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Fatwa CenterDid the Flood of Nooh Encompass the Entire Earth?
Question
why should we believe in global flood of nuh (a.s.) ? U.S. scientists say that, no global flood covered earth within last 1000000 year. mufassirs got this idea of global flood from Bible which is less reliable than science and weak hadith. ijma based on quran - sunnah must be accepted, but this is a ijma based on bible.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Evidences from the Quran and the Sunnah suggest that the flood has encompassed the whole earth, and this is the view adopted by the massive majority of the Muslim scholars.
However, the verses do not indicate for certain that the flood covered the entire earth; they are only believed to mean this.
Ibn Ashoor 
said:
"The flood covering the entire globe is what the texts in the Quran and Sunnah indicate. Those who said that the flood did not cover the entire earth denied it because of the shortness of the time-period (between the time of its destruction and rebuilding); the length of this (period) is found in the books of the Israelites. However, we should not rely on these books in determining the age of the earth and its events, as these are not definite evidences. Even though the evidence proving that the flood totally encompassed the entire globe is not categorical, yet the justifications given by those who denied it are not strong. Therefore, the apparent meaning of the texts (in the Quran and Sunnah) should not be overruled based on these books.” [End of quote]
Just because a group of American scientists or others deny that the flood encompassed the entire earth does not necessarily mean that their statement is categorical and cannot be wrong. They themselves do not claim that their statements in this regard is categorical and certain.
There is a misconception and an illusion which is spread amongst some people that all what is stated by contemporary scientists is definite and is not subject to error! This is a great misguidance, and no sane person would say this.
In any case, if we assume that science proves with categorical evidence –which is very unlikely– that the flood did not encompass the entire earth, then there would be no harm in adopting this scientific view as the predominant one. There is an established principle rule stating that a rational categorical evidence takes precedence over a religious evidence (Quran, Sunnah or the consensus of the scholars) if the implication (or meaning) of the religious evidence is not certain.
Ibn Taymiyyah said: “If one of two contradicting evidences is a categorical while the other is not, then the categorical evidence must be given priority; this is the consensus of all the wise people. This is applicable whether the categorical evidence is the religious one or the rational one, because uncertainty does not overrule certainty.” [End of quote]
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 267100.
Allah knows best.
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