Surah Ash-Shu'ara: (105 - 122) The People of Noah Denied...

It is known that when Allah recounted the story of Moses and Abraham to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a solace for what he faced from his people, He also narrated the account of Noah (peace be upon him). His mission was greater than others because he called them for a thousand years minus fifty years, yet his people denied him, so He said: {The people of Noah denied}.

He said "denied" (singular feminine verb, kadhdhabat) because the word for "people" (qawm) is grammatically feminine, and its diminutive form is quwaymah.

They were reported to have denied the Messengers for two reasons:

1. Although they denied Noah specifically, denying him implies denying others, as the method of recognizing Messengers does not differ. In essence, they denied the Messengers.
2. The people of Noah denied all Messengers of Allah, either because they were heretics (zanādiqa) or materialists (barāhima).

As for His saying {their brother}, it is because he was one of them, similar to the Arabic saying, "O brother of Banu Tamim," meaning, "O one among them."

Then, Allah recounted that Noah (peace be upon him) first warned them, and secondly, described himself.

The warning is His saying: {Will you not fear Allah?}

Know that the people only accepted those doctrines through imitation (taqlīd). When an imitator is warned, he fears. If fear does not enter his heart, he will not engage in reasoning. For this reason, Noah placed the command {Will you not fear Allah?} before all his other words.

As for his self-description, it was through two things:

1. His saying: {Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy Messenger}. This is because he was famous among them for trustworthiness, just as Muhammad (PBUH) was among Quraysh. It is as if he said: "I was trustworthy before, so why do you suspect me today?"
2. His saying: {And I ask of you no reward for it}, meaning for claiming prophethood, so that it is not assumed he called them out of desire for gain.

If it is asked: Why was the command to fear Allah repeated? The answer is: In the first instance, he meant: "Will you not fear Allah regarding opposing me while I am the Messenger of Allah?" In the second instance, he meant: "Will you not fear Allah regarding opposing me when I take no payment from you?" Thus, the meaning differs, and there is no repetition. A man might say to another: "Will you not fear Allah regarding your disobedience to me when I raised you when you were young? Will you not fear Allah regarding your disobedience to me when I taught you when you were grown?"

The command to fear Allah was presented before the command to obey Him because the fear of Allah is the cause ('illah) of obedience; thus, the cause precedes the effect.

After Noah (peace be upon him) said this to them, they replied by saying: {Shall we believe you while the lowest among us follow you?}

The author of Al-Kashshāf said: The reading {and the lowest among us follow you} (wa-ttaba'aka al-ardhalūn) uses al-ardhalūn as a plural of tābi' (follower), like shāhid and ushhād. Or it is a plural of taba' (follower), like baṭal and abṭāl. The wāw (and) here indicates a state (ḥāl), and it should ideally be followed by qad (indeed) in {and follow you}. Al-ardhal is pluralized correctly and also with broken pluralization, as in their saying: {those who are our lowest ones} (Hud: 27). Radhālah (lowliness) means baseness. They considered them base because of the lowliness of their lineage and their small share of worldly wealth. It is also said they were from lowly professions like weaving and bloodletting.

Know that this objection is extremely weak, because Noah (peace be upon him) was sent to all creation, and the situation should not change based on poverty or wealth, or the nobility or baseness of their occupations.

Noah (peace be upon him) answered them with the true response, which is His saying: {And I know not what they were doing}. This statement indicates that they accused those who believed of not having believed based on insight and perception, but rather based on whim and greed, as Allah recounted about them in His saying: {those who are our lowest ones, in our opinion} (Hud: 27).

Then He said: {Their reckoning is only with my Lord}. This means: We only consider the apparent state of their affairs, not what is hidden. When He said: {Their reckoning is only with my Lord}, and since they did not believe that, He followed it with: {if only you knew}.

Then He said: {And I am not one to drive away the believers}. This serves as evidence that the people asked him to expel them so that they might follow him, or so that they would be closer to that [i.e., closer to disbelief]. He clarified that what prevents him from expelling them is their belief in him. Then he clarified that his purpose in carrying the message prevents him from doing so by His saying: {I am only a clear warner}. What is meant is: I warn those who deny me and do not accept from me. Whoever accepts is close, and whoever rejects is distant.

After Noah (peace be upon him) completed this response, they offered nothing but threats, saying: {If you do not desist, O Lot [Noah], you will surely be among those stoned to death}. This means they threatened him with being killed by stones.

At that point, Noah (peace be upon him) despaired of their success and said: {My Lord, my people have denied me. So judge between me and them with a decisive judgment}. The purpose is not to inform Allah of the denial, as the Knower of the unseen and the seen is already aware. Rather, he meant: I do not call upon You against them because they harmed me, but I call upon You for Your sake, for Your religion, and because they denied me in Your revelation and Your message. {So judge between me and them}, meaning, rule between me and them. Fath (judgment/decision) means arbitration, and fattāḥ (judge) is one who opens what is closed. What is meant by this judgment is the sending down of punishment upon them, because he immediately followed it with: {and save me}. If the meaning were not the sending down of punishment, mentioning salvation afterward would have no meaning. His story has been explained previously in Surah Al-A'rāf and Surah Hud.

Then Allah said: {So We saved him and those with him in the laden ark}. The author of Al-Kashshāf said: Al-falk means ship, and its plural is fuluk, as Allah says: {And you see the ships therein cleaving through} (Fāṭir: 12). Thus, the singular is on the pattern of qufl, and the plural is on the pattern of asad. Al-mashḥūn means filled. It is said, "They loaded it with horses and men." This indicates that those saved with him were numerous, and the ark was filled with them and what accompanied them. Allah clarified that after saving them, He drowned the rest, and that His drowning them was subsequent to their salvation.

The Fourth Story: The Story of Hūd (peace be upon him)

{The people of 'Ad denied the Messengers, when their brother Hūd said to them, "Will you not fear Allah? Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy Messenger. So fear Allah and obey me. And I ask of you no reward for it; my reward is only from the Lord of the worlds. Do you build upon every high place a monument for idle sport? And do you take for yourselves great structures as if you would live forever? And when you seize, you seize as tyrants. So fear Allah and obey me. And fear Him Who has provided you with that which you know. He has provided you with cattle and sons, and gardens and springs. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a great Day." They said, "It is all the same to us whether you admonish us or are not among the admonishers. This is not but the habit of the former peoples, and we will not be punished." So they denied him, and We destroyed them. Indeed, in that is a sign, but most of them were not to be believers. And indeed, your Lord - He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.}