Page 52 - Prayer in the Qur'an

50 PRAYER IN THE QUR'AN

increase the wrongdoers except in ruin!" (Surah Nuh: 26-28)

Allah answered the Prophet Nuh's (as) prayer and commanded
him to prepare for the Flood that was to come. Even though there
was no sea or lake around, he set off to build an ark upon Allah's
order.
While he was building the ark, his people continued to ridicule
him. The Prophet Nuh (as) ignored them and continued to build the
ark. Allah relates this in the Qur'an as follows:

He began to build the Ark and every time some nobles of his
people passed him by, they ridiculed him. He said, "Though
you ridicule us now, we will certainly ridicule you as you do
us." (Surah Hud: 38)
Ultimately, Allah's promise came true and the Flood began:

So We opened the gates of heaven with torrential water and
made the earth burst forth with gushing springs. And the wa-
ters met together in a way which was decreed. We bore him on
a planked and well-caulked ship, which ran before Our eyes—
a reward for him who had been rejected. (Surat al-Qamar: 11-
14)
One of the people who drowned during the Flood was the
Prophet Nuh's (as) son who was called to embark on the ark by his

father before the Flood struck. But the son claimed that the moun-
tain in which he planned to take refuge would protect him and thus
refused his father's call. (Surah Hud, 43)
In the Qur'an, Allah relates to us the Prophet Nuh's (as) request
to Allah upon his son's death:

Nuh called out to his Lord and said, "My Lord, my son is one of
my family and Your promise is surely the truth and You are the