¶ Door Number Two
¶ The Second Covenant With Noah (PBUH)
¶ “Then God said to Noah and his sons with him: ‘I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you.’”
With this new understanding and with Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) revealing the origin of Cain son of Iblis (May God curse him), it becomes clear that the point of the flood was actually to purify the Earth from the seed of the cursed Iblis, in addition to it being a punishment for breaking the Covenant. Every time a Covenant is broken, a punishment comes down upon the Earth. Then the Lord makes a new Covenant with humanity. The punishment for the breaking of the First Covenant, when Adam (PBUH) ate from the tree, was the exile of Adam (PBUH) from the Garden of Eden. God forgave them but when the people broke the Covenant again with their disbelief and enmity towards Noah and the Prophets after Adam (PBUT), God punished them with the flood.
Noah (PBUH) spent many years preaching to the people and calling them to God and trying to reform them. They all ignored Noah (PBUH) and did not wish to listen to him. The Holy Qur’an states that they put their fingers in their ears and pulled their garments over their faces in order not to listen to Noah (PBUH). The Earth at that time was filled with the sons of Cain who built great cities and had many children. God had promised Satan He would give him many more the number of children than He would give Adam. There are many narrations to that effect. Imam Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) in one narration states:
The first one who compared and was prideful was Iblis, and pride is the first act of disobedience to God. He said: “Iblis said: ‘O God, pardon me from prostrating to Adam and I shall worship You like no other close angel nor Prophet Messenger has.’ God said: ‘I do not need your worship, but rather I want to be worshiped from where I want and not from where you want.’ But he still refused to prostrate, so God said: ‘Get out of it, you are impure, and verily upon you is My curse until the Day of Judgment.’ So Iblis said: ‘O God, how is it that You are the Just who is never unjust and now You made the reward for my good deeds go in vain?’ So He said: ‘No, but ask Me for anything you want in the world as a reward and I shall grant you.’ And the first thing which he asked for was to remain until the Day of Judgment and God said: ‘I have granted you that.’ He said: ‘Let me have power over the children of Adam’ and God said: ‘I have given you power’. And he said: ‘Let me run in them like the blood runs in their veins.’ And God said: ‘I have made you run in their veins.’ And he said: ‘Do not allow a single child to be born to them except that two are born from me.’ ”
He gave Satan those offspring through Cain. The Holy Bible states in the book of John:
“We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother’s actions righteous.”
The children of Cain disobeyed God and oppressed the children of Adam (PBUH) and committed great crimes in the years between Adam and Noah (PBUT). Finally, God commanded Noah (PBUH) to build an Ark. Aba Abdillah (From Him is Peace) said:
Prophet Noah (PBUH) asked his Lord to send down the punishment upon his people, so Allah revealed to him to plant a seed from a palm tree. When it grows and he eats from its fruit, Allah would send down the punishment upon his people and make them perish. Prophet Noah (PBUH) planted the seed and informed his companions. The palm tree grew and bore fruit. He ate from its fruit and fed his companions. His companions said to him: “O Prophet of Allah, what about the promise that you have promised us?” Prophet Noah (PBUH) prayed to Allah to carry out the promise that He had made. Once again Allah revealed to him to plant another seed and when it grows into a palm tree and bears fruit and he eats from it, Allah would torment them. Noah (PBUH) informed his companions. They divided into three groups: One group turned back (became apostates), another became hypocrites and the third group remained firm with Noah (PBUH). Prophet Noah (PBUH) planted a seed again. It grew and bore fruit. He ate from its fruit and fed his companions. They said: “O Prophet of Allah, what about the promise that you have made?” He prayed to Allah. Allah revealed to him to plant a third seed and when it grows and bears fruit, Allah would make his people perish. Noah (PBUH) told his companions of that. The two groups [the hypocrites and the believers] divided into three groups; one turned back (became apostates), one became hypocrites and the third still kept to Noah (PBUH). Prophet Noah (PBUH) did that ten times and his companions divided every time into three groups. The tenth time, some of his sincere companions came to him and said: “O Prophet of Allah, whether you do what you have promised or you don’t, you are truthful. You are a Prophet sent by Allah, and we never doubt you no matter what you do to us.” In this way, Allah made the people of Noah (PBUH) perish and made his sincere followers enter the Ark with him. So Allah saved them and saved Noah with them after they had been tried, sifted, and cleared.
In those days, Noah was married to a woman from the daughters of Cain whose name was Norea, which means fire. She was unfaithful to Noah and betrayed him. After the first time that the Ark was built, Norea attempted to board the Ark but because of her unrighteousness Noah did not allow her to, and so Norea set the Ark on fire and burnt it down. This was the reason why the promise of Allah was delayed and the punishment was delayed. In the Gnostic text titled The Nature of the Rulers found in the Nag Hammadi Collection, it states:
“The rulers took counsel with one another and said, “Come, let us cause a flood with our hands and obliterate all flesh, from man to beast.” But when the ruler of the forces came to know of their decision, he said to Noah, “Make yourself an ark from wood that does not rot and hide in it, you and your children and the beasts and the birds of heaven from small to large—and set it upon Mount Sir.” Then Norea came to him, wanting to board the ark. When he would not let her, she blew upon the ark and caused it to be consumed by fire. Again he made the ark, for a second time.”
In the writings about a Gnostic sect in Egypt, the well-known historian Epiphanius provided further details of the story of Norea and the Ark. He wrote that she had requested entry into the Ark three times and burnt down the Ark three different times, all because she did in fact believe a flood was coming, but she also believed it was part of Noah’s plan to get rid of her in the flood. The truth is that she burnt down the Ark ten times, and in all times she did so in secret. In all ten times, the companions were shocked and doubt entered into them, as they wondered why God would allow the Ark to be burnt down if Noah was really a Prophet. Because of the burning of the Ark, the promise was ten times delayed, and God used these events as a test and opportunity to rid Noah’s believing community of any doubters. Noah had mercy on Norea and she was eventually let on the Ark. In the Holy Bible’s book of Genesis it states:
“On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.”
That makes a total of eight human beings or four couples who entered the Ark on that day. Many Arabic sources mention that only seven remained firm believers in Noah (PBUH): Noah’s wife, his three sons, and their three wives. Hamran narrated that Abi Ja’far (From Him is Peace) said concerning the words of Allah:
“ ‘But none believed with him, except for a few.’ He said: “They were eight.”
There were three main reasons why Norea was permitted on the Ark:
- Most of Noah’s companions and supporters who helped him build the Ark turned back (became apostates). If Norea burnt down the Ark another time, Noah (PBUH) and his sons would not have been able to build it once again without all the manpower they had previously.
- Norea had felt extreme fear because she had cheated on Noah (PBUH) with one of the well-known, influential, and powerful men in the city. She thought that because of this secret God would not forgive her. She thought to herself that Noah (PBUH) must have known and was planning to leave her drown and because of this he was forbidding her entry into the Ark. Unless she was granted entry into the Ark, Norea would have continued to burn down the Ark.
- Norea had pity on the people and did not wish for their destruction, while Satan was happy with Noah calling down the punishment on the people. This matter is evident in many of the traditions of the Ahlul-Bayt (From Them is Peace). From Ali ibn Mohammed (From Him is Peace) he said:
“When Satan came to Noah he said to him: ‘You have done me a great favor so ask me for advice, I will not betray you,’ so Noah was pained by his words and his request, so God inspired to Noah: ‘Speak to him and ask him, I will make him mention a certain matter that is a proof upon you.’ So Noah (PBUH) said to Satan: ‘Speak.’ Satan said: ‘If we find the son of Adam stingy or envious or oppressive or hasty we catch him as one catches a ball, so if these traits are gathered in him we call him ‘Shaytan’ (i.e devil),’ then Noah said: ‘What is this great favor that you have described?’ He said: ‘That you have called upon God to destroy the people of the Earth, so in one hour you have brought them all to hellfire so I became free, if it was not for your prayer to bring down the punishment upon them it would have taken me a lifetime [to achieve this].’ ”
While Norea did not deserve to be on the Ark, for the sake of Noah (PBUH) and because Norea did not wish for the destruction of the people, God had mercy on her and included her in the Ark. In the Holy Bible, the book of Genesis states:
“The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. ”
We find another interesting account of an incident that happened in the period after the flood:
When Noah lost hope in guiding the polytheistic misguided people, he went forth building the Ark by the command of God Almighty…and when everything was ready, Noah complained to God about his polytheistic people and prayed to God to destroy them all together, and because the proof had been placed upon them, God sent a torment upon them, and rain kept pouring down and the complete flood occurred and came upon all the disobedient ones and destroyed them. And after the disbelievers were destroyed, the rain stopped, the floodwater receded and the Ark of Noah settled and reached its final stop. The believers in Noah were saved and disembarked from the Ark and engaged in their various work and life affairs. Noah’s profession was making ceramic pots. He would prepare them and sell them to the people and provide from its price his daily needs. One day an angel came to him in human form and bought from him a number of pottery pots and began to smash them, and Noah looked at him and whenever he would smash a pot, Noah would be grieved and in pain without uttering a word. Finally, Noah could not bear to see the smashing of the pots he had just made and sold. He shouted fiercely at that man (the angel): “What are you doing, O man?! Why did you break the pots that I made with my own hands?!” The man (the angel) replied: “I bought them from you and they became my property and you no longer have anything to do with them and I can dispose of them however I want.” Noah (PBUH) said: “It is true that you bought them from me, but I worked hard and tired myself until I made them, and I continued to love them even after you bought them from me, and I do not accept that you spoil the fruits of my labor and the results of my efforts.” The man (the angel) replied: “You did not create the pots, you only made them, but you still cannot bear the sight of them being shattered. How did you then call upon God to destroy all of His creatures altogether?!” As a result of this incident, Noah started crying and wailing so hard that people called him ‘Noah’ (i.e the weeping one).
This account clearly demonstrated that during all these years, from the time the flood came until the Ark settled, God held Noah to account for calling down the punishment on his people and even made it a point to rebuke him for it after all these years. After the flood, God established a new Covenant with Noah (PBUH), and it was a Covenant which differed from the First Covenant. The Second Covenant consisted of new commands and laws which were absent from the First Covenant. The Holy Bible mentions the details of the Noahic Covenant and its laws:
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
The first command that God gave Noah (PBUH) was the same as the one that He gave to Adam (PBUH):
“Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.”
God chose Noah as He chose Adam and blessed Noah as He blessed Adam (PBUT). This command which God gave them, to
“be fruitful and multiply,”
remained the same from the First Covenant to the Second and did not change. The command to avoid the tree was absent from the Second Covenant due to the tree being in the Garden of Eden. Since humanity was no longer in the Garden of Eden, the commandment to avoid the Tree of Knowledge was no longer applicable. The Lord gave Noah (PBUH) new commands that were not part of the First Covenant and had not been done before now, such as eating meat. God forbade Noah (PBUH) from eating animals alive and Noah (PBUH) could only eat those animals that were slaughtered as an offering to the Lord. From here is the sunnah (traditions, customs, and practices) in Islam of only eating flesh of animals that were slaughtered in the hallal (permissible, Kosher) way: facing the qibla (direction/orientation) and pronouncing God’s name over it. This was how slaughtering animals as offerings was done. God also forbade in the Second Covenant any other sort of murder or killing of humans or any living creature. Thus, God said he would demand an accounting and gave the decree that the penalty for murder shall be execution.
Ulul-Azm (those with the most determination) is a qur’anic expression that is used to describe the Covenant Prophets (PBUT). The Covenant Prophets (PBUT) were charged with establishing divine laws and jurisprudences with humanity. The Covenant Prophets (PBUT) whom God sent to humanity are five in number: Prophet Noah, Prophet Abraham, Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus, and Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessings be Upon Them All). As for Adam (PBUH), he is also the companion of a divine Covenant but he is not one of the Ulul-Azm because he broke the Covenant. From Uthman ibn Isa, from Sama’a, he said:
I said to Abi Abdillah (PBUH): “The saying of God, ‘So be patient as the determined ones were,’” he said: “[They are] Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them and upon all the Prophets of God and His Messengers).” I said, “How did they become Ulul-Azm?” He said, “Because Noah was sent with a Book and jurisprudence, so all those who came after Noah worked by the Book of Noah and his jurisprudence and his method, until Abraham came with the scriptures, and with will-power he left the Book of Noah, not out of disbelief in it. And every Prophet who came after Abraham came forth with the jurisprudence of Abraham, his method and his scriptures, until Moses came with the Torah and with will-power he left the scriptures. And so every Prophet who came after Moses worked by the Torah, his jurisprudence and his method, until the Messiah came with the Gospels and with will-power he left the jurisprudence of Moses and his method. And so every Prophet who came after the Messiah worked by his jurisprudence and his method, until Mohammed (PBUH & His Family) came and brought forth the Qur’an, his jurisprudence and his method. So his hallal (permissible) will remain hallal (permissible) until the Day of Judgment, and his haram (impermissible) will remain haram (impermissible) until the Day of Judgment, so these are the Ulul-Azm (those with determination) from the Messengers.”
Therefore, all the Prophets and Messengers who total one hundred and twenty-four thousand, all of their messages fall under one of the mentioned jurisprudences, from the jurisprudence of Adam to the jurisprudence of Mohammed (PBUT). The Prophets of God Abel, Seth, Enoch, and the rest of the Prophets who were between Adam and Noah (PBUT) worked by the jurisprudence of the Adamic Covenant. The Second Covenant with Noah (PBUH) continued until the time of Abraham (PBUH).
The Earth was supposed to be cleansed of the seed of Iblis and the children of Cain, except that Noah (PBUH) had married a woman from the descendants of Cain as mentioned previously. Noah and Norea together had three sons: Sam, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife gave birth to a fourth son as well and his name was Yam but he was not a biological son of Noah (PBUH). This is clearly evident when God Almighty said:
“And Noah called out to his Lord, saying, “My Lord! Certainly my son is ˹also˺ of my family, Your promise is surely true, and You are the most just of all judges!” Allah replied, “O Noah! He is certainly not of your family—he was an unrighteous deed. So do not ask Me about what you have no knowledge of! I warn you so you do not fall into ignorance. ”
Also, God Almighty said in Surah Al-Tahreem:
“Allah sets forth an example for the disbelievers: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. Each was married to one of Our righteous servants, yet betrayed them. Their husbands could not help them against God: it was said, “Both of you enter the Fire with the others. ”
For many years, the scholars of Islam have tried to interpret those verses in a variety of ways. They have said that the betrayal was a betrayal in faith and not marital infidelity because it is impossible that a Prophet’s wife betray him. They have said that the son of Noah referenced in the Holy Qur’an was still his biological son even though it states,
“He is not of your (Noah’s) family.”
The consensus amongst Muslim scholars is that Noah’s son simply had a different faith than his father. However, when one reads the Qur’an objectively, without any presumptions of sanctity or innocence for the characters, the truth becomes clear and evident. The truth is that Noah’s wife betrayed him and was impregnated. Aba Al-Hassan (PBUH) said regarding the verse
“ ‘O you who have believed, repent to Allah in honest repentance,’ The servant repents and does not return to what he has done, and verily the most beloved servants of Allah to Allah are those who repent a true repentance,” Ali ibn Ibrahim said regarding the words of Allah ‘Allah sets forth an example’: “Then Allah set in them an example,” and he recited: “Allah sets forth an example for the disbelievers: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. Each was married to one of Our righteous servants, yet betrayed them.” He said: “By Allah, he did not mean by the words ‘yet betrayed them’ except adultery.”
Noah’s wife bore an illegitimate son whom Noah (PBUH) thought was his biological son. However, he was not his biological son and
“not of your family”
as the Holy Qur’an literally states. The narrations of the Family of Mohammed (From Them is Peace) have confirmed this reality. Zurara narrated from Abi Ja’far (From Him is Peace) concerning the words of Noah:
“My son, board the Ark with us,” He said: “It was not his son,” I said: “Noah said, ‘My son?’ ” He said: “Noah said that while not knowing. ”
Now we also understand the response of this son in the Qur’an where he says:
“I will take shelter on a mountain.”
The mountain was not actually a physical mountain at all, it was his biological father whom Norea betrayed Noah (PBUH) with, an influential non-working scholar. It is worth mentioning that the Arabic word for mountain “Jabal” was actually a name used in that time, and the Torah mentions a man named “Jabal” who lived in the time of Noah (PBUH) and was known as
“the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.”
Henry Corbin in his book Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam quotes a Gnostic exegesis that explains the deeper symbolism surrounding the Ark and the mountain which Noah’s son took refuge in:
“So the Ark floated with them on the waves [towering] like mountains” (11:42), which means: the Imam, invested with esoteric teaching, floats in his da’wat like a mystical Ark, together with all those who have responded to his Call (the mostajibun), on the ocean of knowledge; he floats from mystical grade to grade (from hadd to hadd), in order to initiate each one into the higher spiritual science (ma’rifat); the waves that he confronts, towering like mountains, are the learned in Law, the literalists ('ulama' al-zahir) who pass as men of science, although they are empty of any knowledge in the true sense; that is why they collapse before the Imam, as the waves of the sea collapse after having given the illusion of being high mountains. The divine da’wat (the mystical Ark) floats upon the heads of these people who give themselves the airs of the learned. It cleaves them as a ship cleaves the waves. It floats upon them while they frighten men with their shallow science, inflating themselves in the way that the waves of the sea rise and collide with each other…But those who have entered the da’wat are sheltered there from their misleading, as the traveler in a ship is sheltered from the waves.
This is why Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) has always emphasized on reading the Holy Qur’an as a normal book while lifting the presumption of sanctity regarding the actions of the characters being portrayed in the stories. This allows for a more objective, historically consistent, and truer understanding rather than biased interpretations based on preconceived ideas about the personalities and events taking place. In addition, it is also important to consider the non-literal, symbolic meanings.
Some Arabic sources and narrations have gathered between Yam and Canaan and made them into a single person. However, it is not the case that they are one person with two names; they are, in fact, two different people. Yam was the son who drowned. Canaan was the father of the Canaanites and was born after the flood. The Canaanite people were descendants of Canaan and were a Semitic-speaking civilization that are mentioned throughout the Bible. These people would not exist today if their father Canaan had drowned in the flood. But rather the characters of Yam and Canaan were combined into one character by narrators because they both are not the sons of Noah biologically. One was born before the flood and one after the flood.
The Torah and the Gospels prove the words of the Holy Qur’an about the wife of Noah and her son, whereby the Torah says in the book of Genesis:
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
Biblical scholars have differed in regards to the meaning of the story and in regards to the meaning of
“And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father,”
and in order to understand what it truly means we must look at the book of Leviticus:
“And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
Now the meaning has become clear, the words of “uncovering your father’s nakedness,” or “to see your father naked” meant for the people of the ancient times having intercourse with the father’s wife, for the nakedness of the man is his wife. So the wife of Noah became pregnant with her son’s child and Noah cursed the unborn child and named him Canaan, which literally means, from Cain, to indicate that he will be an unrighteous deed or an unrighteous seed, a son of Cain or the devil. To further prove the point that Canaan was indeed an offspring of Noah’s wife and her son Ham, we look at the following verses from the Torah:
“And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.”
In the book of Genesis it says:
“And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.”
So, it is proven that Ham is the father of Canaan and not anyone else. Let’s now look to see who is the mother. In the book of Genesis it says:
“And he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
So Noah curses Canaan to be a servant of his brothers, but who are Canaan’s brothers? In the book of Genesis it says:
“God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
Therefore, the brothers of Canaan are Japheth and Shem, and Ham is both the father of Canaan and the brother of Canaan.
From Canaan came the nations of Sodom and Gomorrah (the people of Lot) and there came from him Nimrod and other than them of disbelievers and tyrants. There also came from him righteous people, for Allah said:
“He brings forth the living out of the dead, and brings the dead out of the living, and revives the earth after its death. It is in this way (that He revives the dead earth) that you will be brought forth from the dead.”
From Sam or Shem came the Semitic Prophets and Messengers and the line of descendants of Adam (PBUH). The Messenger of God Mohammed (PBUH & His Family) said:
“Sam is the father of the Arabs and Jews (all the Semites) and Japheth is the father of the Romans and Ham is the father of the Abyssinians.”
Sam was the vicegerent of Noah (PBUH). The Mandaean religion considers Sam to be amongst the most important Prophets. They have many manuscripts and books that speak about him. One of the miracles of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) was the resurrection of Sam from his grave.
God said in the Qur’an:
“And recall when We said to the angels: “Prostrate yourselves before Adam”; all of them fell prostrate, except Iblis. He was of the jinn and so disobeyed the command of his Lord. Will you, then, take him and his progeny as your guardians rather than Me although they are your open enemies? What an evil substitute are these wrongdoers taking!” God Almighty also said: “My Covenant is not extended to the wrongdoers.”
This means that the Covenant of God is only with Adam (PBUH) and his descendants and not with Iblis and his descendants, meaning that the Covenant of God is only with the believers and not the disbelievers. This is an important point that we must direct our attention towards. Thus, we find that the true religion of God has always remained a safeguarded secret throughout the centuries.
God Almighty commanded Adam (PBUH) and his descendants to remain quiet and keep the divine teachings a secret. He commanded them to practice concealment of the truth or dissimulation (taqiyah) with Cain and his descendants so that they never know the true religion of God. There were several reasons for the practice of dissimulation. First, the enmity and envy which Iblis and his descendants had towards Adam (PBUH) and his descendants. Second, Iblis and his descendants did not have the capacity to handle the responsibility of practicing and carrying God’s true religion. As a result, we find that nothing but two letters of divine knowledge have come to humanity.
It is a well-known narration that at the time of the emergence of the Qaim/Riser (From Him is Peace), he shall bring forth the remaining twenty-five letters of knowledge and disseminate them amongst humanity. These twenty-five letters of knowledge added to the previous two letters of knowledge will complete humanity’s knowledge of true monotheism and God’s true religion. The following narrations demonstrate this reality: Abi Abdullah Imam Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) said:
“Knowledge is twenty-seven letters in total and everything which the Messengers brought forth are only two letters and the people to this very day know nothing but two letters, so if the Qaim emerges he will bring forth the twenty-five letters and spread them amongst the people and will add it to the previous two letters, until he spreads a total of twenty-seven letters.”
It is narrated from the Holy Household (Ahlul-Bayt) (From Them is Peace):
“Verily Adam became ill for eleven days before his death and he gave a Will to his son Seth (PBUH), he wrote his Will and passed it to his son Seth and commanded him to hide it from Cain and his sons, because Cain killed Abel in envy of him due to Adam choosing Abel to receive all his knowledge, and so Seth and his sons hid what they had of knowledge, and Cain and his sons had no knowledge to benefit from.” Al-Mufaddel narrated: “I asked Imam Al-Sadiq (PBUH) about the meaning of the verse ‘I will erect a strong barrier between you and them,’ and he replied, ‘It is taqiyah/dissimulation,’ ‘Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it,’ [and he (PBUH) replied,] ‘For they were unable to scale it or uncover it if we work by dissimulation (taqiyah) and it is the strong barrier and there is now erected between you and the enemies of Allah a barrier which they cannot break through.’ And then I asked him about, ‘But when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it into dust,’ and he (PBUH) replied: ‘This is concerning the lifting of dissimulation (taqiyah) when the revelation happens and he will take revenge against the enemies of God.’ ”
¶ Sources
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 71 (Nuh), Verse 7
- Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 11, p. 141
- The Holy Bible, Book of 1 John, Chapter 3, Verse 12
- The three groups described here represent three distinct psychological and spiritual states of faith: 1. ثبات /thabat/ -state of staying firm in belief, certitude, and trust; 2. نفاق /nifaq/- intentional duplicity in order to oppose, a state of treachery and hypocrisy; 3. ارتداد /irtedad/- turning back, doubting, a state of apostasy.
- Kitab Al-Ghayba (Book of Occultation), Al-Numani, Vol. 1, p. 294
- The Nature of the Rulers, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, Marvin Meyer
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 7, Verse 13
- Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 11, p. 336
- Qisas al-Anbiya (Tales of the Prophets), Al-Jazairy, p. 80
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 7, Verse 1
- Kashkul Dastaghib, Sayed Dastaghib, p. 176
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 9, Verses 1-17
- Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 65, p. 326
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 11 (Hud), Verses 45-46
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 66 (Al-Tahreem), Verse 10
- Tafsir Al-Qummi, Ali ibn Ibrahim Al-Qummi, Vol. 2, p. 377
- Tafsir Noor Al-Thaqalayn, Al-Shaikh Abdul Ali Aroussi Al-Howayzi, Vol. 2, p. 363
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 11 (Hud), Verse 43
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 4, Verse 20
- Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam, Henry Corbin, pp. 118-119
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 9, Verses 20-27
- The Holy Bible, Book of Leviticus, Chapter 20, Verse 11
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 9, Verse 18
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 9, Verse 22
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 9, Verse 25
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 9, Verse 27
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 30 (Al-Rum), Verse 19
- Tarikh Al-Tabari, Al-Tabari, Vol. 1, p. 145
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 18 (Al-Kahf), Verse 50
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2 (Al-Baqarah), Verse 124
- Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 52, p. 336
- The Encyclopedia of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (PBUH), Mohammed Al-Reyshahri, Vol. 2, p. 98
- Wasa’il al-Shia, Al-Hurr Al-Amili, Vol. 16, p. 213