Hūd

وإِلَي عَادٍ أَخَاهُمْ هُوداً قَالَ يَاقَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرُهُ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ مُفْتَرُونَ

50. “And unto (the people of) ‘Ad (We sent) their brother Hud; he said: ‘O my people! Worship Allah! You have no god other than He. You are only forgers (of calumnies)’.”

Hud (as) succeeded Noah (as) as a prophet. The story of this prophet of Allah is recorded in verses 65 to 72 of the Surah Al-A‘raf. At first, the Qur’an recounts:

“And unto (the people of) ‘Ad (We sent) their brother Hud;...”

There is a point worth further clarification here. It provides us with the connotation, ‘brother,’ in the case of Hud, which reflects the fact that Arabs refer to all the individuals of a tribe as ‘brothers’. Another connotation signifies that the behavior of Hud had been very much like that of a brother in keeping with the other prophets’ relationships with their fellow tribesmen. They did not behave as ‘emirs’, as commanders or as fathers with respect to their children, but they related just like brothers irrespective of every privilege and superiority.

Hud’s first call was like that of all the other prophets, it was the call to monotheism and the negation of idol worship in all its respects. Hud called inviting them to worship Allah since there is no other worth worshipping except Him. The verse says:

“…he said: ‘O my people! Worship Allah! You have no god other than He...”

He told them that in worshipping the idols and believing in them, they were wrong. They only attributed falsity to Allah and claimed that those idols were His partners. The verse continues saying:

“…You are only forgers (of calumnies)’.”

These idols should neither have been considered His partners nor could they have been sources of good or evil. They were of no use. No false accusation could have been more humiliating than considering such worthless things as significant!