Noah did not indulge in disputes or debating sessions ( jidal) with his community. He used simply to present his righteous message to them in a serious manner. But his serious call appeared to his community to be quite the opposite. The reason for this is man’s weakness: when he himself is affected, he loses all seriousness. He does not see things in the light of reason or proof. He straightaway rejects the Truth without giving it serious consideration. Even the solid reasoning of the preacher appears to him to be meaningless discussion and jidal. The statement, ‘Noah, you have argued with us, and argued to excess’ is not intended to indicate what Noah said, but rather shows how little importance was attached to his word by his hearers. Similarly, the demand for their own punishment made by Noah’s opponents was not really seriously meant, but was intended rather to ridicule Noah. What is really meant was, ‘See, this person is talking of something which is never going to happen.’ They thought that their position was so strong that there was no scope for any punishment to be meted out to them. Adopting this attitude, they said, ‘Bring on us that punishment of which you have been warning us, as a result of our rejection.’ And since, according to them, such punishment was never going to occur, their statement implied: ‘We are based on Truth and you on untruth.’ Noah replied that they were looking at the matter in the context of his personality and it was because he was a weak person, that they were unable to understand how any punishment could ever come upon them. He added that had they looked at the matter in relation to God, they would not have taken this stand, because then they would have realised that God’s retribution against the transgressor in this world was as certain as the rising of the sun and as terrible as the eruption of an earthquake. Acceptance of the message of the missionary of Truth mostly depends on the hearer not looking at it in the context of the messenger’s personality, but rather valuing it on the basis of its content. Since Noah’s community took his word as that of an ordinary man, he said that with that mentality they would never be able to discover the real value of what he had to say. Therefore, the only option now left to them was to wait for the Day when God would appear right in front of them.