The Qur'an as the Criterion · The Prophets Restored
Noah drunk and naked
Handle with care. Handle with care: mention the historical use of this passage to justify slavery factually, without accusing the person in front of you.
In short
- 1.The Bible: Noah becomes drunk and lies uncovered; Canaan is cursed for what Ham saw (Gen 9:20-25).
- 2.The Qur'an: Nuh is a grateful servant (Q 17:3), greeted with peace among the worlds (Q 37:79).
- 3.The curse on Canaan was used for centuries to justify slavery.
The claim being examined
Genesis 9 has Noah plant a vineyard, get drunk, lie uncovered in his tent, and curse his grandson over what followed.
The Islamic position
The Qur'an presents Nuh, peace be upon him, as a grateful servant who called his people for centuries and is greeted with peace among the worlds.
Analysis
Genesis 9:20-27 records that Noah planted a vineyard, drank the wine, became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent; Ham saw him, his brothers covered him walking backwards, and on waking Noah cursed not Ham but Ham's son Canaan, condemning him to be "a servant of servants to his brothers". Two problems sit in this passage. The first is prophetic: drunkenness and exposure attributed to the man God chose to save humanity. The second is moral, and its history is heavy — the so-called curse of Ham was invoked for centuries in Europe and the Americas as a scriptural warrant for the enslavement of African peoples. The Qur'an knows Nuh as the long-suffering caller who preached for nine hundred and fifty years (Q 29:14), whom God calls "a grateful servant" (Q 17:3), and over whom He pronounces "Peace upon Noah among the worlds" (Q 37:79). His grief in the Qur'an concerns his son who refused to board the ark (Q 11:42-46), and even there he is corrected gently and taught not to ask for what he does not know. There is no drunkenness, no exposure, and no hereditary curse on a grandchild for a father's glance.
Side by side
| The Bible | Genesis 9:20-25 | Noah plants a vineyard, becomes drunk, lies uncovered; on waking he curses Canaan, his grandson, to be a servant of servants. |
|---|---|---|
| The Qur'an | 17:3; 29:14; 37:79 | Nuh preaches for centuries, is called a grateful servant, and God pronounces peace upon Noah among the worlds. |
From the Qur'an
إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا
Indeed, he was a grateful servant.
سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ نُوحٍ فِي الْعَالَمِينَ
Peace upon Noah among the worlds.
From the Bible
Hebrew
Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
Read it in their BibleSources
Qur'an 17:3; 29:14; 37:79 · Genesis 9:20-27 · Qur'an 37:79; Genesis 9:20-27
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