Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 7 Al-A'raf, Ayat 65-72

وَاِلٰى عَادٍ اَخَاهُمۡ هُوۡدًا​ ؕ قَالَ يٰقَوۡمِ اعۡبُدُوا اللّٰهَ مَا لَـكُمۡ مِّنۡ اِلٰهٍ غَيۡرُهٗ ؕ اَفَلَا تَتَّقُوۡنَ‏ ﴿7:65﴾ قَالَ الۡمَلَاُ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا مِنۡ قَوۡمِهٖۤ اِنَّا لَـنَرٰٮكَ فِىۡ سَفَاهَةٍ وَّاِنَّا لَـنَظُنُّكَ مِنَ الۡـكٰذِبِيۡنَ‏ ﴿7:66﴾ قَالَ يٰقَوۡمِ لَـيۡسَ بِىۡ سَفَاهَةٌ وَّلٰـكِنِّىۡ رَسُوۡلٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿7:67﴾ اُبَلِّغُكُمۡ رِسٰلٰتِ رَبِّىۡ وَاَنَا لَـكُمۡ نَاصِحٌ اَمِيۡنٌ‏ ﴿7:68﴾ اَوَعَجِبۡتُمۡ اَنۡ جَآءَكُمۡ ذِكۡرٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّكُمۡ عَلٰى رَجُلٍ مِّنۡكُمۡ لِيُنۡذِرَكُمۡ​ ؕ وَاذۡكُرُوۡۤا اِذۡ جَعَلَـكُمۡ ۚ خُلَفَآءَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ قَوۡمِ نُوۡحٍ وَّزَادَكُمۡ فِى الۡخَـلۡقِ بَصۜۡطَةً​​ فَاذۡكُرُوۡۤا اٰ لَۤاءَ اللّٰهِ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُفۡلِحُوۡنَ‏ ﴿7:69﴾ قَالُـوۡۤا اَجِئۡتَنَا لِنَعۡبُدَ اللّٰهَ وَحۡدَهٗ وَنَذَرَ مَا كَانَ يَعۡبُدُ اٰبَآؤُنَا​ ۚ فَاۡتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَاۤ اِنۡ كُنۡتَ مِنَ الصّٰدِقِيۡنَ‏ ﴿7:70﴾ قَالَ قَدۡ وَقَعَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ مِّنۡ رَّبِّكُمۡ رِجۡسٌ وَّغَضَبٌ​ؕ اَتُجَادِلُوۡنَنِىۡ فِىۡۤ اَسۡمَآءٍ سَمَّيۡتُمُوۡهَاۤ اَنۡـتُمۡ وَاٰبَآؤُكُمۡ مَّا نَزَّلَ اللّٰهُ بِهَا مِنۡ سُلۡطٰنٍ​ؕ فَانْتَظِرُوۡۤا اِنِّىۡ مَعَكُمۡ مِّنَ الۡمُنۡتَظِرِيۡنَ‏  ﴿7:71﴾ فَاَنۡجَيۡنٰهُ وَالَّذِيۡنَ مَعَهٗ بِرَحۡمَةٍ مِّنَّا وَ قَطَعۡنَا دَابِرَ الَّذِيۡنَ كَذَّبُوۡا بِاٰيٰتِنَا​ وَمَا كَانُوۡا مُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿7:72﴾

(7:65) And to 'Ad51 We sent forth their brother Hud. He said: '0 my people! Serve Allah; you have no other god than Him. Will you, then, not avoid evil?' (7:66) The unbelievers among the leading men of his people said: 'Indeed we see you in folly, and consider you to be liars.' (7:67) He said: '0 my people! There is no folly in me; rather I am a Messenger from the Lord of the universe. (7:68) I convey to you the messages of my Lord, and I give you sincere advice. (7:69) Do you wonder that an exhortation should come to you from your Lord through a man from amongst yourselves that he may warn you? And do call to mind when He made you successors after the people of Noah and amply increased you in stature. Remember then the wondrous bounties52 of Allah, that you may prosper.' (7:70) They said: 'Have you come to us that we should worship none other than Allah and forsake all whom our forefathers were wont to worship?53 Then bring upon us the scourge with which you have threatened us if you are truthful?' (7:71) Hud warned them: 'Surely punishment and wrath from your Lord have befallen upon you. Do you dispute with me about mere names that you and your forefathers have concocted54 and for which Allah has sent down no sanction?55 Wait, then, and I too am with you among those who wait.' (7:72) Then We delivered Hud and his companions by Our mercy, and We utterly cut off the last remnant of those who called the lie to Our signs and would not believe.56

Notes

51. 'Ad, an ancient Arab people, were well-known throughout Arabia. They were known for their proverbial glory and grandeur. And when they were destroyed, their extinction also became proverbial. So much so that ttre word 'Ad has come to be used for things ancient and the word 'adiyat for archaeological remains. The land whose owner is unknown and which is lying fallow, from neglect is called 'adi al-ard.

The ancient Arabic poetry is replete with references to this people. Arab genealogists consider the 'Ad as the foremost among the extinct tribes of Arabia. Once a person of the Banel Dhuhl b. Shayban tribe, who was a resident of the 'Ad territory, called on the Prophet (peace be on him). He related stories to the Prophet about the people of 'Ad, stories handed down to the people of that region from generation to generation. (See Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 3, p. 482 - Ed.)

According to the Qur'an the people of 'Ad lived mainly in the Ahqaf region which is situated to the south-west of the Empty Quarter (al-Rub' al-Khali) and which lies between Hijaz, Yemen and Yamamah. It was from there that the people of 'Ad spread to the western coast of Yemen and established their hegemony in Oman, Hadramawt and Iraq. There is very little archaeological evidence about the 'Ad. Only a few ruins in South Arabia are ascribed to them. At a place in Hadramawt there is a grave which is considered to be that of the Prophet Hud. James R. Wellested, a British naval officer, discovered an ancient inscription in 1837 in a place called Hisn al-Ghurab which contains a reference to the Prophet Hud. The contents unmistakably bear out that it had been written by those who followed the Shari'ah of Hud. (For details see Tafhim al-Qur'an, (al-Al. Ahqaf 46, n. 25.)

52. The word ala' used in the above verse stands for bounties, wondrous works of nature, and praiseworthy qualities. The purpose of the verse is to impress upon man to gratefully, recognize the favours God has lavished upon him, bearing in mind that God also has the Power to take them away.

53. It is worth noting that the people of 'Ad neither disbelieved in God nor refused to worship Him. They did not, however, follow, the teachings of Hud who proclaimed God alone should he worshipped, and that none other may be associated in servitude to Him.

54. They looked to gods of rain and gods of wind, wealth, and health. But none of these enjoys godhead. There are many instances in our own time of people whose beliefs are no different from the ones mentioned above. There are people who are wont to call someone Mushkil Kusha, 'the remover of distress' or to call someone else Ganjbakhsh, 'the bestower of treasures'. But God's creatures cannot remove the distresses of other creatures like themselves, nor do they have any treasure that they might give away to others. Their titles are merely empty words, bereft of the qualities attributed to them. All argumentation aimed at justifying those titles amounts to a lot of sound and fury about nothing.

55. The Makkans could produce no sanction from Allah - Whom they themselves acknowledged as the Supreme God - that He had transferred to their false gods any of His power or authority. None has any authorization from God to remove distress from, or bestow treasures on, others. It is the Makkans themselves who arbitrarily chose to confer parts of God's power on those beings.

56. The Qur'an informs us that God brought about the total extermination of the 'Ad, a fact borne out by both Arabian historical traditions and recent archaeological discoveries. The 'Ad were so totally destroyed and their monuments so completely effaced that the Arab historians refer to them as one of the umam ba'idah (extinct peoples) of Arabia. The Arab tradition also affirms that the only people belonging to the 'Ad who survived were the followers of the Prophet Hud. These survivors are known as the Second 'Ad ('Ad Thaniyah). The Hisn al-Ghurib inscriptions referred to earlier (n. 51) above are among the remaining monuments of these people. One inscription, which is generally considered to date from the eighteenth century B.C., as deciphered by the experts, contains the following sentences:

We have lived for a long time in this fort in full glory, free of all want. Our canals were always full to the brim with water . . . Our rulers were kings who were far removed from evil ideas, who dealt sternly with mischief-makers and governed us according to the Law of Hud. Their edicts were recorded in a book. We believed in miracles and resurrection.

The above account fully corroborates the Qur'anic statement that it was only the companions of Hud who survived and inherited the glory and prosperity of the 'Ad.