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Hud was the Prophet sent to the Bani Ad for their reformation. His lineage
genealogy joins with the Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) and his sons. The
Prophet Hud (peace be upon him) belonged to the Bani Ad. They were the
descendants of Sam.
Outstanding Qualities of the Adites:
The Adites quarrelled with the children of Ham and left Babylon. They
peopled a district in southern Arabia contiguous to Umman, Yaman and
Hadramaut. There they built palaces, erected temples and worshipped deities
and stars. The names of their chief deities were Saqi'ah, Salimah, Raziqah
and Hafizun. The people belong to the Bani Ad were tall in stature and were
skilful masons. Allah had given them abundance of wealth, cattle, children
and gardens. They had attained a considerable degree of civilisation. Among
them flourished the famous king Shaddad. He built a magnificent palace near
Adal. It was known as the Garden of Iram. He was mighty king and his
conquests extended to Syria, 'Iraq and the frontier of sub-continent of
Indo-Pakistan. These people were proud of their achievements and considered
themselves to be invincible. They were indulged in sins and committed acts
of injustice and violence. Instead of expressing a deep sense of gratitude
to the Almighty Allah for the favours He had bestowed upon them, they became
transgressors and showed disobedience to Him.
The Prophet Hud appears and Preaches:
The Prophet Hud (peace be upon him) appeared among them for their guidance.
He tried his best to bring them back to the worship of One God. He directed
them to give up evil practices. He advised them to abstain from committing
sins. They paid no heed to the teachings and warnings of their Prophets. The
Holy Qur'an says:
"And to the Ad We sent their brother Hud. He said: 0' my people! Serve
Allah, you have no god other than Him. Will you not then keep away from evil
and be mindful of your duty to Him. The Chiefs of those who disbelieved from
among his people said: Most surely, we see you in folly and indeed we think
you to be of the liars. He said: O' my people! There is no folly in me but I
am an Apostle of the Lord of the Worlds. I convey to you the message of my
Lord and I am a sincere adviser to you." (7:65)
The Deluge is Descended:
The people did not listen to him and disobeyed the Commandments of Allah.
For this disobedience the wrath of Allah came down upon them. A drought of
unusual severity and a violent storm nearly annihilated the majority of the
people of the Bani Ad. The Holy Qur'an describes:
"As to the Ad, they were destroyed by a roaring violent blast which He made
to prevail over them for seven nights and eight days un-intermittingly so
that you mightest have seen the people therein prostrate as if they were
hollow trunks of palm tree." (69:6,7)
This storm had such a devastating effect as all the proud and disobedient
people were completely destroyed but the Prophet Hud (peace be upon him) and
his followers remained safe and sound. The Holy Qur'an says:
"So We delivered him and those with him by mercy from Us and We cut off the
last of those who treated Our Signs as lies and were disbelievers" (7:72)
Afterwards the remnant who survived established themselves in Yaman. The
grave of the Prophet Hud (peace be upon him) is in Hadramaut. It is visited
by the Arabs in the month of Rajab.
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