"Have you not considered how your Lord[Allah destroyed or] dealt with "Aad-[With] Iram-who had lofty pillars, the likes of which was never been created in the land?”
--- Qur'an chapter 89 verse 5-8
'Aad are the progeny[children and grandchildren] of 'Aad bun Aus bun Iram, bun Sam, bun Nuhu. Ahqaf , a singular form of "haqf", which consists of abundant sands [sand dunes] and high hills. And their land is arid and dry, with insufficient water, and they used to depend on water from rain fall.
It is located between Umman[Jordan] and Khadramout[a popular town south of the coastal areas of Yemen]. And A'ad had been described by the Qur'an to have been heavy set, thick and tall, strong and violent people, with exceptional expertise in construction.
The people of Iram seem to have possessed an ancient civilization, which succumbed when they persistently broke Allah's law. They seemed to have been at an ancient 'Aad capital, in southern Arabia. It boasted of lofty architecture[lofty pillars]. Some commentators understand Iram to be the name of an eponymous hero of the 'Aad, in which case the following line, which "lofty pillars", should be constructed "of lofty stature". The 'Aad were a tall race.
Allah also blessed them with livestock, children, as well as huge farm lands and rivers. Additionally, He had endowed them with an unprecedented[la matheela laha] huge body structures and strength. Narrating their story to Prophet Muhammad in Qur'an chapter 89 verse 5-8, Allah says:"Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with 'Aad-[With] Iram-who had lofty pillars, the likes of which was never been created in the land?”
And there was no country called Iram. This tribe was referred to us 'Ad Iram. They are called in the Qur'an 'Aad Ulaa' or the former 'Aad, where Allah says in Qur'an chapter 53 verse 50, that :"He[Allah] had destroyed the former[people of] 'Aad."
Those people used to worship Allah on the path of their father, Prophet Nuh for a long time. So when they lived long, they became hard-hearted and turned to immoral vices after shatitan[satan] influenced them and dragged then to idolatry, as they regarded the idols their gods. They would devotedly worship them, as their ancestors, people of Nuh used to do. Then Allah sent a Prophet among them – Hud bun Abdallah, bun Rabah, bunul Jarud, bun 'Aad, bun 'Aus bun Iram, bun Sam, bun Nuh, may the peace of Allah be upon him.
They were the 'Aadul Ulaa', the former 'Aad who were the first to worship Idols after the Noah's flood. Their idols were: Saddan, Samudan, and Haran. And then Allah sent to them their own kith and kin as Messenger and Prophet.
He advised them to eschew polytheism and embrace monotheism – a religion replete with ethical principles, by communicating to them in their own language which was Arabic, as Allah says in Qur'an chapter 13 [Ibrahim] verse 4, that: "And We[Allah] did not send any messenger except[speaking] in the language of his people to state clearly for them…" He then presented to them convincing and logical proves indicating the authenticity of his prophethood. He warned and cautioned then about the consequences of their disbelieve and polytheistic ways, but only for them to castigate him and call him names like; liar, lunatic, novice and idiot., etc.
They would say: You Hud, you are nothing but fool, unintelligent and novice. How could you castigate our gods, that we found our forefathers worshipping? Who are you among us? What makes you better than us, that Allah would choose and send to us as messenger?
Why wouldn't He[Allah] choose a noble, great, wealthy, influential and charismatic among us to carry this mission?
Hud said to them in an answer: O you people, I am not mad, stupid and a novice, as you claim. You have never accused me of lying to you. And for quite a long time I have been living among you and you know only good things from me, not bad. And what is so amazing when Allah chose one among His servants to carry His mission and granted him knowledge and the ability to carry on this mission with great wisdom, best approach and undeniable proves? So just ponder and reflect soberly at the back of your mind and observe the reality of this universe. You will see that everything in this universe indicate that Allah is only One and has no partner. So believe in Him and seek his forgiveness. He will send down rain water for you from the sky and will bestow onto you with riches and children as well as increase you in strength. And so do not rebel against Him. And beware that you will be resurrected after your death. Whoever does any good work, he does it for himself and he who does bad, does it for himself. So you should be careful and prepare yourself for the Last Day. I carried my mission to you but I found you people full of ignorance.
However, upon all persuasion and preaching, they turned deaf hears and ignored him. They said: You Hud, you have never brought us anything good. But we think one of our gods has inflicted evil onto you, which polluted your mind and thought…What is the forgiveness that we will make for Allah to drop us rain from the sky, blessed us with wealth and increase us in strength? What is the resurrection day that you think will return us in our original form, after we became rotten bones? This is your figment of imagination. It is our worldly life, that we die and live and we will not be resurrected.
And what is the punishment that you promised we are going to meet? We will stick to the worship of our idols, so bring forth what[the punishment] you promised us if only you are truthful.
When it became manifest to him that they were not going to believe even if he brings them all signs until they see a severe punishment from Allah, he asked Allah to be his witness upon their rebellion. He challenged them to let evil attack him, if they could, and in spite of their huge numbers and strength, none of them was able to cause him any harm, so he ignored them.
When they asked him about the secret behind him getting protected and prevented from their harms, he told them that he relies on Allah alone who is capable of protecting the entire humankind against any evil. For He is the overseer and controller of everything.
As Allah was narrating the story to our beloved Prophet Muhammad[PBUH] in Qur'an chapter 11 verses 53-56: "They said, "O Hud, you have not brought us clear evidence, and we are not ones to leave our goods on your say-so. Nor are we believers in you. We only say that some of our gods have possessed you with evil[i.e., insanity]." He said, "Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and witness[yourselves] that I am free from whatever you associate with Allah. Other than Him. So plot against me all; then do not give me respite. Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature but that He holds it by forelock[i.,e] controls it]. Indeed, my Lord is on a path [that is] straight."
And so Prophet Hud was just awaiting what would befall them and it took only few days and lo and behold, they saw a black and dark cloud that overshadowed them and thought it was a rainy cloud. So they were happy and excited as they prepare themselves to welcome it. As Allah says in Qur'an chapter 46 verse 24-25 that: "And when they saw it as a cloud approaching their valleys, they said, "This is a cloud, it is bringing us rain!" Rather, it is that for which you were impatient."[when you challenged your Prophet] a wind, within it a painful punishment. Destroying everything by the command of its Lord. And they became so that nothing was seen [of them] except their dwellings. Thus do We[Allah] recompense the criminal people."
But he informed them that was the punishment that would befall them. It invaded their territory and engulfed their valleys.
The torrential and powerful wind lasted for seven night and eight consecutive days. It struck and killed them, as if they were leafs and branches of a palm tree. And Allah saved Hud and those who believed in him.
Hud and his people only felt cool breeze to relieve their bodies and minds of stress. One would see the windstorm destroying and uprooting trees and bringing down houses. The heavy windstorm would carry whoever was not home and crash him/her with the mountains, which were getting fragmented. The windstorm would lift everything it would come across high in the sky, suspending them between the heaven and the earth.
According to Ibn Unz, Allah sent three types of clouds; white, red and black, and a voice echoed from the sky saying to Nuh: Choose one of these three clouds for your people and he chose the black, because it was the one that gives much rain. And finally, none of them was spared.
And history had it that, Hud had lived for 150 years before he finally died.
Discovery of the ancient city of the people of 'Aad vindicated the Qur'an
As elucidated above, the commentators of the Qur'an state that 'Aad Iram refers to an earlier tribe of the people of 'Aad known as 'Aadul Uula, or the former 'Aad. They were totally unknown to the ancient Arab historians. The Qur'an for the first time mentioned them as 'Aad Iram i.e. the tribe of 'Aad that lived in the city of Iram.
The "National Geography" issue of December, 1978 gave an interesting account of an ancient city called Elba which was excavated in Syria in 1973. The city was found to be forty three centuries old[4300 years old]. The magazine also stated that this city had a library which had a record of the neighboring cities with which the people of Elba did business. Strange enough, there on the list of cities was the name of a city called Iram. How Muhammad[PBUH] in the sixth century could have gained the knowledge of a city which was forty three centuries old, and which was discovered by the archeologists as recently as 1973, unless Allah, the Exalted gave this information to him?
The commentators of the Qur'an state that a part of the people of 'Aad survived the first destruction and flourished in other cities. These are known as 'Aad Ukhra, or the later 'Aad. They also disobeyed their Prophets and were destroyed as the former 'Aad.
An American Muslim Magazine "The Message" in its issue of March 1992, has reported that a team of archeologists from Southern California have recently discovered the ruins of the city of the people of 'Aad, who were the contemporary of the people of Thamud. The Qur'an gives references to this people in twenty-four different verse. Among all the religious scriptures of the world, only the Qur'an has spoken about this city and its people. The Old and New Testaments did not say anything about it. Neither Muhammad[PBUH] nor any of those around him ever traveled to this remote area in the very heart of the desert. Even if someone had traveled to this area, he would have not known this city, since it is deeply buried in the sand. The Jews, Christians and atheists state that Muhammad[PBUH] is the author of the Qur'an. No one could, however, explain the source of this immense knowledge to Muhammad[PBUH]. The truth is that Allah, the Exalted proof for the validity of His Divine Message.
And in another research work at the beginning of 1990, there appeared press-releases in the well-known newspapers of the world declaring “Fabled Lost Arabian city found”, “Arabian city of Legend found”, “The Atlantis of the Sands, Ubar”. What rendered this archaeological find more intriguing was the fact that this city was also referred to in the Qur’an. Many people who, since then, thought that ‘Ad recounted in the Qur’an were a legend or that their location could never be found, could not conceal their astonishment at this discovery. The discovery of this city, which was only mentioned in oral stories of Bedouins, awoke great interest and curiosity. It was Nicholas Clapp, an amateur archaeologist, who found this legendary city mentioned in the Qur’an. Being an Arabophile and a winning documentary film maker, Clapp had come across a very interesting book during his research on Arabian history. This book was Arabia Felix written by the English researcher Bertram Thomas in 1932. Arabia Felix was the Roman designation for the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula which today includes Yemen and much of Oman. The Greeks called this area “Eudaimon Arabia” and medieval Arab scholars called it “Al-Yaman as-Saida”.
The archeological remains of the city of Iram, where the people of 'Aad were destroyed. It was discovered by Nicholas Clapp.
And reflecting on the nature of the Qur'an, I always tell my students here in the United States that, it basically dwells on three basic thematic areas – legal, historical and scientific ideologies. The legal aspects deals with basic principles regarding do's and don'ts[and the eternal consequences to mankind, either in hell or in paradise; And the historical has to do with the events and incidents of the past generations and the predictions of what will happen in the future; While the scientific aspect is in regards to scientific phenomena that Allah mentioned in the Qur'an, such as; creation of the Universe, big bang theories, the earth, formation of rainfall etc. And given the above historical realities, one would still wonder why many people doubt the existence of Allah and the authenticity of the holy Qur'an.
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 ninth 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. And I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to my readers for some slight typos or printers devil that have appeared in my previous articles. It was an oversight. This project entails a lot – As you could see in the reference section down here, most of the books I culled sources from are Arabic books. Hence, it is a whole week work of translating, editing, and researching from our secular sources in order to connect the dots between the ancient and thee modern, thereby make it more informative and educative. This is in spite of my hectic work schedule, I try to sacrifice time to fulfill this duty that I took upon myself to be doing for the sake of Allah, without seeking favors from nobody, and I wonder why some reading aim to criticize not commend for painstakingly working to put together this valuable information that they never came across before, but such is human nature, that is why I seek not to please anyone but Allah alone. Next Friday, the history satellite will focus on the story of Prophet Salih. Please remember to read, comment, foreword and share both Ghanaweb & modernghana.
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
The Holy Qur'an-English Translation of Meaning & Commentary, by Abdallah Yusuf Ali
http://www.islamicity.com/Science/quranandscience/destruction/GeneratedFilesNoFrame/ThePeopleof145AdandUbartheAtlantisoftheSands.htm
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