Assalaamu alaykum. I was wondering; it says in verse 11:40 that Noah collected two of every animal, does this mean that he had to get them, or did God order the animals to come? It sounds like noah had to go out and get them.

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, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

We did not find any religious text in the Quran or the authentic Sunnah in this regard. This belongs to the matters of the Unseen, so we should stop wading into it as long as we have no religious texts regarding it. We advise you not to give attention to this matter because knowing about it does not benefit and not knowing about it does not harm.

Allah knows best.