The Rupture or Noah in the Qur'ān

Abstract

This article provides a semiotic study of the account of Noah in Sūrat Hūd, chapter 11 of the Qur’ān. Our analysis opens with a discussion of the academic literature and the story’s internal Qur’ānic context. Noah’s story is said to illustrate the Qur’ānic debate of continuity and rupture in relationships between believers and unbelievers. The Qur’ān’s preference for a final break with unbelievers is indicated by the flood, but the argument among believers—in reference to early Muslims—about whether to maintain ties with or reject unbelievers is crucial to the Qur’ānic story of Noah. Thus, Noah’s story ends with the start of a new cycle of conflict and disagreement between the powerful and corrupt on the one hand and the truthful and upright on the other.