?BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM



THE STORY OF PROPHET NOAH

by Khadeijah Stephens

PLAY



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Narrator: The first prophet was Prophet Adam and the Seal of
all the prophets was Prophet Muhammad, praise and veneration
be upon him. Allah mentions twenty-five of these prophets in
the Koran and amongst these prophets are Noah, Abraham,  David,
Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon
all the prophets of Allah.

The play we are about to present to you is the story of Prophet
Noah who was the first major prophet after Adam, and Allah
refers to him forty three times in the Koran and calls him
His thankful worshipper.

Now let us begin: Prophet Noah was the son of Malik and as a
young boy Noah gained the reputation of being a caring, truthful
and upright youngster who loved Allah.

The city in which Noah was raised had been blessed by Allah in
such a way that it had become rich and prosperous. There were
beautiful homes with the fine gardens and gold and silversmiths
were kept busy fashioning expensive jewelry and trinkets.
Allah had been very generous indeed to them but most of
its citizens were so ungrateful that they turned away from
Him. Such was their ingratitude that they and their forefathers
had built ornate temples and worshiped carved idols named
Waddan, Suwa'an, Yaghutha, Ya'uqa or Nasra.

Elaborate ceremonies were performed before the statues and offerings
placed before them in the hope that their gods would
grant them favors, which of course they never did because they
were just  statues they themselves had made from stone.

To be a priest in such a temple meant power, respect and influence
in the community and so when Noah started to preach against
their gods they and their followers felt threatened and
became outraged.

Their tremendous wealth had turned them to be proud and arrogant
so they were under the false impression that their prosperity
was due entirely to their own making and not  that of
Allah.

It was a sad state of affairs, all except a very few of its citizens
were corrupt idolaters and justice was hard, if not
impossible, to find unless you happened to be a friend of a
wealthy city elder or priest. If you were poor you could not
expect to receive your rights but you could be sure that you
would be treated as if you had no worth.

It troubled Noah greatly to see the people of his city behaving
in such a way, but most of all he hated seeing them worshiping
the idols.

When Noah became the Prophet of Allah, Allah instructed him to
go out and warn his fellow citizens. Obedient to Allah, Noah
took every opportunity that came his way to call his people
to Allah. Sometimes it was in gatherings and at other times
in private. He was always polite and tried hard to reason
with all who would listen.

His message was simple and very clear. He told them that Allah
had sent him to warn them that if they did not abandon their
false gods and worship Him alone they would be severely punished.
He also told them that when they abandoned their false
gods and followed him, Allah in His Mercy would forgive
and reward them with a very great reward.

Many were the times that he appealed to their reason and intelligence
reminding them of the greatness of Allah by drawing
their attention to the fact that it was He who created them,
not their idols that sat in their temples day after day unable
to do anything whatsoever.

To emphasize the greatness of Allah, he pointed out the undeniable
fact that it was Allah who had created the heavens and
placed in it the sun and the moon - not their idols. However,
to all but a very few his reasoning fell on deaf ears.

The more he reasoned with them the more their hearts became hardened
and they rejected his message, turning away and became
even more proud and stubborn than before. They asked each
other who Noah thought he was to tell them who they should
worship. After all, he was not a city elder and in their eyes
he appeared to be a person of little consequence.

Noah's preaching had not gone unnoticed by the city elders and
so it wasn't surprising that he was summoned before them.

Noah repeated the warning he gave to the citizens. He told them
that Allah had sent him to them to warn them that if they
did not stop worshipping their idols then He would punish them
severely, but on the other hand, if they stopped worshipping
their idols Allah would forgive them and reward them greatly.

Noah also spoke to them about the life after death but once again
they rejected it straight away saying that they did not
believe there was anything other except their present life
and they would not be resurrected. They even accused him of
inventing lies against Allah!

The truth was more than the elders could bear and so they began
to ridicule him calling him a liar and saying amongst themselves,
"He is just a human like us who seeks power over us,
if you obey him you will be lost! If it had been as he says
then Allah would have sent down angels. We never heard of
this from our forefathers! He is mad - watch him for a while."
And they looked upon Noah with disdain as they muttered among
themselves saying,  "His followers are the lowest people
in the society. They are not even worth considering!"

Despite their disbelief and ridicule Noah remained undeterred
and told them that he never laid claim to being an angel nor
yet did he ever say that Allah would not give them any good,
but that Allah knew what was in their hearts. He told them
that if he had claimed otherwise then he would indeed be among
the harm-doers.

Noah reminded them it wasn't their money he was after, he never
asked them to pay him neither did he want to be paid because
his wage was with Allah. As for his followers Noah told
the city elders he would never drive them away because, without
doubt, they would meet Allah.

The city elders were very frustrated with Noah, they were getting
nowhere! They realized that they could not change Noah's
mind and declared, "We are not going to abandon the gods of
our fathers! This meeting has gone on long enough. We do not
wish to listen to you any more!" Then one of the arrogant
city elders challenged Noah saying, "If what you says is true,
then to go ahead and bring down whatever punishment is coming
to us!"

Noah had done his very best to obey Allah and warned them for
the last time that if Allah willed He would indeed bring it
down upon them and that they should not think they would get
the better of Him because they would never be able to frustrate
Him.

Before they parted company Noah said that it had only been his
sincere wish to counsel them and told them that Allah leads
astray whosoever He will and that one day they would indeed
meet their Lord.  The unbelievers were even more outraged
and said in no uncertain manner, "Stop your preaching or else
we will stone you to death!"

Noah returned home and with sadness of heart cried out to Allah
saying, "My Lord, I have called my people by night and day
but my call has only added and increased them in running away.
Each time I called them so that You might forgive them,
they persisted in thrusting their fingers in their ears and
wrapped themselves in their garments, and were very proud."

Noah continued, "I called them clearly and spoke to them both
publicly and in private saying, 'Ask for forgiveness of your
Lord, surely He is the Forgiver.' My Lord, they have rebelled
against me and followed he whose wealth and children increase
him only in loss, they have devised a mighty plot and
said, 'Do not renounce your gods!'" Then Noah supplicated saying,
"Do not increase the harm-doers except in error Allah!"

Noah supplicated to Allah yet again saying, "My Lord, my people
have belied me, so open between me and them an opening, and
save me and the believers who are with me."

Thereafter it was made known to Noah that only those who had
already believed would believe. As for those who disbelieved
he was informed that they would remain in their disbelief and
he should not distress himself on their account.

Then Allah ordered Noah to build, under His guidance and instruction,
an Ark, and told him that he should not to ask Him
about the evil-doers who were to be drowned.

Suggestion:  Noah's followers building the Ark Noah and his followers
started to cut down trees, sawed the planks of wood
into the required lengths ready to be hammered together. Soon
the construction of the Ark was soon underway and the noise
of sawing and hammering filled the air.

It wasn't long before news of Noah's activities reached the unbelievers
and they came to see what he was doing. When they
saw him building a large boat they laughed and mocked them.

The only reply Noah made was, "If you mock us, we shall indeed
mock you, just as you mock! You shall know on whom the degrading
punishment will come and upon whom the everlasting punishment
will fall."

At last the work was finished and the Ark stood in readiness
on dry land, far away from the sea. Now that it was ready Allah
told Noah that He would send him a sign and that when it
came he, his family - with the exception of the one for whom
the Word had spoken against - and the believers were to go
on board the Ark taking with them a pair of every kind of animal.
Allah told Noah that the sign they must await would be
that water would gush forth from an oven.

When the command of Allah came, water gushed forth from the oven
and Noah, his family and followers herded the animals on
board the Ark and Noah said, "Embark. In the Name of Allah
will be its course and berthing. Indeed, My Lord is Forgiving,
Merciful." And Noah supplicated saying, "My Lord, do not
leave a single unbeliever on the earth. Surely, if You leave
them they will mislead Your worshipers and father none but
the immoral, and unbelievers. Forgive me My Lord, and my parents,
and whosoever seeks refuge in my house as a believer,
and the believers men and women alike, and do not increase the
harm-doers except in ruin."

First believer: Come on, let's hurry, the sign has come and Noah
has told us it is time to bring the animals on board the
Ark.

Second believer: I will fetch the cows

Third believer: I will fetch the sheep

Fourth believer: I will fetch the camels



Fifth believer: I will fetch the horses

Sixth believer: I will fetch the hens

Seventh believer: I will fetch the cats

Eighth believer: Are all the animals on board?

Ninth believer: Yes, they are all on board. It is time for us
to go on board now.

As the water began to rise it lifted the Ark from its mooring
and as Noah and his followers settled themselves. Noah thanked
Allah with the supplication Allah had given him saying,
"Praise be to Allah who has saved us from the harm-doing nation.
Lord, let me land a blessed landing. You are the Best of
harborers."

And the heavens poured down their rain upon the earth and the
waters rose higher and higher, and higher.

It wasn't long until the entire city and as far as the eye could
see and the entire earth were swallowed up by the flood,
not one building was left!

First believer: Look, the temples have been destroyed, they have
all fallen into the water!

Second believer: I can't see any buildings now!

Third believer: The only thing I can see are the mountains and
they are almost covered by the water!



Narrator: Over the years Noah had invited his son to the truth
many times but he would not listen. Now as the waters rose
higher and higher he, because of his lack of faith, used his
own logic and started to climb a nearby mountain thinking
he would be safe there.

Soon mountainous waves arose and Noah caught sight of his son
climbing up the side of a mountain. Noah called out to him,
"Embark with us my son, do not be with the unbelievers!" But
Noah's son had no faith and replied, "I shall seek refuge
on the mountain, it will protect me from the water!"

Then Noah called out to his son saying, "Today there is no defender
from the command of Allah except those to whom He has
mercy!" At that moment the waves came between them and drowned
Noah's son.

Not long after, all the mountains were covered by the water and
none except Noah and his followers sailing in the Ark remained.

The Ark sailed on until the command of Allah came once more when
it was said, "Earth, swallow up your waters. Heaven cease!"
And the waters subsided and the Ark came to rest upon Al-Judi,
and it was said, "Begone, evil-doing people!" First believer:
Come quickly, do you see what I see!

Second believer: Yes, I can see a mountain

Third believer: Look, there's some dry land over there.

All the believers: Praise and thanks be to Allah who has saved
us!

Narrator: Noah called to Allah and asked about his son saying,
"O Lord, my son was of my family, and Your promise is surely
the truth, You are the most Just of judges." Allah replied,
"Noah, he is not of your family. This is not a good deed.
Do not ask Me about things of which you have no knowledge.
I admonish you lest you become among the ignorant." Noah replied,
"I seek refuge with You from asking You of that which
I have no knowledge. If You do not forgive me and have mercy
on me, I shall be among the losers."

Then it was said, "O Noah, descend with peace from Us and blessing
on you, and on the nations of those with you; and nations
- We shall give them enjoyment, and then from Us they shall
be visited with a painful punishment."

And so the promise of Allah was fulfilled and Prophet Noah, peace
be upon him, lived to be nine hundred and fifty years old.





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Notes: 1. Prophet Noah was the first prophet to warn his followers
about the false messiah.

2. As for Noah's wife, Allah refers to her as an unbeliever and
says she betrayed her husband.

3. His believing son's name was Shem, and it is through him that
the Semitic languages of Arabic and Hebrew evolved.

4. Prophet Noah is mentioned by name 43 times in the Koran.

Important Note: Do not be tempted to make parts for the city
elders, the citizens or Noah's son as they were all unbelievers.
By asking the children to play such a part you automatically
make the children utter words of disbelief and this is
forbidden.