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Pain, Pleasure and Prejudice

Pain, Pleasure and Prejudice

The Complete Layman’s Guide to the Koran

The Prophet Salih and

The Destruction of Thamud

THE ROCK (THAMUD)

15 Al-Hijr

In the Name of Allah,

the Compassionate, the Merciful

15:1 Alif – Lam - Ra.

These are the Verses of the Book and a manifest Qur’an.

15:2 Perhaps, those who disbelieve wish they were Muslims.

15:3 Leave them to eat, enjoy themselves and let [false] hopes beguile them; for they will soon know.

15:4 We have never destroyed a town but it had a fixed decree.

15:5 No nation can hasten its term, nor defer it.

“The Thamud were a people of ancient Arabia who were known from the 1st millennium BC to near the time of Muhammad. Although they are thought to have originated in southern Arabia, Arabic tradition has them moving north near Mada'in Saleh a pre-Islamic archaeological site.” Wiki

The Thamud were wiped out by Allah for not heading the warning of a prophet not found in the Bible, the Arab prophet Salih. Allah describes the destruction of Thamud in at least seven surahs.

“Away with…” is how Allah ends many of His stories about the civilizations He destroyed thereby demonstrating a somewhat uncaring, not to say callous, attitude towards the thousands of men, women and children He slaughters at a moment’s notice, and on the flimsiest of pretences. For example, He destroyed the people of Thamud because of  an alleged injury done to His camel, a white she-camel, just like His Messenger’s favorite camel.

In The Ramparts Thamud is destroyed by an earthquake.

7:73 And to Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said: “O my people, worship Allah; you have no other god but He.” A clear proof from your Lord has now come to you. This is Allah’s she-camel, to be a sign onto you; so let it graze in Allah’s Land and do not cause her any harm; for you will be then be seized by a very painful punishment.

7:74 “And remember how He made you as successors after ‘Ad, and established you in the land, wherein you built yourselves castles on its plains and hewed the mountains into houses. Remember then Allah’s Bounties and do not corrupt the earth with mischief.”

7:75 The arrogant dignitaries among his people said to some of those who had believed and were deemed to be weak: “Do you know that Salih is sent forth from his Lord?” They said: “Indeed, we believe in what he has been sent with.”

7:76 The arrogant dignitaries said: “In that which you have believed, we definitely disbelieve.”

7:77 So they hamstrung the she-camel and defied their Lord’s Command and said: “O Salih, bring upon us what you are promising us, if you are one of the Messengers.”

7:78 Whereupon the earthquake overtook them, and so they lay prostrate in their own homes.

7:79 Then he turned his back on them and said: “O my people, I have delivered to you my Lord’s Message and given you advice, but you do not like the givers of advice.”

In Hud, it’s “the [thundering] cry”.

11:61 And to Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said: “O my people, worship Allah; you have no other god but Him. He brought you out from the earth and made you inhabit it; so ask His forgiveness and repent onto Him. My Lord is indeed close at hand and answers [the prayer].”

11:62 They said: “O Salih, we set our hopes on you before this. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? We are indeed in grave doubt regarding what you are calling us to.”

11:63 He said: “O my people, what if I am in possession of a clear proof from my Lord, and He has accorded me a mercy of His Own? Who then will protect me from Allah if I disobey Him? Surely, you will only compound my perdition.

11:64 “O my people, here is the she-camel of Allah, a sign onto you. Let her graze in Allah’s land and do not do her any harm, lest a swift punishment should overtake you.”

After someone cuts the camel’s hamstring, Salih tells the people of Thamud that they only have three days to live.

11:65 However, they hamstrung her, and so he said: “[You can] stay in your houses [only] for three days. This is a promise which will not be belied.”

11:66 Then, when our Command came, We saved Salih and those who believed with him, by a mercy of Our Own, from the disgrace of that day. Your Lord is truly the Strong and Mighty.

11:67 And the evildoers were overtaken by the [thundering] cry and they lay prostrate in their own homes,

11:68 As if they never dwelt therein. Truly, Thamud disbelieved their Lord. Away with Thamud!

Surah 26, The Poets

In The Poets, the people regret what they did to Allah’s camel; but being sorry did not deter the wrath of the Compassionate, the Merciful.

26:141 Thamud denounced the Messengers as liars.

26:142 When their brother Salih said to them “Do you not fear God?

26:143 “I am a faithful Messenger to you.

26:144 “So fear Allah and obey me.

26:145 “I do not ask any wages for this; my wage is with the Lord of the Wolds.

26:146 “Will you be left herebelow in peace?

26:147 “”In gardens and springs;

26:148 “And plantations and palm trees, whose shoots are tender?

26:149 “And will you hew skillfully houses in the mountains.

26:150 “So fear Allah and obey me.

26:151 “And do not obey the orders of the extravagant;

26:152 “Who work corruption in the land and do not make amends.”

26:153 They said: “You are certainly a man bewitched.

26:154 “You are only a mortal like us. Produce, then, a sign, if you are truthful.”

26:155 He said: “This is a she-camel; this has a drinking day, and you have a fixed drinking day.

26:156 “Do not cause her any harm, or else the punishment of a Great Day will smite you.”

26:157 However, the hamstrung her, and became full of remorse.

26:158 Then, punishment smote them. There is surely in that a sign; and most of them were not believers.

26:159 Your Lord is truly the All-Mighty, the Merciful.

Surah 27, The Ants

The destruction of Thamud in The Ants is the only recollection where the she-camel is not mentioned. In The Ants Allah reveals that it was nine wrongdoers who were responsible for His genocidal wrath and that He did it, in part, to prove that He was a better schemer.

27:45 And We have sent to Thamud their brother Salih, saying: “Worship Allah”; and lo and behold, they split into two groups fighting each other.

27:46 He said: “O my people, why do you hasten the evil course over the fair? If only you would seek Allah’s Forgiveness, that perchance you may receive mercy!”

27:47 They said: “We augured ill of you and your companions.” He said: ‘Your bird of omen is with Allah, but you are a people who are being tested.”

27:48 And they were in the city nine individuals, who worked corruption in the land and did not set things right.

27:49 They said: “Swear one to the other by Allah: We will attack him and his family at night; then we will tell his guardian: ‘We did not witness the slaying of his family, and we are indeed truthful.’”

27:50 They schemed a scheme and We schemed a scheme, while they were unaware.

27:51 See, then, what was the outcome of their scheming; We destroyed them together will all their people.

27:52 Their houses are in ruin, on account of their wrongdoing. There is in that a sign for a people who know.

27:53 And we delivered those who believed and were God-fearing.

Surah 41, The Well-Expounded

The story of the fate of Thamud in one verse:

41:17 But as for Thamud, We extended guidance to them; yet they preferred blindness to guidance, and so the thunderbolt of humiliating punishment seized them on account of what they used to earn.

Surah 51, The Scattering Wind

The second shortest version of the destruction of Thamud:

51:43 And in Thamud, when it was said to them: “Enjoy yourselves for a while.”

51:44 Then, they disdained arrogantly the command of their Lord, and so the thunderbolt struck them, while they looked on.”

51:45 They were unable to stand upright, and they were not victorious.

Surah 54, The Moon

In The Moon, Allah recalls the many people He has destroyed, including the people of Thamud for not believing in Him

54:23 Thamud denounced the warnings as lies.

54:24 So they said: “Shall we follow a lone mortal from among us? We are indeed in error and folly.

54:25 “Has the Reminder been sent down upon him alone among us? No he is an arrogant liar.”

54:26 They will surely know tomorrow who is the arrogant liar.

54:27 We shall send the she-camel as a test for them; so watch them and be patient.

The test in this retelling of the obliteration of Thamud involves water, not just letting Allah’s camel graze unharmed.

54:28 And tell them that the water is to be divided between them, each drinking in turn.

54:29 They called their companion, and so he took charge and hamstrung [her].

54:30 How then were My Punishment and My Warnings?

54:31 We released upon them a single cry and they became like the stubble of a corral-builder.

Surah 91, The Sun

In this retelling, it is Allah’s camel’s drinking time that is part of the test.

91:11 Thamud have denounced, due to their arrogance

91:12 When their most vicious citizen emerged.

91:13 Then Allah’s Messenger said to them: “Beware of Allah’s she-camel and her drinking time.”

91:14 They called him a liar and hamstrung her; whereupon their Lord destroyed them for their sins and settled the matter;

91:15 And He does not fear its sequel.

No Name Messengers of Doom

THE RAMPARTS

7 Al-A‘râf

In the Name of Allah,

the Compassionate, the Merciful

7:1 Alif - Lam - Mim - Sad.

7:2 [This is] a Book revealed to you (Muhammad); let there be no gall in your heart because of it. [It is revealed] so that you may warn with it, and as a reminder to the believers.

7:3 Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord and do not follow other patrons besides Him. How little you heed the warning.

7:4 How many a town We have destroyed; Our might struck them at night or while they were napping.

7:5 Their only assertion when Our Might struck them was to say: “We have indeed been wrongdoers.”

…

7:94 We did not send forth a Prophet to any city but afflicted its people with distress and suffering, that perchance they might humble themselves.

7:95 Then We changed their adversity into well-being, till they multiplied. They said: “Hardship and prosperity did visit our fathers.” Then, We seized them suddenly, while they were unaware.

7:96 Yet had the people of the cities believed and feared Allah, We would have opened upon them blessings from the sky and the earth (rain from the sky, plants from the earth); but they denied [the Prophets], and so We destroyed them on account of their misdeeds.

In surah 23, The Believers, Allah, without naming names, brags about all the messengers He sent to people whom He exterminated for refusing to believe His Messengers in the interregnum between Noah and Moses.

23:31 Then, We brought out after them (after Noah) another generation.

23:32 So, We sent them a Messenger of their own, saying: “Worship Allah, you have no other god than Him. Do you not fear [Allah]?”

23:33 Then the dignitaries of his people, who had disbelieved and denied the meeting of the Hereafter and whom We accorded ease in the present life, said: “This is, indeed, merely a mortal like you; he eats from what you eat and drinks from what you drink.

23:34 “If you obey a mortal like yourselves, you are surely the losers.

23:35 “Does he promise you that once you die and turn into dust and bones, you will be brought back?

23:36 “Far, far away is what you are promised!

23:37 “There is only this our earthly life; we die and we live, but we shall not be raised from the dead.

23:38 “He is only a man who fabricates lies about Allah and we will not believe in him.”

The familiar unspoken demand from the Messenger that Allah exterminate the "nation"  whose “dignitaries” called him a liar; that He murder every man, woman and child (his kinfolks usually) as a show of support.

23:39 He said: “Lord, support me against their calling me a liar.”

23:40 He (Allah) said: “In a little while they will regret.”

23:41 Then the Cry seized them justly, and so We turned them into scum. Away then with the wrongdoing people!

23:42 Then We raised up after them other generations.

23:43 No nation hastens its term; nor will they put it back.

23:44 Then We sent Our Messengers one after the other. Every time a Messenger came to his nation, they denied him. So We made them succeed one another and reduced them to mere tales. Away with the people who do not believe.

23:45 Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our Signs and a decisive authority;

And you know what happened next.

It is a testament the human race's proclivity and resilience that even after these massive extinctions, courtesy of a god who claims to be the epitome of Compassion and Mercy, the earth’s population now surpasses six billion souls with unbelievers outnumbering believers by approximately four to one.

This is not say that Allah, whose patience and scheming is legendary, will not be in a position to redress this imbalance in a generation or two, or earlier, and perhaps do “Away with the people who do not believe” once and for all.