Never lose hope - Ramadhan Reflections 2019 [Day 17]

And we indeed sent Noah to his people and he stayed among them for (as long as) a thousand years short of fifty years (nine hundred and fifty years). While his people were steeped in wrongdoings they were caught in the Deluge. (29:14)   Commentary NUMBER 50: The chapter of the Spider (al-Ankabūt) starts off by Allah reminding all of humanity that they will NOT be left alone merely saying that, “we believe”, without being tested in our conviction and dedication to the faith. In fact, to further drive this point home, this relatively short chapter of the Quran speaks about Prophets: Nūḥ, Ibrāhīm, Lūṭ, Shuʿayb, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, and Mūsā! We delve into some of the tests that their nations went through so that we can be better acquainted with the Quranic reality of examinations while on the path of the truth. Out of the 25 prophets mentioned by name in the Quran, and knowing that based on the Prophetic ḥadīth, there were 124,000 Prophets sent to humanity - the first being Ādam and the last being Muḥammad - only the length of time of messengership of Prophet Nūḥ is spoken about in an actual number.  Scholars of the Quran tell us that the period of the carrying of the message of this prophet, known as Shaykh al-Anbiyāʾ, from the time of the beginning of his prophetic mission until the major flood was 950 years – however we are not exactly sure of his life span, but it was longer than this. It should also be pointed out that from the five ūlū al-ʿazm – meaning those prophets of firm resolve, Nūḥ is the first of them – the other four being, Ibrāhīm @, Mūsā, ʿIsā, and Prophet Muḥammad.  When reading this verse, many have questioned as to “why” Allah X worded it as he did? If Prophet Nūḥ lived 950 years, rather than saying this, why did Allah X say, ‘One thousand years minus fifty’.  One response is that this was done to get us to contemplate on the sheer length of time that this prophet spent trying to deliver his message and the amount of patience he must have had to go on propagating for such a long time. Another reason why this may be worded in this form is that by Allah X saying 1,000 years, less 50, this ‘exception’ actually denotes an absolute realization. By this, the scholars mean to say that if one were to say, ‘A person lived for 100 years’, it may mean that he lived “around” or “approximately” 100 years – not actually 100 years as they may have lived 95, 96, 97, 98, or 99 years – however if a person were to say that the person lived for 2 years short of 100, then an exact amount of 98 years would be conveyed. Point of Reflection When it comes to training and teaching other people, we must always have patience and fortitude. Everyone learns and is guided at different levels – some may accept the message quicker while others may have various obstacles which prevent them from changing – but we must never give up.