People of Salih, ‘Alayhi al-Salam

213. Ali Bin Ibrahim, from his father, from Al-Hassan Bin Mahboub, from Abu Hamza, who has narrated the following: Abu Ja’far عليه الصلاة والسلام having said: ‘The Messenger صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم asked Jibraeel عليه السلام: ‘How were the people of Saleh عليه السلام destroyed?’ So he said: ‘O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم! Saleh عليه السلام was Sent to his عليه السلام people when he was sixteen years old. So he صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم was with them until he عليه السلام reached the age of one hundred and twenty years, they did not answer him عليه السلام to the good. And they had for themselves seventy idols which they worshipped apart from Allah عز وجل Mighty and Majestic. So when he عليه السلام saw that among them, he عليه السلام said: ‘O people! I عليه السلام was Sent to you all when I عليه السلام was sixteen years old, and I عليه السلام have now reached one hundred and twenty years, and I عليه السلام present to you all two matters. If you like you can ask me until I عليه السلام ask my عليه السلام God عز وجل so He عز وجل would Answer you with regards to what you have asked me of within a short while. And if you like, I عليه السلام would ask your gods, so if they answer me عليه السلام by that which I عليه السلام have asked them of, I عليه السلام would go away from you all. So I عليه السلام would have silenced you all and you would have silenced me عليه السلام’. They said, ‘You عليه السلام are being fair, O Saleh عليه السلام’. So they prepared for the day that they will be going out for it. So they went out with their idols upon their backs, and prepared their food and drinks. So they ate and drank. When they finished, they called him عليه السلام over. They said, ‘O Saleh عليه السلام! Ask!’. So he عليه السلام said to their elder: ‘What is the name of this one?’ He said, ‘Such and such’. So he عليه السلام said to it: ‘O such and such! Answer me عليه السلام!’ So it did not answer him عليه السلام’. So Saleh عليه السلام said: ‘What is the matter with it that it does not answer?’ They said, ‘Ask another one’. So he عليه السلام asked all of them by their names, but they did not answer him عليه السلام anything. So they turned towards their idols and said to them: ‘What is the matter with you all that you do not answer Saleh عليه السلام?’ They did not answer. So they said, ‘Step away from us and leave us and our idols for a while’. Then they unrolled their rugs, and their furnishings, and their clothes, and wallowed upon the dust, and placed dust upon their heads, and said to their idols, ‘If you do not answer Saleh عليه السلام today, you will be exposed’. Then they called him عليه السلام over, so they said, ‘O Saleh عليه السلام! Call to these (idols)’. So he عليه السلام called upon them. They did not answer him عليه السلام. So he عليه السلام said to them: ‘O People! Half the morning has passed and I عليه السلام have not seen your gods to have answered me عليه السلام. So ask me عليه السلام, and I عليه السلام shall ask my عليه السلام God عز وجل, and He عز وجل will Answer you shortly’. Seventy men from their elders were delegated to him عليه السلام from the approved ones from among them, so they said, ‘O Saleh عليه السلام! We ask you, so if your عليه السلام Lord عز وجل were to answer us, we would follow you عليه السلام and answer to you عليه السلام, and pledge our allegiances to you عليه السلام, all the people of our town altogether’. So Saleh عليه السلام said to them: ‘Ask me عليه السلام whatsoever you like’. So they said, ‘Walk with us towards this mountain’, and the mountain was quite near to them. So Saleh عليه السلام went with them. When he عليه السلام came up to the mountain, they said, ‘O Saleh عليه السلام! Call upon your عليه السلام Lord عز وجل for us, to bring out for us from this mountain this very moment, a blonde, tame, red she-camel with a distance of a mile between the two sides of the mountain’. So Saleh عليه السلام said to them: ‘You have asked me عليه السلام for something which is great for me عليه السلام, and is easy for my عليه السلام Lord عز وجل Majestic and Mighty’. Saleh عليه السلام asked Allah عز وجل the High for that. The mountain split asunder with such a split that their intellects took flight when they heard that rumble of it. Then the mountain trembled with a great tremble like a woman trembling during labour. Then only its head came out of the crack in the mountain. When its neck showed, it began to chew its cud. Then the rest of its body came out, and it stood erect upon the ground. So when they all saw that, they said, ‘O Saleh عليه السلام, with what ease has your عليه السلام Lord عز وجل Answered you عليه السلام. Call upon your عليه السلام Lord عز وجل for us to bring out for us its young’. So he عليه السلام asked Allah عز وجل Mighty and Majestic for that. She brought it (babies) out and walked around them. So he عليه السلام said to them: ‘O people! Does there remain anything else?’ They said, ‘No. Come with us to our people. We shall inform them of what we have seen and they will believe in you عليه السلام’. So they returned, but before the seventy of them could reach them, sixty four of them had reneged, and they were saying, This is sorcery and a lie’. This was reflected by all of them. So the remaining six were saying that it is the truth, whilst all the others were saying that it is a lie and sorcery. Then they all dispersed upon that, and one of the six then was overcome by doubt. So he was the one who slay it. Ibn Mahboub (the narrator) said, ‘I narrated this Hadeeth to a man from our companions called Saeed Bin Yazeed. He informed me that he had seen the mountain from which (the she-camel) came out, in Syria. He said, ‘I saw its sides where the mountain split up, and the impact of it on its sides and the other side of it, and in between it and this one was a distance of a mile’.