Where Noah’s Ark Came to Rest

IQNA – The people of Noah (AS) are among those mentioned in the Quran and studying their story can help us learn many lessons.

Many verses of the Quran point to the story of Noah and the fate of his people. Two locations in his story are important, and they have been mentioned in Verses 40-44 of Surah Hud:

“And when Our command came and the oven gushed (forth with water), We said (to Noah): 'Take on board (the Ark) a pair from every species and your family, except he of whom the word has already been spoken, and those who believe. And none except a few believed with him. He (Noah) said: ‘Embark. In the Name of Allah will be its course and berthing. Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’ And so it (the Ark) ran with them amidst the mountainous waves, and Noah cried out to his son, who was standing apart, ‘Embark with us, my son, do not be with the unbelievers!’ But he replied: ‘I shall seek refuge on a mountain, which will protect me from the water.’ He (Noah) said: ‘Today, there is no defender from the command of Allah, except those to whom He has mercy.’ And the waves came between them, and he was drowned. And it was said: ‘Earth, swallow up your waters. Heaven, cease!’ The water subsided and the matter was accomplished. And the Ark came to rest upon (the mountain of) Al-Judi, and it was said: ‘Be gone, evildoing nation!’”

After Noah’s people kept rejecting is invitation to monotheism and insisted on their Kufr, the divine punishment came. According to Hadiths, God had given a sign for the coming punishment and the sign was water gushing out of the oven (furnace).

Based on Hadiths, there are two places where the oven was located:

1- It was in the house of a believing old woman next to the Kufa Mosque.

2- It was in the house of Noah’s wife.

As for where Noah’s Ark rested, the Quran points out that it was on Mount al-Judi. There are several views as to where this mountain is located:

1- Mount al-Judi is in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the two mountains within the territory of the Tayy Tribe.

2- Mount al-Judi is in the Ibn Ummar Peninsula east of the Tigris River near Mosul (today’s Iraq).

3- In the contemporary translations of the Torah, the Ararat Mountains in today’s Armenia have been mentioned as the place where Noah’s Ark came to rest.