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The Fall of ʿĀd
Bint Kareem Attariyyah, (Teacher, Jami’ah-tul-Madinah Khushbu-e-Attar, Wah Cant)
The Quran describes the fall of several nations. These accounts provide powerful reminders and lessons about how nations can reach unprecedented heights but then fall into the abyss of nothingness due to their immoral ways and disobedience of Allah Almighty. One such account describes a nation that resided in the Valley of Ahqaaf. Named ʿĀd after their eponymous forefather, Allah Almighty sent the prophet Sayyiduna Ḥūd عَـلَيْـهِ الـسَّـلَام to them when they had succumbed to their sinful ways. When they failed to take heed and reform their behaviour, Allah Almighty sent a violent storm to punish them:
‘And as for ]the tribe of] ʿĀd, they were destroyed by a severe thundering windstorm. He (Allah) forced it upon them with strength, consecutively for seven nights and eight days, so [O listener! If you were there] you would have seen those people lying around, like hollow trunks of collapsed date-trees. So, do you see any survivor amongst them?’
[Kanz-ul-Iman (translation of Quran)] (Part 29, Surah Al-Haqqah, Verses 6-7)
One cannot but help wonder what crimes could warrant such a destructive punishment. Well, the Qurʾan answers this question and lists their sins:
* Disbelief, polytheism, and idolatry. (Part 8, Surah Al-A’raf, verse 70)
* Rejecting the messengers of Allah Almighty, (Part 19, Surah Al-Shu’ara, verse 123)
* Erecting elevated buildings on the road to sit there and trouble and mock passers-by (Part 9, Surah Al-Shu’ara, verse 128), building vast palaces while deluded by hopes of long life (Part 9, Surah Al-Shu’ara, verse 129), and fighting mercilessly. (Part 19, Surah Al-Shu’ara, verse 130)
* Being arrogant because of their strength. (Part 26, Surah Ha-Meem Al-Sajdah, verse 15)
* Preventing others from following and obeying the noble prophets. (Part 18, Surah Al-Mu’minoon, Verses 33-34)
* Being stubborn when advised. (Part 19, Surah Al-Shu’ara, Verses 136-138)
Coming to our times and we find much reason for concern; these same ills are becoming more and more commonplace in today’s world. Pride, vanity, cruelty, harming Muslims, hindering people from the path of piety, mocking individuals because they have adopted a Sunnah-based lifestyle and appearance, forgetting death, and having long hopes whilst inebriated by the pleasures of this world, and insulting those who give advice; all of these crimes are widespread in our society:
The fate of the nation of ʿĀd is not a distant reality; we are not immune to the punishment of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and that alone should drive us towards change and transformation.
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