According to a paper by Princeton University Press, “In one estimate, new religions sprout at an average rate of two to three per day.” If there is some truth to it, that sprouting needs a stem - a basic foundation to start what others might call ‘branches’. The same proposition, if put on a scale for religion, clearly proves that all the religions we see today perhaps originated from one common idea, which I’d refer to as the common belief. A case in point is the account of Biblical Noah, or Nooh (A.S) as we know him, who has appeared in so many texts other than the Bible and the holy Quran.
According to a paper by Princeton University Press, “In one estimate, new religions sprout at an average rate of two to three per day.”
If there is some truth to it, that sprouting needs a stem - a basic foundation to start what others might call ‘branches’. The same proposition, if put on a scale for religion, clearly proves that all the religions we see today perhaps originated from one common idea, which I’d refer to as the common belief. A case in point is the account of Biblical Noah, or Nooh (A.S) as we know him, who has appeared in so many texts other than the Bible and the holy Quran.
We are all probably familiar with the basic storyline, which briefly is: God decides to return Earth to its pre-creation stage of watery chaos
by unleashing a flood so that it would cover the whole of it, destroying all living beings. However, to reward His believers, He instructed Noah to build an ark that would carry the believers to salvation. Noah was also instructed by God to take with him and his followers a pair of all living animals to sustain life on Earth afterwards. Noah did what was asked; the Earth was flooded, and a pigeon was sent to find out dry land, ultimately leading the Ark to Mount Judi. This is the Islamic account, also similar to the one in the Bible.
A somewhat similar narrative is found in the writings found in the Sumerian civilization, where a Mesopotamian counterpart of Noah exists with the name of Utnapishtim. He was tasked by Enki to build a ship named “The Preserver of Life” to save himself and others from an imminent flood that would destroy everything that is outside the ship. When the flood receded, he found his ship on Mount Nisir. Utnapishtim also sends out a pigeon, a swallow and a raven successively to find a patch of dry land.
Another narrative lies ensconced in the Greek mythology with Deucalion, son of Prometheus, named as the saviour of Earth. Deucalion is warned by Zeus and Poseidon about the great flood and is commanded to build an ark to save all the creatures. He, along with his wife Pyrrha, is saved from the flood while inside the ark that he built, which slowly drifted to rest on Mount Parnassus. He also sent out a pigeon which returned with a branch of olive tree in its beak.
In Hindu mythology, a similar story follows Lord Vishnu and King Manu in which Lord Vishnu warned King Manu about The Great Deluge and advised him to build a huge boat to save all creatures and plants. When the flood receded, the boat stopped on top of Malaya Mountains.
The purpose here is to simply highlight the fact that before the Islamic narrative about Prophet Nooh was revealed, thousands of years of similar narrations were already in existence in the names of Utnapishtim, Deucalion and Manu. If it repeats, it surely happened - that’s a fact. But, when was the incident actually chronicled for the first time? Since all the stories are more or less the same for Noah, there must be a common belief somewhere, a basic foundation from which different versions of a common truth originated. That’s the food for thought we all should feast on!
The writer is a doctor, writer and blogger. He tweets on www.twitter.com/Jawad279
