نُوح
Boy Hebrew origin Nūḥ
ProphetIn the QuranSurah nameName of the prophet Nuh (Noah); in Hebrew, a name linked to “rest”
The word as it is recited in the Quran: Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, Al-’Ankabut 29:14.
Nuh was sent to his people and stayed among them “a thousand years less fifty” (29:14); only a few believers followed him into the Ark. Named 43 times in the Quran, he gives his name to Surah 71, and Allah calls him “a truly grateful servant” (17:3). On the Day of Judgement people will say to him: “O Nuh, you are the first of the messengers sent to the people of the earth” (al-Bukhari 3340).
Nuh is the Arabic form of the Hebrew Noah, a name the Bible links to rest and comfort (“this one shall comfort us”, Genesis 5:29). Muslim scholars regard it as a foreign (aʿjami) name; yet it takes nunation (Nuhan) because it has only three letters, like Lut. Some connected it with the Arabic verb naha, “to lament”, as al-Qurtubi reports, although he himself counts it among foreign names.
Yes: Nuh is named in the Quran 43 times, in 28 surahs.
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِينَ عَامًا فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱلطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَٰلِمُونَ ١٤
And We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them a thousand years minus fifty years, and the flood seized them while they were wrongdoers.
ذُرِّيَّةَ مَنْ حَمَلْنَا مَعَ نُوحٍ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا ٣
O descendants of those We carried [in the ship] with Noah. Indeed, he was a grateful servant.
سَلَٰمٌ عَلَىٰ نُوحٍ فِى ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ ٧٩
"Peace upon Noah among the worlds."
إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦٓ أَنْ أَنذِرْ قَوْمَكَ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ١
Indeed, We sent Noah to his people, [saying], "Warn your people before there comes to them a painful punishment."
بَعْضُ النَّاسِ أَلاَ تَرَوْنَ إِلَى مَا أَنْتُمْ فِيهِ، إِلَى مَا بَلَغَكُمْ، أَلاَ تَنْظُرُونَ إِلَى مَنْ يَشْفَعُ لَكُمْ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ فَيَقُولُ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ أَبُوكُمْ آدَمُ، فَيَأْتُونَهُ فَيَقُولُونَ يَا آدَمُ…
يَجِيءُ نُوحٌ وَأُمَّتُهُ فَيَقُولُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى هَلْ بَلَّغْتَ فَيَقُولُ نَعَمْ، أَىْ رَبِّ. فَيَقُولُ لأُمَّتِهِ هَلْ بَلَّغَكُمْ فَيَقُولُونَ لاَ، مَا جَاءَنَا مِنْ نَبِيٍّ. فَيَقُولُ لِنُوحٍ مَنْ يَشْهَدُ…
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Nuh in particular: the general rules of Islam apply.
Read the rules for choosing a name
This page is an aid to reflection, not a fatwa. For a personal case, ask a person of knowledge.
