Qur'an Contradiction

How many messengers were sent to Noah's people?

And the people of Noah, -
when they rejected the messengers,
we drowned them,
and we made them as a sign for mankind; ...
-- Sura 25:37

The people of Noah rejected the messengers
-- Sura 26:105

Who were these other messengers which were rejected by the people of Noah?

The Bible does not know of any other messengers, and the Qur'an itself only speaks in the singular in all other passages dealing with the time and story of Noah (cf. this list).

According to the Bible there were no other righteous people around at the time of Noah and his family was the only one that was saved from the Flood. Furthermore, the Qur'an agrees that only Noah's family was saved:

(Remember) Noah, when he cried (to Us) aforetime:
We listened to his (prayer) and delivered
him and his family from great distress.
-- Sura 21:76

And made his seed the survivors. -- Sura 37:77

Were these other messengers drowned as well?

Jochen Katz


Further reading

Muslims recognized the problem of the plural "messengers" long ago and the classical commentaries contain various suggestions to explain it (away). Moreover, there are some different recent responses as well. These answers are examined in the article Who are those messengers that were rejected by Noah's people?

Noah and his son presents even more problems in the story of Noah.


Contradictions in the Qur'an
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