Surah Hud, Ayah 38

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.

In the third verse (38), mentioned there is the total lack of concern for their sad end shown by the people of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) during the period he was making the ark. When the chieftains of his people saw him busy with his project under a Divine command, they would ask him, ` what are you doing?' He said, ` a flood is to come, therefore, I am making an ark.' They would mock at him and say, ` we have no water to drink here and this wise man is planning to sail in a boat on this dry land.' In response, Sayyidna Nuh told them, ` if you mock at us today, then remember the day is sure to come when we shall be laughing at you.' The sense is that conditions would change and events would unfold in a manner that they themselves would become the cause of their being mocked at. For, in reality, ridicule is contrary to the spiritual station of prophets. It is simply not permissible for any-one in fact, it is Haram (unlawful). Says the Holy Qur'an: لَا يَسْخَرْ‌ قَوْمٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونُوا خَيْرً‌ا مِّنْهُمْ ( O those who have believed, no people should mock at [ other ] people - may be, they are better than them - 49:11) Therefore, the mocking referred to here is a pragmatic response to their mockery. This is like saying, ` when you are seized by the punishment, we shall be telling you that this was the outcome of your mockery.' This is as it was said after that in the fourth verse (39): ` So, you shall soon know to whom will come the punishment that will humble him, and upon whom will befall the lasting punishment.' The first punishment refers to the punishment in the mortal world, and the ` lasting punishment' means the never-ending punishment of the Hereafter.

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.