Part 51

And A ll ah knew better what they wou ld do. ( So watch th em

(Salih» (SoOl'oll AI-Qall/ar 54:27) That is, see what th ey will

do ( and be patient. ) (Soora" AI-Qamar 54:27) That is, in thc

face of the haml thcy inflict, because news w ill come to you for

sure . ( And infonll thc1l1tha t the wate r is to be shared between

(her and) them , Each one's right to drink be in g establi shed (by

turn s) ) (SoO/'oli AI·Qamor 54 :28) Bu t wh cn this state o f amli rs

had lasted for a long timc, the ir cide rs gathered <lnd agreed tha t

they wou ld kill this she-c<l mcl in order to be free o f it and have

their wa ter a ll to th emselves, and Sa tan made the ir deeds sec m

fair 10 them . A llah says, ( So they ki ll ed the she-camel and

insolentl y defied th e Com mandmcnt or their Lord, and said,

' 0, Salih ! Bring about your threa ts if you arc indeed one of the

Messengers (of A llah )." ) (SoO/'a" AI-A 'raf7:77 )

Imam Ahmad narra ted on th e aut hori ty o f 'Abdulla h Ibn

lam'a h _~ that hc said, " The Messenge r of A ll ah ~ deli vered

a se rmon a nd he mentioned the she-ca mel and he named th e

person who kill ed it; he sa id, .,( When the 1110St w icked man

among the m went forth (to kill the she-came l) ) (Sooroll

Ash-Sllams 91: 12) : A viole nt , strong and impos in g man , who

was a lcader amo ng hi s peo ple, wcnt forth to (ki ll) th e she-

came!.';1) A I-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it from the hodeel"

( I) I\n :unhcntic fmeleelll na1T31cd by Imam Ahmad ( 15790).

(2) NarrJ1cd by Al-Bukhari (4942) and Muslim (2855).

232 The SWI)' olSa/eh. Ihe Pmplief o(TlulI1lOod

A llah, Most Hi gh, says, ( So th ey killed the she-ca mel and

in solently defied the Com mand ment of their Lord, a nd sa id.

"0, Salih! Bring about you r threOl ts if you arc ind eed one of

Ihe Messenger< (of Allah)." ) (SoO/'"II AI-A 'raf7 :77) In Ihese

words of theirs they comb ined extrc mc di sbeli cf in a number of

ways: Onc bei ng th Olt they di sobeyed A llah and Hi s Messenger

~ by doing what they had becn fir ml y forbidd en to do, which

was to ki ll the she-camel which Allah had made a Sign for

them. Another wa s tlIat thcy were impatient for the impositi on

of Allah's Punishment upon them a nd they deserved it for two

reasons: One ofthcm is tha t it was orda ined upon them in I-li s

Words, ( "A nd touch her not wit h ev il , lest a nca r punishment

w ill se ize you,") (SoO/'"II Hood II :64)

In one verse A ll ah says, ( great ) (Saara" As"-SJIII'ora'

26: 156) a nd in anolher Verse, He says, ( pa inful ) (Soorall

AI-A 'raJ 7:73) and both of them arc true. T he seco nd is

th e ir impati c nce fo r it. A noth er was that they be lied the

Messe nger $!l who had prod uced the irrefuta ble ev idence of

hi s Prophethood and his truthfu lness and they knew thi s with

certainty. But their di sbe lief, the ir error and their willful ness

caused them to di sbelieve in the tmlh and the infl ict ion of th e

punishmcn t on th em.

A ll ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( l3ul Ihey killed her, So he sa id:

"Enjoy yourse lves in your homes fbr three days. This is a

promise (i.e, a threat) tha t willnol be beli ed." ) (Soorah Hood

11 :65) It was sa id tha. when they we nt to kill the she-camel, th e

first person to attm:k her was Qudar Ibn Salifmay A llah curse

him - and he hamstrung her and she fell to the ground . Th en

they mshed upon he r wi th the ir swords and cut her up. When

its calf saw th is, it fled from them and climbed the highest

mountain there and it le t out three cries, Thi s is why Saleh ~

'l7,e St(J/:1' ojSa/elt, the Prophet oj 111llfl/uut/ 233

sa id to titem, ( Enjoy yourse lves in your homes for three days,

) (SoO/'ali Hood II :65) Thm is, three days, not including that

day, But they also d id not believe thi s certain pro mise of his,

Instead, in the eveni ng or tha t day, they pl ann ed to kill him and

so they we nt out to him , in order to kill him , like the she-came l.

( Th cy sai d, '·Swear on c to another by Allah that we shallmak c

a secret ni Qhl attack on him and hi s house hold," ) (SoO/'ali AlI-

Naml 27:49) Th aI is, we shall attack him in his home, along

with his fa m ily and we shall surely ki ll hi m, then we shall dcny

any know ledge of hi s killing, if we are as ked abo ut it by his

kin . Thi s is why they sa id, ( "and afterward we will surely say

10 hi s ncar relatives: ' We witn essed not the des truc tion of his

hou seho ld, and veri ly! We arc tellin g the trut h." ) (Soorah An-

Allah, Mosl Hi gh, says, ( So Ih ey p laited a pial, and lVe

pl an ned a pla n, whil e they pe rce ived not. Then see how was

th e end o f th eir plot! Veril y, We destroyed the m and th eir

nati on, all toge ther, These arc thei r houses in utl er rui n, for

th ey did w rong. Veri ly, in thi s is indeed an Ay ah (a lesson or a

sign) for peop le who know, And We saved those who beli eved,

and used to fear Allah , and keep th eir duty to Him ) (Sool"ah

An·NamI27:50-53) This was beca use Allah, Most Hi gh, sent a

rock aga ins l those people who had tried to kill Saleh :M1 whieh

crushed th em a nd kil led them in adva nce o f th e rest of their

( And they lay prostrate in th eir homes ) (SoO/'alr A/-A 'raj

7:78) Tha I is, mot ionless co rpses, wi thout souls.

An d All ah, Most High, says, ( As if they had neve r dwe lt

th ere, ) (Sooralr AI-A 'raJ7 :92) That is, as if th ey had never

lived in their homes in co mfort, with sLlstena nce a nd wea lt h,

234 The Story o/'Saleh. Ihi' Pmpltel oj71lllm(Jod

( No doubt ! Veril y, Tlmmood di sbclieved in their Lord. So

away with Thamood! ) (Soomh Hood II :68) Thm is, the voice

of AI-Qadar ca ll ed to them.

Imam Ahmad said: 'A bdur-Razzaq told me: Ma ' mar told

me: 'Abdu ll ah Ibn ' Uthma n Ibn Khuthai m reported on the

au thority of Abu z-Zubair, who reported on the aut hority of

Jabir that he said: When th e Messenge r of All ah ~ passed by

AI-H ijr, he said , "Do not ask for signs, beca use the people of

Sal eh asked for thcm and it (i.c. th e camel) used to arrive by

this path and reWm by th is path, but they deficd the cOlllmand

of their Lord and ki ll ed it. It lI sed \0 drink their water on onc

day and they would dri nk its milk on that day (and th ey wou ld

drink the water on the following day). But they killed it and

the Cry took them and Allah destroyed all of them exce pt for

one man who was in Allah's Sanctuary." They sa id, "Who was

he, Messe nge r of Allah?" He sa id, " He was Abu Righal; and

when he wenI out from th e San ctuary, tha t which hac! befallen

his people also befell hi m." This /wdeelh conform s to th e

criteria fo r accepw nce stipul ated by Muslim, but it is not in

any of the Six Books. And' Abdur-Razzaq also said: Ma ' mar

sai d: Isma'cel Ibn Umayya h ...;0 informed me that the Prophet

~ passed by the grave of Abu Righal and he said , "Do yo u

know who thi s is?" They replied, "A llah and I-lis Messenger

know beller." He sa id, "This is the grave of Abu Righal. a man

frol11 Th amood. He: was in Allah's San ctuary and the Sanctuary

protected him froll1 Allah 's Punishment. But when he left it,

th at whi ch had befa llen his peop le also befell hi m and he was

buried herc_ A branch of go ld was also buricd with him." So

th e people used thcir swords and looked for the golden branc h

'Abdur-Razzaq sa id: Ma' mar said: Az-Zuh ri said: 'A bu

The Story QfSaleh. the Pmphel ojThamoor/ 235

Righal was th e father of (the tribe of) Thaqee r. But thi s

narration is mll/'sa/ from thi s source, It has been reported from

another source in a 11II1f/tlSi/ (conn ec ted) form, <I S mention ed by

Muh ammad Ibn Ishaq in his SeaafT,

( Th en he (Sa lih ) tllm ed from them and said: " 0 , my peop le !

I have indeed conveyed to you the Message of my Lord , and

have given you good ad vice but yo u like not good advisers ," )

(SoorafT A/-A '/"0/7:79) This informs liS that Salih ~ addressed

hi s people after the destru cti on had befa ll en th em and he had

taken hi s departure from th eir place and was heading elsewhere;

and he said to them , ( " 0 . my peo pl e! I ha ve ind eed conveyed to

yO ll th e Message of my Lord , and ha ve g iven yOll good advice

.) (SoO/'afT A/-A '/"0/ 7:79 ) Th at is, I strove to the utmost o f my