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Bismillahi ar-rahmani ar-rahim

Hud 11:37

وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا وَلَا تُخَاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا إِنَّهُم مُّغْرَقُونَ

[Allah told nabi Nuh] Make the ark under our supervision and inspiration, and do not talk to me about the wicked. They will be drowned.

Tawrat, Genesis 6:14-17

So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

We do not know how big the ship was, whose design came directly from Al Musawwir (the Fashioner). We know enough, though, to be able to say that human engineers have not designed such large ships until the 20^th century. A modern scientist, Blahoslav Balcar of Czech Republic, counted that the ark was probably well over 200 m long. What we know very clearly is the relation between the length (300 cubits), width (50) and height (30) of the boat. Modern designers are amazed to read about this in the ancient book of Tawrat, because, as they say, such measurements give a boat the maximum possible stability at a minimum draught. Nuh (aws) never set his foot on a boat before the flood, but Allah is the best of Designers.

As we had read, Allah decided to destroy the human race, because of their wickedness. Nuh, who was himself a sinner and depended on the mercy of Allah (Hud 11:47) received mercy. With it, he was given the responsibility to warn others about their sins and the coming destruction.

Hud 11:25,26

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَى قَوْمِهِ إِنِّي لَكُمْ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌأَن لَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا اللَّهَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ أَلِيمٍ

We sent Nuh to his people: “I am a clear warner to you that you worship only Allah. I fear that you will suffer the torment of a painful day.

From this and other ayat here and in the Tawrat we see that those who died in the flood were warned, and had a chance to repent, change their ways and be saved together with Nuh (aws) and his family. Allah is The Most Merciful, but He will not force anybody to choose Him. Every person is responsible for choosing that which is right, and for the consequences of their choice.

Hud 11:28

قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِن كُنتُ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّي وَآتَانِي رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِهِ فَعُمِّيَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنُلْزِمُكُمُوهَا وَأَنتُمْ لَهَا كَارِهُونَ

He said, “My people, if I have a miracle from my Lord, and he gave me his mercy and you are blind to it, should we compel you to it against your will?

Why did Allah ask Nuh (aws) to build such a big ship? (based on the above ayahs, choose one correct answer)

1. to prepare a safe place for anyone who would choose salvation
2. to ensure that the nabi and his sons had work to do, and did not become lazy
3. to make others jealous of Nuh’s big, luxurious boat