After much dispute between Noah and his people (11:32) and their rejection
of his message, Noah is commanded to build the Ark (11:37). Then we read:
Forthwith he (starts) constructing the Ark:
Every time that the Chiefs of his people passed by him,
they threw ridicule on him.
-- Sura 11:38
And then after the Ark is finished the fountains of the earth open up and the flood happens in order to judge the earth.
In contrast to the above record we find elsewhere:
Before them the people of Noah rejected (their messenger):
They rejected Our servant and said, "Here is One possessed!"
And he was driven out.
-- Sura 54:9
After that event the water comes and the Ark is mentioned (54:13) seemingly coming "out of nowhere" ... Anyhow, if Noah was driven out of the country or out of the area, he obviously couldn't build the Ark in a location where his people would regularly pass by.
On the other hand, if he finished building the Ark before their very eyes, and was driven out afterwards, how did he get back to the Ark for the flood? This was not a toy ship; he couldn't simply take that with him while "being driven out" and away from this ship.
Furthermore, this version contradicts the record of Noah in the Torah, which is in this respect in harmony with Sura 11 but not with Sura 54.
The claim that Noah was driven out by his people is so much at odds with the Bible, and plainly contradicts what the Qur'an says about Noah elsewhere, that there must have been a strong urge on the part of Muhammad to insert this motive into the Qur'an. The reason becomes clear when studying the observations made in the article, I am ALL the prophets.
Contradictions in the Qur'an
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