Summary

The reports mention that there were no children among the people of Nūḥ عليه السلام when the flood came. Nūḥ عليه السلام only made duʿāʾ against them after Allah had already brought out every believer who would come from their men and women. After that, Allah made their women barren and made their men unable to produce offspring before the punishment descended. (Tafsīr al Baghawī 8/234; Tafsīr al Qurṭubī 21/267–268)

Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, Muqātil, al Rabīʿ, and others said that this happened before the ʿadhāb (punishment). Some reports mention forty years, others mention seventy years, and another report mentions seven years before the punishment. The meaning is that no new children were being born among them by the time the flood arrived. (Tafsīr al Baghawī 8/234; Tafsīr al Qurṭubī 21/267–268; Al Muḥarrar al Wajīz, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah 5/377; Al Wasīṭ, al Wāḥidī 4/375; Tafsīr al Rāzī 30/137)

Qatādah stated:

“There was no child among them at the time of the punishment.” (Tafsīr al Qurṭubī 21/267–268)

The proof used is the verse:

وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ لَمَّا كَذَّبُوا الرُّسُلَ أَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ

“And the people of Nūḥ, when they denied the messengers, We drowned them.” (al Furqān 25:37; Tafsīr al Baghawī 8/234; Tafsīr al Qurṭubī 21/267–268)

The point is that Allah described those who were drowned as people who denied the messengers.

This description does not apply to children.

Therefore, according to these reports, the flood destroyed those who were guilty of kufr (disbelief) and takdhīb (denial), not children. (Tafsīr al Baghawī 8/234; Tafsīr al Qurṭubī 21/267–268)

End of Summary.

Tafsir Al Baghawi

The Supplication of Nūḥ عليه السلام

وَقَالَ نُوحٌ رَبِّ لَا تَذَرْ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مِنَ الْكَفِرِينَ دَيَّارًا ۝ إِنَّكَ إِن تَذَرْهُمْ يُضِلُّوا عِبَادَكَ وَلَا يَلِدُوا إِلَّا فَاجِرًا كَفَّارًا ۝ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِمَن دَخَلَ بَيْتِيَ مُؤْمِنًا وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَلَا تَزِدِ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا تَبَارًا

“And Nūḥ عليه السلام said, ‘My Lord, do not leave upon the earth a single dweller from among the disbelievers. Indeed, if You leave them, they will mislead Your servants, and they will give birth to none except one who is fājir (wicked) and kaffār (deeply ungrateful and disbelieving). My Lord, forgive me, my parents, whoever enters my house as a believer, and the believing men and believing women. And do not increase the wrongdoers except in ruin.’” (Nuh 26–28)

The Explanation

“And Nūḥ عليه السلام said, ‘My Lord, do not leave upon the earth a single dweller from among the disbelievers.’”

Meaning: do not leave anyone moving about on the earth, going and coming upon it. The root meaning is from circling and moving around. Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276 AH) said: its root is from the word for a dwelling, meaning: one who settles in a home.

“Indeed, if You leave them, they will mislead Your servants.”

Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68 AH), Al Kalbī (d. 146 AH), and Muqātil (d. 150 AH) said: A man would take his son to Nūḥ عليه السلام and say, “Beware of this man, for he is a liar. My father warned me about him.” Then the elder would die, and the younger would grow up upon that same belief.

“And they will give birth to none except one who is fājir (wicked) and kaffār (deeply ungrateful and disbelieving).”

Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb (d. 108 AH), Muqātil, Al Rabīʿ (d. 139 AH), and others said: Nūḥ عليه السلام only said this when Allah had brought out every believer from their loins and from the wombs of their women, had made the wombs of their women barren, and had made the loins of their men unable to produce offspring, forty years before the punishment. And it was said: seven years.

Allah informed Nūḥ عليه السلام that they would not believe and would not give birth to a believer. At that point, Nūḥ عليه السلام supplicated against them, so Allah answered his supplication, destroyed all of them, and there was no child among them at the time of the punishment, because Allah, the Most High, said:

وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ لَمَّا كَذَّبُوا الرُّسُلَ أَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ

“And the people of Nūḥ, when they denied the messengers, We drowned them.” (al Furqan 37)

This denial was not found from children.

Tafsir Al Baghawi 8/234

Tafsir Al Qurtubi

The Saying of Allah, the Most High

وَقَالَ نُوحٌ رَبِّ لَا تَذَرْ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ دَيَّارًا ۝ إِنَّكَ إِن تَذَرْهُمْ يُضِلُّوا عِبَادَكَ وَلَا يَلِدُوا إِلَّا فَاجِرًا كَفَّارًا

And Nūḥ عليه السلام said, “My Lord, do not leave upon the earth a single dweller from among the disbelievers. Indeed, if You leave them, they will mislead Your servants, and they will give birth to none except one who is fājir (wicked and sinful) and kaffār (deeply ungrateful in disbelief).” (Nuh 26–27)

There Are Four Matters Concerning These Verses

The First Matter

Nūḥ عليه السلام supplicated against them when he lost hope that they would follow him.

Qatādah (d. 117 AH) said: He supplicated against them after Allah revealed to him:

أَنَّهُ لَن يُؤْمِنَ مِن قَوْمِكَ إِلَّا مَن قَدْ ءَامَنَ

None of your people will believe except those who have already believed. (Hud 36) (Al Nukat Wa Al ʿUyūn, Al Māwardī, 5/105; reported in Musannaf ʿAbd Al Razzāq, ʿAbd Al Razzāq, 2/320, and Tafsīr Al Ṭabarī, Al Ṭabarī, 23/308.)

So Allah answered his duʿāʾ (supplication) and drowned his ummah (nation). This is like the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: “O Allah, Revealer of the Book, swift in reckoning, Defeater of the confederate forces, defeat them and shake them.” (Reported by Ahmad 19107, Sahih Al Bukhari 2933, and Sahih Muslim 1742, from ʿAbdullah ibn Abī Awfā رضي الله عنه. A portion of it has already preceded at 14/311. The wording placed within enclosure marks is from the source texts.)

It was also said: The reason for his supplication was that a man from his people carried a small child on his shoulder. He passed by Nūḥ عليه السلام and said, “Beware of this man, for he will mislead you.” The child then said, “My father, put me down.” So he put him down, and the child threw something at Nūḥ عليه السلام and wounded his head. At that point, he became angry and supplicated against them. (Al Nukat Wa Al ʿUyūn, Al Māwardī, 6/105; reported with similar wording in Musannaf ʿAbd Al Razzāq, ʿAbd Al Razzāq, 2/319, and Tafsīr Al Ṭabarī, Al Ṭabarī, 23/291, from Qatādah.)

Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb (d. 108 AH), Muqātil (d. 150 AH), Al Rabīʿ (d. 139 AH), ʿAṭiyyah (d. 111 AH), and Ibn Zayd (d. 182 AH) said: He only said this when Allah had brought out every believer from their loins and from the wombs of their women. He made the wombs of the women barren and the loins of the men unable to produce offspring seventy years before the punishment. (Al Muḥarrar Al Wajīz, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, 5/377, mentioning it as the saying of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, Al Rabīʿ, and Ibn Zayd.)

It was also said: forty years. (Al Wasīṭ, Al Wāḥidī, 4/375, and Tafsīr Al Rāzī, Al Rāzī, 30/137, mentioning it as the saying of Muqātil.)

Qatādah said: There was no child among them at the time of the punishment.

Al Ḥasan (d. 110 AH) and Abū Al ʿĀliyah (d. 90 AH) said: If Allah had destroyed their children along with them, that would have been ʿadhāb (punishment) from Allah upon them and ʿadl (justice) concerning them. However, Allah destroyed their children and offspring without punishment, then destroyed them with the punishment. The proof is the saying of Allah, the Most High:

وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ لَمَّا كَذَّبُوا الرُّسُلَ أَغْرَقْنَهُمْ

And the people of Nūḥ, when they denied the messengers, We drowned them. (al Furqan 37) (Al Kashshāf, Al Zamakhsharī, 4/166, and Tafsīr Al Rāzī, Al Rāzī, 30/147, from Al Ḥasan with similar wording.)

Tafsir Al Qurtubi 21/267–268