Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:77

This is sufficient, as We destroyed the disbelievers in accordance with his supplication: "My Lord, do not leave upon the earth any of the disbelievers as an inhabitant." It has been narrated that everyone who was in the ship died without leaving any surviving offspring, except for his three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives, for they remained and propagated until the Day of Resurrection.

Al-Tirmidhi (who classified it as hasan), Ibn Sa'd, Ahmad, Abu Ya'la, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Tabarani, and al-Hakim (who authenticated it) narrated from Samurah that the Prophet (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) said: "Shem is the father of the Arabs, Ham is the father of the Abyssinians, and Japheth is the father of the Romans." Ibn Mardawayh also narrated a similar marfu' report from Abu Hurairah. Furthermore, al-Bazzar, Ibn Abi Hatim, and al-Khatib in Tali al-Talkhis narrated from him that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) said: "Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. From Shem came the Arabs, the Persians, and the Romans, and there is goodness in them. From Japheth came Gog and Magog, the Turks, and the Slavs, and there is no goodness in them. From Ham came the Copts and the Sudanese." I do not know the status of this report.

The majority hold that all people, in the east and west of the earth, are descendants of Noah (peace be upon him); hence, he is called the "Second Adam." If it is authentic that Canaan, who drowned, had a child on the ship, it is not far-fetched to include him among the descendants, so one is not restricted to the three sons. Some have used this verse as evidence that all people are from his descendants.

A group has said: Allah preserved the descendants of Noah (peace be upon him) and extended his lineage, but people are not exclusively from his lineage; rather, some nations do not trace back to him. This was reported in al-Bahr. It seems this group does not rely on the generality of the verse, arguing that Noah (peace be upon him) only supplicated against the disbelievers, and he was not sent to the entire earth, as the universality of the mission is one of the distinct characteristics of the Seal of the Messengers (may Allah grant him peace and blessings). Moreover, it is not known that the news of his call reached all regions, such as China and others, while he was in the Arabian Peninsula.

The restriction in the verse is relative to those who were on the ship other than his sons and their wives. It is as if it were said: "We made his descendants the survivors, not the descendants of those who were with him on the ship." This does not necessitate the non-survival of the descendants of those who were not with him and were in distant regions that the call did not reach, and whose inhabitants did not merit drowning, such as the people of China, as some claim. It is also possible that one who holds to the generality of the verse interprets the restriction relative to the drowned people, committing to the view that no descendant remained for any of the people of the ship who was also a descendant of anyone who drowned. That is: "We made his descendants the survivors, not the descendants of anyone else among the drowned." If it is authentic that Canaan had a child and that his lineage survived, he is included in Noah’s descendants. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.