Al-A'raf 64: They have denied him, and We have saved him and the ones with him in the ship; and We have drowned the ones who have denied Our verses in water because they were a blind nation.

Surah Al-A'raf, verse 64. They called him a liar. Whom? They called Noah a liar. However much Noah (peace be upon him) warned them, however much he warned those astray ones, they said: while lowly people are around you, should we come to you? And they also said about him: this is a madman, a madman, a madman. Do not believe him. We have been counseled by our fathers, and by our forefathers too. Do not believe this man, they said. That is why they too would counsel their children in that way. In this situation Noah, who lived among his people for 960 years, (peace be upon him) finally says to Allah Almighty, 'O my Lord, I am defeated', doesn't he? 'I am defeated. These people no longer understand, they don't understand words,' he says.

Yes, 'So We saved him and those with him in the ship,' He says, 'We saved him and those with him', that is, We saved those who followed him, 'and those who denied Our signs We drowned,' He says. 'Those who denied Our signs We drowned.' Because they were a blind people, He says, a blind people. Now, how does Allah Almighty speak, what is His manner of speech? Sometimes in a figurative sense, sometimes in a literal sense He speaks. Now, these are figurative meanings. Was that people actually blind? Of course they could see. But what does Allah Almighty say? Hateme'llâhu alâ kulûbihim ve alâ sem'ihim ve alâ ebsârihim gışâveh, ve lehum azâbun azîm.

Their eyes are blind to the truth, their ears are blocked to the truth, deaf, and their hearts, He says, are closed to the truth. And We have sealed their hearts, He says. They made Us seal their hearts. So they do not see the truth, they do not hear the truth, and they are blind and deaf, He says. And finally, do not be with the dead, He says. They are the living dead, not the dead lying in graves. So when He says they are a blind people, He means they are not people whose eyes would see the truth, people who gave Allah Almighty a good covenant at the address 'Elest-ü bi Rabbiküm', He says. Of course they are blind, He says.

That is, despite seeing so many miracles, they still blocked their ears to the truth and blinded their eyes, He says. To the truth. Otherwise people do see, of course.

Despite Noah's many warnings to his people, as his people still did not believe in Noah (peace be upon him), Allah Almighty commands Noah to build a ship. A ship. Noah builds the ship. By Allah's command he takes a pair of every creature onto the ship. Because it is Allah Almighty's command. The whole earth, all living things on the earth will be destroyed by Allah Almighty. That is, we are the ones descended after Adam, after Noah. There is a distinction between Adam and Noah. However much they resemble each other, there is a difference between them. The body of Adam (peace be upon him) was created from nothing.

Our mother Eve was created from his left rib. And from there people began to multiply in the outward world. A factory was created. That is, a human factory was created. Apart from this, the similarity with Noah (peace be upon him): those first people, the first people descended from Adam. All the people from Adam to Noah were destroyed. Only with the few people who believed in Noah did humankind again multiply on the earth. Yes. When everything is ready, by Allah's command he takes a pair of every creature onto the ship. When everything is ready, Allah Almighty sends a flood upon this people, and all around becomes like a sea.

With this flood He drowns them. Water swells up from the ground. And from the heavens water pours down like torrents. Yes, everything is flooded.

Allah Almighty declares: because they were a blind people. As for their being a blind people, Noah lived among his people as a prophet for 950 years. He showed his people Allah Almighty's straight paths and the miracle. A people who do not believe despite seeing the ways of these friends of Allah is of course a blind people. If it does not believe, if it does not believe despite seeing so many miracles, it is a blind people. Noah (peace be upon him) is among the descendants of Idris (peace be upon him). Of Idris (peace be upon him). After Idris (peace be upon him), the first prophet is Noah (peace be upon him).

He became a prophet at forty, and for nine hundred fifty years, as a prophet among his people, he invited people to Allah. But the people of this nation did not listen to Noah (peace be upon him). And Allah Almighty sends them a flood as punishment. Noah lives two hundred fifty more years after the flood. Accordingly we say his age is one thousand two hundred forty. Yes.

At forty years of age becoming a prophet, plus inviting people to the truth for nine hundred fifty years, plus living two hundred fifty more years after the flood shows that Noah lived one thousand two hundred forty years. After Adam (peace be upon him), people multiplied. Abandoning Allah's commands, they began to live as polytheists and people of kufr. Allah Almighty commanded Noah to build a ship and to take onto it a pair of every animal and, of people, the believers.

As for people, since the number of those who believed in Noah (peace be upon him) was small, they are said to have been forty men and forty women. Forty men and forty women. Among them were also the sons of Noah (peace be upon him). Their names are Shem, Ham, Japheth; his son named Yam or Canaan rebels against him and does not board the ship.

Because he was one of the polytheists. He rebelled against Allah Almighty. 'My son, board the ship, everything will be water,' he said. He said, 'Take me up to the top of a high mountain.' Just then a wave came between them, between the ship and his son, and he too, among the drowned, was gone. Noah said to Allah Almighty: 'O my Lord, he was a prophet's son. How could he be gone now?' When he said this, He says: 'O Noah, do not be one of the ignorant.' 'He was not of you,' He says. When it at once crossed his mind whether his wife had had him by someone else, He says, it is not as he thought either.

Those who follow you are of you. Those who do not follow you are not of you, He says. Yes.

The ship is completed. People and creatures are taken onto the ship. Right after that Allah sends a flood, and even the peaks of the highest mountains end up under water. Everywhere has become sea. The people of the world perished among the waves of the waters. Allah punished the people of the world in this way. At some point the rains stopped, the waters began to recede, and near Mosul, on Mount Judi, on the 10th day of the month of Muharram, the ship came to rest. Mount Judi is now called Mount Ararat, and there they kept searching for Noah's ark. In one place a (?) turned up. Although they proved with photographs that a rock in the shape of a ship, or a place, had been seen, no result came of it, of course.

Gathering the few provisions left on his ship, Noah made a meal. This meal was called ashure. Yes.

Before landing, Noah releases a dove. The dove, after a while the dove comes back with a dry twig in its beak. Then Noah understands that the waters are receding and we will land. When they land on Mount Judi, the provisions on the ship are about to run out. Some grapes, some, well, wheat, some barley, some, well, (?) as they call it, beans, chickpeas; he mixed these, made one dish of them all, and they ate it. This is called ashure. The 10th day of the month of Muharram. The month of ashure. So we, with the aim of commemorating Noah, make ashure and recall his past.

Muslims making ashure every year on the 10th day of Muharram is their commemoration of Noah's (peace be upon him) ship landing, of their coming out, making ashure and eating it. We (?) it.

Accordingly, I say this flood was universal. It covered the whole world. Because the first generation began to multiply in the world from Adam. With Noah's flood, apart from the people on the ship, the others perished because of it. After Noah, people began to multiply again. Accordingly, the flood was universal. Also, Allah Almighty having a pair of every creature taken onto the ship indicates that the whole world was under water. It indicates that He would destroy all the living beings He had created. In many verses He states that the world was under water.

Yes.