Surah Al-A'raaf: Verse 59 - لقد أرسلنا نوحا إلى قومه... - English

Commentary

Described from the beginning of Surah al-A` raf upto this point were the subjects of Tauhid, Risalah and 'Akhirah, the basic principles of Islam. These were proved and affirmed in different ways, people were persuaded to follow them and warned against taking opposing stands. Then, as a corollary, the guiles of Satan which make people go astray were mentioned. Now, from the eighth Ruku` (section) to almost the end of the Surah, there is a description of some prophets, may peace be upon them, and of their communities. The subject dealt with here consists of the commonly pursued principles of Tauhid, Risalah and 'Akhirah. They all invited their respective communities towards these universal principles, gave them the good news of rewards for those who believed in them, and warned them of punishments for refusing to believe and the sad end they would have for doing so. This description takes about fourteen sections, where hundreds of basic and subsidiary rulings appear as a corollary. Thus, the present communities were given an opportunity to learn a lesson from the sad end of past communities - and, for the Holy Prophet ﷺ this became a source of comfort that this was how things have been with all other prophets.

The verses appearing above take a whole Ruku` of Surah al-A` raf. It describes the mission of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) and the state of the community to which he was sent.

Though, in the chain of prophets, the first prophet is Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) ، but his was not the time for confrontation against disbelief and error. In the religious code given to him, most of the injunctions were related to habitation of the land and management of human needs. Disbelief and disbelievers just did not exist. The confrontation against Kufr (disbelief) and Shirk (associating partners in the Divinity of Allah) began with Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) . He is, in terms of the mission of prophethood and a code of religious laws, the first rasul of Allah. In addition to that, people who survived after the drowning of the whole world during the great flood or deluge, were Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) and those with him in the Ark. It was through him that the new world was populated. Therefore, he is also referred to as the junior Adam. This is the reason why he appears first in this story of prophets which has a description of his nine hundred and fifty year long prophetic struggle in contrast to the crooked ways of the majority in his community, as a result of which, all except a few believers were drowned. Details follow.

The first verse begins with the words: لَقَدْ أَرْ‌سَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ (Surely We sent Nuh to his people).

Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) is in the eighth generation of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) . According to a narration of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ appearing in Mustadrak of Hakim, there is an interval of ten Qarn between Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) . The same has been reported by Tabarani as based on a Hadith of the Holy Prophet ﷺ narrated by Sayyidna Abu Dharr ؓ (Tafsir Mazhari). A Qarn generally means one hundred years. Therefore, the interval of time between these two comes to be one thousand years according to this narration. Ibn Jarir has reported that Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) was born eight hundred and twenty six years after the death of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) ، and according to a clear statement of the Qur'an, he reached an age of nine hundred and fifty years - and according to a Hadith, the age of Sayyidna Adam علیہ السلام is nine hundred and sixty years. Thus, the time from the birth of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) to the death of Sayyidna N-uh (علیہ السلام) comes to be a total of two thousand eight hundred and fifty six years. (Mazharl) In some narrations, the real name of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) appears as Shakir while in some others it has been given as Sakan, and ` Abd al-Ghaffar, in still others.

Whether his time is before or after Sayyidna Idris (علیہ السلام) - Enoch - has been debated. The majority of the Sahabah have said that Sayyidna Nuh علیہ السلام has appeared before Sayyidna Idris (علیہ السلام) (A1-Bahr Al Muhit)

Based on a narration of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ عنہما reports Mustadrak of Hakim that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: Nuh (علیہ السلام) was invested with prophethood at the age of forty years and, after the Flood, he lived for sixty years.

The verse of the Qur'an: لَقَدْ أَرْ‌سَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ (Surely, We sent Nuh to his people) proves that Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) was sent as a prophet only to his people. It was not common to the whole world. His people lived in Iraq. They were outwardly civilized but were involved in Shirk. The call given by Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) to his people was: اعْبُدُوا اللَّـهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَـٰهٍ غَيْرُ‌هُ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ (0 my people, worship Allah. For you there is no god other than Him. I fear for you the punishment of a great Day). In the first sentence, the invitation given is to worship Allah Ta` ula, which is the essence of the principle. In the second sentence, people have been persuaded to shun Shirk and Kufr, something which had spread out like some epidemic among these people. In the third sentence, the purpose is to warn people against the danger of that great punishment which they would have to face in the event they were to do otherwise. This ` great punishment' could mean the punishment of the Hereafter, and the punishment of the Flood in the present world too. (Tafsir Kabir)

The Story of Nuh and His People

After Allah mentioned the story of Adam in the beginning of this Surah, He started mentioning the stories of the Prophets, the first then the latter of them. Allah mentioned the story of Nuh, because he was the first Messenger Allah sent to the people of the earth after Adam. His name was Nuh bin Lamak bin Matushalakh bin Khanukh. And Khanukh was, as they claim, the Prophet Idris. And Idris was the first person to write letters using pen, and he was the son of Barad bin Mahlil, bin Qanin bin Yanish bin Shith bin Adam, upon them all be peace. This lineage is mentioned by Muhammad bin Ishaq and other Imams who document lineage. `Abdullah bin `Abbas and several other scholars of Tafsir said that the first idol worship began when some righteous people died and their people built places of worship over their graves. They made images of them so that they could remember their righteousness and devotion, and thus, imitate them. When time passed, they made statues of them and later on worshipped these idols, naming them after the righteous people: Wadd, Suwa`, Yaghuth, Ya`uq and Nasr. After this practice became popular, Allah sent Nuh as a Messenger, all thanks are due to Him. Nuh commanded his people to worship Allah alone without partners, saying,

("O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other god but Him. Certainly, I fear for you the torment of a Great Day!") the torment of the Day of Resurrection, if you meet Allah while associating others with Him.

(The leaders of his people said) meaning, the general public, chiefs, commanders and great ones of his people said,

("Verily, we see you in plain error") because of your calling us to abandon the worship of these idols that we found our forefathers worshipping. This, indeed, is the attitude of evil people, for they consider the righteous people to be following misguidance. Allah said in other Ayat,

(And when they saw them, they said: "Verily, these have indeed gone astray!") 83:32 and,

(And those who disbelieve say of those who believe: "Had it been a good thing, they (the weak and poor) would not have preceded us thereto!" And when they have not let themselves be guided by it (this Qur'an), they say: "This is an ancient lie!") 46:11 There are several other Ayat on this subject.

(Nuh said: "O my people! There is no error in me, but I am a Messenger from the Lord of all that exists!") meaning, there is nothing wrong with me, but I am a Messenger from the Lord of all that exists, Lord and King of all things,

("I convey unto you the Messages of my Lord and give sincere advice to you. And I know from Allah what you know not.") This is the attribute of a Messenger, that he conveys using plain, yet eloquent words, offers sincere advice and is knowledgeable about Allah; indeed, no other people can compete with the Prophets in this regard. In his Sahih, Muslim recorded that the Messenger of Allah said to his Companions on the Day of `Arafah, when their gathering was as large as it ever was,

(O people! You will be asked about me, so what will you say) They said, "We testify that you have conveyed and delivered (the Message) and offered sincere advice." So he kept raising his finger to the sky and lowering it towards them, saying,

(O Allah! Bear witness, O Allah! Bear witness.)