qur’an stories

Nuh, peace be upon him, called his people to worship God alone for nearly a thousand years. He spoke to them in public and in private, by night and by day. Most of them turned away. Then God told him to build a ship on dry land, and the mockery only grew louder.

This is day five of our Qur’an Stories series. We follow the verses on Quran.com and the explanation of Ibn Kathir. This post covers Nuh’s call and the building of the Ark. The Flood itself is the next story in the series. This is a reflection on meaning, not a ruling.

Where the story appears

The call: night and day, open and secret

Surah Nuh opens with God sending Nuh to “warn your people before there comes to them a painful punishment” (71:1). His message was simple: “worship Allah, fear Him and obey me”, with a promise attached: “He will forgive you of your sins” (71:3-4).

Then Nuh tells God, in his own words, how he went about it. “My Lord, indeed I invited my people night and day. But my invitation increased them not except in flight” (71:5-6). Every time he called them, “they put their fingers in their ears, covered themselves with their garments, persisted, and were arrogant” (71:7). So he changed his approach. “Then I invited them publicly. Then I announced to them and also confided to them secretly” (71:8-9).

He even spoke to their worldly hopes: ask forgiveness, and God would “send rain from the sky upon you” and “give you increase in wealth and children” (71:10-12).

Ibn Kathir explains that Nuh “presented the clear call… and the comprehensive invitation in various ways”, sometimes by encouragement and sometimes by warning. Nuh adapted his method; he never changed his message.

The leaders’ objections

The Qur’an gives the chiefs’ arguments in their own words, and they still sound familiar. “We do not see you but as a man like ourselves,” they said, “and we do not see you followed except by those who are the lowest of us” (11:27). Elsewhere: “if Allah had willed to send a messenger, He would have sent down angels. We have not heard of this among our forefathers” (23:24).

Nuh’s answer was gentle and firm. He would not drive away the poor believers: “I am not one to drive away the believers. I am only a clear warner” (26:114-115). He asked them for nothing: “I do not ask you for it any payment. My payment is only from the Lord of the worlds” (26:109). He would not force faith on anyone: “should we force it upon you while you are averse to it?” (11:28).

In the end the leaders dared him: “bring us what you threaten us, if you should be of the truthful” (11:32). They threatened him too: “If you do not desist, O Noah, you will surely be of those who are stoned” (26:116).

The idols of Nuh’s people

Nuh’s complaint names the idols his people refused to leave: “Never leave Wadd or Suwa’ or Yaghuth and Ya’uq and Nasr” (71:23). Ibn Kathir cites a report in Sahih al-Bukhari from Ibn ‘Abbas (Bukhari 4920): these “were all named after righteous men from the people of Nuh”. After those men died, people made images to remember them, and later generations came to worship them.

The worship of idols began not with hatred of good people but with exaggerated love for them.

950 years

Surah al-‘Ankabut says Nuh “remained among them a thousand years minus fifty years” (29:14). Ibn Kathir explains that God told this to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as consolation. If Nuh kept calling for so long with so few responding, a caller today shouldn’t despair at slow results.

Ibn Kathir also reports a view from Ibn ‘Abbas that Nuh was sent at forty and lived some years after the Flood. Scholars report different figures for his total age. The Qur’an’s own figure is the time he spent among his people, and that is the one we rely on here.

“Construct the ship”

At last the waiting ended. God revealed: “No one will believe from your people except those who have already believed, so do not be distressed by what they have been doing. And construct the ship under Our observation and Our inspiration” (11:36-37). Ibn Kathir explains “under Our eyes” as “under Our vision”, and “Our revelation” as “We will teach you what to do”.

So Nuh built a ship far from any sea. “Whenever an assembly of the eminent of his people passed by him, they ridiculed him.” He replied: “If you ridicule us, then we will ridicule you just as you ridicule. And you are going to know who will get a punishment that will disgrace him” (11:38-39).

Lessons for the heart

• Keep calling, change the method. Nuh tried public and private, hope and warning.
• Don’t measure truth by who follows it. The chiefs mocked the believers for being poor, and Nuh refused to turn them away.
• Sincerity asks for nothing. “My payment is only from the Lord of the worlds.”

What comes next

The next story in the series turns to the Flood itself: the boarding, Nuh’s son, and the ship coming to rest. Until then, browse the full Qur’an Stories series, or go back to the first story, Iblis and Adam.