Hud is the name of a prophet of ancient Arabia, who is mentioned in the Qur’an. The eleventh chapter of the Qur’an, Hud, is named after him, though the narrative of Hud comprises only a small portion of the sura.[1]Although Hud, at times, is identified with Eberof the Old Testament, his true Biblical identity remains uncertain. However, Muslims are of the opinion that he was a descendant of Noah (Nuh), and lived after the Deluge.
Hud preached and prophesied to the people of the state of ʿĀd, which was a powerful but arrogant town, ultimately destroyed for its sins. Hud is believed to have lived in Arabia before even the coming of Ibrahim. It is said that, at this time in Arabia, the tribes present were ʿĀd, Thamud, Jurhum, Tasm, Jadis, Umaim, Madyan (Midian), Imlaq, Jasim, Qahtan, Banu Yaqtan and others.
Historical context
The 1980s discoveries of what is thought to be Ubar, mentioned in the Qur’an as Iram, is believed to have been the capital of ʿĀd. The town’s ancestor, ʿĀd, is said to have been fourth in generation from Noah, his father being Uz, who was the son of Aram, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah[2]. Thus, it is evident that Hud came through the Semitic line of patriarchs. The later prophet Job (Ayub), who in the Biblical Book of Job is described as living in the Land of Uz,[3] must too have come through the same descendants as Hud.
Prophecy of Hud
The people of this town were extremely powerful and wealthy and they built countless buildings[4] and monuments to show their sheer power. However, the ʿĀd people’s wealth ultimately proved to be their failure, as they became wholly arrogant, transgressed and forsookGod and began to adopt idols for worship. Thus, the Lord raised up aprophetic seer from amongst them called Hud, whose task would be to call his people to God’s way. When Hud started preaching and invited them to the worship of only the true God and when he told them to repent for their past sins and ask for mercy and forgiveness, the ʿĀd people began to revile him and wickedly began to mock God’s message. Hud, however, remaining steadfast, frequently reminding his people what God had bestowed upon them:
Fear Him who has bestowed on you what you know,
Gave you increase of cattle and sons,
And orchards and springs.
—Qur’an, sura 26 (Ash-Shu’ara), ayah 132-134[5
Idolatry of the ʿĀd people
Not only were the ʿĀd people overtly arrogant and materialistic, but they also succumbed to idolatry. It is said they worshiped false gods, including three idols named Samd, Samud and Hara. In the Qur'an God says:
And We sent Hud, their brother, to the people of 'Ad. He said: "O you people, worship God, for you have no other god but He. Will you not take heed for yourselves?"
The chiefs of his people who were infidels replied: "We find you full of folly, and a liar to boot."
—Qur'an, sura 7 (Al-A'raf), ayah 65-66[6
Hud's preaching
Prophet Hud's preaching is perfectly summed up in his short narrative in chapter 11 of the Qur'an, which is named after the prophet. In the Qur'an, God says in verses 50-57:
We sent to the people of 'Ad their brother Hud, who said: "O my people, worship God; you have no other god but He. (As for the idols,) you are only inventing lies.
O my people, I ask no recompense of you for it: My reward is with Him who created me. Will you not, therefore, understand?
O my people, beg your Lord to forgive you, and turn to Him in repentance. He will send down rain in torrents for you from the shies, and give you added strength. So do not turn away from Him as sinners."
They said: "O Hud, you have come to us with no proofs. We shall not abandon our gods because you say so, nor believe in you.
All we can say is that some of our gods have smitten you with evil." He replied:" I call God to witness, and you be witness too, that I am clear of what you associate (in your affairs)
Apart from Him. Contrive against me as much as you like, and give me no respite.
I place my trust in God who is my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature that moves on the earth who is not held by the forelock firmly by Him. Verily the way of my Lord is straight.
If you turn away, then (remember) I have delivered to you the message I was sent with. My Lord will put other people in your place, and you will not be able to prevail against Him. Indeed my Lord keeps a watch over all things."
—Qur'an, sura 11 (Hud), ayah 50-57[7
Destruction of the people of ʿĀd
Hud preached to the people of ʿĀd for a long, long time. The majority of them, however, refused to pay any notice to his teachings and they kept ignoring and mocking all he said. As their aggression, arrogance and idolatry deepened, God, after plenty of warning, sent a thunderous storm to finish the wicked people of ʿĀd once and for all. The destruction of the ʿĀd is described in the Qur'an:
So when they saw it as a cloud advancing towards their valleys, they said: "This is just a passing cloud that will bring us rain." "No. It is what you were trying to hasten: The wind which carries the grievous punishment!
It will destroy everything at the bidding of its Lord." So in the morning there was nothing but their empty dwellings to be seen. That is how We requite the sinners.
—Qur'an, sura 46 (Al-Ahqaf), ayah 24-25[8
Burial place
Several sites are revered as the tomb of Hud. The most noted site (qabr Nabi Hud) is located in the deserted village of the Hadhramaut, around 90 mi (140 km) north of Al Mukalla. Around the tomb and neighborhood, various ancient ruins and inscriptions have been found[9].
Surah Hud
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Alif. Lam. Ra. A Book this, the verses whereof are guarded, and then detailed, from before the Wise, the Aware. (1)
Saying: ye shall not worship ought except Allah. Verily I am unto you from Him a warner and a bearer of glad tidings. (2)
And that: ask forgiveness of your Lord, then repent toward Him, He will let you enjoy a goodly enjoyment until a term appointed and will vouchsafe unto every owner of grace His grace. And if ye turn away, verily I fear for you the torment of a Great Day. (3)
Unto Allah is your return, and He is over everything Potent. (4)
Lo! they fold their breasts that they may hide from Him. Lo! when they cover themselves with their garments, He knoweth that which they conceal and that which they make known. Verily He is the Knower of the secrets of the breasts. (5)
And there is not a moving creature on the earth but upon Allah is the sustenance thereof, and He knoweth its habitation and its resting-place: everything is in a Book luminous. (6)
And He it is who hath created the heavens and the earth in six days -and His throne was upon the water–that he might prove you, as to which of you is excellent in work. And if thou sayest: ye shall verily be raised after death, surely those who disbelieve will say: naught is this but sorcery manifest. (7)
And if We defer from them the torment until a period determined, they say: What withholdeth it! Lo! the day it betideth them it shall not be averted from them, and shall beset them that whereat they have been mocking. (8)
And if We let man taste mercy from us, and thereafter withdraw it from him, verily he is despairing, blaspheming. (9)
And if We let him taste favour after harm hath touched him, he saith: the ills have departed from me; verily he becometh elated, boastful. (10)
Not so are those who persevere and do righteous works. Those! theirs shall be forgivness and a great hire. (11)
So hapoy thou mayest abandon part of that hich hath been revealed unto thee, and thy breast is straitened thereby, because they say: wherefore hath not a treasure been sent down unto him, or an angel come with him! Thou art but a warner, and of everything Allah is the Trustee. (12)
Or say they: he hath fabricated it? Say thou: bring ye then ten Surahs the like thereunto fabricated, and call whomsoever ye can beside Allah, if ye say sooth. (13)
Then if they respond you not, know that it hath been sent down only with the Knowledge of Allah, and that there is no god but he; are ye Muslims then? (14)
Whosoever desireth the life of the world and the adornment thereof, We shall repay them in full their works therein, and in it they shall not be defrauded. (15)
These are they for whom there is not in the Hereafter save the Fire; to naught shall come that which they have performed, and vain is that which they have been working (16)
Is he like unto him who resteth upon an evidence from His Lord, so and there rehearseth it a witness from Him And before it was the Book of Musa, a pattern and a mercy; these believe therein; and whosoever of the sects disbelieveth therein, the Fire is his promised place. Be then thou not in dubitation thereof, verily it is the truth from thy Lord, yet most of the mankind believe not. (17)
And who doth greater wrong than he who fabricateth a lie against Allah! these shall be set before their Lord, and the witnesses shall say; these are they who lied against their Lord. Lo! the curse of Allah shall fall on the wrong-doers- (18)
Who hinder others from the way of Allah and would seek crockedness therein, and they: in the Hereafter they are disbelievers. (19)
These could not escape on the earth, nor could there be for them protectors against Allah; doubled shall be the torment for them; they were notable to hearken, nor would they be clear sighted. (20)
These are they who have lost their souls, and hath strayed from them that which they have been fabricating. (21)
Undoubtedly they! in the Hereafter they shall be the greatest losers. (22)
Verily those who believed and worked righteous works and humbled themselves before their Lord–they shall be the fellows of the Garden: therein they shall be abiders. (23)
The likeness of the two parties is as the blind and deaf, and the seeing and hearing. Are the twain equal in likeness? Admonished are ye not then? (24)
And assuredly We sent Nuh unto his people saying: verily I am unto you a plain warner. (25)
That ye shall worship none except Allah; verily I fear for you the torment of a Day afflictive. (26)
The chiefs of those who disbelieved among his people said: we behold thee except as a human being like us, and we behold not any follow thee except the meanest of us, by an immature opinion; nor We behold in you any exellency over us; nay! we deem you liars. (27)
He said: bethink ye, O my people! if I rested upon an evidence from my Lord, and a mercy hath come unto me from Him, and that hath been obscured unto you, Shall we make you adhere to it while ye are averse thereto? (28)
And, O my people, I ask not of you any riches therefor; my hire is not but with Allah. And I am not going to drive away those who have believed; verily they are going to meet their Lord; but I behold you a people ignorant! (29)
O My people! who will succour me against Allah, if I drave them away! Admonished are ye not then? (30)
And I say not unto you that with me are the treasures of Allah, nor that I know the Unseen; nor I say, I am an angel. And say not of those whom your eyes condemn that Allah shall not bestow on them good –Allah knoweth best that which is in theeir souls. Verily in that case would be of the wrong-doers. (31)
They said: O Nuh! surely thou hast disputed with us and hath multiplied the disputation with us; now bring us that wherewith thou threatenest us, if thou be of the truth-tellers. (32)
He said: only Allah will bring it on you if He will, and ye shall not escape. (33)
Nor would my good counsel profit you, even though I wished to give you good counsel, if Allah willed to keep you astray. He is your Lord, and unto Him ye shall be returned. (34)
Or say they: he hath fabricated it? Say thou: on me then be my guilt, and I am quit of that whereof ye are guilty. (35)
And it was revealed unto Nuh: verily none of thy people will believe save those that have believed already; so be not distressed for that which they have been doing. (36)
And make thou the ark under Our eyes and Our Revelation; and address Me not regarding those that have done wrong; verily they are to be drowned. (37)
And he was making the ark; and whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him, they scoffed at him. He said: if ye scoff at us, verily we also scoff at you even as ye scoff at us. (38)
So presently ye shall know on whom cometh a torment that humiliateth him, and on whom is let loose a torment lasting. (39)
Thus were they employed until when Our decree came and the oven boiled over, We said: carry thereon of every kind two, and thy household except him thereof against whom the word hath already gone forth, and whosoever hath believed. And there had not believed with him save a (40)
And he said: embark therein; in the name of Allah be its course and its anchorage, verily my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. (41)
And it moved on with them amidst waves like mountains. And Nuh called out his son, and he was apart: O my son! embark with us, and be not with the infidels. (42)
He said: I shall betake me to a mountain which will defend me from the water. Nuh said: there is no defender to-day from the decree of Allah save for one on whom He hath mercy. And a wave intervened betwixt the twain; so he was of the drowned. (43)
And it was said: O earth! swallow up thy water, and cease, O heaven! And the water abated; and fulfilled was the decree. And it rested upon the Judi; and it was said: away with the wrong-doing people! (44)
And Nuh cried unto his Lord, and said: my Lord! verily my son is of my household, and verily Thine promise is the truth: and Thou art the Greatest of the rulers. (45)
He said: O Nuh! verily he is not of thy household; verily he is of unrighteous Conduct; wherefore ask Me not that whereof thou hast no knowledge; verily I exhort thee not to be of the ignorants. (46)
Nuh said: my Lord! verily take refuge with Thee lest I may ask Thee that whereof I have no knowledge. And if Thou forgivest me not and hast not mercy on me, I shall be of the losers. (47)
It was said: Nuh! get thou down with peace from us and blessings upon thee and the communities with thee. And there shall be communities whom we shall let enjoy themselves, and thereafter there shall befall them from us a torment afflictive. (48)
That is of the stories of the unseen: We Reveal it unto thee: thou knewest it not, nor thy nation knew it ere this. So be thou patient; verily the happy end is for the God-fearing. (49)
And unto Aad We sent their brother Hud. He said: O my people! worship Allah; ` there is no god for you but he; ye are but fabricators. (50)
O My people! I ask of you no hire therefor, my hire is cnly on Him who created me, will ye not then reflect? (51)
O My people! ask forgiveness of your Lord, then repent tcward Him; He will send the heaven upon you pouring, land He will add ycu strength upon your strength, and turn not away as guilty ones. (52)
They sai: O Hud! thou hast not brought us an evidence, and we are not going to abandon our gods thy saying, nor are we going to be believers in thee. (53)
All that we say is that some of our gods have smitten thee with evil. He said: verily I call Allah to witness, and bear ye witness, that I am quit of that which ye associate. (54)
Beside Him, so plot against me all tcgether, and then respite me not. (55)
Verily rely on Allah, my Lord and your Lord; no moving creature is there but he holdeth it by its forelock; verily my Lcrd is on the straight path. (56)
If then ye turn away, I have surely preached unto you that wherewith I was sent unto you. And my Lord will set up in succession a people other than you, and ye shall not harm Him at all, verily my Lord is over everything a Guardian. (57)
And then when Our decree came to pass, We delivered Hud and these who believed with him by a mercy from us; and We delivered them: from a torment rough. (58)
And such were Aad. They gainsaid the signs of their Lord, and disobeyed His apostles, and followed the bidding of any tyrant froward. (59)
And they were followed in this world by a curse, and so will they be on the Judgment Day. Lo! verily Aad disbelieved in thy Lord. Lo! away with Aad, the people of Hud. (60)
And unto Thamud We sent their brother Saleh. He said: O my people! worship Allah; there is no god for you but he. He hath caused you to spring out of the earth, and hath made you dwell therein. Wherefore ask forgiveness of Him, then repent toward Him; verily my Lord is Nigh,Responsive. (61)
They said: O Saleh! heretofore thou wast amongst us as one hoped for. Forbiddest us thou to worship that which our fathers have worshipped? And verily we are regarding that to which thou callest us in doubt disquieting. (62)
He said; O my people! bethink if I rest on an evidence from my Lord, and there hath come to me from Him a mercy, then who will succour me against Allah, if I disobey Him? Ye then increase me not save in loss. (63)
And O my people! yonder is the she-camel of Allah: a sign unto you; so let her alone, feeding in Allahs land, and touch her not with evil, lest there may overtake you a torment nigh. (64)
Yet they hamstrang her. Then he said: enjoy yourselves in your dwellings three days: that is a promise, not to be falsified. (65)
Then when Our decree came to pass We delivered Saleh and those who believed with Him by a mercy from Us, and from the humiliation of that day. Verily thy Lord! He is the Strong, the Mighty. (66)
And the shout overtook those who had done wrong; so they lay in their dwellings crouching (67)
As though they had never lived at ease therein. Lo! verily Thamud disbelieved in their Lord. Lo! away with Thamud. (68)
And assuredly Our messengers came unto Ibrahim with the glad tidings. The said: peace! He said: peace! And he tarried not till he brougt a calf roasted. (69)
And when he beheld that their hands reached it not he misliked them, and ccnceived a fear of them. They said fear not verily we are sent unto the people of Lut. (70)
And his wife was standing. she laughed. Then We gave her the glad tidings of Ishaq, and after Ishaq, Yaqub. (71)
She said: Oh for me shall bring forth when I am old, and this my husband is advanced in years! Verily a marvellous thing is this! (72)
They said marvellest thou at the decree of Allah? Mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house, verily He is Praiseworthy, Glorious. (73)
Then when the alarm had departed from Ibrahim and the glad tidings had come home unto him, he took to disputing with us for the people of Lut (74)
Verily Ibrahim was forbearing, long-suffering, penitent (75)
O Ibrahim! leave off this; verily the decree from thy Lord hath already come, and verily they! upon them is coming a torment unavoidable. (76)
And when Our messengers came unto Lut, he was distressed on their account, and he felt straitened on their account, and he said: this is a lay dreadful. (77)
And his people came unto him rushing on toward him, and afore they were wont to work vices. He said. O my people! these are my daughters: purer are they for you; so fear Allah, and humiliate me not in the face of my guests; is there not among you any man right-minded? (78)
They said: assuredly thou knowest that we have no right to thy daughters, and verily thou knowest that which we would have. (79)
He said. Would that I had strength against you or could betake me to a powerful support! (80)
They said: O Lut! verily we are messengers of thy Lord; they shall by no means reach thee: go forth thou With thy household in a part of the night, and let none of you look back, save thy wife; verily that which befalleth them shall befall her; verily their appointment is for the morning; is not morning nigh? (81)
Then when Our decree came to pass, We turned the upside thereof downward, and We rained thereon stones of baked clay, piled up. (82)
Marked from before thy Lord. Nor are they from the wrong-doers far away. (83)
And unto Madyan We sent their brother Shuaib. He said: O my people! worship Allah; there is no god for you but he. And give not short measure and weight. Verily I see you in prosperity, and verily I fear for you the torment of a Day encompassing (84)
And, O my people! give full measure and weight with equity, and defraud not the people of their things, and commit not mischief on the earth as corrupters. (85)
And the remainder of Allah is better for you, if ye believers, and I am not over you a guardian. (86)
They said: Shuaib, commandeth thee thy prayer that we should abandon that which our fathers have worshipped, or that we should not do with our riches whatsoever we will! thou, indeed! thou forsooth art forbearing, right-minded! (87)
He said: O my people! bethink if I rested on an evidence from my Lord, and He hath provided me with a goodly provision from Himself, shell I fail to deliver His message! And I desire not, in order to oppose you, to do that which I forbid I desire not but rectification, so far you as I am able, and my hope of success is not save with Allah; in Him I rely and unto Him I turn penitently. (88)
And, O my people! let not the cleavage with me incite you so that there befall you the like of that which befell the people of Nuh and the people of Hud and the people of Saleh; and the people of Lut are not from you far away. (89)
And ask forgiveness of your Lord, and then repent unto him; verily my Lord is Merciful, Loving. (90)
They said: O Shuaib! we understanand not much of that which thou sayest, and verily we see thee weak among us, and were it not for thy company we had surely stoned thee, and thou art not among us mighty. (91)
He said: O my people! is my company mightier with you than Allah? Him ye have cast behind your backs neglected; verily my Lord is of that which ye work Encompasser. (92)
And, O my people! work according to your condition, verily I am going to work in my way; presently ye shall know on whom cometh a torment humiliating him and who is a liar. And Watch, verily I also am with you a watcher. (93)
And when our decree came to pass, We delivered Shuaib and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us, and the shout overtook those who did wrong, so they lay in their dwellings crouching. (94)
As though they had never lived at ease therein. Lo! a far removal for Madyan, even as Thamud were removed afar! (95)
And assuredly We sent Musa with Our signs and a manifest warranty. (96)
Unto Firawn and his chiefs. But they followed the commandment of Firawn, and the commandment of Firawn was not right-minded. (97)
He shall head his people on the Day of Resurrection and cause them to descend into the Fire, ill is the descent, descended! (98)
And they were followed in this world by a curse and so they will be on the Day of Resurrection, ill is the present presented! (99)
That is from the stories of the Cities which We recount unto thee: of them some are standing and some mown down. (100)
And We wronged them not but they wronged themselves. So their gods, whom they called upon beside Allah, availed them not in aught, when there came the decree of thy Lord, and they added unto them naught but perdition. (101)
And even such is the overtaking of thy Lord when He overtaketh the cities while they are wrong-doers; verily His overtaking is afflictive, severe. (102)
Verily herein is a sign unto him who feareth the torment of the Hereafter. That is a Day whereon mankind shall be gathered together, and that is a Day to be witnessed. (103)
And We defer it not but to a term determined. (104)
The day it cometh no soul shall speak save by His leave: then of them some shall be wretched and some blessed. (105)
As for those who shall be wretched. they shall be in the Fire, wherein for them shall be panting and roaring. (106)
Abiders they shall be therein, so long as the heavens and the earth remain, save as thy Lord may will. Verily thy Lord is the Doer of whatsoever He intendeth. (107)
And as for those who shall be blest, they shall be in the Garden, as abiders therein so long as the heavens and the earth remain, save as thy Lord may will. a gift unending. (108)
So be not thou in dubitation concerning that which these people worship. They worship not save as their fathers worshipped afore; and verily We will repay unto them in full their portion, undiminished. (109)
And assuredly vouchsafed unto Musa the Book, and disputation arose thereabout; and had not a word preceded from thy Lord, it would have been decreed between them. And verily they are concerning that in doubt disquieting. (110)
And verily unto each will thy Lord repay their works in full; verily of that which they work He is Aware. (111)
So stand thou straight as thou hast been commanded, thou and whosoever repented with thee; and be not arrogant; verily He is of that which ye work Beholder. (112)
And lean not toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire should touch you, and ye have no protectors beside Allah nor ye would then be succoured. (113)
And establish thou the prayer at the two ends of the day, and in the neighbouring watches of the night verily virtues take away vices. That is a reminder unto the mindful. (114)
And be patient thou; verily Allah wasteth not the hire of the welldoers. (115)
Why were there not of the generations before you owner of wisdom restraining others from corruption on the earth, except a few of those whom We delivered from amongst them! And those who did wrong followed that in which they luxuriated, and they had been sinners. (116)
And thy Lord is not one to destroy cities wrongously while the inhabitants thereof are rectifiers. (117)
And had thy Lord Willed, He would surely have made mankind of one community, and they will not cease differing. (118)
Save these on whom thy Lord hath mercy; and for that he hath created them. And fulfilled will be the word of thy Lord: surely I will fill Hell with the jinn and mankind together. (119)
And all that We recount unto thee of the stories of the apostles is in order that We may make firm thy heart thereby. And in this there hath come to thee truth and an exhortation and an admonition unto the believers. (120)
And say thou unto those who believe not: work according to your condition verily We, going to work in our way. (121)
And await; as verily we are awaiting. (122)
And Allahs is the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, and unto Him the whole affair shall be brought back. So worship Him thou and rely on Him; and thy Lord is not negligent of that which ye work. (123)
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