Part 48

a head, as Allah , Most High, says, ( Verily. We sent against

them a furiou s w ind of harsh voice on a day of ev il ome n and

continuous calam ity. ) (SoO/'aII AI-Qamar 54 : 19) That is, all a

day of ev il omen for you and continuous pun ishmen t infl icted

upon you. ( Plucki ng out men as irthey wcre uproo ted sIems of

datc-palms. ) (Soorah AI-Qamar 54:20) W hoever says that th c

day of ev il omen and co nti nuous ca lam ity wa s a Wcdn esday

(I) This Iwdeellz is h(l.w11 and it was narrated by Imam Ahmad ( 15524),

(2) This 'I(ldeelh is h(ls(l11 and it was narrated by At-Tinnidhi (3273 ),

and based on thi s understanding, cons ider it to be a day o f

evil omen, is in error and contradic ted the Qur'an, because

He, Mos t Hi gh says in another Verse, ( So We sent upon them

furiou s wind in days of evil omen. ) (SoOl·all Fllssi/a{ 4 1: 16)

It is well known that they were eight consec uti ve days ; and if

they were th cmse lves evil ome ns, then all of th e seven days of

the week incl uded in th em wou ld be days of evi l omen - and

no one says this. What is meant is that they we re days of cv il

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( And in 'A d (there is also a sign) whe n

We sent against thcmlh e barrcll wind. ) (SoOl·all Adll-Dllar;yar

5 1:4 1) That is, whi ch di d not produce any good, because the

wind alone does not scalier clouds or pollinate trees. Rather,

it is barren and no good resu lt s from it, whi ch is why Allah

says, ( it spared nothing that it rcachcd , but blew it into broken

spreads of ro tt en ruins. ) (SoOl·all Ad-Dllariyat 5 1:42) That is,

like a thi ng tha t is decayed and vcI)' old and from which no

benefit whatsoever may be derived.

It has been co nfirmed in the Sallee/wiu on the authority of

' Abdullah Ibn 'Abbas .:;o that he reported fro m the Prophet

:i: that he said, " I have bcen made victorious with the Saba

(caste rly wind), and the people of 'Ad were destroyed wi th the

Daboor (westc rl y wi nd)." (1)

As for the Words of Him, Most Hi gh: ( And remember th e

brother of ' Ad , when he wa rned his peop le in AI-Ahqaf (the

curved sand-hill s in the southern pari of the Arabian Peninsula).

And surely, th ere have passed away warners before him and

after him (sayi ng): "Worship none but Allah; truly, I fear for

you the pu ni shmcn t of a mighty Day." ) (Soorall AI-Ahqql

46:2 1) So it is apparent tha i the' Ad referred to here is the first

( I) Narralcd by AI-Bukhari (1035) and Muslim (900).

•Ad, because the co nt ext of thc Verse is s imil ar to th e contex t

o f (the story of) the peop le of I-I ood 'f,!! and they were the firsl.

It is also possible that the peop le mention ed in thi s story were

the second ' Ad ; and Ihe ev idence for thi s is in what we have

ment ioncd and wha t we shall mention la te r in the hadeeth of

'A' ishah (may All ah be pl eased with her).

As fo r the Wo rds of Hi m, Most Hi gh: Then, whcn Ihey

saw it as a dcnse c loud comi ng toward th e ir valleys. they sa id.

"This is a cloud bringing us rain:' (SoO/'ali AI·Ahqaf46:24),

when ' Ad saw the cloud whi ch was loomi ng up in th e sky, like

a rain cloud, they thought that it was bringing them ra in , but

it was a cloud of pu ni shm cnt whi ch they mi stook for a c loud

of mcrcy. Th ey ho ped that they wo ul d get something good

from it, but they rece ived th e utmost evi l from il. All ah . Most

High, says, ( Nay, but it is that which you were asking to be

haslelled! ) (SoO/-ail 1I1-IIIIqaf46:24)_ Th"1 is, Ihe puni shm enl ;

then He ex pl ained it in I-Iis Words: 1 a wind where in is a painfu l

punishmen t. , (Soo/'ol1 AI-Ahqaf46:24)

It is poss ib le that the punishm cnt whic h affl icted thcm from

the fur ious and violent wi nd , which continued to afflic t them

for sevcn ni ghts and e ight days leaving not a singlc one of

them, followcd th em even as they sought she lter in mou nta in

caves and caverns, w inding around them , expe ll ing them,

ann ihilating them and destroying their sturdily constnlcled

houses and pa laces over th em, Just as they had bee n blessed

w ith stre ngth and powe r and said , "W ho is greate r in strength

than we?" - A llah inAicted on them tha t whi ch was grea ter

in stren gt h and more powcrfu l th an they - and that was the

barren wi nd . It is possib le that at the end , this wind rai scd up a

cl oud, which those who remai ned, th ought was a cloud bearing

mercy and abu nd ant rain fo r them. But Allah se nt it agains t

111c S(m:1' of/lood .'~ 221

thcm fill cd with spa rks and firc. as morc than one pc rso n has

mcntioncd. Thi s would be si milar to that whi ch amictcd thc

Compan ions o f th e Canopy from among the pcoplc ofMadyan .

A combination of a co ld wi nd and a punishm ent of fire was

infl ictcd on thcm - a nd tha t is th c most seve re pu nishment,

consisting ofd ifTcrc llt and opposing c1emcnts, accomp,lIl ied by

th e cry whi ch was menti oned in 500mh Qad Ajlaha (50omh AI-

MIf'minoon). And Allah knows better. The apparent mea ning

of the Verse is that they saw .1I1 'aridh a nd what is understood

from it lingui sli c<lll y is a cl oud . Muslim narrated in his 5aheeh

on the au thority of 'A' ishah (may Alla h be pl eased with her)

Ihat she said: Whe ne ver th e wind was sto rm y, the Messenger

o f A ll ah ;fi; used to say: "0, All ah! I ask You for what is good

in it, th e good whi ch it contains and the good of that whic h

it was sent for. I seek refuge with You n·o m wha t is evi I in it,

what cv il it contai ns, and the ev il o f that whi ch it was sent for. "

And when th ere was thunder and lightning in th e sky, hi s co lor

underwent a change, a nd he woul d pace in a nd ou t, backward

and forward ; and when Ihe rai n ca me, he felt rel ieved, and I

wou ld notice the (sign of reli ef) on hi s face. ' A' ishah (may

Allah be pl eased with her) asked hi m (a bout it) and he said,

" It may be as the peop le of' Ad sa id, when they saw a cloud

formatio n co ming to their va ll ey, ( "Thi s is a cl oud bring ing us

rain." ) (Soorall AI-IIllq'1[46:24) ( I)

(I) Narmlcd by Muslim (899).

v::St::! S(lle~l/ tt: (Y -

They were a well-know n tri be, who were named Thamood

after the ir ancestor, Thamood, the brothe r of Jadees; they were

bo th sons of ' Abir. son o f lra m, son o[Sal11, son ofNooh. They

were Arabs from AI-' Aribah and they li ved in AI-I-Iij r, whi ch

li es between AI-I-I ij az rmd Tabook. The Messenger of All ah ~

passed by it ( I) w hen he was goi ng to Tabook with some of

the Muslims, as we 511<111 ex plain later. They came aftcr the

pco}:ic of ' Ad a nd like them, they lIsed 10 worshi p ido ls. So

Allah sent to th em a mun from am ong th em who was Allah 's

s lave and Messenger: Saleh, SOil of 'U ba id, son of Masikh , son

of ' Ubaid, son of Hajir, SO il of Thamood, son of 'A bir, son

(\) N:lrmlcd by AI-llukhnri (3380), Muslim (2980) and illlamAhlllad (4547),

onlhc authority of' Abdullah Ibn 'Umar ....

Tht' Swry OfS(lfeh. the Prophet (J(Thomood 223

of Iram, son of Smn, son o f Noah. I-Ie ca lled upon them to

worshi p All ah , Alone. wi thout partners and to re noull ce their

idols and riva ls (to A ll ah); he call ed upon the m not to ascri be

any partne rs to Him . A group o f them believed in him , bu t th e

majority of them di sbelieved in hi m and attacked him , bo th

phys ica ll y and verball y a nd they tried to kill hi m. They kill ed

the camel which A ll a h had made as a proof against them, Allah

sei zed them wi th the Seizin g ofthcA lmi ghty, as I-Ie, Most High

says in SOOl'all AI-A 'raJ, ( And to Thamood (peop le, We sent)

their broth er Salih. li e sa id, "0, my people! Worsh ip All ah !

You have no other ita" (god) but Him . (La ilo"o //lalla": none

has th e right to be worshipped but Allah). Ind eed therc has

come to yo u a clear sign (the miracle of the coming out of a

huge she-camel from the midst ofa rock) from your Lord. This

shc-emnc l of Allah is a sign unto you; so you leave her to graze

in Allah's ea rth , and touc h her not with hann , lest a painful

punishmcnt should se ize you. And rcmcmber when He made

you successors after' Ad (peoplc) a nd gave you habi tat ions in

thc land , you build for yo urse lves palaces in plains, and carve