Tafsir of Surah Al-A'raf - Verse 62

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,

يَـقَوْمِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَـهٍ غَيْرُهُ إِنِّى أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ

("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.

قَالَ الْمَلأ مِن قَوْمِهِ

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

إِنَّا لَنَرَاكَ فِي ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ

("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,

وَإِذَا رَأَوْهُمْ قَالُواْ إِنَّ هَـؤُلاَءِ لَضَآلُّونَ

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

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَوْ كَانَ خَيْراً مَّا سَبَقُونَآ إِلَيْهِ وَإِذْ لَمْ يَهْتَدُواْ بِهِ فَسَيَقُولُونَ هَـذَآ إِفْكٌ قَدِيمٌ

(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.

قَالَ يَـقَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِى ضَلَـلَةٌ وَلَكِنِّي رَسُولٌ مِّن رَّبِّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(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,

أُبَلِّغُكُمْ رِسَـلـتِ رَبِّى وَأَنصَحُ لَكُمْ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

("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 ﷺ said to his Companions on the Day of `Arafah, when their gathering was as large as it ever was,

«أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّكُمْ مَسْؤُولُونَ عَنِّي فَمَا أَنْتُمْ قَائِلُونَ؟»

(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,

«اللَّهُمَّ اشْهَدْ اللَّهُمَّ اشْهَد»

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

These were harsh words. But, the reply given by Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) carries an eloquent diction fit for a prophet. Here, he is leaving a trail for all carriers of da'wah, preachers and reformers, as a signpost of education and guidance. Here, he is not responding on the same wave length, not anger against anger, but trying to remove their doubts in the simplest possible words: قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِي ضَلَالَةٌ وَلَـٰكِنِّي رَ‌سُولٌ مِّن رَّ‌بِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿61﴾ أُبَلِّغُكُمْ رِ‌سَالَاتِ رَ‌بِّي وَأَنصَحُ لَكُمْ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّـهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿62﴾. (He said, "0 my people, there is no error in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds. I convey to you the messages of my Lord and wish your betterment, and I know from Allah what you do not know). In other words, what Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) is telling his people was that their accusation that he has gone astray was not true. However, the fact remained that he was not bound by their ancestral customs rooted in ignorance like them. Instead of that, he was sent as a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds. Whatever he was telling them was under the guidance of his Lord. His sole mission was to convey the message of Allah Ta` ala to them which was in their interest and for their good. This was not for any benefit of Allah Ta` ala nor did it serve any personal interest of his own.' The expression: ` Lord of all the worlds' in this statement strikes decisively against believing in Shirk by associating others with the pristine Divinity of Allah Ta` ala. Once the spirit of this assertion is understood, no god or goddess of any denomination can stand valid as objects of worship. After that, he said that the doubts they had about the punishment of the Last Day were because of their lack of awareness - and, as for him, he was blessed with certitude in this matter by Allah Ta` ala.

After that comes the reply to the other doubt expressed by them. This has been stated clearly in Surah Al-Mu'minun: يَتَفَضَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّـهُ لَأَنزَلَ مَلَائِكَةً that is, the people of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) came up with another doubt about the call given by him. They thought that he was only human, a man like them who ate, drank, slept and woke as they did. How could they take him as their leader? Had Allah wanted to send a message for them, he should have sent angels with it whose distinction and greatness would have impressed them. Now, what they saw here was no more than that there was someone from among their own race and community who wished to establish his superiority over them - 23:24.

After Adam, for about one thousand years his descendants adhered to the monotheistic faith (faith in the oneness of God). Thereafter, according to a tradition as told by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas, people started making the likenesses of their ancient great ones, so that the memory of their feats and their prayers would remain fresh in their minds. The names of these revered figures were Wudd, Suwa‘, Yaguth, Ya‘uq and Nasr. Gradually, these great men acquired the status of gods among these people who inhabited ancient Iraq. When this evil increased to this extent in them, God sent Noah to reform them, appointing him as His Prophet. But they refused to accept Noah. They were not ready to adopt the way of righteousness and fear of God (taqwa). According to the Quran, the reason for this refusal was that it was very difficult for them to understand that a man who was apparently like them had been selected to deliver God’s message on His behalf. Compared to the great men whose religion they were ostensibly following and whose greatness had become recognised in the annals of history, Noah, their contemporary, with no glory attached to his name, appeared to them to be just an ordinary man. So, his community refused to accept him. They did not hesitate to call the prophet of the time foolish and misguided, because according to them, he had deviated from the religion of their great ones. The well-wishing on the part of Noah, the strength of his arguments, his reasoning, his being staunchly on the path of Truth—none of these things could influence them. When Noah had fully conveyed the divine message, and was rejected by the people, the community was drowned in the great flood. The reason for this punishment was that they had falsified and denied God’s signs. They wanted God’s message to be conveyed to them through an established personality instead of an ‘ordinary person.’ But, in the eyes of God, this was blindness. God has given man insight so that he should recognise the Truth in the shape of ‘signs’ and not through any tangible object. Those who do not recognise Truth in the shape of signs, are in the eyes of God blind in spite of having eyes. Such people have no share in the grace of God.