People of Thamud

214. Ali Bin Muhammad, from Ali Bin Al-Abbas, from Al-Hassan Bin Abdul Rahmaan, from Ali Bin Abu Hamza, who has narrated the following: Abu Abdullah عليه الصلاة والسلام said when it was said to him عليه الصلاة والسلام “[54:23] (The tribe of) Thamud rejected warnings [54:24] For they said; Is it a mortal man, alone among us, that we are to follow? Then indeed we should fall into error and madness [54:25] Has the reminder been made to light upon him from among us? Nay! he is an insolent liar!”, he عليه الصلاة والسلام said: ‘This is what they belied Saleh عليه السلام with, and Allah عز وجل Mighty and Majestic does not Destroy a people at all until He عز وجل Sends to them, before that, the Messenger عليه السلام. They argued against them (the Messengers عليه السلام), so Allah عز وجل Sent Saleh عليه السلام to them. He عليه السلام called them towards Allah عز وجل. They did not respond and were insolent to him عليه السلام, and said, ‘We will not believe you عليه السلام until you عليه السلام bring out for us from this rock a tame she-camel. And it was a rock which they used to magnify and worship and make their sacrifices near to its peak every year, and they used to gather around it. They said, ‘If you عليه السلام are as you are alleging to be, a Prophet عليه السلام, a Messenger عليه السلام, so call upon your عليه السلام Lord عز وجل for us until He عز وجل Brings out for us from this solid rock a tame she-camel’. So Allah عز وجل Brought it out as they had sought from him عليه السلام. Then Allah عز وجل Blessed and High Revealed unto him عليه السلام: “O Saleh عليه السلام! Tell them that Allah عز وجل has Made a share for this she-camel, from the water, that it would drink from it one day and you would drink from it the next day”. And the day which was designated for the she-camel to drink, it would drink the water during that day. They would then milk her, and there did not remain any young one or old one except that he drank from her milk in the day of theirs when it was the night time. And in the morning they would drink from the water, and the she-camel would not drink from it during that day. So that situation prevailed until such time as Allah عز وجل so Desired it to. Then they rebelled against Allah عز وجل and some of them walked towards the others and said, ‘Slay this she-camel, and be relaxed from it. We are not happy that there should be a day for us to drink and a day for it to drink’. Then they looked around for someone who could slay it, and made for him (a reward) of what he loved. So there came to them a red, blonde, blue-eyed man, of an adulterous birth, whose father was unknown, called Qudaar. A wretched one of all wretched ones of a sinister character, so they made up for him a reward for it. So when the she-camel went towards the water to drink from it, he left it until it had drunk the water. When it returned, he sat waiting for it upon its path. He struck her with the sword but it did not kill her. So he struck at it again and killed her and it fell down upon the earth on its side, and its young ones fled until they sat upon the mountain. They cried out three times towards the sky. And the people of Saleh عليه السلام came over. So there did not remain anyone from them except that he participated in hitting it, and they distributed its meat in between themselves. There did not remain anyone from them, whether young or old except that he ate from it. So when Saleh عليه السلام saw that, he عليه السلام came up to them and said, ‘O People! What called you all to do what you have done and rebelled against your Lord عز وجل?’ So Allah عز وجل Blessed and High unto Saleh عليه السلام: “Your عليه السلام people have been tyrannous and rebellious, and killed the she-camel that was Sent to them as a Proof to them, and there was no harm in it for them, and there were great benefits from it for them. So tell them that I عز وجل will be Sending upon you all My عز وجل Punishment after three days. So they were to repent and return (from their ways), I عز وجل shall Accept their repentance and Prevent it from them, and if they do not repent and do not return (from their ways), I عز وجل will Send to them My عز وجل Punishment on the third day”. So Saleh عليه السلام came and said to them: ‘O people! I عليه السلام am a Messenger عليه السلام of your Lord عز وجل. He عز وجل is Saying to you all that if you were to repent and return (from your ways) and seek Forgiveness, He عز وجل would Forgive you all and Turn towards you (Mercifully)’. So when he عليه السلام said that to them they became more rebellious and treacherous than what they had been and said, ‘O Saleh عليه السلام! Let it come to us, what you عليه السلام are calling for us, if you عليه السلام are from the Messengers عليه السلام, the truthful ones’. He عليه السلام said: ‘O people! When you wake up tomorrow morning your faces would be yellow, and on the second day your faces would be red, and on the third day your faces would be black’. So when it was the morning of the first day and their faces turned yellow, some of them walked towards the others and said, ‘There has come upon you what Saleh عليه السلام had spoken of’. So the rebellious ones among them said, ‘We will not listen to the words of Saleh عليه السلام and will not accept his عليه السلام words, even though they may be great’. So when it was the morning of the second day and their faces turned red, some of them walked towards the others and said, ‘O people! There has come upon you what Saleh عليه السلام had spoken about for you all’. So the rebellious ones among them said, ‘Even if we were all to be destroyed, we will not listen to the words of Saleh عليه السلام nor will we leave our gods which our forefathers had been worshipping, nor will we repent, nor will we return (from our ways)’. So when it was the morning of the third day and their faces turned black. So some of them walked towards the others and said, ‘O people! There has come upon you what Saleh عليه السلام had spoken of for you all’. So the rebellious ones from among them said, ‘Let it come upon us what Saleh عليه السلام had said to us’. So when it was the middle of the night, Jibraeel عليه السلام came upon them and screamed out a loud scream at them which broke their eardrums, and split their hearts, and ruptured their livers. And during those three days they had been applying camphor upon themselves, and shrouding themselves, and they knew that the Punishment would be descending upon them. So all of them died in the blink of an eye, their young ones as well as their old ones. There did not remain for them a she-camel, or a sheep, or anything except that Allah عز وجل Destroyed it. They had all died in their homes and on their beds. Then Allah عز وجل Sent upon them Fire along with the Scream from the sky. So it burnt all of them, and this was their story’.