Noah's Flood was a local flood
(In construction, please do not read just yet)
Quranic Exegesis:
Most of the verses in which people use to show a universal flood speak of water gushing forth from the earth. As you will see, they do not necessarily imply that it is speaking about the entire planet.
As well noted Muslim geologist Dr. Zaghloul El-Naggar states:
The word 'Earth' recurs in the Glorious Qur'an and in the Prophet's Ahadith referring to three other meanings according to the context. Sometimes it refers to the whole planet and at other times, to the dry mass on which we live, while at some other times, it indicates the topsoil covering the dry land rocks. (Dr. Zaghloul El-Naggar, Mountains to Stabilize the Earth, Source)
For instance, we know that the Arabic word used for Earth is used in Surah 2:61 to refer to land mass and not the entire planet. Or in Surah 2:71 we see that the cow being described to the Israelites is one that wonders on the Earth , but the context obviously shows that the cow is wondering in a specific area close by and not that it could be wondering anywhere on planet Earth. Or in Surah 4:97 where the oppressed believers tell the angels that they were oppressed on Earth but the context denotes that they were referring to the specific land that they were residing in.
There are many other examples that I can provide, but I believe that the above examples suffice to show that context is important when wanting to know the meaning of a word. So the Arabic word does not only refer to the entire planet Earth, it could also refer to a certain area or piece of land.
If we look at the verses that Shamoun has put forth we would see that none of them necessarily imply that they are referring to the entire planet Earth.
Surah 11:40 could easily be interpreted as the fountains of the earth gushing in the specific land of Noahs people.
Surah 11:44 could easily be interpreted as the specific land of Noah's people being told to "swallow up thy water".
Surah 23:27 could be interpreted as Noah being commanded to gather the male and female of species from his specific land. It is more believable than having all the species in the world fitting in his man made ark. It is also possible that all species of animals that were alive during that time were present in the land of Noah already. This is more believable than Noah having to travel around the entire planet (how long would that have taken him?) and try gathering all kinds of animals from there. It is also possible that all or many or certain kinds of species that were alive on planet earth that time were only present in the people of Noah's land.
Surah 54:11-14 could easily be interpreted as the specific land of Noah's people being gushed forth with springs.
Surah 71:26-27 could be interpreted in more than one way. One way is that Noah was praying against the disbelievers in his land. Another way is that Noah was making a general prayer against all disbelievers on planet earth; however that does not necessarily imply that the flood was global. Our Islamic sources (contrary to Biblical sources) do not tell us exactly how many years ago this event took place. Thus, we don't know how the people were spread about the earth at that time. It is said that Noah came after Adam by approximately ten generations. It would be far fetched to believe that in such a time span so many people spread throughout the entire planet. It is most likely that all the people on planet Earth were only Noah's people or some other people who did not live very far away from Noah's land. Therefore, a universal flood wouldn't be necessary inroder to wipe out all disbelievers from the face of the planet earth (America was supposedly not discovered at this time yet, so why have a flood occur there?)
Shamoun has not shown in his entire article why the word for Earth is speaking about the entire planet in the context of those verses that he has cited.
As for the narrations that Shamoun cites from Ibn Abbass, these are most likely from the Israeliyaat sources (something that Ibn Abbass was known to pass off) and they are not binding upon us Muslims since our only sources of religious authority are the Qur'an and authentic Prophetic traditions.
In conclusion, there are no clear texts in reliable Islamic sources that reject or accept Noah's flood as being universal. In order for the Christian or anyone else to level this argument successfully they must be able to clearly show that the Quran teaches that a universal flood occurred.
Reasons why Allah commanded Noah to gather all kinds of animals in a boat rather than have them just leave the land:
1.) They would not be able to migrate because their society was not developed enough to survive outside of the land
2.)Allah wanted them to stay in the Mesopotamian region so the human society first develops there and progresses enough
3.) Allah knew that the best chance Noah had for survival was an ark.
4.) It was a really big flood and it would not allow Noah or anyone to successfully leave it unless they travel a very LONG distance (which also human society was not developed enough to survive outside of the region, like the african jungles or the scorching deserts)
5.) Allah wanted to teach a moral lesson for the future people: No matter how risky and idiotic something seems, you must always trust Allah as he knows best
Conclusion: It appears that the Quran has successfully allowed an interpretation in its verses referring to the great flood in BOTH a universal and local flood. In other words, the Quran does not explicitly state that the flood is either universal or local, rather, the Quran informs us that this flood was a significant and massive one. The bible on the other hand does not allow a reasonable successful interpretation in its text that the great flood was local. Rather, the bible makes it clear that all the high mountains were under water. Now, it would take a great deal of water of make all the mountains (including mount everest) under water.
Quranic Exegesis:
Most of the verses in which people use to show a universal flood speak of water gushing forth from the earth. As you will see, they do not necessarily imply that it is speaking about the entire planet.
As well noted Muslim geologist Dr. Zaghloul El-Naggar states:
The word 'Earth' recurs in the Glorious Qur'an and in the Prophet's Ahadith referring to three other meanings according to the context. Sometimes it refers to the whole planet and at other times, to the dry mass on which we live, while at some other times, it indicates the topsoil covering the dry land rocks. (Dr. Zaghloul El-Naggar, Mountains to Stabilize the Earth, Source)
For instance, we know that the Arabic word used for Earth is used in Surah 2:61 to refer to land mass and not the entire planet. Or in Surah 2:71 we see that the cow being described to the Israelites is one that wonders on the Earth , but the context obviously shows that the cow is wondering in a specific area close by and not that it could be wondering anywhere on planet Earth. Or in Surah 4:97 where the oppressed believers tell the angels that they were oppressed on Earth but the context denotes that they were referring to the specific land that they were residing in.
There are many other examples that I can provide, but I believe that the above examples suffice to show that context is important when wanting to know the meaning of a word. So the Arabic word does not only refer to the entire planet Earth, it could also refer to a certain area or piece of land.
If we look at the verses that Shamoun has put forth we would see that none of them necessarily imply that they are referring to the entire planet Earth.
Surah 11:40 could easily be interpreted as the fountains of the earth gushing in the specific land of Noahs people.
Surah 11:44 could easily be interpreted as the specific land of Noah's people being told to "swallow up thy water".
Surah 23:27 could be interpreted as Noah being commanded to gather the male and female of species from his specific land. It is more believable than having all the species in the world fitting in his man made ark. It is also possible that all species of animals that were alive during that time were present in the land of Noah already. This is more believable than Noah having to travel around the entire planet (how long would that have taken him?) and try gathering all kinds of animals from there. It is also possible that all or many or certain kinds of species that were alive on planet earth that time were only present in the people of Noah's land.
Surah 54:11-14 could easily be interpreted as the specific land of Noah's people being gushed forth with springs.
Surah 71:26-27 could be interpreted in more than one way. One way is that Noah was praying against the disbelievers in his land. Another way is that Noah was making a general prayer against all disbelievers on planet earth; however that does not necessarily imply that the flood was global. Our Islamic sources (contrary to Biblical sources) do not tell us exactly how many years ago this event took place. Thus, we don't know how the people were spread about the earth at that time. It is said that Noah came after Adam by approximately ten generations. It would be far fetched to believe that in such a time span so many people spread throughout the entire planet. It is most likely that all the people on planet Earth were only Noah's people or some other people who did not live very far away from Noah's land. Therefore, a universal flood wouldn't be necessary inroder to wipe out all disbelievers from the face of the planet earth (America was supposedly not discovered at this time yet, so why have a flood occur there?)
Shamoun has not shown in his entire article why the word for Earth is speaking about the entire planet in the context of those verses that he has cited.
As for the narrations that Shamoun cites from Ibn Abbass, these are most likely from the Israeliyaat sources (something that Ibn Abbass was known to pass off) and they are not binding upon us Muslims since our only sources of religious authority are the Qur'an and authentic Prophetic traditions.
In conclusion, there are no clear texts in reliable Islamic sources that reject or accept Noah's flood as being universal. In order for the Christian or anyone else to level this argument successfully they must be able to clearly show that the Quran teaches that a universal flood occurred.
Reasons why Allah commanded Noah to gather all kinds of animals in a boat rather than have them just leave the land:
1.) They would not be able to migrate because their society was not developed enough to survive outside of the land
2.)Allah wanted them to stay in the Mesopotamian region so the human society first develops there and progresses enough
3.) Allah knew that the best chance Noah had for survival was an ark.
4.) It was a really big flood and it would not allow Noah or anyone to successfully leave it unless they travel a very LONG distance (which also human society was not developed enough to survive outside of the region, like the african jungles or the scorching deserts)
5.) Allah wanted to teach a moral lesson for the future people: No matter how risky and idiotic something seems, you must always trust Allah as he knows best
Conclusion: It appears that the Quran has successfully allowed an interpretation in its verses referring to the great flood in BOTH a universal and local flood. In other words, the Quran does not explicitly state that the flood is either universal or local, rather, the Quran informs us that this flood was a significant and massive one. The bible on the other hand does not allow a reasonable successful interpretation in its text that the great flood was local. Rather, the bible makes it clear that all the high mountains were under water. Now, it would take a great deal of water of make all the mountains (including mount everest) under water.
