Sūrah Nūḥ is the seventy-first chapter of the Quran, both in compilation sequence and order of revelation. It is a Meccan surah containing twenty-eight verses and was revealed close to the time of the Prophet’s migration to Medina.
The surah encapsulates Prophet Noah’s (a) mission and his message to his people. It summarises what he preached and, in Prophet Noah’s (a) own words, describes the refusal of his people to accept his summons. This surah, therefore, does not need a particular verse from which to derive its name, since, in its entirety, its apparent subject remains unchanged. For most of the surah, Prophet Noah (a) is the interlocutor, and throughout the surah he is either detailing his efforts to reach out to his people, lamenting their opposition to him, or praying to God for help and relief from the faithless.
Several other surahs are also named after prophets of God: Sūrah Yūnus (10), Sūrah Hūd (11), Sūrah Yūsuf (12), Sūrah Ibrāhīm (14), and Sūrah Muḥammad (47). There is also Sūrah Luqmān (31), but it is not unanimous as to whether he was a prophet, and Sūrah Maryam (19), named after the mother of Prophet Jesus (a), though she is not a prophet.
Whilst this surah details the refusal of Prophet Noah’s (a) people to all the means of guidance and all the arguments he presents to them, as well as Prophet Noah’s (a) laments to his Lord, it concludes his cursing them while seeking forgiveness for himself, his parents, and the faithful. The wrongdoers’ chastisement and their drowning are mentioned in passing only – the detailed story of the deluge is given in 11:36-48.
It seems fair to posit that the story of Prophet Noah (a) and his people was well-known to the pagans of Mecca during the time of Prophet Muhammad (s). They were descended from those who survived Prophet Noah’s (a) deluge (7:69, 69:11), and they even worshipped gods with names similar to the idols of Prophet Noah’s (a) time (see Review of Tafsīr Literature for verse 23). As the first audience to whom it was revealed, this surah served as a warning to the Quraysh not to persist in their polytheism. The Quran also often mentions the destruction of Prophet Noah’s (a) people along with that of the people of ʿĀd and Thamūd (9:70, 14:9), who were also from Arabia and whose ruins in nearby places were known to the Arabs.
Prophet Noah (a) himself is named forty-three times in the Quran in twenty-nine different chapters. Most times though, he is mentioned in passing along with other prophets and apostles. Besides this surah, his story is told in detail in 11:25-49, 23:27-29, and 54:10-15.
This is the last surah of the Quran (in the order of compilation) in which Prophet Noah (a) is mentioned explicitly. Almost the entire surah has a rhyming –ra or –an ending to its verses.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PROPHET NOAH (A)
Muslim historians and exegetes such as Ālūsī, offer a lineage of Prophet Noah (a) all the way back to the first human being, Prophet Adam (a). However, this is clearly borrowed from the Hebrew Bible and an instance of Isrāʾīliyyāt. Such lineage recounts are also seen as a Biblical attempt to reconcile the duration of human life on earth and most modern Muslim scholars reject such genealogical adventures, based on the Holy Prophet’s saying concerning his own genealogy: ‘When you reach to Adnān in my genealogy then stop.’ And in condemning the veracity of excessive lineage explorations, he recited, and many generations between them (25:38).
Other reports speak of several prophets between Prophet Adam (a) and Prophet Noah (a), some ten generations apart, but the only major prophet between them, that we know of, is Prophet Idrīs (a). Most of the prophets and messengers whose stories the Quran recounts came after Prophet Noah (a), including Prophet Abraham (a), Prophet Ishmael (a), Prophet Isaac (a), Prophet Jacob (a), Prophet Joseph (a), Prophet Lot (a), Prophet Moses (a), Prophet Aaron (a), Prophet Shuʿayb (a), Prophet Hūd (a), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a), Prophet Jonah (a), Prophet Zachariah (a), Prophet John the Martyr (a), Prophet Jesus (a), until the final messenger, Prophet Muhammad (s).
Ālūsī quotes Ṭabarī as saying Prophet Noah (a) was born 126 years after Prophet Adam (a) passed away, and because he lived the longest of all prophets, he is called Shaykh al-Mursalīn (the Elder of the Apostles). Prophet Noah (a) is also known as Ādam al-Thānī (the Second Adam) because of his re-initiating the human race after the deluge. Ālūsī also offers a physical description of Prophet Noah (a) as having a tall, towering figure, with a long beard, but again such reports are Isrāʾīliyyāt or speculative at best. Similarly, the real names given for Prophet Noah (a) in early Muslim exegetical works include ʿAbd al-Ghaffār, ʿAbd al-Malik, or ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, but these are either dubious or Arabic translations of his real name, for he was not an Arab.
Ālūsī tells us his real name was Nūḥ, but it is a Syriac name that means the dweller, or the abater of the earth in Arabic. Majlisī also reports from Imam Ali (a) that Prophet Noah’s (a) name was Sakan (One at Rest), which again seems to be an exegetical view influenced by the Hebrew Bible (see Jewish Views under Prophet Noah (a) In Other Traditions).
Likewise, the reports that argue the name Nūḥ means ‘one who laments’ from the Arabic nawḥah – a title he is said to have earned because of his excessive weeping over himself or his people – is also unlikely as, once again, he was not an Arab. A fabricated, though popular-amongst-Muslims story, is that Prophet Noah’s (a) excessive weeping was because he once saw a mangy dog and spat on him (or in some accounts merely thought to himself, ‘what an ugly dog!’). So the dog spoke to him miraculously, by God’s will, and said: ‘Is it me you find defective or my Creator?’ Realising he had been tried by God, Prophet Noah (a) regretted his action and wept for many years.
Prophet Noah’s (a) age is disputed, with a lifespan up to 2500 years being suggested. The average human age before the deluge is said to have been about 300 years. The Quran mentions the duration of Prophet Noah’s (a) preaching to his people, before the deluge, as 950 years: Certainly We sent Noah to his people, and he remained with them for a thousand-less-fifty years. Then the flood overtook them while they were wrongdoers (29:14). This excludes the unspecified duration he lived before he commenced preaching, and the duration he lived after the deluge.
In a tradition from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), Prophet Noah (a) lived for 2300 years: 850 years before his appointment, 950 years that he preached, and 500 years after the ark stopped and the water dissipated and he helped rebuild the world as his children began living in different cities. Then the Angel of Death came to him while he was in the sun, and said: ‘Peace be on you.’ ‘And peace be on you,’ Prophet Noah (a) replied, ‘what brings you, O Angel of Death?’ ‘I have come to take your soul,’ said the Angel of Death. ‘Let me enter the shade from the sun,’ Prophet Noah (a) requested, and the Angel of Death allowed him to do so. So he turned from the sun to the shade and remarked: ‘O Angel of Death, all that I experienced in the world was just like my turning from the sun to the shade. So execute what you have been commanded.’
The Hebrew Bible (and some reports by Muslim historians) names three sons of Prophet Noah (a): Shem (Sām), Ham (Hām), and Japheth (Yafīth), from whom the human race is said to have multiplied (see Christian Views under Prophet Noah (a) In Other Traditions). The Quran does not mention these sons. It only speaks of one unrighteous son without naming him, who drowned when he refused to board the ark (11:42-43). In 57:26 the descendants of Prophet Noah (a) are mentioned along with those of Prophet Abraham (a), amongst whom was ordained prophethood and the book, and Prophet Noah’s (a) family is mentioned in 11:45. In other verses, Prophet Noah’s (a) progeny is not mentioned explicitly. Instead, Descendants of those whom We carried [in the ark] with Noah (17:3), [the progeny of] those We carried with Noah (19:58), and We carried you in a floating ark (69:11) is given, confirming that there were others from those who survived the flood besides Prophet Noah’s (a) family, from whom the human race expanded.
Prophet Noah (a) is believed to have been a carpenter before the deluge and his skill helped him build the ark. But according to Mughniyyah, after the deluge Prophet Noah (a) took up tilling the land and farming, introducing it as a practice amongst people. Jewish traditions relate that besides introducing farming utensils, Prophet Noah (a) also taught mankind the medicinal secrets to herbs and plants (see Jewish Views under Prophet Noah (a) In Other Traditions).
Prophet Noah (a) is said to have lived in the city of Kufa all his life, preaching to the people from there. His place of burial is disputed as being in Iraq, Turkey, or even Lebanon. The Shia, however, believe Prophet Noah (a) is buried beside Imam Ali (a) in Najaf (Iraq).
If Prophet Abraham (a) stands out amongst the prophets and messengers as the champion of monotheism, then Prophet Noah (a) is held in high regard as one of the first prophets to confront idolatry amongst humans and to stand up for the guidance of mankind back to monotheism and belief in the unicity of God.
The story of Prophet Noah (a) in the Quran begins with him asking his people to worship God alone, for they have no other god besides Him, and to be wary of Him (23:23, 26:106, 71:3), and he warns them of a terrible and painful punishment if they continue their idolatry and disobedience to God’s commands (7:59, 11:25-26, 71:1). He also, repeatedly, asks his people to plead God’s forgiveness so that God may forgive their sins (71:7), extend their lives (71:4, 71:10), and shower them with His many blessings, including wealth and children (71:11-12).
The community’s social elite and affluent tell Prophet Noah (a) he is in manifest error (7:60), that he is just human like them (23:24), and no one follows him except the simple-minded riff-raff (11:27, 26:111). That he has no merit and that he is a liar (23:26) who merely seeks to dominate over them (23:34). They also argue that his message is a lie because we have never heard of such a thing among our forefathers (23:24). Prophet Noah (a) defines these demagogues as someone whose wealth and children only add to his loss (71:21).
Prophet Noah (a) assures his people that he is not in error but a prophet of God (7:61), that he communicates God’s messages to them and is a well-wisher, and that he knows from God what they do not know (7:62, 11:28). He further tries reasoning with his people, asking them why they find it odd that a man amongst them would come to warn them, though all he is doing is advising them so that they may become God-wary and receive God’s mercy (7:63). He assures them that he seeks no reward from them, for his reward lies only with God (10:72, 11:29, 26:109).
The people of Prophet Noah (a) refuse to listen and they reject him (7:64). He summons them day and night (71:5), aloud (71:8), in public and in private (71:9), but to no avail. They continue to evade him (71:6), covering their heads, putting their fingers in their ears, and persisting in their arrogant refusal to listen (71:7). The same evasion is seen in the case of the pagans of Mecca (11:5, 41:26, 63:5) and hypocrites in Medina (33:13) with Prophet Muhammad (s).
Prophet Noah (a) then attempts to appeal to their sense of nobility, asking them to venerate God (71:13) and consider His beneficence to them in how He had created them (71:14), the heavens above (71:15), and the sun and the moon (71:16). He urges them to reflect on their own growth and nurturing (71:17) until they return to Him (71:18). He reminds them of blessings they take for granted, like the earth that holds them and whose resources they enjoy, and across which they are able to move and travel (71:19-20) thereby dominating over all other species.
In refuting their unreasonable demands for proof, Prophet Noah (a) tells them he never claimed to possess the treasures of God, or know the unseen, or to be an angel (11:31). The Quran repeatedly speaks of prophets asking their people to believe on the basis of reason and intellectual proof, summoning them to self-reform whilst asking them to evaluate the message they brought, and to reflect on God’s signs around them rather than to believe on the basis of miracles; for miracles alone do not bring conviction (6:111).
Prophet Noah (a) is clear that he does not seek to force guidance on them if they are averse to it (11:28), and that his exhortations will not benefit them if God wishes to consign them to perversity, much as he may seek to exhort them (11:34).
At first, they call him crazy (54:9) and say he is just a madman who should be ignored and tolerated for a little while (23:25). But then they perceive him as a threat. They plot against him an outrageous plot (71:22). Clinging to their stubbornness, the elite ask the people not to abandon their gods: Wadd, Suwāʿ, Yaghūth, Yaʿūq, and Nasr (71:23), amongst other Babylonian gods. They even threaten to stone Prophet Noah (a) to death (26:116). Indeed, they often do beat him up and leave him bleeding and injured (see Insights from Hadith for verse 26).
Tired of the constant persecution, Prophet Noah (a) tells his people to do their worst. He proclaims his trust in God (10:71) and calls them an ignorant lot (11:29). At one point, Prophet Noah (a) cries out to God: I am overcome, help me! (54:10), My Lord! Help me! They call me a liar! (23:26).
The faithless now tell Prophet Noah (a) that they are fed up with his preaching and constant admonition, and that you have disputed with us exceedingly. Now bring us what you threaten us with should you be truthful (11:32), meaning the punishment from God.
Prophet Noah (a) was known to be a pillar of patience and steadfastness. As Makārim Shīrāzī notes, after 950 years, Prophet Noah (a) is said to have got only eighty converts, which on average means he preached twelve years for every one adherent. But concerned with the spread of their wickedness, Prophet Noah (a) now asks God to punish them (71:24, 71:26-28).
After years of preaching, summoning, and pleading to his people to obey God and their refusal to do so, it becomes clear to Prophet Noah (a) that nothing will now change their attitude. And God confirms this to Noah (a) as well: It was revealed to Noah: ‘None of your people will believe except those who already have faith; so do not sorrow for what they used to do’ (11:36). The words so do not sorrow hints at Prophet Noah’s (a) compassion for his people, and that he grieved over their refusal to listen to him, much like Prophet Muhammad (s), who is told: you are liable to imperil your life for their sake, if they should not believe this discourse, out of grief (18:6). (See also 26:3).
God now asks Noah (a) to build an ark under His guidance (before Our eyes) and to stop pleading with them, for the wrongdoers will drown (11:37, 23:27). The faithless are described as a blind lot who deny God’s signs (7:64).
And even as Prophet Noah (a) built the ark, whenever the elite and community elders passed by they would mock and ridicule him (11:38) and his small group of followers. Once the ark was ready, Prophet Noah (a) is then commanded by God to carry in it a pair of every animal as well as his family and those who had faith (11:40, 23:27). The only exception to his family being his disobedient wife (66:10) and his rebellious son (11:42-43) who refuses to board the ark.
The start of the flood is described as an opening of the gates of the sky and a gushing of the oven (54:11, 11:40), meaning a torrential downpour from the skies. And as the earth burst forth with springs, the two waters met for a preordained purpose (54:12).
The ark is discussed at length in 11:37-44. It is mentioned as al-fulk in 7:64, 10:73, 11:37, 11:38, and 36:41; al-safīnah in 29:15; and al-jāriyah in 69:11. But it is not mentioned at all in this surah, perhaps to underline the severity of this particular account, since it does not emphasise the salvation provided by God (which the ark represents) in the way that the accounts in other surahs do.
In one verse, the ark is referred to merely as a vessel made of planks and nails (54:13), perhaps to highlight to the listener the vessel’s frailty, and that it was not the ark that saved them but God, who carried the vessel made of planks and nails through waves that rose like mountains (11:42). And in this is a lesson for all mankind to place their reliance on God and not the apparent causes they use to gain safety or convenience (43:13).
And thus the ark, just as it was built before God’s sight (11:37, 23:27), so did it sail before God’s eyes (54:14). The Quran also attests to it being left as a sign for one who heeds to admonishment (54:15) and for all the nations (29:15).
Prophet Noah (a) asks the faithful to board the ark in God’s name (11:41). And God tells him that when he is settled in the ark, to praise his Lord, saying: All praise belongs to Allah who has delivered us from the wrongdoing lot (23:28). This is a reminder to all who come after, to always remain conscious of God’s favours, and to place their trust in Him, and not fear anyone or anything when God is their protector. And so the ark sails with them amidst waves rising like mountains (11:42). And in its midst, Prophet Noah (a) still calls out to his rebellious son, pleading him to board the ark (11:42). But he refuses and continues to argue arrogantly that he would ascend the tallest mountain, despite Prophet Noah (a) telling him there was no safe place that would remain. Then a wave comes between them and the boy drowns (11:43).
As the faithless drown, they are made to enter a fire and there is none to help them besides God (71:25). Prophet Noah (a) asks God to ensure none of the faithless are left on the earth (71:26), because otherwise they would only beget other vicious ingrates (71:27). He prays for himself and his parents and the faithful men and women, and once again asks God to increase the faithless in ruin (71:28).
The faithful who followed Prophet Noah (a) and board the ark are saved (7:64, 26:119, 29:15) and become the flood’s survivors and the successors thereafter (10:73, 37:77). And the faithless are all drowned (11:120) without exception (21:77, 37:82, 71:26).
As the waters begin to subside, Prophet Noah (a) prays: My Lord, land me with a blessed landing, for You are the best of those who bring ashore (23:29).
God commands the earth to swallow the water upon it and the skies to hold off. And the ark settles on Mount Judi (11:44).
Once again, we witness Prophet Noah’s (a) soft-heartedness. He calls out to his Lord lamenting the death of his son (11:45), but God reminds him that his son was not worthy of his family as he was of unrighteous conduct (11:46). In this, perhaps, was a lesson for the generations to come, that lineage or marital ties will not avail one who is unrighteous, though he or she be related to a prophet of God.
Prophet Noah (a) is humble before God. He asks for forgiveness for having questioned his son’s drowning (11:47) and God blesses him and gives him hope for a new life and a new start for mankind, asking him to disembark in peace and with blessings on him and those with him, and the nations that follow. But He also warns them that for those who shall once again transgress a painful punishment will also befall them (11:48).
God also praises how He never fails to help those who call out to Him: Certainly Noah called out to Us and how excellent We are at responding. We delivered him and his family from the great agony (37:75-76). This is akin to the calling out of Prophet Jonah (a) from the belly of the fish, which God also recounts: So We answered his prayer and delivered him from the agony and thus do We deliver the faithful (21:88). This is God’s promise: Then We shall deliver our apostles and those who have faith. This is a must for Us to deliver the faithful (10:103); Your Lord has said: ‘Call Me and I will respond to you!’ (40:60).
Prophet Noah (a) preached to his people for 950 years before the flood (29:14). Not much is said of the life of Prophet Noah (a) after the deluge though traditions account for him a life that would suggest he lived as long, if not more, after the deluge. But the intent of the Quran is never to merely record history; it is to provide guidance and moments of learning and realisation: Whatever We relate to you of the accounts of the apostles are those by which We strengthen your heart, and there has come to you in this the truth and advice and admonition for the faithful (11:120). And this is why the same ideas are repeated for every prophet, with similar arguments and contentions by their people, so that those who read these accounts may reflect on the common human tendencies, learn from them, and then change their ways and turn to God in submission, placing their trust in Him even when few in number.
Nasr as well notes that:
‘Although the Biblical account provides details about the construction of the ark [Genesis 6:12–16] and Noah’s life after the flood [Genesis 9], the Quran focuses almost entirely upon Noah’s function as a warner who called his people to guidance and their subsequent rejection of him. The flood with which God punishes those who opposed Noah is mentioned or alluded to in most of the accounts, but it receives no more than one line in any of them. This indicates that God’s Punishment is not the focus of the Quranic account; instead, like accounts of other prophets, such as Abraham and Jesus, the Quranic account of Noah emphasises God’s Mercy and Guidance.’
Of all the prophets of God, believed to number 124,000, five are considered as the resolute (ulū al-ʿazm) among the messengers (46:35), and these are Noah (a), Abraham (a), Moses (a), Jesus (a), and Muhammad (s).
Prophet Noah (a) is also regarded as the first messenger (rasūl) amongst the prophets (anbiyāʾ), meaning a prophet who was given a set of laws (sharīʿah) from God for people to follow, and that was passed down and upheld by the prophets after him (42:13, 4:163). Prophet Noah (a) is therefore held with immense regard in Islam. The five Resolute Messengers (ulū al-ʿazm) are also mentioned individually in 42:13, as major promulgators of divine legislation (sharīʿah).
Some verses do speak of the people of Prophet Noah (a) rejecting messengers (rusul) (25:37, 26:105), but exegetes still regard Prophet Noah (a) as the first rasūl amongst prophets. The words called the messengers liars is also said for other nations such as ʿĀd, the people of Prophet Hūd (a) (26:123), Thamūd, the people of Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (26:141), the people of Prophet Lot (a) (26:160), and the inhabitants of Aykah to whom Prophet Shuʿayb (a) was sent (26:176).
Such verses can have two possible meanings. First, that there were other prophets sent before the individual (and most prominent) prophet or apostle that the Quran names. This is proven by verses such as: ʿĀd and Thamūd, when the apostles came to them, before them and in their own time, saying: ‘Worship no one except Allah!’ (41:13-14), and mention [Hūd] the brother of ʿĀd, when he warned his people at Aḥqāf – and warners have passed before and after him – saying: ‘Do not worship anyone but Allah’ (46:21).
And second, that such verses are a reference to a category rather than specific individuals, meaning, the people of Prophet Noah (a) who called the messengers liars (26:105) did not do so to individual messengers, but in calling Prophet Noah (a) a liar they belied all messengers after, since he represented God’s messengership.
Furthermore, every messenger (rasūl) prophesies the coming of messengers (rusul) after him, as do latter messengers affirm those who came before them (3:81). Muslims too are asked to proclaim their faith in all the prophets before the Prophet of Islam (2:285). So when Prophet Noah’s (a) people rejected his prophecy concerning other messengers after him, they, in essence, belied all the messengers.
Prophet Noah (a) is also seen employing reasoning and logical proofs in guiding his people (cf. 71:14-20), in addition to delivering God’s revelation. Qurṭubī believes, like Prophet Muhammad (s), Prophet Noah (a) too was sent to the entire world and not to a specific people, and therefore, when the faithless were drowned, it covered all on the earth. But this is not supported in the understanding of many modern Muslim exegetes. For more on this, see the Review of Tafsīr Literature for verse 26.
Prophet Noah (a) is lauded with the words, And We left for him a good name amongst posterity (37:78). The Quran refers to him as a grateful servant (17:3), a trusted apostle (26:107), virtuous (37:80), indeed one of Our faithful servants (37:81), and one of those whom God chose above all nations (3:33).
Other prophets are also described with the words, and We left for him a good name amongst posterity (Abraham (a) (37:108) and Elijah (a) (37:129)); being virtuous (Abraham (a) (37:110), Moses (a) and Aaron (a) (37:121), Elijah (a) (37:131)); and, he is indeed of Our faithful servants (Abraham (a) (37:111), Moses (a) and Aaron (a) (37:121), Elijah (a) (37:132)). But for Prophet Noah (a) alone is said: Peace to Noah, throughout the nations! (37:79). For the rest, it is only said, Peace be to Abraham! (37:109), Peace be to Moses and Aaron! (37:120), and Peace be to Elijah! (37:130).
THE SURAH’S MESSAGE
The story of Prophet Noah (a) serves a dual purpose: it reminds the Meccan pagans that God’s mercy is unlimited, and that as long there is any hope that even one of them will find guidance, His Prophet will continue to preach to them; and in the end, it is only God’s Messenger and the faithful that will have the upper hand: Allah has ordained: ‘I shall surely prevail, I and My apostles.’ Indeed Allah is all-strong, all-mighty (58:21). And on the other hand, it consoles the Holy Prophet, comforting and inspiring him that messengers before him met with similar defiance and rejection.
The arguments of the faithless amongst the people of all past prophets were the same as those of the people of Prophet Noah (a), attesting to the predictable reaction of wrongdoers when guidance is presented to them.
It always begins with a prophet of God asking them to return to the worship of one God only and to give up idolatry and unrighteous ways (23:23, 23:32, 71:3).
Those who oppose the prophets and lead the community in opposition are always the affluent and the social elite of the community – the demagogues – as they have the most to lose politically, socially, and economically (7:60, 7:66, 7:75, 7:88).
The most common arguments to dissuade others from heeding the words of God’s prophets, are:
- These are but human like us, so they could not have been sent by God: Prophet Noah (a) (7:63, 11:27, 23:24), Prophet Moses (a) and Prophet Aaron (a) (23:47), Prophet Shuʿayb (a) (26:186), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (26:154, 54:24), Prophet Muhammad (s) (17:94), and other prophets (14:10, 21:3, 23:33-34, 36:15, 64:6).
- Had God wanted to guide us He would send angels, or, these people who claim prophethood would have been accompanied by angels: Prophet Noah (a) (11:31, 23:24), Prophet Hūd (a) and Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (41:14), Prophet Moses (a) (43:53), and Prophet Muhammad (s) (6:8-9, 6:50, 6:111, 11:12, 15:7, 25:7, 25:21).
- The prophets are liars: Prophet Noah (a) (11:27, 23:26), Prophet Moses (a) and Prophet Aaron (a) (23:48, 40:24), Prophet Shuʿayb (11:93, 26:176, 26:186), Prophet Hūd (a) (26:123), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (26:141, 54:25), Prophet Lot (a) (26:160), Prophet Muhammad (s) (34:8, 34:43, 35:4, 38:4), and other prophets (6:34, 22:42, 23:38-39, 38:12-14).
- The prophets are madmen: Prophet Noah (a) (7:184, 23:25, 54:9), Prophet Moses (a) (26:27, 51:39), Prophet Muhammad (s) (7:184, 15:6, 23:70, 34:8, 37:36, 44:14, 52:29, 68:2, 68:51, 81:22), and other prophets (51:52).
- The prophets are bewitched and what they bring as signs from God is nothing but magic: Prophet Moses (a) (7:109, 7:132, 10:76-77, 17:101, 20:57, 20:63, 26:34-35, 27:13, 28:36, 28:48, 40:24, 43:49. 51:39), Prophet Shuʿayb (a) (26:185), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (26:153), Prophet Jesus (a) (5:110), Prophet Muhammad (s) (6:7, 10:2, 11:7, 17:47, 25:8, 34:43, 37:15, 38:4, 43:30, 46:7, 52:29, 74:24, 52:29, 54:2, 61:6), and other prophets (21:3, 51:52).
- Prophet Muhammad (s) is a poet or was taught by another man (16:103, 21:5, 37:36, 52:30, 69:41).
- Challenging the prophets to invoke God’s wrath of which they warn, if they be truthful: Prophet Noah (a) (11:32), Prophet Hūd (a) (7:70, 46:22), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (7:77), Prophet Lot (a) (29:29), and Prophet Muhammad (s) (8:32, 22:47, 29:53-54).
- Challenging the prophets to prove their truth by demonstrating very specific and unreasonable miracles: Prophet Noah (a) (11:31), Prophet Moses (a) (43:53), and Prophet Muhammad (s) (3:183, 6:50, 6:111, 11:12, 17:90-93, 25:8, 44:36, 45:25).
- The prophets are neither wealthy nor of the elite in society; only the poor and the downtrodden follow them: Prophet Noah (a) (11:27, 26:111), Prophet Saul (a) (2:247), and Prophet Muhammad (s) (43:31).
- We found our forefathers doing what we do, so we follow them. These prophets have come to cause mischief and change our traditions: Prophet Noah (a) (23:24), Prophet Hūd (a) (7:70), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (11:62), Prophet Shuʿayb (a) (11:87), Prophet Abraham (a) (21:53, 26:74), Prophet Moses (a) and Prophet Aaron (a) (10:78, 28:36), Prophet Muhammad (s) (5:104, 7:28, 31:21, 34:43, 43:22), and other prophets (2:170, 14:10, 34:43, 43:23).
- All the prophets tell their people they seek no reward for what they preach. They only wish to guide them back to God: Prophet Noah (a) (10:72, 11:29, 26:109), Prophet Hūd (a) (11:51, 26:127), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (26:145), Prophet Lot (a) (26:164), Prophet Shuʿayb (a) (26:180), and Prophet Muhammad (s) (34:47).
In the end, God always saves the prophet and the small group of faithful with him, and the faithless are destroyed: Prophet Noah (a) (7:64, 26:119), Prophet Hūd (a) (7:72), Prophet Lot (a) (7:83), Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) (11:66), and Prophet Shuʿayb (a) (11:94).
The story of Prophet Noah (a), therefore, becomes a prototype for subsequent prophets and their communities, and history repeats itself with the same cycle of prophets warning their people, the community rejecting their message (except for a few), and then facing divine wrath. The Quran relates stories with precisely this in mind – that mankind should learn from history and reflect on the eventual outcome of these past communities.
Other messages in the surah include:
- Istighfār (pleading God’s forgiveness) is the primary means of purifying oneself from past misdeeds (verse 4) as well as inviting present and future divine blessings (verses 11-12). The forgiveness of God is repeatedly mentioned in this surah, both with Prophet Noah (a) asking his people to repent (verses 4, 7, and 10), as well Prophet Noah (a) himself asking for God’s forgiveness (verse 28).
- The virtues of perseverance: Prophet Noah’s (a) steadfastness and patience are implicitly threaded throughout the surah. It is most admirable and is meant to inspire all who wish to serve the cause of God.
- There is also a message of selflessness throughout the surah. Prophet Noah’s (a) greatest pain is that people will not take the guidance he is offering. He seems unmindful of his own suffering. At no point, in his extensive lamentations, does he complain of his own anguish. Even when he finally prays for his people’s destruction, it is only to stop them from leading others astray (verse 27).
- The surah also brings to mankind’s attention that for one who seeks the truth, there are signs all around (verses 14-20), and one does not need a miracle to know God.
- Other unspoken messages in the surah include the fact that if one perseveres for God’s sake, he or she is never forsaken by God. And though one may have to suffer physical pain or the jeering and mocking of others for an extended period, God and His servants always triumph in the end.
Besides being one of the bearers of good news and warners (4:165), the primary reasons for which Prophet Noah (a) was sent to his people include the same reasons why all other prophets were sent: so that mankind may not have any argument against Allah, after [the sending of] the apostles (4:165) and so that mankind may maintain justice (57:25).
Other goals the apostles strove for include purifying people spiritually and teaching them the book (62:2), removing the shackles of superstitions and wrong beliefs that hold humans captive (7:157), and perfecting human character, as given in the popular prophetic narration: ‘I was sent to complete the nobility of character (makārim al-akhlāq).’ And with all these goals, says Makārim Shīrāzī, the apostles of God sought to influence humans in their values, culture, ethics, and all political and social issues.
PROPHET NOAH (A) IN OTHER TRADITIONS
Christian Views
Noah (a) is believed to have lived in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) from approximately 2900 bc to approximately 2000 bc. The Biblical story of Noah (a) is contained in chapters 6-9 of the Book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the deluge by constructing an ark.
In his five-hundredth year, Noah (a) had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen. 5:32, 6:10). In his six-hundredth year, God, saddened at the wickedness of mankind, sent a great deluge to destroy all life, but instructed Noah (a), a man righteous in his generation, to build an ark and save a remnant of life from the deluge. After the deluge, ‘Noah (a) was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard and he drank of the wine’. Noah’s (a) son Ham saw his father’s nakedness when Noah (a) was drunk, so Noah (a) cursed Ham’s son, Canaan, giving his land to Shem (Gen. 9:20-27).
Noah’s (a) three sons were generally interpreted in medieval Christianity as the founders of the populations of the three known continents: Japheth (Europe), Shem (Asia), and Ham (Africa), although a rarer variation held that they represented the three classes of medieval society: the priests (Shem), the warriors (Japheth), and the peasants (Ham). In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the view that Ham’s sons (the Africans) had been literally ‘blackened’ by the curse of Noah (a) was cited as justification for black slavery, perhaps with the following verses in mind:
‘And he (Noah) said, Cursed be Canaan (the son of Ham); a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.’
Noah (a) died 350 years after the deluge, at the age of 950 (Gen. 9:28-29), the tenth and the last of the immensely long-lived antediluvian patriarchs (or ‘rulers before the flood’). The maximum human lifespan, as depicted by the Bible, diminishes rapidly thereafter, from as much as 900 years to the 120 years of Moses (a).
The Gospel of Luke compares Noah’s (a) deluge with the coming Day of Judgement: ‘Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.’ Noah (a) is called a preacher of righteousness in 2 Peter 2:5, and the First Epistle of Peter compares the saving power of baptism with the ark saving those who were in it. In later Christian thought, the ark came to be compared to the Church: salvation was to be found only within Christ and his lordship, as in Noah’s (a) time it had been found only within the ark. In Muslim traditions, the Prophet Muhammad (s) is reported to have said: ‘The similitude of my household is like that of the ark of Noah (a). One who boards it will be saved and one who turns away from it will be drowned and destroyed.’
The equation of ark and Church is still found in the Anglican rite of baptism, which asks God: ‘Who of Thy great mercy didst save Noah (a),’ to receive into the Church the infant about to be baptised.
In Latter-day Saint theology, the angel Gabriel lived in his mortal life as the patriarch Noah (a). Gabriel and Noah (a) are regarded as the same individual; Noah (a) being his mortal name and Gabriel being his heavenly name.
Jewish Views
The righteousness of Noah (a) is the subject of much discussion among the Rabbis. The description of Noah (a) as perfect in his generation is seen as implying that his perfection was only relative, since his generation was mostly of wicked people. They point out that Noah (a) did not pray to God on behalf of those about to be destroyed, as Abraham (a) had prayed for the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah. This has led Jewish commentators to offer the figure of Noah (a) as ‘the man in a fur coat’ who ensured his own comfort while ignoring his neighbour.
And, in fact, the Book of Genesis is seen as containing two accounts of Noah (a). The first account makes Noah (a) the hero of the deluge and the second father of mankind, with whom God made a covenant; and the second account represents Noah (a) as a husbandman who planted a vineyard. The disparity of character between these two narratives has caused some Jewish critics to insist that the subject of the latter account was not the same as the subject of the former. Those who criticise Noah (a) the husbandman believe the statement at Genesis 5:29 that Lamech named his son ‘Noah’, saying, ‘Out of the ground which the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands’ was because Noah (a) was the inventor of wine. Depressed with all the devastation that he witnessed after the deluge, he is believed to have taken to consuming wine and thereby introducing this evil to others. In Muslim traditions (which some may regard as modified Isrāʾīliyyāt from this Biblical notion), when the water subsided, Prophet Noah (a) was depressed at witnessing all the devastation. God asked him to consume black grapes to alleviate his depression. In other accounts, God first reminds Prophet Noah (a) that this was the result of his own curse on his people and thereafter prescribes black grapes to him.
Others, such as the medieval commentator Rashi, held on to the contrary, that the building of the ark was stretched over 120 years, deliberately, to give sinners time to repent. Rashi interprets Lamech’s statement of the naming of Noah (a) in Genesis 5:29 by saying Noah (a) heralded a new era of prosperity, when there was easing from the curse from the time of Adam (a), when the earth produced thorns and thistles even where men sowed wheat; and that Noah (a) then introduced the plough.
In other words, Noah (a) obtained his name, which means rest, only after he had invented implements for tilling the ground, which, owing to the lack of such implements, had yielded only thorns and thistles (cf. Gen. 3:18). In this manner, Noah (a) brought rest to mankind and to the earth itself. Other reasons for this name given by the Rabbis, include: Noah (a) restored man’s rule over everything, just as it had been before Adam (a) sinned, thus setting mankind at rest. Formerly, the water used to inundate the graves so that the corpses floated out; but when Noah (a) was born, the water subsided. Noah (a) is believed to have been born circumcised.
Noah (a) is also believed to have compiled a book of medicinal plants that was transmitted from one generation to another until it was translated into many languages, copies of it coming into the hands of the most famous physicians of India and Greece, who derived from it their medical knowledge.
The Judeo-Christian tradition also believes that Noah (a) should have lived a thousand years but he gave Moses (a) fifty years, which, together with the seventy taken from Adam’s (a) life, constituted Moses’s (a) 120 years. Noah (a) therefore lived for 950 years.
In Greek Mythology
Noah (a) is also often compared to Deucalion, the son of Prometheus and Pronoia in Greek mythology. Like Noah (a) in the Hebrew Bible, Deucalion is a winemaker or wine seller; he is forewarned of the deluge by Zeus; he builds an ark and staffs it with creatures; and when he completes his voyage, gives thanks and takes advice from the gods on how to repopulate the earth. Deucalion also sends a pigeon to find out about the situation of the world and the bird returns with an olive branch. This and some other examples of apparent comparison between Greek myths and the key characters in the Hebrew Bible have led some Biblical scholars to suggest a Hellenistic influence in the composition of the earlier portions of the Hebrew Bible. One could alternatively suggest the reverse, that what is regarded as Greek mythology is the story of prophets and apostles who in time were seen as gods by their people.
[1] As were the Children of Israel (17:3). [2] See Alusi, 15/76. [3] See Genesis 5:4-29. [4] Isrāʾīliyyāt: Literally ‘of the Israelites’. A common term used to refer to reports and hadith that are clearly of foreign import, taken from Jewish sources and even Christianity and Zoroastrianism. Such narratives appear frequently in early Quran commentaries, Sufi narratives, and history compilations. Muslim scholars would quote them either to provide more details on early prophets, or to even criticise and discuss them in light of the Quran’s verses on the same subject. [5] Bihar, 15/105; Manaqib, 1/134. [6] Nur, 5/461, from Kamal. [7] John the Baptist in the Bible. [8] Mizan, 10/198. [9] Alusi, 15/76. [10] Alusi, 15/76. [11] Alusi, 15/76; Qummi, 1/328. [12] Ilal, 1/28; Wasail, 15/224-5, h. 20336-7. [13] Alusi, 15/76. [14] Bihar, 11/286. [15] Bihar, 11/286-7. [16] Alusi, 15/76, quoting from Ḥākim’s Mustadrak. Ālūsī himself doubts its veracity. [17] Jazāʾirī, al-Nūr al-Mubīn, p. 113. [18] Bihar, 11/289. [19] Kafi, 8/284, h. 429. [20] Kafi, 8/285, h. 430, for example. [21] Kafi, 8/280, h. 421. [22] Kashif, 7/424. [23] As mentioned in many salutations (ziyārāt) of Imam Ali (a) in books of supplications such as Qummī’s Mafātīḥ al-Jinān. See also Tahdhib, 6/10, 34, h. 12; Wasail, 14/27, 286, h. 19438. [24] Nemuneh, 25/66. [25] Nasr, p. 1425. [26] Nasr, p. 1421. [27] Qurtubi, 13/31; Razi, 24/520. [28] Qurtubi, 13/119. [29] Qurtubi, 18/298. [30] Bihar, 71/373. [31] Nemuneh, 23/372. [32] Genesis 9:25-27. [33] The Antediluvian (or pre-diluvian) period – meaning ‘before the deluge’ – is the period referred to in the Bible between the creation of the earth and the deluge. [34] Luke 17:26. [35] Mustadrak.S, 3/163, h. 4720; Amali.S, 269, h. 18; Amali.T, 60/88; Baghdadi, 12/91, from Anas ibn Mālik; Faraid, 2/242, h. 516, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī. [36] Encyclopedia of Mormonism – ‘Noah’ (http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Noah). [37] JewishEncyclopedia.com – ‘Noah’. [38] Genesis 6:9. [39] Barqi, 2/548; Wasail, 25/150, h. 31481. [40] Kafi, 6/250, h. 2. [41] Jewishencyclopedia.com – ‘Noah’. [42] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah (under Scholarly views).