Familiarity and questioning are two antagonists.
The more familiar we are with something, the less we question it.
Alternatively, the more we feel we understand something the less careful we are
about its details. Perhaps, this fact is one of the implications of the
following verse from the chapter of Joseph (12/105): And how many Signs in the heavens and the earth do they pass by? Yet
they turn (their faces) away from them!
Strangely, Great Flood story turns out to be
one instance of such negligence due to a sense of familiarity. The flood story
is present throughout the world cultures, and there is a consensus on its major
details. However, when we think meticulously about stitching together all of
the details of the Great Flood story, we see that the patches that we gather do
not seem to match! At least, this is the case when we try to combine them in
context of the existing flood scenario in our minds. The following is a
continuation of a scrutiny on this matter.
Special greeting
In the Quran, names of many prophets have been given. Sometimes, they
have been mentioned with special veneration: Peace on Abraham (Saffat 37/109),
Peace on Moses and Aaron (37/120), Peace on Elijah (37/130), Peace on the envoys
(37/181). Similar greetings are also mentioned for Jesus (Mary, 15) and the
believers with Noah (Hud, 48). However, among these greetings, there is one
that stands out of all others: Peace on Noah in all worlds! (Saffat, 79)1.
The Arabic original word for all
worlds is alameen. This same word
was discussed before about the issue of sign
for all worlds2. Here, it appears again in a different
context. What makes Noah so special among the rest of the prophets that only he
is greeted like this? The answer to this question must also explain why the
person who was only sent as mercy for all
worlds (i.e. Muhammad pbuh, Anbiya 107) is not greeted in the same format.
Lineage of Noah
In the chapter Family of Imran, we come across with another usage of the
word alameen. Verse 33 reads as
follows: Indeed, Allah chose Adam and
Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds. Here
we learn that Noah, along with the other mentioned people, was one of the
select people in humanity. The verse following this one reveals further
information about these select people: Offspring,
one of the other: And Allah heareth
and knoweth all things. However, the translations of the first half of this
last verse can be distinctly grouped into two. Both translations are given
here:
literal translation3: Descendants, some of them from others.
interpretation: As a single lineage.
At first thought, one can say that both translations are equivalent,
since Adam is the father of all humanity and therefore Noah is in his lineage.
Furthermore, since Noah is considered as the second father of humanity,
everybody else who comes after him is in his lineage. But instead of expressing
this meaning directly (as given in the interpretations), Quran says some of them from others. In fact, the
Arabic word for “some of them” would be “ba’duhum”
(as in 2/253), not “ba’duha”. With this information, if we come up with a
more literal translation of this verse (3/34), it would read: Offspring, some of it from some.
The problem starts with the juxtaposition of a word that implies
certainty, descendants/offspring, and
a phrase that implies obscurity, some of
it from some. If they are one lineage, they are all from Adam in a
chronological order; and we are sure of it. This stance would be supported by
the current knowledge about the lineages after Abraham. But the next phrase is
not so certain: some from some. For
example, is Abraham not in the lineage of Adam or Noah? Or, is ‘Imran not in
the lineage of Adam or Noah? Why is this obscure expression, as if implying the
mix of more than one lineages? Is there another lineage besides that of Adam?
Who are the Baqiin?
In trying to answer this question, there are actually two points that can
help us. First, the same word, remaining
ones (baqeen), in context of the flood is used in two different places: “And We made his descendants those remaining
(baqeen) [on the earth]” (Saffat,
37/77); “Then We drowned thereafter
the remaining ones (baqeen).” (Shuara,
26/120). By comparing the two verses, one can see that the first one is
referring to the believers with Noah, and the second one is referring to the
disbelievers. Here, we are going to concentrate on the second verse about the
disbelievers.
In the Arabic original of this verse, the two words referring to the timing
of the events are thumma and ba’da. These words have very close
meanings at first glance, hence the two adverbs in the translation: then and thereafter. What could be the reason for the repetition of the same
meaning twice in such a short sentence? Given that Quran is a literary miracle,
this question must have a satisfactory answer.
The word, ba’da, has secondary
meanings, such as distance. In fact,
in original Arabic writing, the words ba’d
and bu’d are both written the same
way, and the latter means distance, which is exactly what we need. If we reread
the verse with this finding, we not only get rid of the unnecessary repetition
of the same meaning (summa/ba’da) but
also reach a reasonable understanding for the whole verse: Then We drowned those who are in the distance of the believers. As
a support for the preference of this second meaning of the word ba’da, we can tell that whenever in the
Quran the first meaning is meant (later, then, after), it is always used as min ba’di4, and only at this point, ba’da is used alone. Therefore, it is justifiable
to go for the secondary meaning of this word given that it is in a context that
is unlike the remaining 78 instances throughout the Quran.
In this new meaning however, it is implied that the drowning of the
disbelievers occurred after a distance was achieved between the believers and
the disbelievers. This means that Noah’s Ark must have travelled a considerable
distance in a short time before the doom of the unbelievers came. So, we can
ask “where is the ark going, who is controlling it (or is it a miraculous
guidance), does the ship have an engine2.
If, in order to get rid of these strange questions, we disregard all the
discussion here, then we have to find a satisfactory answer to the repetition
of two synonyms in a short verse (26/120).
Lifetime of Noah
Noah (pbuh) is told to have lived among his people for 950 years
(Ankabut, 29/14): “And We certainly sent
Noah to his people, and he remained among them a thousand years minus fifty
years, and the flood seized them while they were wrongdoers.” But as seen
in this verse, instead of directly saying the number 950, thousand minus fifty
is preferred. Also, in the Arabic original of the verse, “alfa sanatin – thousand
years” and “khamseena AAama – fifty years” include different words to mean year. The scholars interpret this as “he
lived among his people for 950 years with difficulties, and the remaining 50
years were after the flood with prosperity”. In this context, there are two
points of interest.
First, we don’t know of any people who had centuries-long lives in the
recorded history. If Noah lived for 950 years among his people, this must be
the norm among them. But the archeological clues about a flood in the region of
the Middle East show an event around 4000-5000 BC in the area that is now
Mesopotamia. However, there aren’t findings of a life span of that long, yet!
Second, isn’t it interesting that Noah lives for 950 years up to the time
of the flood, and only fifty years after it? And, since Noah is said to be the
second father of humanity, in those last fifty years of his life, he is supposed
to have offspring. What kind of biology is at work to support this? Is this a
miracle like that given to Abraham and Zachariah, or is there an unknown
mystery about the flood story yet to be discovered?
Conversation with the Son
The Quran tells us about a conversation between Noah and his son, which
takes place after the start of the flood:
“And
it sailed with them through waves like mountains, and Noah called to his son
who was apart [from them], ‘O my son, come aboard with us and be not with the
disbelievers.’ [But] he said, "I will take refuge on a mountain to protect
me from the water." [Noah] said, "There is no protector today from
the decree of Allah , except for whom He gives mercy." And the waves came
between them, and he was among the drowned.” (Hud, 11/42-43)
Reading this, we understand that the ark is already afloat in the water,
and the storm is so severe that there are mountain-like waves. In such a
situation, even a person who is on the ark could have difficulty in speaking to
others who are also on the ark, let alone someone in the water. But we see that
Noah is having this talk with his son. This can be understood by the compassion
he has for his son. But how come his voice is heard by his son, given that they
are separated by a distance and they are in a rain storm? On the other hand,
how are we going to justify the cool answer
from his son? What kind of a sane person could imagine that they can fight with
gigantic waves as big as mountains? Are we going to simply say that he was so
arrogant in his disbelief?
Final Word
Only God knows what truly happened during the Great Flood, and we will not
know for sure until He is going to reveal it to us. But in any case, it is
clear that there are great signs to be discovered hopefully in the future. As
has been throughout the life of humanity, when that happens, some will grow in
their faith and others will further plummet into layers of darkness. May we all
be among the first group.
Notes
4 All of the instances of the word ba’da in the Quran are
referenced here (as best as we could find): (14)Baqara,
2/27,52,64,74,75,87,92,109,145,209,211,213,246,253, (10)Ali-Imran, 3/19,61,65,89,94,105,152,154,160,172,
(4)Nisa, 4/11,12,24,115, (3)Maidah, 5/39,41,106, (5)A’raf, 7/69,74,100,129,148,
(2)Tawbah, 9/27,113, (3)Yunus, 10/3,21,74, (1)Hud, 11/7, (4)Yusuf,
12/35,48,49,100, (1)Ra’d, 13/25, (4)Nahl, 16/41,92,110,119, (1)Isra, 17/104, (1)Anbiya,
21/105, (1)Hajj, 22/5, (2)Mu’minun, 23/31,42, (4)Nur, 24/5,33,47,58, (2)Shuara,
26/120,227, (1)Qasas, 28/43, (1)Rum, 30/54, (1)Ahzab, 33/53, (2)Fatir, 35/2,41,
(1)Yasin, 36/28, (1)Zumar, 39/6, (1)Fussilat, 41/50, (3)Shuraa, 42/16,28,44, (2)Jathiyah,
45/17,23, (1)Ahqaf, 46/30, (1)Muhammad, 47/25, (1)Fath, 48/24, (1)Bayyinah,
98/4.
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