Surah Hud Ayat 44 (11:44 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(11:44) And the command was given: ‘Earth! Swallow up your water’; and: ‘Heaven! Abate!’ So the water subsided, the command was fulfilled, and the Ark settled on Mount Judi,^[46] and it was said: ‘Away with the wrong-doing folk!’

46. According to the Quran, the Ark rested upon Mount Judi, which is situated to the north-east of Jazirah Ibn Umar in Kurdistan. But according to the Bible its resting place was Mount Ararat in Armenia, which is one of the ranges of mountains of the same name that extends from Armenia to southern Kurdistan. Mount Judi is one of the mountains of the Ararat range, and is known by the same name even today. The ancient histories confirm that the resting place of the Ark was Mount Judi. For instance, Berasus, a religious leader of Babylonia, who lived about 250 years before Christ, says in his history of the Chaldeans that Noah’s Ark rested upon Mount Judi. Abydenus, a pupil of Aristotle, not only confirms the same but also says that many people of Iraq of his time possessed pieces of the Ark, which they ground in water and gave to the sick as a medicine.

Now let us consider the question: Did the deluge mentioned here cover the whole earth or was it confined to that particular region where Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) lived? This is a question which has not been finally settled up to this day. As far as the Bible and the Israelite traditions are concerned, this was universal. (Genesis 7: 18- 24). But the Quran is silent about it, though it does say things which show that the whole human race after the deluge was the descendant of Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) and of those with him in the Ark, but this does not mean that the deluge covered all the earth. It may be explained like this: At that time of the history the only region of the earth, which was inhabited by the human race, was the region in which Noah lived, and the generations which came after the deluge, gradually spread over other parts of the earth. This theory is supported by two things. First, there is a conclusive proof that a great flood did come over the land of the Tigris and the Euphrates. This is confirmed by historical traditions, archaeological remains and geological evidence. But there are no such proofs in the other parts of the earth as might show that the deluge was universal. Secondly, traditions have come down to almost all the peoples of the earth living even in distant places like America and Australia, that once a great flood had come all over the earth. The only conclusion which can be drawn from the above is that at one time the forefathers of all the people of the earth lived at one place. But, when afterwards they spread over different lands in the earth; they carried the traditions of the deluge along with them. Refer to (Surah Al-Aaraf, ayat 47) note 47.

Ibn-Kathir

44. And it was said: “O earth! Swallow up your water, and O sky! Withhold (your rain).” And the water was made to subside and the decree was fulfilled. And it rested on (Mount) Judi, and it was said: “Away with the people who are wrongdoing!”

Allah, the Exalted, informs that when the people of the earth were all drowned, except for the people on the ship, He commanded the earth to swallow its water, which had sprang from it and gathered upon it. Then He commanded the sky to cease raining.

(And the water was made to subside) This means that it (the water) began to decrease.

(and the decree was fulfilled.) This means that all of those who disbelieved in Allah were removed from the people of the earth. Not a single one of them remained upon the earth.

(And it (the ship) rested) This is referring to the ship and those who were in it.

(on (Mount) Judi.) Mujahid said, “Judi is a mountain in Al-Jazirah (Northwest Mesopotamia) where the mountains sought to tower above each other on the day of the drowning. On that day of destruction, all the mountains sought to be higher (to avoid being overcome by the water). However, this mountain (Judi) humbled itself for Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, and therefore it was not drowned. This is why Nuh’s ship anchored upon it.” Qatadah said, “The ship rested upon it (Mount Judi) for a month before they (the people) came down from it. ” Qatadah also said, “Allah made Nuh’s ship remain on Mount Judi in the land of Al-Jazirah, as a lesson and a sign.” Even the early generations of this Ummah saw it. How many ships are there that have come after it and have been destroyed and became dust

(and it was said: “Away with the people who are wrongdoing!”) means destruction and loss for them. The term “away with” here implies being far away from the mercy of Allah. For verily, they were destroyed to the last of them, and none of them survived.