Part 52

ab ili ty to guide you and I endeavored to do so by my words,

my acti ons and my (s ince re) intention: ( " bu t you li ke not good

advisers," ) (SoO/'afT A/-A 'ra/ 7:79) That is, your nature could

not accept the truth and did 110t des ire it. And thi s is why you

reached th e situation you are now in : a painful and continuous

punishment which will ami CI you forever, I have no ability to

repel it from yo u. What was in cumbent upon me was to convey

the Message and that I have done, exert ing myse l f to the utmost

to that end, But Allah docs as He wills.

The Prophet's Passage Through Wadi Al-Hijr

ill the Lalld ofThamood ill the Year ofthe Battle

Imam Ahmad narrated on the authority of 'Abd ull ah Ibn

'U mar ..tc that he said: When th e Messe nge r of Allah ~ camped

with the people on the road to Taboo k, he camped with them

236 Till' Story of Saleh. Ihe Pmpltl.'f olTlICIl/1oO(/

at A I-Hij r, whi ch was ncar to the hOllses o f Thamood and the

peoplc sought WOlter fr0111 the well s fro m whi ch Thamood used

to d ri nk a nd they l1Iade do ug h fro m thel11 nnd prepared the ir

coo ki ng po ts 10 cook mea t. BUI the Messcngcr o f Al lah ~

orde red the m to po ur o ut the conte nt s of the cooki ng pots nlld

give the dough to the eamels. Thcn he moved o n with them and

he camped w ith them ncar the wel l from whi ch the she-camel

used 10 drink and he forbade th em from en le ring the ho uses

o f the peop le who had been pu ni shed, say ing, " I fear that you

might be affl icted by what nnl icted them, so do 110t enter the ir

Imam Ahmad a lso na rrated o n the authority of ' Abd ull ah Ibn

'U mar ~ that he sOlid: When the Mcssenger of A ll ah ~ wns at

AIHijr, he said, " Do not enter the dwc ll ings o f those peop le

who we re punished, un less YO ll (I rc weeping; and if yo u are

110 t weeping, then do 110 t e nter the ir dwc ll ings, so tha t YO LI will

110t be afflicted by a pun ishment simib r to th at which afflicted

them." (2) AI-Buk hari and Muslim na rrated it in the Saheeltaill

from more than o ne source. (3)

Imam Ahmad narra ted o n the au tho ri ty of ' Amr Ibn Sa'd ..:e

th at he sa id: At the time of the Ba il ie of Tabook, the peop le

haste ned to cnte r th e houses of th e peopl e o f AII-I ijr; the

Messe nger o f All ah :t5 was in for med of th is and he ca ll ed to Ih e

people, " Pray in cong rcgnt ion:' 'Alllr ';" sa id: So I wenl 10 th e

Prophet :I;; a nd fo und him holding o nto his came l and he was

saying, " Do not enter the d well ings of a people upon who m

All ah's Wrath was visited. " A Illall ca ll ed o ul to him , " We a rc

a mazed at them, Messcnger of A ll nh!" I-Ie said, "S hall I not

( I) T his is an nuthcnt ic Iw(/ee/h narrated by Imam Ahmad (21117. No. 5948).

(2) This is an authentic //(Ideelll Ilarrated by Imam Ahmad (2/ 174 , No. 54 18).

(3) Nnrr.llcd by AI-l3ukhari (433) and Muslim (2980).

The StolT u/Sa/elt. f/ie Pmphef 0/ T/wlI/(}()d 237

inform YOll of solllct hing more amaz ing tha n that? A man from

among you info rms YOll abou t what occurred before you and

what will be aflc r YO ll , so be stra ight and stand shou lde r-to-

shou lder, becau se All ah does not care aboll t yo ur puni shm ent

and a people will come who w ill no t pro tect themselves from

anything ." T he iSllad of this /wdeefh is hasall , 411 but thcy (the

comp ilers of the Authe ntic Six (2)) did not narrate it.

( I) This Iwdeefh is Iw.wm; it was narrated by Imam Ahmad (4 /227, No.

(2) The Authentic Six: [n Arabic As-Silwll As-Sit/ail; refe rs to the Imdee/II

compilations of AI-Bukhuri, M lLsli m, Abu Dawood, At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Ma-

I-I e is Ibraheem, son ofTarikh, SOil of Nahoor, son ofSaroog,

son o f Raghu , son of Falagh, son of'Abi r, SOil ofShalak h, son

of Kan'an, SOil of A rfakhshad, so n of Sam, son of Nooh ~.

Thi s is the tex t of the Peop le of th e Scri pture in th eir Scripture.

I ha ve marked th e ir ages under their nam es in Indi an numera ls

from A I-Mudad (1) and we ha ve already spoken o f Noah's age

a nd so the re is no need 10 repeat it here. It was AI-Kllaleel ~

who was saved by A llah from the ev il s and mi sgui dance (of hi s

people). for Alla h gave him hi s integrity and right-conduct in hi s

carly yea rs and sent him as a Messenger and I-I e took him as a

Klwleel (Frie nd) during hi s adult years. Alla h, Most High, says,

( And ind eed We bes towed aforetime on Ibraheem (Ibraheem)

hi s (porti on 01) guidance, and We were We ll -Acqua int ed w ith

him (as to his Be lief in the On eness of Allah , etc.) ) (Soorah

AI-Allbiya' 21 :5 1) That is, he was we ll qualifi ed for that.

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( And (remember) Ibra hccm whe n he

said to his people, "Wors hip Alla h (A lone), and fear Ilim. that

(I) Al-Mudad: One o rthc descendants or Nooh. who sellled in Ambia.

The SlOrr of Ibrahei'l1I ~ 239

;s belter for you if yoll did bUI know. You worship besides A llah

only idols. and you only in ve nt fa lsehood. Veril y. those whom

you worshi p besides A ll ah ha ve no power to give you pro vision ,

so see k your provision fro m A llah (A lone), and worship I-lim

(A lone), a nd be gra tcru l to I Ii Ill . To Him (A lone) you w ill be

bm ught baek. And if yo u de ny. then nations be fore you have

denied (the ir Messengers). And th e duly o f the Messenger is

on ly to co nvey (th e Message ) pla inly. See they nOI how All ah

ori gina tes creation, then repeals it. Veri ly, that is casy for Allah.

Say, "Trave l in th e la nd and see how (A llah) orig inated creation,

and the n A ll ah will brin g forth (resurrect) the c re'llion o f the

Herea fter (i.e. resurrectio n :'Ift er deat h). Veril y, All:.dl is Able 10

do a ll things." I-Ie puni shes whom li e wi ll s, a nd shows mercy

to whom l ie w ill s, and to I-lim you wi ll be re turned. And you

cannot escape in the ea rth or in the heaven. And bes ides A llah

you have ne ithe r any wa/~\y (protec tor or guardian ) nor an y

hel pe r. And those who dis be lieve in th e AyaJ of A ll ah and the

Meeti ng w ith I lim , it is th ey who have no ho pe o f My Me rcy.

and it is they who w ill (ha ve) 11 pa infu l torme nt. So noth ing

was th e answe r of (Ibrah ce m's) pco pl e except that they sa id,

"Kill him or burn him :' Th cn A llah saved him from the fire .

Veri ly. in thi s ;:Irc indeed s igns for a people who belie ve. And

( Ibrah ce m) said . " YOli have take n (for worship) ido ls instead of

Allah. and th e love be tween yo u is onl y in the life of lhi s wo rl d,

bllt on the Day of Res urrecti on. you sha ll di sown each other

and curse each Olher and your abode w iil be the Fi re; and YOII

slml l have no he lper.' So Loot (Lot) believed in him ( Ibra hccm's

Message of Islamic Monothcism). I-Ic (Ibrah cem) said, .. , wi ll

cmigrate for thc sake o f 111 y Lord . Vc ri ly. I-Ie is th e A lmi ghty,

the Mos t Wisc." A nd We bestowed on hi m ( Ibra hecm) lshaq

(Isaac) and Ya ' qoob (Jacob), and ordain ed a mon g hi s offspring

Proph cthood and th e Book (i.c. the Tawrah [Torah ] to Moosa

240 TIle SIOI :I' uf Ibraheelll ~

- Moses), th e Il ijee/ [Gospel] to ' Eesa [Jes us], the Qur ' an

[to Muhammad 3S], all from th c orrspring of Ibraheem, and

We grantcd him his reward in this worl d, and vcri ly, in !hc

Hcrcaficr he is inllced alll ong the rightcous. ) (Soorah Al-

Thcn Al lah, Most Hi gh menti oned hi s di spules with his fat her and

hi s people as we shall mention, ifAllah, Mosl Hi gh, wills. The firs t

person he ca ll ed to All ah was hi s falher, who was one oflhose who

worshi pped idols, because he was th e person with most ri ghl 10

hi s advice, HS Allah , Most Hi gh, says, ( And mcnt ion in thc Book

(the Our 'an) Ibrahecl11. Verily! li e was a man of truth. a Prophet.

When he said to his father. "0. my father! Why do you worsh ip

Ihat whi ch hcnrs not, sees not and can not ava il you in anything?

0 , my fath er! Ve rily! There has comc to mc of know ledge that