not move a muscle claimed that there was no higher power. The
irony was not in his weakness but in his denial.
“INDEED
IT IS NOT THE EYES THAT ARE BLIND, BUT IT IS THE HEARTS IN THE CHESTS THAT GROW
BLIND”
SURAH
AL-HAJJ (22:46)
CHAPTER 6 “CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS”
THE MAN WHO DEBATED GOD UNTIL DEATH
Christopher Hitchens was a British-American
journalist, author and a champion of atheism. His best known book, “GOD
IS NOT GREAT: How Religion Poisons Everything” made him a hero for atheists and a villain in religious circles.
His life revolved around debates,
arguments and attacks on Islam and other religions. He spoke with arrogance and
mockery towards believers. Hitchens described faith not only false but harmful
too.
In debates and speeches, he dismissed
religion aggressively:
“The person who is certain and who
claims divine warrant for his certainty belongs now to the infancy of our
species”
He often referred to faith as a “celestial dictatorship” and accused it
of shutting down free thought.
In June 2010, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and publicly declared
that he was in a long term argument with death, yet he firmly rejected any
religious solace or hope. He continued this defiance until the end telling his
atheist students to stay true to secular thinking.
Hitchens died a year later after his
vocal cord cancer.
Words die with a tongue but only the
soul meets its maker. Hitchens spent his life debating God, yet when it came to
the end, his final words were about power and decline and not faith. He was
just in an empty fight with no conclusion; he kept debating against religion by
giving borderless evidences, his useless fight led to spiritual emptiness
inside him.
“THEY WANT TO DISTINGUISH THE LIGHT OF
ALLAH WITH THEIR MOUTHS BUT ALLAH WILL PERFECT HIS LIGHT, ALTHOUGH THE
DISBELIEVERS DISLIKE IT”
SURAH AS SAFF (61:8)
CHAPTER 7 “TITANIC”
NOT EVEN GOD HIMSELF COULD SINK
THIS SHIP
The sinking of the titanic is a lesson
in human arrogance, overconfidence and how even the strongest creations of man
fall when they challenge Allah (S.W.T).
On April 10, 1912, the most luxurious
ship set sail from Southampton, England on its maiden voyage to New York City.
This was the RMS Titanic ship. It was built with the best technology available,
steel walls, water tight compartments and a confident crew. Its builders and
passengers believed it was invincible.
It is famously claimed that a crew
member or ship builder said:
“NOT EVEN GOD HIMSELF COULD SINK THIS
SHIP”
The belief behind it was clear that the
titanic was treated as a godlike creation of man. More than 2200 people were on
board, wealthy elites, engineers and immigrants all proud to be part of a
journey seen as a triumph of mankind.
On the night of April 14, 1912, in the
freezing waters of the North Atlantic, the titanic struck a massive iceberg.
The ship which was said to be unsinkable was fatally wounded. In less than 3
hours, the mighty Titanic sank beneath the ocean, taking over 1500 souls to
their deaths.
The world’s greatest ship gone in one
night.
No matter how strong you are or proud
of something, when Allah’s will comes into play, even iron breaks, pride drowns
and technology fails.
This disaster shook the world, not just
because of the deaths, but because it proved that no human creation is above
the creator. Titanic was not sunk by an iceberg. It was sunk by arrogance. A
ship that was unstoppable was not answered by thunder, war or anything else but
rather by an iceberg which is silent, cold and unstoppable.
“DO THEY FEEL SECURE THAT HE WHO IS IN
HEAVENS WOULD NOT VAUSE THE EARTH TO SWALLOW THEM WHEN IT SHAKES”
SURAH AL MULK (67:16)
REFERENCES
·
SHADDAD
Tafsir
ibn Kathir.
Surah
Al Fajar.
·
ABARAHA
Surah
Al Fil.
Context
Of Abraha’s campaign.
·
NIMROOD
Surah
Al Baqarah.
Tafsir
Ibn Kathir.
Sahih
al Bukhari.
·
SAMIRI
Surah
Taha.
·
STEPHEN HAWKING
The
Grand Design 2010.
CNN
and BBC Interviews.
Quranic
Contrast.
·
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS
Public
interviews with CNN.
Debates
with different people.
Google.
·
TITANIC
National
Geographic.
Surah
Al Mulk.
Titanic
Movie.
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