Part 45

my Lord! Il e lp me because they deny me." He (A llah ) said,

" In a li ttle wh il e, they arc sure to be regretful." So As-Sailwll

(punishment - awful cry, etc.) overlook them with justice, and

We made them as rubbi sh of dead plants. So away with the

peopl e who arezalil11ool1 (pol yth eists, wrongdoers, disbelievers

in th e Oneness of A llah, di sobedi ent to His Messenge rs, etc.) )

(SoO/'oil AI-Mil 'lIIillOOIl 23:3 1-4 1).

He, Most High, says in Soorall Ha Meell1 As-Sajdah (Fllssilat) ,

( As for' Ad, they we re alTogan! in the land witho ut rig ht , and

they said, "W ho is mi ghtier than us in streng th?" See they not

that A ll ah , Who crea ted the m was mightier in strength than

they? And they used to deny Our Ayat! So We sent upon them

furi oll s w ind in days of evi l omen (for them) that We mi ght

give thcm a taste of di sg raci ng torme nt in this prese nt world ly

life, bu t sure ly the Puni shm ent of the Herea ft er wi ll be more

disgrac ing, and they will never bc helped. ) (SoO/·all Flissi/a!

We wil l re late the purport o f th e story gathered from these

threads, along with what ca n be added to it from the trad itio ns.

We have al ready mentioned that they were the first of the nations

to wo rship idols after the Great Flood and this is clear from

His Words regarding them , ( And remember that I-Ie made YOll

sllccessors after the people ofNooh, a nd increased YOll amply

in stature." ) (Sooml! AI·A '1'0/7:69) That is, He made them the

strongest people in their time, in physique, power and bravery.

In Soorah AI-MIl 'milloon, He says, ( Thcn, af-icr thcm, We

created anot he r ge neration. ) (SoO/'oll A/-Ml! 'lI1inool1 23:3 1)

They were the people of Hood , acco rdin g to the correct view.

Others said lh at th ey were Thamood, based on the Words of

Allah , Most l-ligh , ( So As-Sai/wh (pun ish me nt - awful cry, etc.)

overtook them with justice, and We made them as rubb ish of

dead plants. ) (Soorah A'·MII 'l/1inooll 23 :41) They sa id, "They

are the people of Sale h ~ , for it is th ey who wcre destroyed by

As-Sai/wh. ( And as for ' Ad, they were destroyed by a fur iolls,

violent wind . ) (Soorah AI-Haqqah 69:6) Thi s sayi ng of theirs

does not rule out the possibility that they were overcome by a

combination of As-Saihah and the furious, violent wind, as we

shall show in the story of the people of Madyan, the Dwellers

of the 'Aykah (Wood). For a combinat ion of pun ishments were

inflicted on them, in addition to which, there is no dispute

regarding the fact that' Ad lived before Tham ood.

What is meant is that 'Ad were ali enated, disbelieving Arabs ,

who were arrogant and defiantly determined to worship idols

and so Allah sent to them a man frol11 among them, to call upon

them to beli eve in Allah , Most High , and to sincere ly devote

their worshi p to Him alone. But they belicd him , opposed him

and belittled him , as a result of which, Allah seized them with

the Seizing of the Almi ghty, (Who is) Most Able to carry out

When he commanded them to worship Allah, urged them to

obey I-lim and seek forgive ness from Him and promised thcm

that if they did so, th cy woul d receive a goodly rewa rd in the

life of this world and in the Hercafter, while threaten ing thcm

with punishment in the life of this world and in the Hereafte r,

should they viola te these injunctions, ( The leaders of those

who disbelieved among his people said. ··Verily. "e sec you

in foolishness," ) (Soorah AI-A 'raf7:66) That is, this thing to

wh ich you callus is foolishness in comparison with our worship

of thcse idols, from which wc seck victory and sustenance. And

in addi tion to th is, wc bel ieve that you are lying in your claim

to be a Messenger sent by Allah.

« Ilood) said, "0. m)' people! There is no foo lishness in me,

but (I <1m) a Messenger frol1lthe Lord of the 'A lall1eell (mankind.

j inn and all that exists)!. ) (Soora" AI-A 'raJ7:67) That is, the

mallcr is not as yo u thin k, nor as you believe: " 1 convey

unto you the Messages of my Lord _ and I nln a trustworthy

adv ise r (or well -wis he r) to yo u," ) (SoO/'all A I-A 'raJ7:68) And

co nvey ing th e Message req uires that the conveyor be free from

untruthfulness and th at he makes no addi ti on, nor any om issio n

when deli vering the Message. I-lis delivery of the Message must

also be eloqu ent, succinct, co mprehensive and un arguab le, and

contai n no ambiguity, no contradicti on and no confusion.

But in spite of his delivery of the Message in this manner

and his adv ising his people to the utmost of his abi lity - and in

spite of his com passion towa rd them and his intense desire that

they be guided - he di d not seek any reward or pay ment from

them, ra ther, he devoted hi mself sincerely to Allah in his call to

(belicvc in) Him and his adv ice to His creat ion. He only sought

recompense frolll the One Who sent him. This is because the

good things in this life and in the Hereafter are in Allah's Hands

The SUn T of Hood "ta. 209

and at Hi s Command ; that is why he said, ( "0, my pr.:opl r.: ! I

ask of you no reward for it (the Message) . My reward is onl y

frol11 1-li l11 Who crea ted mc, Wi ll you not th cn und erstand'!" )

(500,.011 /-Iood 11 :5 1) That is, you have no minds w ith whi ch to

di sti ngui sh (truth frol11 error) and understa nd that I am in viti ng

you to the c lea r truth to w hich your innate nature - in whi ch He

created you - bears w itness; and that is the Re li gion of truth,

w ith w hi c h A ll ah sent Noo h ~ and He destroyed th ose who

opposed him. Now I am calling you to (be lieve in ) Him and I

do not ask any reward from you for it. Rather, I seek th at from

A llah , in Whose Hand is haml and benefi t and thi s is why a

Be li ever said in 5001'011 Yo Seen, ( "Obey those who ask no

wages o f you (for th emse lves), and who a rc ri ghtly guid ed.

And why should I not worship I-lim (Allah , A lone), Who ha s

creat ed me and to Whom YO ll shall be ret urned." ) (Soo/"{lll Ya

Among the things th at the people of Hood ~ sa id to him

was, ( " 0 , I lood ! No ev idence have yo u brought us, and we

shall no t leave our god s for you r (m cre) saying! And we arc

not be lie ve rs in you. 1\ 11 that we say is that som e of Ollr gods

(deiti es) have se izcd you with evil (madness)." I-Ie said , " I ca ll

A llah to w itn ess and bea r you w itness that I al11 frec 1"1'0111 that

which yo u asc ribe as partne rs in worship:' ) (500l'all I-Iood

II :53,54) That is, yo u have not produced any supernatural

mi racl e wh ich wou ld bea r witness for yo u o f the trut h of wha t

YOll have brought. And we are not a people who wi ll abandon th e

wo rship of ou r idols simpl y because on your wo rds, when you

ha ve brought no proo f. We do not th ink that you are anythin g

but a n insa ne pe rson in w hat you claim. You have on ly been

seized with thi s (madness) because some of our de iti es have

become angry wi th you and affl icted your mind with madness,

That is apparent from the ir words: ( All that we say is tha t some

2 10 The S/O/)' (ij·I /()od -M.'

o f our gods (de iti es ) have se ized yo u w ith ev il (mad ness)." li e

sa id, " I ca ll A llah to witness and bea r yo u witness that I am

frce from that whi eh yo u asc ri be as pa rtne rs in wo rship w ith

Il im (A lla h). So pl o t again st me, all o f you. and g ivc mc 110

respi te. " ) (SoO/'ali I-Iood II :54,55) Th is was a chall enge from

him to them, a dec la rat io n o f his inn ocence of any compli city

in th e worship o f the ir idols and a statement of his contempt

for them. It is a lso a cl ear assertion th at th ey can nei th er benefi t

no r harm and that they are simp ly inanimate obj ects. If they

can , as yo u c laim, help, bene fi t and hann, then here I stand ,

declari ng mysel f in noce nt of th em and cursing them: ( " So

plot aga insl111 c, a ll o f you , and give me no respite.") (Soor ali

H ood I I :55) Th at is, yo u pco pl e and your ido ls toge ther, wit h

a ll o f the reso urces at your di sposa l and all of the power at

your co mmand , do no t gra nt me a res pite of a sin gle hour, or

even th e blink of an eye, because I do not ca re abo ut YOll a nd

I do no t eve n think of you , nor cven loo k at yo u. ( " I put my