Overview (Verses 61 - 68)

High Hopes, Arrogance and a Woeful Doom

Let us now move on with the sūrah and look at the account it gives of the Prophet Şāliĥ and his people, Thamūd: “To Thamūd, We sent their brother Şāliĥ. He said: ‘My people! Worship God alone. You have no deity other than Him. He it is who brought you into being out of the earth and settled you therein. Seek His forgiveness and then turn to Him in repentance. My Lord is ever near. He answers all.’” (Verse 61)

Again we find here the truth of Godhead as manifested in the heart of one of the noble messengers chosen to deliver His message. It is stated by Şāliĥ, as he is quoted in the Qur’ān: “Think, my people! If I take my stand on a clear evidence from my Lord who has bestowed on me His grace, who will save me from God were I to disobey Him? You are, in such a case, only aggravating my ruin.” (Verse 63) He says this after having given them a clear description of his Lord as he feels His presence in his own heart: “My Lord is ever near. He answers all.” (Verse 61)

Şāliĥ called on his people: “My people! Worship God alone. You have no deity other than Him. He it is who brought you into being out of the earth and settled you therein.” (Verse 61) He thus appealed to them by what they could easily recognize as natural and irrefutable evidence based on how they were brought into being. Never had they claimed that they were the ones who brought themselves into being, ensured their survival and provided themselves with the sustenance available on earth. They did not deny that it was God who brought them into being. But they did not follow this through to its logical outcome, namely, submission to God alone and following His guidance. This indeed was the essence of what Şāliĥ called on them to do: “Worship God alone. You have no deity other than Him.”

We again encounter the same words outlining the same basic issue, and the same course of action. Şāliĥ calls on people to believe in God’s oneness, to seek His forgiveness and to feel His presence with them wherever they are and whatever they are doing. Şāliĥ also reminds them that they originate from the earth. This refers to the origin of the human race as well as to the fact that every human being depends on the nourishment that he receives from the earth, or from the elements which are available in it, for his growth. Despite this origin they are put in charge of the earth and given the task of building it. This applies to the human race generally and to the Thamūd in particular, in their period of history.

All this, however, does not deter them from associating partners with God. Şāliĥ, therefore, calls on them to “Seek His forgiveness and then turn to Him in repentance.” (Verse 61) If they do so, He will respond favourably and answer their prayers: ‘My Lord is ever near. He answers all.” (Verse 61) Note here the use of the possessive pronoun “My Lord” and the attributes which are chosen here, “ever near, He answers all.” Coming so close together, they give the impression of the reality of Godhead as felt by one of the chosen elite of believers. They impart an air of friendliness, compassion and very real contact between the benevolent prophet’s heart and the hearts of his audience.

Their hearts, however, have been blinded by their corruption. They are no longer responsive. Hence, they do not feel the beauty or the majesty of the reality of Godhead, nor do they appreciate the friendliness and the care with which Şāliĥ addresses them. On the contrary, they are surprised and start to doubt their trusted brother. “They answered: ‘Şāliĥ.! Great hopes did we place in you before this. Would you now forbid us to worship what our forefathers worshipped? We are indeed in grave doubt about that to which you call us.’” (Verse 62)

They tell him that they had placed great hopes in him. Where once they had appreciated his wide knowledge, honesty, sensibility and wisdom, they are now totally disappointed. Why? “Would you now forbid us to worship what our forefathers worshipped?” (Verse 62) To them, that was the calamity. They expected anything but this. And this raised grave doubts in their minds about everything Şāliĥ had said. “We are indeed in grave doubt about that to which you call us.” (Verse 62)

Thus, the Thamūd are puzzled by what is straightforward. They consider as strange and singular what is right and clear. They are amazed that their brother, Şāliĥ, should call them to worship God alone. Their astonishment, however, is not based on any evidence, argument, or intellectual thought. They are astonished only because their forefathers worshipped such false gods. People can indeed reach this level of blindness. They base their beliefs on nothing more than the fact that their forefathers believed in the same thing. Once again we find that the faith based on God’s oneness is, in essence, a call for the complete and total liberation of the human mind from its bonds of blind imitation of the past, and from the shackles of legendary illusions.

The Thamūd’s attitude towards Şāliĥ and their statement, “Great hopes did we place in you before this,” remind us of the great trust the Quraysh had shown in Muĥammad (peace be upon him) and his honesty. When he, however, called on them to believe in God alone, they denounced him in the same way as Şāliĥ was denounced by his people. They accused him of being a sorcerer and a fabricator. They preferred to forget their own testimony to his honesty. The same attitude is always repeated.

Like Noah, his great-grandfather, Şāliĥ puts this simple question to his people: “Think, my people! If I take my stand on a clear evidence from my Lord who has bestowed on me His grace, who will save me from God were I to disobey Him? You are, in such a case, only aggravating my ruin.” (Verse 63) If I have clear proof, and I feel it within me to be absolutely certain that my path is the right path, and if God has bestowed His grace on me by choosing me to deliver His message, and has given me the qualities which make me qualified for this task, who will protect me from God if, in order to preserve your hopes and trust in me, I disobey Him by not conveying to you His message? Would your hopes which you have placed in me be of any use to me against God? “Who will save me from God were I to disobey Him?” You raise before me nothing more than the prospect of double ruin. I will incur God’s anger in addition to being deprived of the honour of being His messenger and will suffer the ignominy of this world in addition to the punishment of the hereafter. What a compound loss!

“And, my people, here is God’s she-camel, a clear sign for you. Leave her to graze at will in God’s land, and do her no harm, lest speedy punishment befall you.” (Verse 64) The sūrah does not give here any description of the she-camel to which Şāliĥ refers as a sign given to them. However, she is ‘God’s she-camel,’ sent to them in particular so as to be ‘a clear sign for you.’ This suggests that the she-camel had certain distinctive qualities by which they knew that it was a sign from God. They were told to allow the she-camel to graze at will in God’s land and to do her no harm, or else, they would suffer a speedy punishment. The structure of the sentence in the original Arabic suggests that the punishment would fall immediately and overwhelm them totally.

“Yet they cruelly slaughtered her. He said: ‘You have just three more days to enjoy life in your homes. This is a promise which will not be belied.” (Verse 65) Despite Şāliĥ’s warnings, they hamstrung the she- camel and killed her. The Arabic text uses for ‘slaughter’ a term that indicates that they struck her hamstrings with swords before killing her. Their action was evidence of their corruption and apathy. We note that the text here does not allow for any time passing between the appearance of the she- camel and their killing of her. It is evident that this sign from their Lord did not affect their attitude to Şāliĥ’s message. Hence, they had to be punished.

They were given a respite of three days, and were told that that was the time left for them to enjoy themselves. The punishment would then surely follow: “When Our judgement came to pass, by Our grace We saved Şāliĥ and those who shared his faith from the ignominy of that day. Indeed, your Lord is Powerful, Almighty.” (Verse 66) At the appointed time Şāliĥ and those who followed him were saved by God’s grace. A special act of kindness was done to them and they were saved the humiliating destiny of the rest of the Thamūd, who died, having heard the dreadful cry, with everyone in the same position they were in before the cry.

“Indeed your Lord is Powerful, Almighty.” Nothing can stand in His way and no people, powerful as they may be, can escape His judgement. Those who are on His side will always have their dignity intact.

The sūrah then portrays a scene which makes us wonder at the Thamūd and the speed with which they were destroyed: “The blast overtook the wrongdoers, and when morning came, they lay lifeless on the ground, in their very homes, as though they had never prospered there.” (Verses 67-68) It is as if they never dwelled or prospered in their magnificent dwellings. It is a scene which fills us with wonder. Nothing more than a glance separates life from death. The whole life of a human being is no more than a momentary affair.

The final comment is the usual one in the sūrah. It records the guilt of the people punished, the curse which pursued them and the fact that they were removed from existence and memory: “The Thamūd denied their Lord! Oh, away with the Thamūd.” (Verse 68)