Noah (Nuh) in the Qur’an and the Bible

Muslims receive Nuh as a prophet who warned his people before God drowned the disbelievers and saved those with him on the ark. Qur’an 11:25–49 and Qur’an 71 are the longest tellings. Christians read Genesis 6–9 as the flood of Noah, with a covenant and a bow in the cloud afterward. Both accounts call the flood a judgment. They are not the same narrative in every detail, and they do not name God the same way.

Key Points

• Qur’an 11:25–29 has Nuh call his people to worship God alone. They accuse him of being only a man followed by the lowest. He refuses payment and warns of a day of punishment.
• Qur’an 11:36–44 has the revelation that none will believe except those who already have; the ark is built; the oven boils; two of every kind and the believers board; a son who refuses is drowned; the ark settles on al-Judi.
• Qur’an 71 is Nuh’s long appeal and his prayer against the wrongdoers. It stresses night-and-day warning and the people’s fingers in their ears.
• Qur’an 29:14 says Nuh remained among his people a thousand years less fifty (nine hundred and fifty years) before the flood seized them. Genesis gives different patriarchal ages; both traditions mark a long prophetic lifespan before the judgment.
• Genesis 6:5–22Genesis 6:5–22 · King James Version^6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ^6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. ^6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. ^6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. ^6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. ^6:10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ^6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. ^6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ^6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. ^6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. ^6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. ^6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. ^6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. ^6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. ^6:20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. ^6:21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. ^6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.Genesis 6:5–22 · King James VersionOpen the Source names human wickedness, Noah’s righteousness, gopher wood, cubits, and animals by kinds. Genesis 9:8–17Genesis 9:8–17 · King James Version^9:8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, ^9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; ^9:10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. ^9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. ^9:12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ^9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. ^9:14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: ^9:15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. ^9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. ^9:17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.Genesis 9:8–17 · King James VersionOpen the Source sets the rainbow covenant. The Qur’an does not narrate that covenant bow.
• Jesus names the days of Noah in Matthew 24:37–39Matthew 24:37–39 · King James Version^24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ^24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, ^24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.Matthew 24:37–39 · King James VersionOpen the Source. 2 Peter 2:52 Peter 2:5 · King James VersionAnd spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;2 Peter 2:5 · King James VersionOpen the Source calls Noah a preacher of righteousness. The New Testament treats the flood as real judgment.
• Christians confess that the God who judged in Noah’s day is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus is God. The Qur’an denies that God has a Son. The flood stories sit inside that larger disagreement. Islam vs Christianity is the confession contrast.

Surah Hud and Surah Nuh

Qur’an 11:40, Saheeh International, says the oven overflowed and God said to load upon the ship two of every creature, Nuh’s family except those against whom the word had gone forth, and those who believed. Verse 44 says the mountain is al-Judi. Genesis rests the ark on the mountains of Ararat. (4) Different landing names need not be pressed into a map fight on this page; they mark different received texts.

Qur’an 29:14, Saheeh International, says Nuh remained among his people a thousand years less fifty; then the flood seized them while they were wrongdoers. Qur’an 71:5–9 has Nuh say he called his people night and day, and they put their fingers in their ears. The surah ends with a prayer that the wrongdoers be destroyed and the believers forgiven. Genesis does not cast Noah’s speech in that same surah form. Genesis gives God’s speech to Noah and the building commands in detail the Qur’an does not copy.

Where the Accounts Meet and Differ

Meet: a prophetically warned man, an ark, animals, a flood that destroys a people, and survivors who continue human life. Differ: the Qur’an’s emphasis on tawhid and the rejected son in Hud; Genesis’s cubit dimensions, clean and unclean sorts, raven and dove, and the covenant sign of the bow; the name and nature of the God who speaks. Flood Myths Around the World places Genesis beside Gilgamesh. This page places it beside the Qur’an.

Dating disputes among Christians—Ussher, local flood, Younger Dryas proposals—are not settled by the Qur’an. Muslims often place Nuh deep in prophetic history without adopting Ussher’s year. When Was Noah’s Flood? is the Christian chronology page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Muslims Believe in Noah’s Ark?

Yes. The Qur’an narrates Nuh’s ark and the flood as judgment and deliverance. Details of wood and cubits follow Genesis more than the Qur’an.

Where Did the Ark Land in Islam?

Qur’an 11:44 names al-Judi. Genesis names the mountains of Ararat.

Is Nuh the Same Person as Noah?

Muslims and Christians both take Nuh/Noah as the flood patriarch in their scriptures. The narratives are not verse-for-verse the same, and the theology of God differs.

Keep Reading

What Do Muslims Believe? is the confession. Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels is the Christology contrast. Noah’s Ark is the Genesis vessel. How Many Prophets Are There in Islam? is the wider prophetic list.