كَذَّبَت قَبلَهُم قَومُ نوحٍ فَكَذَّبوا عَبدَنا وَقالوا مَجنونٌ وَازدُجِرَ

The people of Noah impugned before them. So they impugned Our servant and said: ‘A crazy man,’ and he was reviled.

EXEGESIS

Kadhdhabat (impugned) is a feminine verb because its subject (qawm (people)) is feminine in Arabic. The verb Kadhaba means to lie, deceive, and mislead. Its second form (kadhdhaba), which is used in this verse, means to deny, impugn, and belie, and is used more frequently in the Quran. It has been used repeatedly in this chapter when discussing each of the communities of the different prophets. Denying can happen in two ways. It can either be verbal, like saying something that indicates disbelief and rejection, or it can be practical by behaving in a way which shows disbelief and denial. Accordingly, the people of Prophet Noah (a) either verbally told him that he was a liar, or through their actions showed that they did not believe in his truthfulness.[1]

Qablahum (before them) means before the polytheists of Mecca who were the direct addressees of the verse.

ʿAbdanā (our servant) is a possessive construct indicating honour and respect for Prophet Noah (a). It implies a special connection and total servility to God as in, The servants of the All-Beneficent are those who walk humbly on the earth (25:63). It furthermore indicates that rejecting Prophet Noah (a) was equal to rejection of God, since he was His servant and a servant has no independence from His master.[2]

Izdujir (was reviled); this passive verb has been translated as reviled, driven away, rebuffed, and prevented. The verse does not mention the subject of the verb. Most exegetes understand this to mean that the people of Prophet Noah (a) prevented him from preaching, perhaps through various forms of harassment. In fact, in other verses, they threatened to stone him if he did not stop (26:116).

Others have said that these people did not confine themselves to mere denial, rather they attributed to him insanity and said that the jinn had possessed him, so he only speaks out of their drive, and thus his words have no relation to divine revelation.[3]

EXPOSITION

The previous verses described the state of those who reject the signs of God on the Day of Judgement, without identifying them. The next set of verses provides tangible instances in history of such communities. These communities have been discussed in detail in other verses of the Quran, and this set of verses only serves to briefly allude to them.

The first nation that the chapter discusses is the people of Prophet Noah (a). According to some exegetes, the reason why Prophet Noah (a) is mentioned first is because he faced major challenges and endured the most difficult tribulations, as his people continuously rejected him for 950 years.[4] However, a more plausible reason may be that chronologically Prophet Noah (a) came before all the other prophets that are mentioned in this chapter.

Why did they attribute insanity to Prophet Noah (a), while based on what we read in the Quran, especially in Sūrat Nūḥ (71), he was the most robust in reasoning and rational arguments? The reason is that he was not making sense according to their understanding of life. According to them, anyone who was in line with their societal, ethical, and theological norms, even if they were irrational or wrong, was sane, and those who went against the tide and refused to accept those norms were insane.[5]

The Holy Prophet was also labelled as insane (68:51) as were most of the other prophets (51:52). In fact, one reason as to why these prophets are now being mentioned is to console the Holy Prophet and remind him that he is not the first prophet to be rejected and mocked by his people; the previous prophets experienced the same.[6]

Referring to Prophet Noah (a) as Our servant not only indicates his lofty position and greatness in the eyes of Allah, but also indicates that rejecting him was tantamount to the rejection of God, since a servant has nothing of his own and everything is from the master.[7]

The verse mentions their denial twice. This is a beautiful style of explication after implication (al-tafṣīl baʿd al-ijmāl). First it says that the people of Prophet Noah (a) denied, without any further explanation. The denial was a grave crime in itself, however, the next sentence explains the enormity of their denial by stating that they impugned Our servant and said: ‘A crazy man.’

Another suggestion for the repetition is that the first denial is to indicate their habit of denying all the messengers and the second denial is to indicate that as an obvious effect of this habit, they also denied Prophet Noah (a) in particular. This view has been strengthened by some exegetes through reference to 26:105: The people of Noah impugned the apostles.[8]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Several interpretations have been provided for why their denial has been mentioned twice. Some say this is an indication that this denial and rejection was continuous and one after another, or that every generation came with someone who denied,[9] or that the first denial refers to denying the signs of God and the second denial refers to denying the prophethood of Prophet Noah (a).[10]

[1] Ibn Ashur, 27/173.
[2] Mizan, 19/67.
[3] Mizan, 19/67.
[4] Mudarrisi, 14/223.
[5] Munyah, 27/192.
[6] Qaraati, 9/350; Furqan, 27/482-483.
[7] Mizan, 19/67.
[8] Mizan, 19/67; Razi, 29/305; Daqaiq, 12/533.
[9] Zamakhshari, 4/433.
[10] Mudarrisi, 14/222.