Tafsir of Surah Al-Mu'minun - Verse 25

The Story of Nuh, Peace be upon Him; and his people

Allah tells us about Nuh, peace be upon him, whom He sent him to his people to warn them of the severe punishment of Allah and His severe vengeance on those who associated partners with Him, defied His commands and disbelieved His Messengers:

فَقَالَ يَقَوْمِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِّنْ إِلَـهٍ غَيْرُهُ أَفَلاَ تَتَّقُونَ

(and he said: "O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him. Will you not then have Taqwa") Meaning, "Do you not fear Allah when you associate others in worship with Him" The chiefs or leaders of his people said:

مَا هَـذَا إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتَفَضَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ

(He is no more than a human being like you, he seeks to make himself superior to you.) meaning, `he is putting himself above you and trying to make himself great by claiming to be a Prophet, but he is a human being like you, so how can he receive revelation when you do not'

وَلَوْ شَآءَ اللَّهُ لاّنزَلَ مَلَـئِكَةً

(Had Allah willed, He surely could have sent down angels.) meaning, `if Allah had wanted to send a Prophet, He would have sent an angel from Him, not a human being. We have never heard of such a thing -- i.e., sending a man to our forefathers' -- their predecessors in times past.

إِنْ هُوَ إِلاَّ رَجُلٌ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ

(He is only a man in whom is madness,) means, `he is crazy in his claim that Allah has sent him and chosen him from among you to receive revelation.'

فَتَرَبَّصُواْ بِهِ حَتَّى حِينٍ

(so wait for him a while.) means, `wait until he dies, put up with him until you are rid of him.'

In the last benefit, ships and boats are also included, because they are also used in transportation وَعَلَيْهَا وَعَلَى الْفُلْكِ تُحْمَلُونَ (And on them and on the boats you are transported - 23:22). All types of mounts which are run with wheels may also be added to fulk (boats) because they render the same service.

The community into which Noah was born was not one made up of unbelievers in the common sense of the term. It consisted of the followers of Adam who were believers in God and prophethood. In spite of this, why did its members refuse to accept Noah as the prophet of God? It was because the Prophet Noah appeared to them as an ordinary man like themselves. A prophet is a man born of human parents. Therefore, to the people of his age, he always seemed to be a man like themselves. It is in later history that a prophet appears to them as glorious, invested as he then is with legendary greatness. That is why a prophet’s contemporaries fail to recognize him. To them the prophet appears to be a man who makes false claims to prophethood in order to be taken as a great man. They presume him to be a madman and ignore him. It has been the story of every community that, as time has gone on, it has started following the traditions of its forefathers instead of following the real teachings of God. Whenever a prophet appeared and again preached genuine religion, they felt that the prophet’s religion was different from the traditions of its forefathers. Given the mindset of these people, their forefathers appeared to be greater and the prophet appeared to be a comparatively lesser person. This is the main reason why the call of the prophets of every period seemed a strange cry to their contemporaries.