071- NUH
Noah
Nūh is most likely from the middle Makkan period. It is one of four sūrahs named after an Old Testament prophet; the others are Yūnus, “Jonah,” Yūsuf, “Joseph,” and Ibrāhīm, “Abraham.” Although it takes the name of Noah, this sūrah does not tell his entire story. Other aspects of the story can be found in 7:59–64; 10:71–73; 11:25–48; 21:76–77; 23:23–30; 26:105–21; 29:14–15; 37:75–82; 54:9–15. Nonetheless, a complete chronicle cannot be patched together from these various fragments, since the function of Quranic accounts of the prophets and sacred history is not to provide a historical record, but to provide guidance, as stated in 11:120: All that We recount unto thee of the stories of the messengers is that whereby We make firm thine heart. And herein there has come unto thee the truth, and an exhortation and a reminder for the believers.
Although the Biblical account provides details about the construction of the Ark (Genesis 6:12–16) and Noah’s life after the flood (Genesis 9), the Quran focuses almost entirely upon Noah’s function as a warner who called his people to guidance and their subsequent rejection of him. The flood with which God punishes those who opposed Noah is mentioned or alluded to in most of the accounts, but it receives no more than one line in any of them. This indicates that God’s Punishment is not the focus of the Quranic account; instead, like accounts of other prophets, such as Abraham and Jesus, the Quranic account of Noah emphasizes God’s Mercy and Guidance. Despite the fact that Noah’s people refuse to respond to repeated calls to follow God, God continues to grant them respite and does not send the flood until they have completely rejected his calls. In this respect, the story can be seen both as a call to those who opposed the Prophet Muhammad to let them know that God’s Mercy remains open to them, but that they will perish if they do not avail themselves of the guidance He has sent, and as a reminder to the Prophet Muhammad that messengers before him, such as Noah and Lot, have met with even greater defiance than he encountered.
Along with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, Noah is considered one of the resolute among the messengers (46:35), who are presented to the Prophet Muhammad as examples to follow and among whose ranks Muslims consider Muhammad to be. According to some, Noah was the first messenger sent by God (those before him are considered prophets rather than messengers; for this distinction see the essay “The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions”), and he was sent, like Muhammad, to the entire world, rather than to a specific people.
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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