Surah No. 71

Introduction

Merits of the Surah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ أَنْ أَنْذِرْ قَوْمَكَ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (1)

(71:1) Verily, We sent Nuh to his people¹ (saying), ‘Warn your people before a painful chastisement comes to them.’

1. Ahadith tell us that Nuh was the first of the Messengers sent to entire mankind and hence, when they disbelieved, the whole humanity was drowned (Qurtubi).

قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ إِنِّي لَكُمْ نَذِيرٌ مُبِينٌ (2)

(71:2) He said, ‘My people, I am for you a plain warner.

أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاتَّقُوهُ وَأَطِيعُونِ (3)

(71:3) That you should worship Allah,² fear Him and follow me.

2. Once again Sayyid Qutb devotes a passage to discuss why Prophets began with this call. We paraphrase a few points. He writes: “Repeated historical experience tells us that humanity will never reach up to the level of perfection designated and determined for it by any means other than belief in Allah taking deep root in its heart and soul; and that, human life will never rise up to the heights to which it arose in the past by any other means except by this means; and that, the periods during which this was attained [i.e. belief in Allah] were the only periods when the humans reached the fullest heights of their mental, moral and spiritual development. Indeed, such attainment would have remained beyond any dream of realization, except for the fact that it did take place in real life experience.

“It must be firmly realized that humanity will never rise by means of any philosophy, knowledge, technology, any of the prevalent religions, or an organizational framework, to the heights to which it arose, or can rise, without the establishment of faith in Allah in the hearts of the people, in their lives, running through their morals, ideas, values and ideals.. and that whenever humanity lost the guidance and leadership coming from true believers, nothing could save it from degeneration and final destruction. It lost its values, ideals, and even its humanness, as it also sank into ideological puzzlement, and psychological disorders – despite having achieved progress and development in all fields of venture; and despite the availability of all means of material comfort. Despite all these, humanity never felt its heart at rest, its soul in tranquility and its mind at peace.

This reality not only explains why the Prophets began their call with belief in Allah, but also justifies the stress on this point by the later Callers, the efforts that they put in, and the sacrifices they offered in its cause ..

“Consequently, even if the Callers are rejected, jeered at, ridiculed, or even persecuted, the least that should happen is that this belief should take deep roots in the hearts of the Callers themselves, remaining there until the end of their lives; which in fact, is the true reward for all the efforts they put in, the difficulties they go through, and the sacrifices they make. This, in fact, will tilt the balance in their favor on the Day of Judgment too.”

يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ مِنْ ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُؤَخِّرْكُمْ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ۚ إِنَّ أَجَلَ اللَّهِ إِذَا جَاءَ لَا يُؤَخَّرُ ۖ لَوْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (4)

(71:4) He will forgive you of your sins³ and defer you to an appointed term.⁴ Surely, when Allah’s appointed term arrives, it cannot be deferred, if only you knew.’

3. “He will forgive you of your sins,” i.e., some of your sins. There are two kinds of sins: (a) against Allah, and (b) against His creations. An unbeliever coming into faith receives the guarantee of forgiveness of all his sins committed against his Creator. But, on the other hand, not all the sins committed against his fellow beings are forgivable (Mufti Shafi`).

Further, sins and crimes are two different things. A Muslim fresh in Islam is still answerable for the crimes he committed before Islam (Au.).

4. This, and other verses of similar nature, have been used in evidence that good deeds lead to lengthening of life, as says a hadith:

“Doing good to the kin increases life-span.” (Ibn Kathir).

Although the above hadith of Ahmad has been declared Hasan by Haythami, there are many versions of it that have been preserved. There is a hadith which counts Hajj and `Umrah as also those deeds that increase life-span (Au.).

Mufti Shafi` adds: Divine Decree is of two kinds. One, absolute (mubram) and another conditional (mu`allaq). For example, “mu`allaq” may say that such and such a man should die at the age of sixty, while the “mubram” decree might say he will die at seventy. The reconciliation is that the “mu`allaq” would be written as: the age of such and such person would be sixty; but if he does certain good deeds, it will be increased to seventy; which happens to be the “mubram” decree.

Thus, when it was said, “(He will) defer you to an appointed term,” the reference was to the “mu`allaq” decree, whereas the words, “Surely, when Allah’s appointed term arrives, it cannot be deferred,” refer to the “mubram” decree. E.g., rains destined for the people of N uh. They were perhaps held back as a warning (as some reports speak of drought at that time); yet came down in torrents to drown them all because of their stubborn refusal (Au.).

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُ قَوْمِي لَيْلًا وَنَهَارًا (5)

(71:5) (At length) He said, ‘My Lord. I have called my people by night and by day.

فَلَمْ يَزِدْهُمْ دُعَائِي إِلَّا فِرَارًا (6)

(71:6) But nothing augments them my calling but in flight.⁵

5. Yusuf Ali remarks: “When convincing arguments and warnings are placed before sinners, there are two kinds of reactions. Those who are wise receive admonition, repent, and bring forth fruits of repentance, i.e., amend their lives and turn to Allah. On the other hand, those who are callous to any advice take it up as a reproach, fly farther and farther from righteousness, and shut out more and more the channels through which Allah’s healing Grace can reach them and work for them.”

وَإِنِّي كُلَّمَا دَعَوْتُهُمْ لِتَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ جَعَلُوا أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِمْ وَاسْتَغْشَوْا ثِيَابَهُمْ وَأَصَرُّوا وَاسْتَكْبَرُوا اسْتِكْبَارًا (7)

(71:7) And, indeed, every time I called them, so that You may forgive them, they placed their fingers in their ears, wrapped their clothes (around them),⁶ stayed defiant, and haughtily waxed proud.

6. The earliest commentators have noted that perhaps some of Nuh’s people enwrapped their heads with their shrouds not to hear him while others did it to avoid being recognized. (Au.).

ثُمَّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُهُمْ جِهَارًا (8)

(71:8) Then I called them openly.

ثُمَّ إِنِّي أَعْلَنْتُ لَهُمْ وَأَسْرَرْتُ لَهُمْ إِسْرَارًا (9)

(71:9) Then I preached publicly, and (then) confided to them confidentially,

فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا (10)

(71:10) I said, “Seek forgiveness of your Lord. Surely, he is ever Forgiving.

يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا (11)

(71:11) He will set loose the heaven upon you in torrents.

وَيُمْدِدْكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ أَنْهَارًا (12)

(71:12) He will extend you with wealth and sons. He will make for you gardens and will make for you rivers.⁷

7. It should not be imagined, writes Thanwi, that these promises are for everyone who accepts Islamic faith (or leads a virtuous life). Perhaps after Nuh felt that the spiritual benefits did not interest his people, or perhaps because they were passing through testing times, he (by Allah’s leave) offered these earthly rewards (in his effort not to leave any leaf unturned to save them from perdition).

All that a true believer is promised, is an “easy” life, (or ease in life), which is not equivalent of life of plenty (Au.).

مَا لَكُمْ لَا تَرْجُونَ لِلَّهِ وَقَارًا (13)

(71:13) What ails you that you do not project Majesty for Allah?

وَقَدْ خَلَقَكُمْ أَطْوَارًا (14)

(71:14) Seeing that He created you in varying states and stages.⁸

8. Allah created man in stages such as: dust, then the sperm, then blood clot and so on (Zamakhshari and others); or perhaps, first infancy, then childhood, then teenage, and so on (Qurtubi).

أَلَمْ تَرَوْا كَيْفَ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقًا (15)

(71:15) Have you not considered how Allah has created the seven heavens one upon another?⁹

9. While stating the revolving periods of various heavenly bodies, Ibn Kathir notes that the orbital period of Saturn is 30 years. This is close to the modern observation which puts it as 29.4 years.

وَجَعَلَ الْقَمَرَ فِيهِنَّ نُورًا وَجَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ سِرَاجًا (16)

(71:16) And set the moon therein for a light,¹⁰ and set the sun for a lamp?

10. A doubt occurs. Is our moon part of our own firmament or is it part of the seven firmaments? The commentators have answered that all celestial bodies, no matter where they are, large or infinitely small, are within the seven firmaments; hence the words, “placed therein.”

وَاللَّهُ أَنْبَتَكُمْ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ نَبَاتًا (17)

(71:17) And Allah caused you to grow out of the earth, in (an amazing) growth.¹¹

11. This is how Imam Razi understands the textual “nabata.” However, “gradual growth” is another possible connotation (Au.).

ثُمَّ يُعِيدُكُمْ فِيهَا وَيُخْرِجُكُمْ إِخْرَاجًا (18)

(71:18) Then He will return you therein and will bring you forth, (a definite) bringing forth.

وَاللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ بِسَاطًا (19)

(71:19) And Allah has laid the earth for you as a carpet.

لِتَسْلُكُوا مِنْهَا سُبُلًا فِجَاجًا (20)

(71:20) So that you may tread about therein, in broadways.”’

قَالَ نُوحٌ رَبِّ إِنَّهُمْ عَصَوْنِي وَاتَّبَعُوا مَنْ لَمْ يَزِدْهُ مَالُهُ وَوَلَدُهُ إِلَّا خَسَارًا (21)

(71:21) Nuh said, ‘My Lord, they have disobeyed me and followed him whose wealth and children only increase him in loss.¹²

12. It was the wealthy class that acted arrogantly against Nuh, advising those they influenced – the poorer layers of the society – that they should in no case abandon the deities mentioned in this passage later (Thanwi).

وَمَكَرُوا مَكْرًا كُبَّارًا (22)

(71:22) And have schemed, a great scheming.¹³

13. The allusion could be to a detailed plot that the rich and the priestly class of Nuh’s people would have drawn to frustrate his efforts (Au.).

وَقَالُوا لَا تَذَرُنَّ آلِهَتَكُمْ وَلَا تَذَرُنَّ وَدًّا وَلَا سُوَاعًا وَلَا يَغُوثَ وَيَعُوقَ وَنَسْرًا (23)

(71:23) And they said, “Never abandon your deities; never abandon Wadd, nor Suwaa`, nor Yaghus nor Ya`uq and Nasr.”¹⁴

14. Qatadah said that these idols were imported from there into the Arab world too (Ibn Jarir).

Of them, Wadd was in the form of a man, Suwaa` had a woman’s shape, Yaghuth in the form of a lion while Nasr had the shape of an eagle (Alusi and others).

Mahdi Rizq Allah notes in his Sirah work: “Banu Kalb b. Murra of Dumatu al-Jandal had a deity called Wadd. Banu Hudhayl, who lived in a place called Rihat, some three nights off Makkah, owned a deity called Suwa`, and Banu At`am possessed a deity called Yaguth, which was also the deity of the Jahash tribe of Muzhaj al-Yemeniyyah. Another idol was Ya`uq which belonged to Banu Khaywan the Hamdani tribes, while Nasr was the chief god of Dhu al-Kila` of Himyar.”

It may be asked, how could the deities come into the Arab world when the people of Nuh were obliterated? The answer is, perhaps the flood was not universal and the deities, imported at earlier times survived. A second and more plausible answer is that Nuh’s people would have mentioned to their offspring stories of deities that had caused to bring the flood. The knowledge was conveyed from generation to generation until, several generations later, when idols reappeared, they were given the same names, and then imported from there into the Arab world (Au.).

Majid cites quotations: “..it would be a mistake to conclude that this cult was obsolete in Muhammad’s time, for we have sufficient evidence to the contrary. The poet Nabigha says, ‘Wadd, greet thee.’ .. ‘The list of Arabian deities includes a Lion-god (Yaguth) and a Vulture-god (Nasr).’ (Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites.. Ya`uc is said to have been god of the Hamdan or of the Moad or of both tribes’ .. ‘The Talmud and the Syriac doctrine of Addai, mention Nashre, the Aramaic form of Nasr, as an Arabian god.’”

وَقَدْ أَضَلُّوا كَثِيرًا ۖ وَلَا تَزِدِ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا ضَلَالًا (24)

(71:24) They have led many astray,¹⁵ and (so) do not increase the transgressors but in misguidance.’

15. The Sufi commentator Thanwi warns: It is images of the virtuous ones of the past generations that ultimately led their offspring to worship them. Inordinate love and respect ended in declaring them gods besides Allah. By extension it may be said that inordinate respect for the relics of the pious people of the past can have the same effect on the hearts. They might create images in the heart. It would be best to avoid having anything to do with the relics.

مِمَّا خَطِيئَاتِهِمْ أُغْرِقُوا فَأُدْخِلُوا نَارًا فَلَمْ يَجِدُوا لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَنْصَارًا (25)

(71:25) (So) because of their sins they were drowned¹⁶ and ushered into a Fire;¹⁷ and they found not for themselves apart from Allah, helpers.

16. If the flood was universal, because mankind of Nuh’s time lived in one area, then apart from various other factors coming together at that spot and at that time, including a tsunami, should be considered. There are millions of comets. One of them passing by the earth in close range has the power to draw the water of the seas towards the face of the earth facing the comet; in the like manner of the moon, which from a distance of 385,000 km. exerts such tremendous pull on the waters of the earth as to draw them to one side of the earth raising the level sometimes by two meters. In our own solar system, Pluto of diameter 2300 km, has a moon of its own (Charon, of diameter 1200 km), which is just about 19,000 km from Pluto. Had there been water on Pluto, it would all be on the side facing Charon (Au.).

17. That is, into a specific Fire. (Au.).

This ayah supports the ahadith concerning “barzakh.” (Razi).

Yusuf Ali comments: “The Punishment of sin seizes the soul from every side and in every form. Water (drowning) indicates death by suffocation, through the nose, ears, eyes, mouth, throat, and lung. Fire has the opposite effects: it burns the skin, the limbs, the flesh, the brains, the bones, and every part of the body. So the destruction wrought by sin is complete from all points of view. And yet it is not death (xx. 74); for death would be a merciful release from the Penalty, and the soul steeped in sin has closed the gates of Allah’s Mercy on itself. There they will abide, unless and ‘except as Allah willeth’ (vi. 128). For time and eternity, as we conceive them now, have no meaning in the wholly new world.”

وَقَالَ نُوحٌ رَبِّ لَا تَذَرْ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ دَيَّارًا (26)

(71:26) And Nuh said, ‘My Lord! Leave not on the earth of the unbelievers any inhabitant.¹⁸

18. Qatadah said that Nuh prayed against his people in that manner only after it had been revealed to him the following:

“And it was revealed to Nuh that none of your people will believe except he who had already believed.” (Ibn Jarir).

However, Thanwi warns, that was for a Prophet. Ordinary believers are not allowed to pray for their Muslim opponents’ destruction, as noticed of some of the pseudo Sufis.

إِنَّكَ إِنْ تَذَرْهُمْ يُضِلُّوا عِبَادَكَ وَلَا يَلِدُوا إِلَّا فَاجِرًا كَفَّارًا (27)

(71:27) Surely, if You left them, they will misguide Your slaves and will beget not any but wicked, downright ungrateful (ones).¹⁹

19. It is said that they had become such die-hard disbelievers that a father would pass by Nuh and instruct his child, “This is Nuh, a liar. Do not believe in anything he says. This is how my father would warn me” (Ibn Jarir, Kashshaf, Razi, Ibn Kathir).

رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِمَنْ دَخَلَ بَيْتِيَ مُؤْمِنًا وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَلَا تَزِدِ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا تَبَارًا (28)

(71:28) My Lord! Forgive me, my parents, and whosoever entered my house²⁰ as a believer,²¹ and (also forgive) the believing men and believing women and increase not the wrongdoers but in destruction.’

20. By saying “my house,” Nuh meant “his place of worship.” (Ibn Jarir from Dahhak).

21. That is, not as a hypocrite (Razi). Hence the Prophet’s advice, as recorded by Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Abu Da’ud:

“Let not your companion be but a believer, and let not your food be shared but by a godly person.” (Ibn Kathir).

That is, let not your guests be, but godly persons. The hadith was declared as bearing trustworthy narrators by Munawi, as in Tuhfah. (Au.).