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In the
Beginning
A Story by Jamil Momand
A long time ago there was nothing except Allah.
There were no stars and there was no Earth. There were no animals
and there was no sky. Allah existed alone.
Then Allah created the angels from light which constantly praise Him and do
good. The main angels have names like Jibreel, Izrael, Izrafil, and
Michael. Allah next created the jinns from fire. Some jinns are good
and some are mischievous, but all the jinns know that Allah is their creator and
that He is All-Powerful.
After the angels and the jinns, Allah created Heaven. Heaven has rivers
flowing underneath the ground with rich green carpets to relax on, and majestic
fruit trees overhanging in abundance. Heaven is too beautiful to put down
in words--it is paradise.
Allah created Hell with columns of fire burning within it. It is like a
bottomless pit with nothing at the end except boiling water. Hell is too
horrible to put down in words for it is a terrible place.
He went on to create the stars that you see at night--some twinkling and some
constant. In our part of the universe, known as the Milky Way, Allah made
the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. In order to establish Time Allah made
the Earth spin around the Sun and the Moon encircle the Earth. From this
spinning, the Earth gets the Night and the Day and from the position of the Moon
in the sky we can keep track of the months.
Next, Allah molded the Earth to create deep oceans and high mountains. He
created the clouds to rain on the mountains to form rivers which rush toward the
sea. Then, surrounding the Earth, Allah put air which blows from one place
to another in a cool breeze or a violent windstorm. All this is under
Allah's control.
Allah next created life. He said, "Be," and upon the land plants
started to grow, gathering their energy from the Sun. The plants got their
water from the rain and their food from the air. When Allah said
"Be" again animals started to crawl on the Earth and swim in the
oceans. He made a great variety of animals. From the tiny worm to
the huge whale: all are within Allah's realm.
Allah
created all this in six days. But each of these days is like a thousand
years to us.
In the
Garden of Bliss Allah created a being that was different from any other that he
had yet created. From clay Allah molded the first man--Adam. Adam
was not like the angels or the animals because he had a free will. Allah
loved Adam so much that he told the angels and the jinns to bow down to Adam to
show their respect to him. They all bowed except Satan--he was a naughty
jinn. Allah then ordered Satan out of the Garden but Satan asked Allah to
let him exist until the Last Day. Allah let him exist and said that anyone
who follows Satan shall be thrown into hell-fire on the Day of Judgement along
with Satan himself. From then until the Day of Judgement Satan will always
try to make people think bad thoughts and tempt them.
In the
Garden of Bliss Allah also created Eve to be the companion to Adam.
Together they strolled through the beautiful Garden and ate from the fruit trees
that were there. Allah told them not to eat from the Tree of Eternity.
He warned Adam and Eve about Satan and not to follow him, but Satan whispered to
Adam to take a bite from the fruit on the special tree. When Adam and Eve
ate this fruit, they immediately became sorry for breaking Allah's command.
Allah ordered Adam and Eve out the Garden and placed them on Earth. Allah
said He shall give guidance to Adam and his descendents through different
prophets. If people follow Allah's guidance, they have nothing to fear and
shall go to Heaven in the Hereafter.
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