Surah As-Saffat, Ayah 82

Nuh and His People

When Allah tells us about how most of the early people went astray from the path of salvation, He starts the detailed explanation of that with the story of Nuh and the rejection of his people. Only a few of Nuh's people believed in him, despite the long period of time he spent among them. He stayed among them for one thousand years less fifty, and after he stayed among them for so long and their disbelief became too much for him to bear -- for every time he called them, they turned away from him even more -- he prayed to his Lord saying, "I have been overcome, so help (me)!" So Allah became angry because Nuh was angry with them. He says:

In verses 78 and 79, it was said: وَتَرَ‌كْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرِ‌ينَ سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ نُوحٍ فِي الْعَالَمِينَ (And We left for him (a word of praise) among the later people, (that is): Salam be on Nuh (علیہ السلام) among [ the people on all the worlds.). It means that, in the sight of those who were born after Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) he was made so revered that they would continue praying for his peace and well-being right through the last day of the Qiyamah. As such, this is how it actually happened. All religions with attribution to Divine Scriptures subscribe to the mission of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) as a prophet and hold him in great reverence. In addition to Muslims, even Jews and Christians regard him as being their spiritual leader.

When Noah’s own people turned against him, he called upon God to help him in his struggle with them. God helped him to steer clear of his difficulties. This indicates that when a subject of God calls out to Him, he receives a superlative response. But such response succeeds a tireless strife of the implorer. Noah had been trying to spread the message of God for about nine hundred and fifty years, exercising patience, wisdom and all along wishing well for his people. After a long period of time elapsed in this way, Noah finally called out to God for His succour. Noah’s opponents were utterly destroyed in a terrible flood: indeed, the whole race was wiped out. The succeeding generation came into existence through those few individuals who were saved along with him in his ark.