Surah Hud, Ayah 37

The Revelation to Nuh concerning what would happen to the People and the Command to prepare for It

Allah, the Exalted, sent revelation to Nuh when his people hastened the vengeance and punishment of Allah upon themselves. Then, Nuh supplicated against them, as Allah mentioned, when He said;

رَّبِّ لاَ تَذَرْ عَلَى الاٌّرْضِ مِنَ الْكَـفِرِينَ دَيَّاراً

(My Lord! Leave not one of the disbelievers inhabiting the earth!) 71:26 And he said,

فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنُّى مَغْلُوبٌ فَانتَصِرْ

(Then he invoked his Lord (saying): "I have been overcome, so help (me)!")54:10 At this point Allah revealed to him,

أَنَّهُ لَن يُؤْمِنَ مِن قَوْمِكَ إِلاَّ مَن قَدْ ءَامَنَ

(None of your people will believe except those who have believed already.) Therefore, do not grieve over them and do not be concerned with their affair.

Boat-Making: The Education of a Prophet ﷺ

When Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) was commanded to make an ark, he knew no ark, nor its making. Therefore, in the next verse (37), he got his first lesson. To orient him to the reality of boat making, it was said: وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا (And make an ark under Our eyes and according to Our revelation).

Hadith reports say that Sayyidna Jibra'il al-Amin (علیہ السلام) told Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) by means of revelation all about the making of boats. He had used wood from the saul tree (shorea robusta) to build this ark.

Some historical narratives give its measurement. It was three hundred yards long, fifty yards in width and thirty yard high, almost a three storied ship. Its ventilators, as customary, opened to the right and the left. Thus, this industry, the first prototype of the ship building industry, began at the hands of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) for the first time through Divine revelation. After that, the progress it made is current history.

All Essential Industries Originated through Revelation

It has been reported on the authority of some elders of early centuries of Islam in at-Tibb an-Nabawi of Hafiz Shamsud-Din adh-Dhahabi that all industries essential for human beings owe their origin to the process of Divine revelation through some prophet. Later, improvements kept coming as needed during different times. The first revelation that came to Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) mostly related to rehabilitation of the land and establishment of different industries. The invention of wheel carts for loading and hauling things is part of the chain of inventions.

Sir Syed Ahmad an, the founder of the well-known Aligarh College, (now the Muslim University of Aligarh, India) used to say more than a hundred years ago that the world has seen inventions of all sorts in moving vehicles but its pivot continued to be the axle and the wheel. It is the common factor between a bullock-cart, a donkey-cart, rails and cars. Therefore, the greatest inventor of moving vehicles is the person who invented the wheel that is the life and soul of a lot of machines. As it was said, this invention unfolded itself at the hands of the first prophet, Sayyidna Adam, peace on him, through a Divine revelation.

From here we also learn that industries devoted to essential human needs are so important that the blessed prophets have been taught and trained in these through Divine revelation.

Soon after instructing Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) how he would make an ark, he was told that a flood would come and his people will be drowned and that, at the time, he was not to intercede out of compassion on their behalf.

Those who said that the Prophet was himself guilty of invention, and that his message had not been sent by God, did not actually disbelieve in revelation or inspiration; they even accepted the previous prophets. Then why did they speak in this way? This was, in fact, not a rejection of Revelation but a rejection of the receiver of Revelation. The individual who spoke on behalf of God appeared to them to be an ordinary man. With their tendency to worship appearances, they were unable to understand how such an ordinary man could be the person whom God had chosen as His messenger. The Prophet Noah said, ‘If I have invented this myself, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of the crimes that you commit.’ These are, in fact, the words of parting, when the addressee does not accept the preacher’s word through argument. If, in spite of clear explanation, the addressee is bent upon rejecting the word of the preacher, then the preacher feels that the final option should be to keep quiet, after stating that both preacher and addressee are bound to be presented before their real Lord and that everybody will be exposed for what he is and everybody will be treated according to what he deserves. When reasoning has run its full course, the preacher is left with no option but to speak in terms of firm faith and keep himself aloof.