The people of Prophet Salih[Thamud] killed his camel

and Allah destroyed them

"And to Thamud[We sent] their brother Salih. He said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. There has come to clear evidence from your Lord. This is the she-camel of Allah[sent] to you as a sign. So leave her to eat within Allah's land and do not touch her with harm, least there seize you a painful punishment."

--- Quran chapter 7 verse 73

Thamud, the people of Prophet Salih– the next generation after the people of 'Aad of Prophet Hud, who were destroyed with similar rebellion, were also deeply rooted in idolatry, polytheism and destruction on earth. They used to live inside the cliff and hills in the valley of the villages of Al-Hijir in Hijaz[Makkah] and in Sham[Syria]. Some of them would build a dwelling place inside those huge hills and it would collapse while they would be alive. They built houses from the mountains and curved, gouged, roamed, roved and shoveled those houses, indicating their Allah's gift of amazing expertise in masonry and construction.

Then Allah Almighty sent to them Prophet Salih bun Ubaid bun Jazir bun Jabir bun Thamud. He called and cautioned them against polytheism and preached and propagated to them the mission of Islam – monotheism. He[Allah] narrated in Qur'an chapter 11 verse 61 that: "And to Thamud[We sent] their brother Salih . He said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. He has reproduced you from the earth and settled you in it, so ask for forgiveness of Him and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is nearer and responsive."

They however sealed their hears and decided to remain in the idolatry of their ancestors, saying to him as Allah narrates in Qur'an chapter 11 verse 62: "They said, "O Salih, you were among us a man of promise before this. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? And indeed we are, about that to which you invite us, in disquieting doubt."

This but only increased them in rebellion and they requested from him to show them any sign or miracle that indicates he is a Messenger of Allah. They specifically asked him to let a she-camel with specific features and color emerge from a mountain. And he asked them if they will believe in his mission when Allah makes possible the miracle they requested to see, and they said: "Yes!" Prophet Salih then rose up and went to his prayer niche and prayed to Allah, asking Him to let that miracle happen. Allah actually answered him instantly by letting the mountain split into two and a huge she-camel with their specification came out. Having been fascinated by this amazing miracle, some of them believed and embraced Islam and joined his mission, but most of them rebelled against him. That is why Allah says in Qur'an chapter 17 verse 59 that: "…And We[Allah] gave Thamud the she-camel as a visible sign, but they wronged her. And We sent not the signs except as a warning."

That camel was referred to as "the camel of Allah", as a sign of honor and nobility to her.

With the emergence of this miraculous she-camel, he said to them as Allah narrated to Prophet Muhammad[PBUH[ in Qur'an chapter 7 verse 73 above: "…This is the camel for Allah, so leave her [alone] to eat [whatever] comes from the earth of Allah".

And Prophet Salih, by Allah's command split water consumption between them and the camel. She would drink a day and they would also drink the next day. And they would milk or draw her milk the day she would drink, to substitute for the water they would lose during her routine.

Being so greedy, the Thamud were not happy about this routine rationing, thinking the camel was 'short-changing' them, in spite of the fact that they would also drink her milk. So they begin to propose a scheme to kill her.

According to some sources, they first vowed to kill Prophet Salih himself at his house of worship and will claim later of not being responsible for his murder. But Allah knows their schemes. As He says in Qur'an 27 verses 50-53 that: "And they planned a plan, and We[Allah] planned a plan, while they perceived not. Then look how was the outcome of their plan- that We destroyed them and their people, all. Those are their houses, desolate because of the wrong they had done. Indeed in that is a sign for people who know. And We saved those who believed and used to fear Allah". And their plot against him failed.

Ibn Juraij and some other Tafsir[Qur'anic Exegesis] scholars observed that there were two women from Thamud. One was called Saduk bintul Mahya bun Zuhair bunul Muhtar. She was noble and wealthy, who used to have a husband, but divorced him after he converted to Islam and became part of the companions of Prophet Salih. She called the son of her cousin by name, Masra'a bun Mahraj bunul Mahya, and gave herself to him as a willing partner, whenever he would carnally desire her, on condition that, he should kill the camel.

And the other woman was called Unaizarah bint Gunaim bun Majlazi. She used to be an old none believer, who had many daughters and brought four of them in front of Quddar bun Salif, promising him that, if he kills the camel, he has the chance to choose any of her four girls for himself. So these two young men; Masra'a and Quddaru delegated themselves the responsibility to kill the camel, and requested help from their people. So seven of them promised to help execute their mission, making the militant group nine in number. They were those Allah was referring to in Qur'an chapter 27 verse 48, when he says: "And there were in the city nine family heads causing corruption in the land and not amending[affairs]." So they therefore observed her movement from her small house, when she came out they[Masra'a and Quddaru] threw their arrow at her, killing her instantly.

When the news reached Prophet Salih, he came to the scene and was sad and aggravated at the situation, while the perpetrators began shifting blames on their partners, saying: O, she was killed by so, so and so.

He [out of grieve and sadness] said to them: Look and see if you will be able to trace her baby. Perhaps if you did, Allah would defer his wrath or punishment upon you. So they left searching the baby camel and chased him on top of the mountain, but they unfortunately could not reach it to bring him down. Try as they did, they could not capture him upon a third attempt. So Prophet Salih declared to them: Stay and enjoy in your home for three days. Verily, the sign of Allah's punishment that would befall you is when you wake up and see your faces turned yellow. The second day it would turn red and the third day would be black.

And truly, they woke up on Thursday and saw their faces turned yellow[both young and old, males and females]. Then on Friday, their faces turned as red as blood. And it finally turned black on Saturday as Prophet Salih predicted and prophesied. They all begin to cry and scream loud as he told them: Verily, your time for Allah's punishment is due. They decided to remain inside their places of abode since they never knew when the punishment would come to them.

So the next day, a very loud and heavy thunderbolt from the sky, with a devastating and catastrophic earthquake ensued which annihilated their heavy and hefty buildings and severed or cut off their hearts and left them dead instantly. None of them survived, except a slave girl called "Kuluyyah" bintul Salaq. She was a hard-line disbeliever and a stern enemy of Prophet Salih. When she saw the wrath of Allah coming, she got up and ran to a group of Arabs - far from their town. She informed them of what she saw and what happened to her people and requested water from them, but upon drinking the water, she also died on the spot.

Meanwhile, there was a man among them by name Abu Regal, who used to leave closer to Haram Masjid [the sight of the holy Mosque in Makkah, where ka'abah is located]. He was prevented, from the punishment, but when he left the Haram premises, he got afflicted with the punishment that was meted out to them and also died. And some narrators say the Prophet on his way and the companions to Taif showed them the grave of Abu Regal when he narrated to them this same story.

It was narrated that Prophet Salih stayed among his people for twenty years, and died in Makkah at the tender age of 58 years.

The Wisdom behind the Camel's Miracle

The story of this wonderful she-camel, that was a sign to the Thamud, is variously told in, tradition. We need not follow the various versions in the traditional story. What we are told in various verses the Qur'an as above is: that (1) she was a Sign or Symbol, which the Prophet Salih, used for a warning to the haughty oppressors of the poor: (2) there was scarcity of water, and the arrogant or privileged classes tried to prevent the access to the poor or their cattle to the springs, while Salih intervened on their behalf: (3) like water, pasture was considered a free gift of nature, in this spacious earth of Allah, but the arrogant ones tried to monopolize the pasture also; (4) this particular she-camel was made a test case to see if the arrogant ones would come to reason; (5) the arrogant ones, instead of yielding to the reasonable rights of the people, ham-strung the poor she-camel and slew her , probably secretly: the cup of their iniquities was full, and the Thamud people were destroyed by a dreadful earthquake, which threw them prone on the ground and buried them with their houses and their fine buildings.

Prophet Muhammad[PBUH] passed by the valley in which Thamud were destroyed

Commenting on the preamble verse quoted above[Quran chapter 7 verse 73], Abdallah Yusuf Ali stated that: The Thamud people were the successors to the culture and civilization of the 'Aad people...They were cousins to the 'Aad , apparently younger branch of the same race. Their story also belongs to Arabian tradition, according to which their eponymous ancestor was Thamud…Their seat was in the north-west corner of Arabia[Arabia Petraea], between Madinah and Syria. It included both rocky country and the spacious fertile valley[wadi] and plains country of Qura, which begins just north of the City of Madinah and is traversed by the Hijaz Railway.

When the holy Prophet Muhammad[PBUH] in the 9th year of the Hjrah[migration to Madinah] led his expedition to Tabuk[about 400 miles north of Madinah] against the Roman forces, on a reported Roman invasion from Syria, he and his men came across the archeological remains of the Thamud.

According to a narrative by Ibn Abbass: When the Prophet[PBUH] passed by a valley in 'Asfan, when he was performing Hajj or pilgrimage in Makkah, He asked: "O Ababakar…what valley is this?" He said: "The valley of 'Asfan", He then said, "Verily, Prophets Hud and Salih passed by on their way to Hajj.

In another hadith narrated by Imam Ahmed on the authority of Ibn Umar who said: "When the Prophet[PBUH] arrived in Tabuk…He later moved with them until they reached the well that the she-camel used to drink from. He therefore advised them against getting closer to the hill of the people who were destroyed, saying: "I fear that what happened to those people might happen to you, so do not enter." This was recorded by Imam Ahmed in his Musnad.

Discovery of the city of the People of Thamud[Al-Hijir] vindicated the holy Qur'an

The recently excavated rock city of Petra, near Ma'an, may go back to the Thamud, though its architecture has many features connecting it with Egyptian and Graeco-Roman culture overlaying what is called by European writers Nabataean Culture. Who were the Nabataeans? They were an old Arab tribe which played a considerable part in history after they came into conflict with Antigonus 1 in 312 B.C. Their capital was Petra, but they extended their territory right up to the Euphrates. In 85 B.C. they were lords of Damascus under their king, Haritha[Aretas of Roman history]. For some time they were allies of the Roman Empire and held the Red Sea littoral. The Emperor Trajan reduced them and annexed their territory in A.D. 105. The Nabataeans succeeded the Thamud of Arabian tradition. The Thamud are mentioned by name in an inscription of the Assyrian King Sargon, dated 715 B.C., as a people of Eastern and Central Arabia. [Encyclopedia of Islam].

With the advance of material civilization, the Thamud people became godless and arrogant, and were destroyed by an earthquake[as mentioned above].

The ruins of this city are now discovered near the modern city of Al Ula, which lies on the route from Madina to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. Ibn Batuta, the great Muslim explorer and the famous traveler of the eight century, visited this place and noted: "I have seen the buildings of Thamud carved into red mountains. Their painting looked so bright as if they had been put there only recently…and the rotten bones of the inhabitants are still present in their ruins. It is a miracle of the Qur'an that one can witness this truth by his own eyes even today.

Even a western geographer Pliny’s descriptions agree with this. Pliny wrote that Domatha and Hegra were the locations where Thamud resided.

It is just amazing folks, to see the ancient remains of a city over 40 centuries old, which was mentioned in the Qur'an. I quite remember when I was a teenager in the late eighties, my alma meter[former Islamic school] -Wataniya Islamic school in Kumasi - Ghana did a theatre performance of this story, [as it used to do annually on various Prophets of Allah, during the month of Rajab] and it was amazing, through memory lane, I could see when 'Prophet Salih' [the actor] hit the mountain and this she-camel emerged, after it split into two and many other episodes in this amazing performance.

In order to inject some aura of live into the story, readers could click on these two youtube links below and see this discovered city of amazing heavy and hefty superstructures for themselves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC1A3gpyZdM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKQ8u_vYIlY

These picture showed the archaeological discovery of Thamud's carved-out buildings from hard rocks and cliffs. Indicating their amazing skills & expertise in construction and masonry.

Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz, is the Research & Outreach Coordinator at the Center for Media & Peace Initiatives Inc. New York, Author of three books, including "Islam Promotes Tolerance & Prohibits Terrorism-Reviving the Islamic Advocacy of Mercy and Magnanimity to Mankind" & Tutor in Arabic & Islamic Studies in New York, babalwaiz71@gmail.com

NB: Folks, this is the tenth in the new series entitled: "Delving Deep Inside the Islamic Historic Memory Lane", which will be running for months, even years, aimed at showcasing the amazing historical phenomena that happened in the pre and post Islamic world. Next week, our series will dwell on the story of Prophet Lut[Lot], whose people were cap sided.

So please read, comment, forward and share to as many people as possible on social media.

References:

Asbaabul Halakul Umamul Salifati-Kamaa Waradat fil Qur'anil Kareem[Reasons for the Destruction of the Earlier/Ancient Societies- As it Appears in the Holy Qur'an] by, Saeed Muhammad Baba Seela

Al-Bidayah Wal-Nihayah, [The Beginning & The End] by Abil Fadah, Imam Hafiz Ibn Kathir. vol. [1] of [18] vols.

Al-Muntazam-Fii Tareekhil Umam Wal-Mulook, [Periodicals on the History of [medieval] Societies & Kingdoms] by, Abil Faraj, Abdul Rahman Bun Aliyi Bun Muhammad Ibnil Jawzi. vol. [1] of [10] vols.

Qisasil Qur'an-Min Adam Alihi Salamu Ilaa Ashabul Feel[Tales of the Qur'an- From Adam Peace be upon Him to the Companions of the Elephants], by, Dr. Muhammad Bakr Ismael

Qisasil Anbiyah,[Tales of the Prophets] by Abil Fadah, Imam Hafiz Ibn Kathir

160 Mysteries & Miracles of the Holy Qur'an, by Dr. Mazhar Qazi

The Holy Qur'an-English Translation of Meaning & Commentary, by Abdallah Yusuf Ali

http://www.islamicity.com/Science/quranandscience/Thamud