Followed by the Meanest Among Us

When Nūḥ was delivering this daʿwah, 950 years, only a few became Muslim, and these few tended to be from the weak and the poor. So the leaders — the wealthy, and the political leaders, the influential men of the society — they came to Nūḥ, and they said:

Fa-qāla al-malaʾu alladhīna kafarū min qawmihi mā narāka illā basharan mithlanā, wa mā narāka-ttabaʿaka illā alladhīna hum arādhilunā bādiya al-raʾy, wa mā narā lakum ʿalaynā min faḍlin bal naẓunnukum kādhibīn. The chiefs of the disbelievers among his people said: we see you but a man like ourselves, nor do we see any follow you but the meanest among us, and they too followed you without thinking. They told Nūḥ that we don't see any favour of you upon us — I mean, you're not any better than us. And then they also told him that the people who followed you are the weakest and the meanest among us, and they followed you without thinking.

Two things: the people who are following you are the weak and the poor; and the second thing, they followed you without thinking. Let's look at these two things.

The followers of Nūḥ were the weakest and the poorest. When Abū Sufyān was on a business trip to al-Rūm, he was visiting al-Shām, which was part of the Roman Empire at the time. Hiraql, the emperor of the Romans — Heraclius — was in al-Shām at the time, and he heard about Muhammad (peace be upon him). So he demanded to meet one of his people. When he heard that there was an Arab caravan in town, he said: go and see if any of them knows about Muhammad. So they went and brought these businessmen from Quraysh to meet with the Roman emperor, Hiraql. So Heraclius asked this group: who of you is the closest relative of Muhammad (peace be upon him)? So Abū Sufyān said: I am. And he was the closest relative of him among the group.

Heraclius started asking Abū Sufyān a few questions. One of these questions: he said, who are the followers of this man? Abū Sufyān said: his followers are the slaves, and the weak, and the poor, and the servants. What did Hiraql say? He said: these are the followers of the Anbiyāʾ. These are the followers of the messengers. These were the followers of ʿĪsā; these were the followers of Mūsā; these were the followers of Hūd; these were the followers of Ṣāliḥ. The people who follow the Anbiyāʾ in the beginning are usually the weak and the poor. Allah (swt) gives them this blessing. So this point that the people of Nūḥ are bringing is worthless.

The second point is: they followed you without thinking. They wanted them to study it; they wanted them to give it a second thought. This thing that they're using as an accusation against Nūḥ is actually a point of pride for those who believe. Because what did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) praise Abū Bakr for? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: everyone I presented Islam to hesitated for a moment, except Abū Bakr. As soon as I presented the message to him, he accepted — without giving it a second thought.

When you receive truth, you shouldn't give it a second thought; you shouldn't sit on it for a while. When you receive truth — as long as it's the truth — immediately follow it. And that's what these followers of Nūḥ did. So these chiefs are accusing these followers with something that is actually a point of praise for them, and honour. And you always find that they would accuse us, the Muslims today, with things that are in reality things that we should be proud of.