First of all, from Qur’an, how many years Hazrat Nuh lived in this world, first question. Hazrat Nuh lived, I can tell you what, he did not live personally for 950 years. But his Shari’at lived for that period. It is the style of the Holy Qur’an that if a mention in Bible is made to something which may have been understood wrongly, the Holy Qur’an either rectifies it or rejects it or repeats it in the same way, so that people may not misunderstand about what had been said.
Now, this portion of the Bible has been taken exactly by the Holy Qur’an with some slight improvisation. So that shows that in the first instance it was not interpolated into the Bible, it was not added into the Bible. It was exactly what Allah had said, but meaning something different. Now why I say that he did not live and the Holy Qur’an does not mean that he lived that long, is because the history tells us otherwise. Hazrat Ibrahim A.S. was born according to the chronology of Bible and the history, whatever his history is preserved about these prophets, exactly or almost exactly 900 years after Hazrat Nuh.
So, if Hazrat Nuh had lived for 950 years, still he would be there with his Shari’ah and he would be still living and all that had happened within that time would be under his observation. And what we find is that, not only that is not correct historically, but when Hazrat Ibrahim appeared, the whole of the population of that area had become idolaters. And there was no ray of light left, no ray of truth. So how could it happen, where had Hazrat Nuh gone? What he was doing in that old age, when a full people were destroyed because of rejecting him, and once he was given ascendancy, he ended up in a prophet whose followers had entirely and totally gone corrupt. It is impossible, I mean, obviously it has to be rejected.
So in the light of the history, in the light of the facts we know, in the light of the facts related by the Holy Qur’an, Hazrat Ibrahim A.S. is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in a manner that no mention of Nuh is made along with him. On the contrary, it is said that Nuh was a thing of the past, when Hazrat Ibrahim A.S. appeared. In some places the Holy Qur’an says, before him, before him, you know, and the Nuh is related to be a man of the past, as compared to the following later prophets. Ibrahim is included in that list of the later prophets.
He is positively mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. So leaving the history aside, if you must insist that I should base my arguments on the Holy Qur’an, it is very clear that the Holy Qur’an does not mean that Ibrahim A.S. lived himself 950 years. So what it may mean, his period of Sharia, the life of his Sharia, was 950 years. If my inference is correct, then we must have further evidence to prove that this inference is correct. And that evidence is not only present in the Holy Qur’an, but suddenly when you look at the evidence, the whole picture becomes so resolute and clear that, you know, one feels such a pleasure to learn things in the new light.
There are two references to Hazrat Ibrahim A.S. which apparently are contradictory to each other. In one place it is said that Ibrahim had his own books, his own Sharia, which was followed and which was to be followed by prophets later on. And in another place it is said that Ibrahim was one of the followers of Noah, was found among his people. So these two statements are apparently contradictory. If he had his own Sharia, why should he have followed Hazrat Noah?
So the answer lies therein, what I have already described. Because Hazrat Noah’s Sharia lasted 950 years, Hazrat Ibrahim lived for first 50 years in his Sharia. So that is why I have been Shia to Ibrahim, among the followers of Noah was Ibrahim. This is the reference in the Holy Qur’an. And later on when he reached the full ripe age of 50, he was given his own book and his own teachings, which was an advancement upon the teachings of Noah. So from then on he is referred to as an independent prophet of his own book.
