Tafsir of Surah Al-Qamar - Verse 17

The Story of the People of Nuh and the Lesson from it

Allah the Exalted said,

كَذَّبَتْ

(denied) `before your people, O Muhammad,'

قَوْمُ نُوحٍ فَكَذَّبُواْ عَبْدَنَا

(the people of Nuh. They rejected Our servant) means, they denied him categorically and accused him of madness,

وَقَالُواْ مَجْنُونٌ وَازْدُجِرَ

(and said: "A madman!" Wazdujir.) Mujahid said about Wazdujir: "He was driven out accused on account of madness." It was also said that Wazdujir means, he was rebuked, deterred, threatened and warned by his people saying:

لَئِنْ لَّمْ تَنْتَهِ ينُوحُ لَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُرْجُومِينَ

("If you do not stop O Nuh, you will be among those who will be stoned.") 26:116 This was said by Ibn Zayd, and it is sound.

فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنُّى مَغْلُوبٌ فَانتَصِرْ

(Then he invoked his Lord (saying): "I have been overcome, so help (me)!") meaning, `I am weak and cannot overcome or resist my people, so help Your religion!' Allah the Exalted said,

فَفَتَحْنَآ أَبْوَبَ السَّمَآءِ بِمَاءٍ مُّنْهَمِرٍ

(So, We opened the gates of the heaven with water Munhamir.) As-Suddi said about Munhamir, "It means abundant."

وَفَجَّرْنَا الاٌّرْضَ عُيُوناً

(And We caused springs to gush forth from the earth.) means, from every part of the earth, and even ovens in which fire was burning -- water and springs gushed forth,

فَالْتَقَى المَآءُ

(So, the waters met), means, of the heaven and the earth,

عَلَى أَمْرٍ قَدْ قُدِرَ

(for a matter predestined.) Ibn Jurayj reported from Ibn `Abbas:

فَفَتَحْنَآ أَبْوَبَ السَّمَآءِ بِمَاءٍ مُّنْهَمِرٍ

(So, We opened the gates of the heaven with water Munhamir), Torrential rain, the only water that fell from the sky before that day and ever since was from clouds. But the sky's gates were opened on them that day, and therefore, the water that came down was not from clouds. So both the waters (of the earth and the heaven) met according to a matter ordained." Allah said,

وَحَمَلْنَاهُ عَلَى ذَاتِ أَلْوَحٍ وَدُسُرٍ

(And We carried him on a (ship) made of planks and nails (Dusur)), Ibn `Abbas, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Qurazi, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said that Dusur means nails. Ibn Jarir preferred this view. Allah's statement,

تَجْرِى بِأَعْيُنِنَا

(Floating under Our Eyes), means, `by Our command and under Our protection and observation,'

جَزَآءً لِّمَن كَانَ كُفِرَ

(a reward for him who had been rejected!) meaning, as recompense for them because of their disbelief in Allah and as reward for Nuh, peace be upon him. Allah the Exalted said,

وَلَقَدْ تَّرَكْنَـهَا ءايَةً

(And indeed, We have left this as a sign.) Qatadah said, "Allah left the ship of Nuh intact until the first generation of this Ummah were able to see it." However, it appears that the meaning here is that Allah kept ships as a sign. For instance, Allah the Exalted said,

وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ - وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ

(And a sign for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship. And We have created for them of the like thereunto, on which they ride.)(36:41-42),

إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَا الْمَآءُ حَمَلْنَـكُمْ فِى الْجَارِيَةِ - لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَآ أُذُنٌ وَعِيَةٌ

(Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits, We carried you in the boat. That We might make it an admonition for you and that it might be retained by the retaining ears.)(69:11-12) Allah's statement here,

فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ

(Then is there any that will remember) means, `is there any that will receive admonition and reminder. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "The Prophet recited to me,

فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ

(Then is there any that will remember)" Al-Bukhari collected a similar Hadith from `Abdullah that he said, "I recited to the Prophet (فَهَلْ مِن مُّذَّكِرٍ) (then is there any that will remember) and the Prophet said,

فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ

(Then is there any that will remember)" Allah's statement,

فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِى وَنُذُرِ

(Then how (terrible) was My torment and My warnings) means, `how terrible was My torment that I inflicted on those who disbelieved in Me and denied My Messengers, who did not heed to My warnings How was My help that I extended to My Messengers and the revenge exerted on their behalf,'

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْءَانَ لِلذِّكْرِ

(And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember); meaning, `We have made the Qur'an easy to recite and comprehend for those who seek these traits, to remind mankind,' as Allah said,

كِتَـبٌ أَنزَلْنَـهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَـرَكٌ لِّيَدَّبَّرُواْ ءَايَـتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُوْلُو الاٌّلْبَـبِ

((This is) a Book which We have sent down to you, full of blessings, that they may ponder over its Ayat, and that men of understanding may remember.)(38:29),

فَإِنَّمَا يَسَّرْنَـهُ بِلَسَانِكَ لِتُبَشِّرَ بِهِ الْمُتَّقِينَ وَتُنْذِرَ بِهِ قَوْماً لُّدّاً

(So We have made this (the Qur'an) easy in your own tongue, only that you may give glad tidings to those who have Taqwa and warn with it the most quarrelsome people.)(19:97) Allah said,

فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ

(then is there any that will remember), meaning, `is there anyone who will remember through this Qur'an, which We made easy to memorize and easy to understand' Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi commented on this Ayah, "Is there anyone who will avoid evil"

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْ‌نَا الْقُرْ‌آنَ لِلذِّكْرِ‌ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ‌ (And indeed We have made the Qur'an easy for seeking advice. So, is there one to seek advice?....54:17). The word dhikr in the prepositional phrase 'lidh-dhikr' has several shades of meaning: to remember or memorize or by-heart; and to take heed of admonition and warnings. Both these meanings are equally applicable here. Allah has made it easy to memorize the Holy Qur'an. The followers of the previous scriptures were not privileged to memorize their entire book, word by word - whether Torah, Injil or Zabur. It is one of the privileges conferred on Muslims that He has made it easy, even for the tender-aged children, to commit the entire Qur'an to memory, word for word, without missing out a single letter. The Qur'an is preserved in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Huffaz for the past fourteen hundred years in every age, people and their children of every level, in every region or territory of the world.

The verse could also mean that Allah has made the Qur'an so simple that just as an intellectual and knowledgeable person benefits from its contents, so does a layman, having no expertise in relevant sciences. He too can benefit from its admonition and warnings (at his own level).

Qur’ an is Made Simple to Memorize and to Take Heed; Not for Ijtihad or Istinbat

In this verse the verb یَسَّرنَا yassarna [ We have made easy ] is qualified by the prepositional phrase لِلذِّکرِ lidh-dhikri [ for seeking advice ]. This implies that the Qur'an has been made easy to the extent of memorizing it and paying heed to its advice and warnings, from which all can benefit -whether a learned scholar or an unlearned person, whether young or old. This does not necessarily imply that derivation or deduction of laws and injunctions from the Qur'an is easy for everybody. Ijtihad or Istinbat (deduction) of injunctions from the Qur'an is a science, having its own complex rules. Scholars well-grounded in knowledge have spent years of their life to attain to the position where they could exercise Ijtihad and Istinbat. It is not a field where every ordinary person or layman can play his role.

This indicates the error of some of the deviant people who, on the strength of this statement, wish to pose as mujtahid and derive laws and injunctions with their own reasoning, without acquiring complete and profound knowledge of the Qur'an, and without fully grasping its methodological principles and rules. This is clear deviation!

The leaders of Noah’s community, consumed as they were by false prestige, were not prepared to accept Noah. The result was that they were afflicted by the retribution of God. This punishment came upon them in the shape of a terrible flood. The entire people and their dwellings were submerged in it. But, Noah and his companions, as commanded by God, boarded an ark. This vessel sailed forth and stopped at Mount Judi in the Mount Ararat range. Ararat is in Turkey. The highest mountain of the region, it rises to 16, 853 ft. Certain aeroplane pilots claim that, while flying over the snow-covered Ararat peak, they have seen some boat-like thing caught up in the snow there. If this is correct, then just as the dead body of Pharaoh (of Moses’s period) was extracted from its pyramid in the late nineteenth century and became a sign of God ( 10:92 ), similarly perhaps Noah’s ark may be discovered and become a sign of God for mankind.