Surah 11. Hud

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Verses [Section]: 1-8[1], 9-24 [2], 25-35 [3], 36-49 [4], 50-60 [5], 61-68 [6], 69-83 [7], 84-95 [8], 96-109 [9], 110-123 [10]

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Quran Text of Verse 61-68وَ اِلٰیAnd toثَمُوْدَThamudاَخَاهُمْ(We sent) their brotherصٰلِحًا ۘSalihقَالَHe saidیٰقَوْمِO my people!اعْبُدُواWorshipاللّٰهَAllahمَاnotلَكُمْyou haveمِّنْanyاِلٰهٍgodغَیْرُهٗ ؕother than HimهُوَHeاَنْشَاَكُمْproduced youمِّنَfromالْاَرْضِthe earthوَ اسْتَعْمَرَكُمْand settled youفِیْهَاin itفَاسْتَغْفِرُوْهُSo ask forgiveness of Himثُمَّthenتُوْبُوْۤاturn in repentanceاِلَیْهِ ؕto HimاِنَّIndeedرَبِّیْmy Lordقَرِیْبٌ(is) nearمُّجِیْبٌ All-Responsive قَالُوْاThey saidیٰصٰلِحُO SalihقَدْVerilyكُنْتَyou wereفِیْنَاamong usمَرْجُوًّاthe one in whom hope was placedقَبْلَbeforeهٰذَاۤthisاَتَنْهٰىنَاۤDo you forbid usاَنْthatنَّعْبُدَwe worshipمَاwhatیَعْبُدُworshippedاٰبَآؤُنَاour forefathersوَ اِنَّنَاAnd indeed weلَفِیْsurely (are) inشَكٍّdoubtمِّمَّاabout whatتَدْعُوْنَاۤyou call usاِلَیْهِto itمُرِیْبٍ suspicious 11. Hud Page 229قَالَHe saidیٰقَوْمِO my people!اَرَءَیْتُمْDo you seeاِنْifكُنْتُI amعَلٰیonبَیِّنَةٍa clear proofمِّنْfromرَّبِّیْmy Lordوَ اٰتٰىنِیْand He has given meمِنْهُfrom Himرَحْمَةًa Mercyفَمَنْthen whoیَّنْصُرُنِیْ(can) help meمِنَagainstاللّٰهِAllahاِنْifعَصَیْتُهٗ ۫I (were to) disobey HimفَمَاSo notتَزِیْدُوْنَنِیْyou would increase meغَیْرَbutتَخْسِیْرٍ (in) loss وَ یٰقَوْمِAnd O my people!هٰذِهٖThisنَاقَةُshe-camelاللّٰهِ(of) Allahلَكُمْ(is) for youاٰیَةًa Signفَذَرُوْهَاso leave herتَاْكُلْto eatفِیْۤinاَرْضِthe earthاللّٰهِ(of) Allahوَ لَاand (do) notتَمَسُّوْهَاtouch herبِسُوْٓءٍwith harmفَیَاْخُذَكُمْlest will seize youعَذَابٌa punishmentقَرِیْبٌ impending فَعَقَرُوْهَاBut they hamstrung herفَقَالَSo he saidتَمَتَّعُوْاEnjoy (yourselves)فِیْinدَارِكُمْyour home(s)ثَلٰثَةَ(for) threeاَیَّامٍ ؕdaysذٰلِكَThatوَعْدٌ(is) a promiseغَیْرُnotمَكْذُوْبٍ (to) be belied فَلَمَّاSo whenجَآءَcameاَمْرُنَاOur commandنَجَّیْنَاWe savedصٰلِحًاSalihوَّ الَّذِیْنَand those whoاٰمَنُوْاbelievedمَعَهٗwith himبِرَحْمَةٍby a Mercyمِّنَّاfrom Usوَ مِنْand fromخِزْیِ(the) disgraceیَوْمِىِٕذٍ ؕ(of) that DayاِنَّIndeedرَبَّكَyour LordهُوَHeالْقَوِیُّ(is) All- Strongالْعَزِیْزُ All-Mighty وَ اَخَذَAnd seizedالَّذِیْنَthose whoظَلَمُواwrongedالصَّیْحَةُthe thunderous blastفَاَصْبَحُوْاthen they becameفِیْinدِیَارِهِمْtheir homesجٰثِمِیْنَۙfallen prone كَاَنْAs ifلَّمْnotیَغْنَوْاthey (had) prosperedفِیْهَا ؕthereinاَلَاۤNo doubtاِنَّindeedثَمُوْدَاۡThamudكَفَرُوْاdisbelievedرَبَّهُمْ ؕ(in) their Lordاَلَاsoبُعْدًاawayلِّثَمُوْدَ۠with Thamud

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Translation of Verse 61-68

(11:61) And to Thamud We sent their brother Sali'h.⁶⁶ He said: 'My people! Serve Allah; you have no god other than Him. He brought you into being out of the earth, and has made you dwell in it.⁶⁷ So ask Him to forgive you, and do turn towards Him in repentance.⁶⁸ Indeed My Lord is near, responsive to prayers .⁶⁹

(11:62) They said: 'O Salih! Until now you were one of those among us on whom we placed great hopes.⁷⁰ Now, would you forbid us to worship what our forefathers were wont to worship?⁷¹ Indeed we are in disquieting doubt about what you are calling us to.⁷²

(11:63) Salih said: 'My people! What do you think? If I had a clear evidence from my Lord, and then He also bestowed His mercy upon me, who will rescue me from the punishment of Allah if I still disobey Him? You can only make me lose even more.⁷³

(11:64) My people! This she-camel of Allah is a sign for you. So let her pasture on Allah's earth, and do not hurt her or else some chastisement - which is near at hand -should overtake you.'

(11:65) But they slaughtered her. Thereupon Salih warned them: 'Enjoy yourselves in your homes for a maximum of three days. This is a promise which shall not be belied.'

(11:66) Then, when Our command came to pass, We saved Salih and those who shared his faith through Our special mercy, from the disgrace of that day.⁷⁴ Truly Your Lord is All-Strong, All-Mighty.

(11:67) And the Blast overtook those who were wont to do wrong, and then they lay lifeless in their homes

(11:68) as though they had never lived there before. Oh, verily the Thamud denied their Lord! Oh, the Thamud were destroyed.

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Commentary

66. For further information see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. Ill, al-A ‘raf 7, nn. 57-62, pp. 45-8.

67. This substantiates the fact that there is no god other than the One True God; and that He should be the sole object of worship and service. Now, even those who associated others with God in His divinity acknowledged that it is Allah alone Who created them. Using this obvious premise, Prophet Salih (peace be on him) sought to persuade people to affirm that God alone should be worshipped. He emphasized that it is God Alone Who had made them into human beings out of the lifeless materials from the earth, and had subsequently settled them on earth. In view of this, who else than God could claim godhead? Likewise, who else could claim that he ought to be served and worshipped?

68. The Thamud had been guilty of worshipping others besides God. They are now urged to seek God’s forgiveness for this grave sin.

69. This verse is aimed at removing a major misconception which had been prevalent among the polytheists. This misconception is in fact one of the major reasons which prompted men to associate others with God in His divinity. One of man’s most persistent faults is that he has conceived God to be similar to those worldly rulers who immerse themselves in a life of ease and luxury in their grand palaces. Such rulers are normally far removed from their subjects.

To all intents and purposes they are well beyond the direct access of their subjects. The only way for their subjects to reach them is through the auspices of their favorite courtiers. And even if a subject succeeds in conveying his pleadings through a courtier, these rulers are often too arrogant to directly respond to such pleadings. This is one aspect of the function of a courtier — to communicate to a ruler the pleadings of his subjects, and also to communicate to the subjects the response of the ruler. : Since God was often conceived in the image of such worldly rulers many people fell prey to the false belief that God is well above the reach of ordinary human beings. This belief spread further because many clever people found it quite profitable to propagate such a notion. No wonder many people felt God could only be approached through powerful intermediaries and intercessors.

The only way that a person’s prayer could reach God and be answered by Him was to approach Him through one of the holy men. It was, therefore, considered necessary to grease the palm of the religious functionaries who supposedly enjoyed the privilege of conveying a man’s offerings and prayers to the One on high.

This misconception gave birth to a pantheon of small and large deities and intercessors who are supposed to act as intermediaries between man and God.

This misconception has given rise to institutionalized priesthood, according to which no ritual, whether relating to birth or death, can be performed without the active participation of the priests.

Prophet Salih (peace be on him) strikes at the root of this ignorant system, and totally demolishes its intellectual infrastructure. This he does by emphasizing two facts: that God is extremely close to His creatures and that He answers their prayers. Thus he refutes many misconceptions about God: that He is far away, altogether withdrawn from human beings, and that He does not answer their prayers if they are to directly approach Him. God, no doubt, is transcendent, and yet He is extremely close to every person. Everyone will find Him just beside himself. Everyone can whisper to Him the innermost desires of his heart. Everyone can address his prayers to God both in public and in private, by verbally expressing those prayers or addressing them to Him without so much as uttering a single word. Moreover, God answers the prayers of all His creatures directly. The fact is that God’s court with all its majesty is just around everyone’s corner, so close to one’s threshold, and always open to all. How silly it is, therefore, for people to search for those intercessors who they think will help them approach God. (See also Towards Understanding the Qur’ an, vol. I, al-Baqarah 2, n. 188.)

70. The people of Salih (peace be on him) centered many expectations around him. On account of his wisdom, intelligence, maturity, and dignified personality they expected Salih to rise to great heights. They also believed that he would not only achieve personal greatness and prosperity, but would also assist his people in their bid to excel against other tribes and nations in terms of worldly benefits. However, no sooner had Salih begun to teach his people that they are obligated to exclusively worship and serve the One True God and pay due heed to the Hereafter than they became altogether disenchanted with him.

It may be recalled that the predicament of the Makkan unbelievers was no different from that of the people of Salih (peace be on him). The Makkans also recognized that Muhammad (peace be on him) was a person of outstanding qualities. They were confident that he would grow into a very successful merchant and that they would also benefit from his trading acumen. But then they found that the Prophet (peace be on him), contrary to their expectations, began to invite them to serve and worship the One True God. He also began to urge them to pay heed to the Next Life and to observe moral excellence. They were instantly disappointed and became totally averse to him. They even began to give vent to the idea that the Prophet (peace be on him) who for so long had been a perfectly normal person, was now seized by some strange mental disease. In their view it was because of this mental derailment that he had ruined his own life and also threw cold water on the hopes and expectations of his people.

71. This was the main reason which the unbelievers advanced to support their view, the rationale they offered for the worship of the deities in which they believed. The simple reason was, as stated here and elsewhere in the Qur’an, that their ancestors had also worshipped them! This brings into sharp relief the fundamental difference between the rationale offered by Islam and that offered by jahiliyah. Salih (peace be on him) had said that none but God deserves to be worshipped. He argued that since God had created human beings and had enabled them to settle on earth, they, therefore, ought to worship Him. The unbelievers responded by saying that their deities also deserved to be worshipped, indeed had been worshipped by their ancestors and so they could not just forsake them. In other words, they proclaimed their commitment to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors even if those ancestors had been altogether ignorant and stupid.

72. The Qur’an does not specify the ‘disquieting doubt’ to which the unbelievers were subjected. The reason for this is that although all of them had doubts, the doubt entertained by each was different. It may even be said that whenever people are asked to accept the truth, all those who believe in one kind of falsehood or the other feel disturbed. The complacent faith which they had before they became acquainted with the truth is simply gone, and a ‘disquieting doubt’ creeps in and begins to agitate them. Although each of them may feel this differently, an amount of disquiet is nevertheless common to all unbelievers. : Before the unbelievers were invited to the truth, they may never have felt the need to critically examine their position. But after the call to the truth has been made such an attitude can no longer persist. This is so because the trenchant criticism of jahiliyah made by the Prophet of the day together with his weighty arguments in support of his teachings is bound to have its effect. Moreover, his lofty morals, his firmness, his forbearance, his grace and dignity, his straightforward and honest ways, and his wisdom and sagacity create a certain respect for him even among his staunchest enemies. Not only that but the people concerned cannot help but notice that the best elements in the society of the day are continually drawn to the call of the truth. They also observe that as a result of embracing the truth the lives of these people are perceptibly transformed. Taken together, all these factors agitate the minds of those who wish to cling to and even promote the old jahiliyah even after the truth has been made known to them.

73. Prophet Salih (peace be on him) makes it clear to his people that if he ~ were to follow the advice which they offered him, it would virtually lead to his perdition. Were Salih (peace be on him) to act contrary to his conscience and in opposition to the knowledge and guidance intimated to him by God, he would be liable to God’s punishment, and his people would be helpless in their efforts to rescue him from that punishment. Moreover, Salih (peace be on him) was not an ordinary person but a Prophet. This made his dereliction in the sight of God even more grave. For, God would take him to task on the grounds that although he had been encumbered with the duty to direct his people to the right way, he had consciously led them to error.

74. The folk traditions of the Sinaitic Peninsula indicate that when a severe punishment afflicted the Thamud, Salih (peace be on him) migrated to Sinai.

Hence, close to the Mount of Moses there. is a hillock called Nabi Salih. These traditions make one believe that it is here that Prophet Salih (peace be on him) lived.