Allah sent Nuh, peace be upon him, to call his people to worship Him alone and to warn them against associating partners with Him and rejecting His messenger. His people resisted throughout his long years of calling them. When Allah’s command came, He saved Nuh and the believers with him in the ark. The Qur’an recounts his story in several places, showing the meaning of sincere worship, the patience of a messenger, and Allah’s justice and mercy. [Al-A‘raf 7:59; Hud 11:25–49]

In the hadith of intercession, people address Nuh, peace be upon him, as the first messenger sent to the people of the earth. This does not mean that he was the first prophet; Adam, peace be upon him, came before him. Allah also praises Nuh in the Qur’an as a grateful servant. [Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Prophets, no. 3340; al-Isra’ 17:3]

His people were devoted to idols named Wadd, Suwa‘, Yaghuth, Ya‘uq and Nasr. Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, explained that these had been the names of righteous men. After their deaths, Satan prompted their people to erect monuments in their meeting places and name them after those men. At first the monuments were not worshipped. When that generation died and knowledge disappeared, they were worshipped besides Allah. This explanation, transmitted from Ibn ‘Abbas in Sahih al-Bukhari, shows how excessive veneration of righteous people, joined with the loss of knowledge, can lead to shirk. [Nuh 71:23; Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Tafsir, no. 4920]

Nuh, peace be upon him, brought them the foundation of every messenger’s call: to worship Allah, for they had no god worthy of worship besides Him. He urged them to fear Allah and obey the message he delivered from his Lord. He asked them for no payment; his reward was with Allah. He feared the punishment that awaited them and wanted them to find forgiveness and safety. [Al-A‘raf 7:59; Hud 11:29; Nuh 71:2–4]

Years of calling and rejection

Allah tells us that Nuh remained among his people for a thousand years less fifty, calling them to Allah until the flood came. These 950 years refer to that period among his people; the verse does not give his entire lifespan. [Al-‘Ankabut 29:14]

He called his people by night and by day, spoke to them openly and privately, and kept explaining his message. Yet when he called them so that Allah might forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, covered themselves with their garments and persisted arrogantly. They were deliberately turning away from a message that had been repeatedly made clear to them. [Nuh 71:5–9]

He also gave them reason to hope. He urged them to seek forgiveness from their Lord, whose forgiveness is abundant, and told them that Allah would bless them with rain, wealth, children, gardens and rivers if they repented. [Nuh 71:10–12]

He directed their attention to Allah’s signs in their own creation and in the heavens and the earth, and reminded them that they would be raised again. The One who created and provided for them alone deserves their worship, and to Him they would return. His call brought together worship, hope of forgiveness, reflection on Allah’s power and remembrance of their meeting with Him. [Nuh 71:13–20]

The disbelieving chiefs despised his followers. They objected that he was a human being like themselves and dismissed those who believed as people of low standing. Nuh, peace be upon him, would not drive the believers away to win the approval of the arrogant, nor judge their hearts by their opponents’ claims. He stated plainly that he did not possess Allah’s treasures, know the unseen or claim to be an angel. He was a messenger conveying his Lord’s revelation. [Hud 11:27–31]

His people went so far as to demand the punishment he warned them about and threatened to stone him if he did not stop. Despite his many years of preaching, only a few believed. Their small number did not diminish the truth of his message or the faithfulness with which he delivered it. He had carried out Allah’s command and endured his people’s hostility. [Hud 11:32, 40; al-Shu‘ara’ 26:116]

Building the ark and the coming of the flood

Allah then revealed to Nuh, peace be upon him, that no more of his people would believe beyond those who already had, and told him not to grieve over what they had been doing. His supplication against the disbelievers must be understood in light of that revelation and his long years of calling them patiently. [Hud 11:36; Nuh 71:26–27]

Allah commanded him to build the ark according to His revelation and under His care. He forbade him to plead concerning the wrongdoers and told him that they would be drowned. Nuh obeyed. Whenever the chiefs of his people passed him, they mocked him, but he continued the work Allah had commanded. Their ridicule could not alter what Allah had promised. [Hud 11:37–39]

When Allah’s command came and water gushed from the oven (tannur), Nuh was told to take aboard pairs of creatures, his family except those against whom the decree had already been issued, and the believers. The Qur’an describes the sky pouring down water and the earth bursting with springs, their waters meeting according to a decree already determined. [Hud 11:40; al-Qamar 54:11–13]

He told those with him to board in Allah’s name, entrusting its sailing and anchoring to Him and affirming his Lord’s forgiveness and mercy. He used the means Allah had commanded while relying upon Him. The ark carried them through waves like mountains, and their safety was by Allah’s mercy and protection. [Hud 11:41–42]

The son who refused to board

Nuh, peace be upon him, called to his son, who remained apart, urging him to board with them and not stay with the disbelievers. His appeal carried a father’s tenderness and a prophet’s warning. The son answered that he would seek refuge on a mountain to escape the water. Nuh told him that no one could be protected from Allah’s command that day except by His mercy. A wave came between them, and the son was drowned. [Hud 11:42–43]

Nuh then called upon his Lord, saying that his son was of his family and that Allah’s promise was true, and acknowledging Him as the wisest of judges. Allah explained that the son was not among the family covered by the promise of rescue, and forbade Nuh to ask about what he had no knowledge of. This did not deny the son’s parentage: the Qur’an calls him Nuh’s son. His disbelief excluded him from the promised rescue. [Hud 11:45–46; al-Sa‘di, commentary on 11:46]

Nuh, peace be upon him, received his Lord’s admonition with submission. He sought refuge in Allah from asking about what he had no knowledge of, and asked for forgiveness and mercy, without which he would be among the losers. He returned to what Allah had taught him and submitted his deeply felt concern for his son to his Lord’s judgement. [Hud 11:47]

Allah also gives Nuh’s wife as an example of those who disbelieved. Living with a noble prophet did not save her while she remained in disbelief. The betrayal mentioned in the verse concerns religion, not adultery, as Ibn Kathir explains. [Al-Tahrim 66:10; Ibn Kathir, commentary on the verse]

Rescue peace and blessing

Allah commanded the earth to swallow its water and the sky to cease. The water receded, the decree was fulfilled, and the ark came to rest on al-Judi. [Hud 11:44]

Nuh, peace be upon him, was told to disembark with peace from Allah and blessings upon him and upon communities descended from those with him. He had been instructed to praise Allah for rescue from the wrongdoing people and to ask for a blessed landing. Deliverance was therefore joined with gratitude and renewed supplication. A servant needs Allah’s guidance and protection after relief just as much as during hardship. [Hud 11:48; al-Mu’minun 23:28–29]

Allah preserved his honour among later generations, granting him peace, describing him as one of His believing servants and declaring that He rewards those who do good. At the close of the account in Surat Hud, Allah commands Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, to be patient, for the good outcome belongs to those who fear Him. The story strengthens those who call others to Allah: their duty is to convey the truth faithfully, while the guidance of hearts belongs to Allah. [Al-Saffat 37:78–81; Hud 11:49]

The reader has reason to examine his own worship and his willingness to accept the truth when it conflicts with his desires. Nearness to righteous people cannot replace faith; poverty and low social standing do not justify despising a believer; slow results do not justify abandoning sincere advice. Alongside these lessons remains our need for forgiveness. Nuh, peace be upon him, prayed for himself, his parents and the believing men and women. [Hud 11:29–31, 47; Nuh 71:28]

References

The Qur’an: al-A‘raf 7:59; Hud 11:25–49; al-Isra’ 17:3; al-Mu’minun 23:23–30; al-Shu‘ara’ 26:105–122; al-‘Ankabut 29:14–15; al-Saffat 37:75–82; al-Qamar 54:9–15; al-Tahrim 66:10; Surat Nuh.

Sahih al-Bukhari: Book of the Prophets, hadith of intercession, no. 3340; Book of Tafsir, Surat Nuh, report of Ibn ‘Abbas, no. 4920.

Al-Sa‘di, Taysir al-Karim al-Rahman, commentary on Hud 11:46; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim, commentary on al-Tahrim 66:10.