Nuh عليه السلام
Nuh AS continued appealing to his people to believe in Allah. He admonished his people and called them to Allah day and night, in secret and openly. He gave them examples, explained Allah’s signs and illustrated Allah’s ability in the formation of His creatures. But whenever he called them to Allah, they ran away from him. Whenever he urged them to ask Allah to forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears and became too proud to listen to the truth.

Allah has captured it in these words:
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى دَعَوْتُ قَوْمِى لَيْلًا وَنَهَارًا
فَلَمْ يَزِدْهُمْ دُعَآءِىٓ إِلَّا فِرَارًا
وَإِنِّى كُلَّمَا دَعَوْتُهُمْ لِتَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ جَعَلُوٓا۟ أَصَـٰبِعَهُمْ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَٱسْتَغْشَوْا۟ ثِيَابَهُمْ وَأَصَرُّوا۟ وَٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ ٱسْتِكْبَارًا

“He said: ‘O my Lord! Verily, I have called my people night and day, but my calling added nothing but to their flight from the truth. Verily! Every time I called unto them that You might forgive them, they thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, and persisted (in their refusal), and magnified themselves in pride. [Nuh 71: 5 – 7]

Nuh AS continued to call his people to believe in Allah for nine hundred and fifty years.

Nuh AS saw that the number of believers was not increasing, while that of the disbelievers was. He was sad for his people, but he never reached the point of despair.

There came a day when Allah revealed to Nuh AS that no others would believe. Allah inspired him not to grieve for them at which point Nuh AS prayed that the disbelievers be destroyed.

Allah accepted Nuh AS’s prayer. The case was closed, and He passed His judgment on the disbelievers in the form of a flood. Allah the Exalted ordered Nuh AS to build an ark. Even this the disbelievers made a mockery off. The ship was constructed, and Nuh AS sat waiting Allah’s command.

The terrible day arrived when the floods began. Nuh AS hurried to open the ark and summon his family and the believers. He also took with him a pair, male and female, of every type of animal, bird and insect. Seeing him taking these creatures to the ark, the people laughed loudly, “Nuh must have gone out of his head! What is he going to do with the animals?”

Nuh AS’s wife was not a believer with him so she did not join him; neither did one of his sons, likewise most of the people were disbelievers and did not go on board.

Water rose from the cracks in the earth and rain poured from the sky in quantities never seen before on earth.
Nuh AS pleaded with his son to believe in Allah and join them on the ship.

وَنَادَىٰ نُوحٌ ٱبْنَهُۥ وَكَانَ فِى مَعْزِلٍ يَـٰبُنَىَّ ٱرْكَب مَّعَنَا وَلَا تَكُن مَّعَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ
Nuh called out to his son, who had separated himself (apart), ‘O my son! Embark with us and be not with the disbelievers.’ [Hud 11: 42]

The son replied, ‘I will betake myself to a mountain, it will save me from the water.’ Nuh AS said, ‘This day there is no saviour from the Decree of Allah except him on whom Allah has mercy.’ And a wave came in between them so he (the son) was among the drowned.

Still Nuh AS was concerned about the outcome of his son, so he pleaded to Allah,
وَنَادَىٰ نُوحٌ رَّبَّهُۥ فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنَّ ٱبْنِى مِنْ أَهْلِى وَإِنَّ وَعْدَكَ ٱلْحَقُّ وَأَنتَ أَحْكَمُ ٱلْحَـٰكِمِينَ
“Nuh called upon his Lord and said, ‘O my Lord! Verily, my son is of my family! Certainly, Your Promise is true, and You are the Most Just of the judges.’

Allah replied,
قَالَ يَـٰنُوحُ إِنَّهُۥ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَـٰلِحٍ ۖ
‘O Noah! Surely, he is not of your family; verily, his work is unrighteous’….

Lesson to Learn:
Nuh AS tried everything in his capacity to get his son to believe in Allah, but the son still rejected. We should ask ourselves what effort have we made to strengthen our families Imaan and Belief in Allah.