Tafsir of Surah Hood - Verse 36

The Revelation to Nuh concerning what would happen to the People and the Command to prepare for It

Allah, the Exalted, sent revelation to Nuh when his people hastened the vengeance and punishment of Allah upon themselves. Then, Nuh supplicated against them, as Allah mentioned, when He said;

رَّبِّ لاَ تَذَرْ عَلَى الاٌّرْضِ مِنَ الْكَـفِرِينَ دَيَّاراً

(My Lord! Leave not one of the disbelievers inhabiting the earth!) 71:26 And he said,

فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنُّى مَغْلُوبٌ فَانتَصِرْ

(Then he invoked his Lord (saying): "I have been overcome, so help (me)!")54:10 At this point Allah revealed to him,

أَنَّهُ لَن يُؤْمِنَ مِن قَوْمِكَ إِلاَّ مَن قَدْ ءَامَنَ

(None of your people will believe except those who have believed already.) Therefore, do not grieve over them and do not be concerned with their affair.

وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ

(And construct the ship.) The word Fulk here means ship.

بِأَعْيُنِنَا

(under Our Eyes) This means under Our vision.

وَوَحْيِنَا

(and with Our revelation,) This means, "We will teach you (Nuh) what to do."

وَلاَ تُخَـطِبْنِى فِى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ إِنَّهُمْ مُّغْرَقُونَ

(and address Me not on behalf of those who did wrong; they are surely to be drowned.) Muhammad bin Ishaq mentioned from the Tawrah, "Allah commanded him (Nuh) to make it (the ship) from Indian oak wood. Then He commanded him to make its length eighty cubits and its width fifty cubits. Allah then commanded him to coat its interior and exterior with tar and to make it with a slanted bow to part the water (as it sailed). Its height was thirty cubits into the sky. It had three levels and each level was ten cubits high. The lowest level was for the animals, both tame and wild, the second level was for the human beings and the highest level was for the birds. Its door was in the center of it and it had a cover on top of it that covered the entire ship. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَيَصْنَعُ الْفُلْكَ وَكُلَّمَا مَرَّ عَلَيْهِ مَلأٌ مِّن قَوْمِهِ سَخِرُواْ مِنْهُ

(And as he was constructing the ship, whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him, they mocked at him.) This means that they teased him and rejected his threat that they would drown (in the forthcoming flood).

قَالَ إِن تَسْخَرُواْ مِنَّا فَإِنَّا نَسْخَرُ مِنكُمْ

(He said: "If you mock at us, so do we mock at you likewise...") This is a severe threat and a serious warning.

مَن يَأْتِيهِ عَذَابٌ يُخْزِيهِ

(who it is on whom will come a torment that will cover him with disgrace) This means that it (the torment) will humiliate him in this life.

وَيَحِلُّ عَلَيْهِ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيمٌ

(and on whom will fall a lasting torment.) that is continuous and everlasting.

Commentary

Allah Ta` a1a had blessed Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) with long years of life extending up to nearly one thousand years. Along with it, he was given a special status in terms of his prophetic mission to invite people to Allah and make their condition better whereby he devoted these long years to keep asking them to believe in the true Faith and in Allah as One. He had to face the harshest of pains in this mission. His people would throw stones at him until he fell down and lost consciousness. But, as soon as he would regain it, he prayed to Allah for the forgiveness of his people for they did not know what they were doing. A generation was followed by the other, and the other by yet another, in a chain and he kept giving his call in the hope that they might, at some stage, accept the truth.

When centuries passed over this exercise in patience, he complained about their deplorable condition before his Almighty Lord which has been mentioned in Surah Nuh قَالَ رَ‌بِّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُ قَوْمِي لَيْلًا وَنَهَارً‌ا ﴿5﴾ فَلَمْ يَزِدْهُمْ دُعَائِي إِلَّا فِرَ‌ارً‌ا ﴿6﴾ (My Lord, I did invite my people [ to the truth ] night and day. But, my invitation increased them in nothing but flight [ in aversion ] - 71:5, 6) and, after all those long years of hardship, the prayer that this great servant of Allah made was: قَالَ رَ‌بِّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُ قَوْمِي لَيْلًا وَنَهَارً‌ا ﴿5﴾ فَلَمْ يَزِدْهُمْ دُعَائِي إِلَّا فِرَ‌ارً‌ا ﴿6﴾ (My Lord, help me because they have belied me - al-Mu'minun, 23: 26, 39).

When the reign of terror let loose by the people of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) became much too excessive, he was addressed by Allah Ta` ala in the words appearing in the verses cited above. (al-Baghawi, Mazhari)

Firstly, he was told that, out of his people, those who were to believe had already believed. No one was to believe after that. Their hearts were sealed with their own obstinacy and contumacy. There-fore, he should not grieve about his people anymore and feel free of any concern about their failure to believe.

Secondly, he was told that Allah was to send the punishment of flood against those people. Therefore, he should make an ark that could hold his family, as many believers as there were, and what they needed, so that they could embark it when the flood comes and be safe from it. Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) made the ark as he was ordered to. When the initial signs of the flood came before them - that water started overflowing from the earth - Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) was commanded to embark the ark along with his family and the few believers who had believed in him. They were also asked to load a pair each of animals that serve human needs, such as, cow, ox, goat, horse, mule etc. Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) put everyone on the ark as ordered.

At the end it was said that the believers in Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) who boarded the ark were only a few.

This was a gist of the subject as it appears in the cited verses. Now we can turn to the explanation of each verse and deal with issues and problems that emerge there from.

In the first verse (36), it was said that it was revealed to Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) that those who were to believe from among his people had already believed. In future, no one else will believe. Therefore, he should not worry about how they deal with him because one feels the pinch of sorrow only when one expects something good to come from someone. Disappointment is not that bad. It has its own relief. He might as well be disappointed with them. As for the shock felt by Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) because of all sorts of pains inflicted by his people on him, arrangements had already been made as indicated the next verse (37) - ` they are to be drowned.' Under these conditions came that invocation of curse for his people on the lips of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) which has been mentioned in Surah Nuh (علیہ السلام) : رَّ‌بِّ لَا تَذَرْ‌ عَلَى الْأَرْ‌ضِ مِنَ الْكَافِرِ‌ينَ دَيَّارً‌ا ﴿26﴾ إِنَّكَ إِن تَذَرْ‌هُمْ يُضِلُّوا عِبَادَكَ وَلَا يَلِدُوا إِلَّا فَاجِرً‌ا كَفَّارً‌ا ﴿27﴾ "My Lord, do not leave upon the earth any inhabitant from among the disbelievers. Indeed, if You were to leave them, they will mislead Your servants and will not procreate anyone but the ones wicked and disbelieving (diehards) " - 71:26, 27.

In answer to this prayer, the people of Sayyidna Nuh were drowned en masse.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.