Dear Yahya,
As-salamu alaykum
I feel that this is actually quite a good question / topic and I will attempt to offer some of my humble views on this.
As you may already be aware, I have already commented on Prophet Noah's age in a Facebook post which I do believe, in essence, supports the longevity Biblical view of 900+ years.
[1]The Quran only mentions such longevity briefly and that with regards Prophet Noah. Furthermore, there is nothing to suggest that this longevity was only restricted to Prophet Noah and not his people. All we know is that he lived amongst his people for nearly a thousand years but they continued in their waywardness which led to his prayer of condemnation (71:26-27). Therefore, such longevity may have been the norm during Prophet Noah’s time.
It is also the Quran's view, that general guidance can be found in the Bible [28:49]
[2] and of course, we also know that even the Prophet was instructed to revert to the learned of the People of the Book if he was in doubt of certain claims [16:43; 21:7-8]. To support the latter sentiment, please also see reference
[3] below.
There appears to be
two periods from the Bible when it comes to longevity of human life;
a pre-flood period and a
post-flood period. We note that many Biblical patriarchs from the 10 generations from Adam to Prophet Noah had what we would consider,
extremely long lives. Many reportedly lived past 900 years. However, post flood and in the 10 generations to Prophet Abraham we note a steady decline in longevity till Prophet Abraham where he reportedly lived in his 100s.
So the apt question in my view is what possibly happened pre and post flood and to the generations of 'humans' which gradually resulted in shorter life spans till we come to the general expectancy of a 70-90 years life span.
If we note the creation of Adam, who can be considered the perfected archetype of man, certainly arguably, from a genetic pool and physiological perspective (15:29, 38:72), he was fashioned to live
for eternity [4] in a state of felicity on earth before he sinned. It is only after he sinned, that a life term was generally appointed (7:24-25). If we accept this perspective, it is then not so remarkable to posit the suggestion of a strong gene pool for human beings till the ten generations leading to Prophet Noah from Adam.
We are also not aware of what damage the flood left on the areas surrounding where the ship finally rested and where the new generations of humans subsequently lived. It is quite possible that dietary resources changed and the scarcity of cultivated land etc. contributed to an impact on longevity. After all, a flood would have left immense devastation.
Either way, a general life-span has been considered apt in God’s plan for humans to be trialled. Arguably, the longer the lifespan spent sinning, the greater the accountability and punishment in the Hereafter. Maybe it is a blessing then, that such long lifetimes are a thing of the past as we saw with the people of Noah who continued in their transgressions. Verse 2:96 also makes a very powerful statement regarding the weakness of the human condition with regards those bent on transgression (2:96).
These thoughts are not intended to be comprehensive or authoritative but merely, humble suggestions given the information to our avail.
I hope this helps, God willing,
Joseph
REFERENCES[1] The Precision of the Quran's Usage of Language - Prophet Noah's Long Lifehttps://www.facebook.com/joseph.a.islam/posts/395974967206303[2] The Two Guides - The Quran and the Biblehttps://www.facebook.com/joseph.a.islam/posts/300599863410481[3] ASK THOSE THAT HAVE KNOWLEDGEhttp://quransmessage.com/articles/ask%20one%20with%20knowledge%20FM3.htm[4] Was Adam created mortal? Or he lost immortality after disobeying God?http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=1505.msg7027#msg7027