Surah Al-Mu'minun, Ayah 37

The Story of `Ad or Thamud

Allah tells us that after the people of Nuh, He created another nation. It was said that this was `Ad, because they were the successors of the people of Nuh. Or it was said that they were Thamud, because Allah says:

فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّيْحَةُ بِالْحَقِّ

(So, the Sayhah overtook them in truth.) Allah sent to them a Messenger from among themselves, and he called them to worship Allah Alone with no partner or associate, but they belied him, opposed him and refused to follow him because he was a human being like them, and they refused to follow a human Messenger. They did not believe in the meeting with Allah on the Day of Resurrection and they denied the idea of physical resurrection. They said:

إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَبْعُوثِينَ

There is nothing but our worldly life. We die and we live and we are not to be raised again. - 23:37

This is the argument which the unbelievers advance when denying belief in the Day of Judgment. Those who deny it publicly are confirmed infidels, but it is very unfortunate that many Muslims also act in a manner that the same denial can be felt from their deeds and actions. They seem to be totally oblivious of the coming in of the Hereafter. May Allah Ta'ala grant them faith to release themselves from the clutches of this belief of theirs.

After being delivered in the Ark from the Great Flood, the generation of believers in Noah flourished, but again, with the passage of the centuries, they plunged into the same evils in which their predecessors had indulged. Here perhaps the community referred to is that which is known as the ‘Ad. These people had neglected and forgotton God and were preoccupied with serving entities other than God. Once again a prophet of God, in this case Hud, appeared among them and made them aware of the Truth. But, like their predecessors, the chiefs of the community ranged themselves against the prophet. These chiefs had assumed leadership of the people and were surrounded by plenty and prosperity. It is a common weakness of those who are fortunate enough to acquire wealth and power to presume that this is ample proof of their being on the path of Truth. This was also true of these chiefs. Their prosperity and power prevented them from thinking that they could be wrong. They observed that the Prophet was not surrounded by heaps of wealth, nor was he seated upon a throne of power. So they considered him to be a lowly person. Due to the importance they attached to worldly glamour, they failed to understand the spiritual mission of the Prophet.