Nuh

A messenger to his people

Nuh's people had turned away from Allah (﷾). They worshipped idols, and would not give them up. The Qur'an names five of them: Wadd, Suwa', Yaghuth, Ya'uq and Nasr. Qur’an 71:23

Ibn Abbas, a Companion of the Prophet (ﷺ), explained how it began. These were the names of righteous men. When they died, people set up statues where they used to sit, and named the statues after them. Nobody worshipped the statues at first. But when that generation had gone, and the reason was forgotten, people began to worship them. Sahih al-Bukhari 4920↗

So Allah (﷾) sent Nuh to his people, with the message every prophet brought: Qur’an 11:25Qur’an 21:25

He asked them for nothing in return: his reward, he said, was with Allah (﷾) alone. He did not claim to be an angel, or to hold Allah's (﷾) treasures. He was a man from among them, bringing a message and sincere advice. Qur’an 11:29Qur’an 11:31Qur’an 7:62

Night and day, for 950 years

Nuh did not give up. He tried every way to reach them. Later he told his Lord:

Every time he called them, they put their fingers in their ears and covered themselves with their clothes, so as not to hear him. So he called them aloud. He spoke to them in public, and he spoke to them in private. Qur’an 71:7Qur’an 71:8–9

And he brought them good news. If they turned back to Allah (﷾), He would forgive them:

Allah (﷾) would bless them in this world too. He would send them plenty of rain, and give them wealth and children, gardens and rivers. Qur’an 71:11–12

Year after year he called. The Qur'an tells us how long he stayed among them:

Nine hundred and fifty years. Still the chiefs called him a liar. They said only the lowest people followed him, and they wanted him to drive those humble believers away. Nuh refused. The believers would meet their Lord, he said, and who would help him against Allah (﷾) if he drove them away? Qur’an 11:27Qur’an 11:29–30Qur’an 26:111–114

The ark

In the end, Allah (﷾) told Nuh that no more of his people would believe, beyond those who already had. He was not to grieve over what they did. Then came a command: Qur’an 11:36

Nuh set to work, guided by Allah (﷾). His people found it a joke:

Nuh kept building. He told them that soon they would know the truth for themselves. A man who has called his people for 950 years does not stop because they laugh. Qur’an 11:38–39

The flood, and a father's call

Then Allah's (﷾) command came. Water gushed up from the earth and poured down from the sky. Allah (﷾) told Nuh to take on board a pair of every kind, his family, except those already judged, and the believers. The Qur'an adds that only a few believed with him. Qur’an 11:40Qur’an 54:11–12

Nuh told them to board with the name of Allah (﷾):

The ark sailed on waves like mountains. Nuh saw his son standing apart, and he called out to him, as any father would: Qur’an 11:42

His son would not come. He said he would climb a mountain, and it would keep him safe from the water. Nuh answered him: Qur’an 11:43

Then a wave came between them, and the son was among those the flood overcame. Those who had rejected Allah's (﷾) messenger were lost. They had been given 950 years to turn back. Qur’an 11:43Qur’an 7:64Qur’an 29:14

The ark comes to rest

Then Allah (﷾) gave His word, and the flood was over:

Al-Judi is the mountain where the ark came to rest. The Qur'an names it, and says no more about it.

A father's prayer

Nuh's heart was still with his son. Allah (﷾) had promised to save his family. So he turned to his Lord: Qur’an 11:40

Allah (﷾) answered him with the truth. His son was not of his family, because his deeds were not righteous. The family Allah (﷾) had promised to save was the family of faith. And Allah (﷾) counselled Nuh not to ask for something he had no knowledge of. Qur’an 11:46Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, on 11:46

Nuh did not argue. He accepted at once, and turned to Allah (﷾) for forgiveness and mercy:

His prayer came from a father's love. His answer came from a believer's trust: he put Allah's (﷾) knowledge above his own wishes. Then Allah (﷾) told him to come down from the ark:

The first messenger

Nuh holds a special place among the prophets. Adam was the first prophet. Nuh, the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, was the first messenger Allah (﷾) sent to the people of the earth. Sahih al-Bukhari 4476↗Adam

Allah (﷾) chose him, as He chose Adam and the families of Ibrahim (Abraham) and Imran. The Qur'an calls him a most grateful servant, and sends him peace for all time: Qur’an 3:33Qur’an 17:3

He is one of the messengers of firm resolve, the ones who showed the greatest patience. The Qur'an tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to be patient as they were. In two places it names five messengers together: Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad (ﷺ). Most scholars count these five as the messengers of firm resolve. And the religion Allah (﷾) gave Nuh is the same religion He gave them all. Qur’an 46:35Qur’an 33:7Qur’an 42:13Which prophets are named in the Qur'an?

The Prophet (ﷺ) said that on the Day of Resurrection, people will look for someone to ask Allah (﷾) on their behalf. They will go to Adam, and then to Nuh, and then to other great prophets. Each will say he is not the one for it, until they come to Muhammad (ﷺ). Sahih al-Bukhari 4476↗

How the Bible tells it differently

The Bible tells Noah's story in Genesis, chapters 6 to 9. The heart of it is the same: a flood, an ark, and a righteous man saved with those on board. But some details are different. Muslims believe that Allah (﷾) revealed the Torah to Musa, and the Injil to Isa: the Gospel Jesus himself preached in his lifetime. The Injil is not the New Testament. The four New Testament Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, were written by others, decades after Jesus was raised up. None of them names its author: the names were attached later. And the Torah we have today is not exactly as it was revealed. So where the Bible tells a story just as the Qur'an does, we believe it. Where it differs from the Qur'an or contradicts it, we do not. Where the Qur'an says nothing, we neither believe it nor deny it, as the Prophet (ﷺ) taught. Here are the main differences, with the verses. Genesis 7:1 (KJV)Qur’an 5:48Qur’an 5:46Which of the four Gospels did Jesus preach from?Who wrote the Gospels?Sahih al-Bukhari 4485↗How should a Muslim read the Bible?

Who was saved. In Genesis, eight people board the ark: Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. In the Qur'an, Allah (﷾) told Nuh to take his family, except those already judged, and the believers. Only a few believed with him. Genesis 7:13 (KJV)1 Peter 3:20 (KJV)Qur’an 11:40

The son who refused. In Genesis, all three of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, board the ark and are saved. There is no son who refuses and is lost in the flood. In the Qur'an, Nuh's son refused to board, and the waves came between them. Genesis 7:13 (KJV)Qur’an 11:42–43

The ark. Genesis gives the ark's size: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. The Qur'an gives no size. It says the ark was made of broad planks, and built under Allah's (﷾) eyes and by His inspiration. Genesis 6:15 (KJV)Qur’an 54:13Qur’an 11:37

Noah and the wine. Genesis says that after the flood, Noah planted a vineyard, drank of the wine and was drunken. The Qur'an tells nothing like this. It calls Nuh a most grateful servant. Genesis 9:20–21 (KJV)Qur’an 17:3Were the prophets sinless?