Nowadays, we all hear about the American movie “Noah” which is an
American epic biblically-inspired fantasy film based on the story of
Noah’s Ark, starring Russell Crowe as Prophet Noah.
As a matter of fact, many people do not know that the story of Noah
is also quoted in the Qur’an as Muslims believe in Noah as a prophet of
God. While the story of Prophet Noah is cited only once in the Genesis,
it is recounted more than once in the Qur’an.
While we can find the story of Prophet Noah once in the Bible
(Genesis 5:32-10:1), we can read it in several positions in the Qur’an,
taking into consideration that there is a standalone chapter in the
Qur’an dealing with the story of Noah, which is named after him:
“Chapter of Noah”.
As the Arabic word “نوح” (“Noah” in English) is repeated about 43
times in the Qur’an as a reference to Prophet Noah, there are several
positions where the story of Noah is narrated in detail (the Chapter of
Noah as a whole [Noah 71:1-28]. , Al-Qamar 54:9-17, As-Saffat 37:75-82, Al-`Ankabut 29:14-15, Ash-Shu`araa’ 26:105-122, Al-Furqan 25:37, Al-Mu’minun 23:23-30, Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:76-77, Hud 11:36-49, Yunus 10:71-73, Al-A`raf 7:59-64)
In fact, there is considerable similarity between the Qur’anic
narration and the biblical narration on which the film is based but with
reservations. Indeed, the biblical account involves some statements
which contradict the Qur’anic narration and sometimes the very
commonsense. According to the Islamic perspective, such differences are
attributable to the systematic distortion to which the Bible was exposed
at several points of time.
For example, the Bible says that God repented the creation of man on
the Earth and this grieved Him at His heart. That is why He said that He
would destroy man from the face of the ground even along with beasts,
the creeping things and the birds of the heavens. (Genesis 6:5-7)
In comparison, the Qur’an does not make mention of any repentance on
the part of God. According to Islam, it does not beseem God to show
human feelings especially repentance, regret and the like.
Noah was a prophet whom God sent to call on people to worship God alone and believe in the Hereafter.
Under Islam, God foreknows everything and so He is unlikely to show
regret. When God created man, He foreknew that he is likely to do evil.
In the Qur’an, we read the following verse:
“And
[mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed, I
will make upon the earth a successive authority.’ They said, ‘Will You
place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while
we declare Your praise and sanctify You?’ God said, ‘Indeed, I know that
which you do not know.’”(Al-Baqarah 2:30)
The Qur’an tells us that the Trust was offered to the heavens, the
earth and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and feared it, but
man undertook to bear it. (Al-Ahzab 33:72)
The Qur’an goes on, making clear the consequences of bearing such Trust:
“[It was] so
that God may punish the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the men
and women who associate others with Him and that God may accept
repentance from the believing men and believing women. And ever is God
Forgiving and Merciful.”(Al-Ahzab 33:73)
Thus, God knows beforehand what people are going to do even before He
creates them. He will reward those who will do good, no matter how a
few they may be. Likewise, He will punish those who will do evil, no
matter how many they may be.
Furthermore, the Bible states that Noah “drank of the wine, and was
drunken. And he was uncovered within his tent.” (Genesis 9:21)
Since Muslims believe that Noah was a prophet of God, they cannot
believe that a prophet of God might have drunk wine, been drunken or
uncovered within his tent. According to them, an ordinary good man is
unlikely to do that. By contrast, a prophet is more unlikely to do that
for this goes against the integrity of the prophets of God. Nowhere in
the Qur’an can we find any such reference to a prophet of God.
Anyhow, laying aside the above differences between the biblical
narration and the Qur’anic narration, we can conclude that there are
many things in common and there are lessons that may be learnt from this
story according to either the Bible or the Qur’an.
The crux of the matter here is the cause of faith, obedience to God
and good deeds on the earth. Both the Bible and the Qur’an indicate that
the Great Flood was caused by disbelief, sin, disobedience, wickedness,
wrongdoing and aberration.
The Qur’an elucidates that Noah was a prophet whom God sent to call
on people to worship God alone and believe in the Hereafter. Though he
spared no effort to reform them, they insisted on disbelief and
disobedience. As a result, God decided to destroy them and save Noah and
the few believers who followed him.
In conclusion, we should not be distracted by the details from the
significance of the stated story. It should be borne in mind that the
story of Prophet Noah has a long-term, far-reaching purpose which
everybody of us has to take into account.
The Qur’an refers to the Great Flood more than once as a sign and
lesson to people so that they will take heed. (Yunus 10:73),
(Al-Mu’minun 23: 30), (Al-Furqan 25:37), (Ash-Shu`araa’ 26:121),
Al-Qamar 54:15)
Finally, this deluge was a unique, momentous event which was meant as
an everlasting warning to all humanity against disbelief and
disobedience. Suffice it to say that the followers of all Abrahamic
religions, including Jews, Christians and Muslims, believe in this
historic occurrence.
Nowadays, we all hear about the American movie “Noah” which is an
American epic biblically-inspired fantasy film based on the story of
Noah’s Ark, starring Russell Crowe as Prophet Noah.
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