Hud: Verses 45–47

There are two main issues discussed here:

Issue 1: The Meaning of "He is not of your family"

We have already discussed the disagreement regarding whether the person was truly Noah's son or not. Since it is established that he was his son, the statement, {He said, "O Noah, indeed he is not of your family"} must be interpreted in one of two ways:

1. It means he is not of your religious family (i.e., not a believer).
2. It means he is not of the family members whom God promised to save with you.

These two interpretations are very close.

Issue 2: The Precedence of Religious Kinship

This verse indicates that religious kinship takes precedence over lineage kinship. Although the strongest form of familial relationship existed here, because the religious bond was absent, God negated him with the strongest phrasing: {Indeed he is not of your family}.

Then God Almighty said: {Indeed, he has done an unrighteous deed} (or ‘Amilun Ghayru Sālih).

There are different readings for this phrase:

• Al-Kisa'i read: ‘Amila (verb, past tense) and Ghayra (accusative). Meaning: Your son committed an unrighteous deed (i.e., associated partners with God and lied). Ghayra is accusative because it is an adjective describing an omitted verbal noun (the deed itself).
• The rest read: ‘Amilun (noun, nominative, with tanwin). This has two interpretations:
  1. The pronoun hu (he/it) refers back to Noah's request. Meaning: This request—{Indeed, my son is of my family, and indeed Your promise is the truth}—is an unrighteous deed (‘Amilun Ghayru Sālih), because asking for the salvation of a disbeliever after the judgment against them has been finalized is a false request.
  2. The pronoun hu refers back to the son. In this case, describing him as an unrighteous deed (‘Amilun Ghayru Sālih) has several interpretations:
     • Just as a man of great good deeds is called a man of knowledge and generosity, here, because Noah's son frequently engaged in false deeds, he is described as being inherently a false deed.
     • It means he possesses false deeds, with the noun "deeds" being omitted, implied by the context.
     • Some say it means he was illegitimate (born of adultery). This view is definitively false.

Then God Almighty said to Noah (peace be upon him): {So do not ask Me for that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, I advise you that you not be among the ignorant}. This contains two issues:

Those who argue that prophets are fallible (sinful) use this verse in several ways:

1. The Reading of ‘Amilun (Nominative): If the reading ‘Amilun (nominative, with tanwin) is accepted as sound (which it is, being a transmitted reading), the pronoun hu must refer either to the son or to the request. If it refers to the son, it requires an implied word, which goes against the apparent meaning unless necessary. Since we can avoid this necessity by referring the pronoun to the preceding request (making the request itself the unrighteous deed), it is established that the pronoun refers to the request. Thus, the meaning is: "Your statement, 'My son is of my family,' seeking his salvation, is an unrighteous deed." This implies the request was a sin.
2. The Prohibition: The statement {So do not ask Me} is a prohibition against the request, which was {Indeed, my son is of my family}. This proves the request was a sin.
3. Speaking Without Knowledge: {So do not ask Me for that of which you have no knowledge} proves the request was made without knowledge. Speaking without knowledge is a sin, based on the verse: {And do not say about Allah that which you do not know}.
4. The Admonition of Ignorance: {Indeed, I advise you that you not be among the ignorant} proves the request was pure ignorance. This shows extreme reprimand and ultimate deterrence. Furthermore, ignorance is often used in the Quran as a metaphor for sin (e.g., {They commit evil out of ignorance} and Moses’ prayer: {I seek refuge in You from being among the ignorant}).
5. Noah's Confession: Noah (PBUH) confessed to committing a sin in this context when he said: {My Lord, indeed I seek refuge in You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have mercy upon me, I will be among the losers}. His confession indicates he was sinful.
6. Contradictory Actions: This verse implies Noah asked God to save his son from drowning. However, the preceding verse, {And Noah called his son} saying, {O my son, ride with us}, implies he asked his son to join him. If Noah asked God first, he would have been told God would not save the son and that he should stop asking. How then could he tell his son to board? If he asked his son first, he heard the son refuse, saying he would seek refuge on a mountain, revealing his disbelief. How then could Noah ask God to save him? Moreover, God informed Noah that the son would be among the drowned. How could Noah ask God to save someone already decreed to drown? These six points suggest Noah committed a sin.

Reconciliation: Since numerous proofs mandate that prophets must be pure from sins, these interpretations must be understood as referring to the omission of the most excellent course of action—the good deeds of the righteous are considered shortcomings for the near ones. This is why the reprimand and command for seeking forgiveness occurred. It does not imply a prior sin, just as the command to glorify and seek forgiveness after the victory in Surah An-Nasr does not imply the victory itself was a sin.

There are variations in the recitation of {So do not ask Me}:

• Naafi’ (Warsh’s narration) and Isma’il: Tusā’ilunī (with shadda on the nūn and retaining the yā’). The shadda is for emphasis, and retaining the yā’ is according to the original form.
• Ibn ‘Amir and Naafi’ (Qalun’s narration): Tus’lanī (with shadda on the nūn but dropping the yā’).
• Abu ‘Amr: Tas’alan (with a light nūn and dropping the yā’).

The lack of shadda and dropping the yā’ are for ease of pronunciation without compromising meaning.

After God forbade him, Noah responded: {My Lord, indeed I seek refuge in You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have mercy upon me, I will be among the losers}.

This means Noah accepted the prohibition and vowed not to return to it, but he acknowledged he could not avoid it without God’s help. Thus, he began with {Indeed, I seek refuge in You}.

His statement {Indeed, I seek refuge in You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge} refers to the future (vow not to repeat the action). Then he moved to apologizing for the past: {And unless You forgive me and have mercy upon me, I will be among the losers}. True repentance requires two things:

1. Future commitment: The resolve to abstain, indicated by seeking refuge from repeating the action.
2. Past regret: Sorrow for what has passed, indicated by asking for forgiveness and mercy.

Conclusion on Noah's Error:

Noah’s people were divided into three groups: open disbelievers, known believers, and hypocrites whose status was hidden. Believers were destined for salvation, and disbelievers for drowning. Noah’s son was among the hypocrites, meaning his status was ambiguous; he might have been a believer.

The intense paternal compassion led Noah to interpret his son’s actions favorably, assuming he was righteous. When Noah saw his son separate himself, he asked him to board the ark. The son replied, {I will take refuge on a mountain that will protect me from the water}. This does not prove disbelief, as he might have thought climbing the mountain was equivalent to boarding the ark. Noah’s response, {There is no protector today from the decree of Allah except for whom He has mercy}, only confirms that Noah was reminding his son that only faith and righteous deeds save—it does not prove Noah knew his son was a disbeliever.

At this point, Noah still held a hope that his son was a believer and asked God to save him by any means—either by allowing him onto the ark or by protecting him on the mountain. God then informed him that the son was a hypocrite and not of his religious community.

Therefore, the error committed by Noah was not investigating thoroughly enough the signs indicating his son’s hypocrisy. He engaged in Ijtihad (independent reasoning) based on the assumption that his son was a believer, and this reasoning was mistaken because the son was, in fact, a disbeliever. This was an error in judgment, similar to the error committed by Adam (PBUH). Thus, what occurred was not a major sin but an error in Ijtihad.

Verse 48

{It was said, "O Noah, disembark with peace from Us and blessings upon you and upon communities [descended] from those with you. But other communities [descended from those with you]—We will grant them enjoyment, then there will touch them a painful punishment from Us."}