Let me end the discussion on the extinct Thamud tribe by concluding it with how God, miraculously, saved the Prophet Salih, on whom be peace, who was sent to them to wean them from their erring ways.
Reasons why stories of the Prophet are included in Quranic narrative include: first and foremost to serve as moral lessons for mankind, and latter generations, like the body of the Pharaoh, who persecuted the Israelites. It has been preserved up to date and can be seen by visitorsto Cairo Museum in Egypt. Secondly, as an encouragement to Muhammad to persist in his resolve to reform the Arabs. Thirdly, as a demonstration of the fact that the Prophet was not only for the Arabs but for the entire mankind. And as long as the world continues to exist there shall ever be Warners and Prophets. In the present age the true Prophet of God sent to reform mankind is in the person ofMirzaGhulam Ahmad of Qadian, India. He claimed to fulfil the second advent of Christ, just as John the Baptist claimed to have fulfilled the second advent of the Elijah. To Muslims he is the Imam Al-Mahdi the guided one and the expected IssahIbn Maryam (Jesus son of Mary). In the past several articles I have been written about him in the press. The present age in which he appeared bears great parallels to the age of the Prophet Noah, on whom be peace, about six thousand years ago. Noah and his few followers were persecuted, while attempts even were made on the life of Noah. In effect there is great justification in narrating the lives of the Prophets in the present age as well to enable us take cue, learn lessons and avoid trodding on the path of our predecessors. Yet just as the people of Noah, blinded by their material achievements paid no heed, so is mankind paying no heed. I have selected the Prophet Salih for that purpose for the fact that it is a continuation from previous articles, but more importantly for the fact that present day Judaism and Christianity do not know him.
Continuing therefore from the previous articles the Thamud, after killing the mighty Sign of Allah, the she – camel, became audacious and challenged him to bring down the divine punishment which he had ever threatened them with, if they should kill that sacred animal. In reply to their taunts and mockeries, he answered: “Enjoy yourselves” in your rooms for three days. This is promise that shall not be belied,“(Quran)Meaning that the promised punishment would befall the Thamud in three days time. Even though God’s Prophets are always denied, yet there is something about then which opponents always fear. Namely that being truthful and honest opponents are always fearful of prophecies they issue, even though they may publicly bluff it. Thus from this prophecy the Thamudrealised that they had achieved only a temporary victory by eliminating the troublesome she camel according to them. There was the major obstacle to be removed, if they truly wanted to be absolutely victorious, and that was the Prophet Salih himself. The nine men who killed the she camel subsequently took a solemn oath to that effect. Quoting IbnIshaqthe historians we read: “They solemnly took an oath to kill Salihafter first killing the she-camel and Salih’s warning them of punishment. For the fact that they said amongst themselves: ” Come let using kill Salih for if he is a liar in his claims then we would have expedited his death ahead of us. If he is true then we would have joined him to his dead camel”. (AraaisAlmajalis). By expediting his death ahead of themselves they would be able to avoid the punishment promised them in three days, for the fact that if no Salih then no punishment, so they thought. In their plot the nine men took a solemn oath to kill Salih for the fact thatSalih, God’s chosen Prophet, was a royal from the royal house of the Thamud, just like the Holy Prophet who was a royal from the royal house of Arabia. And just like Christ being from the royal house ofIsrail, King David. If the attempt should fail it might have negative political repercussions on the Thamud as a whole. For this very reason they took the solemn Oath not to fail and to assassinate him in the night in order to hide their identities. Having succeeded in killing the sacred camel, if therefore in a matter of couple of days Salih himself should be killed, whom do you expect the people to suspect as being behind the murder? Of course the nine notorious men. To eliminate that evidence of being the only possible suspect they adopted the following extra strategy. Namely, that they rode publicly on their camels as if going out to some neighbouring country on some trading missions. Somewhere on their way outside Hijr, their capital, they would hide in some cave. They would then sneak under cover of darkness to kill Salih. After that they would return in the same night to their hideout and continue with their journey. When the funeral of Salih would be over and his heir has been appointed, they would then return from their journey, go to the heir and offer excuses as well as shed crocodile tears that they were not in town when he was murdered; hence they knew nothing about the murderers. This high level and fool-proof plot has been captured beautifully in the following Quranic verse: ‘’They said, Swear one to another by Allah that we shall attack and kill him and his family in the night, and then we will say to his heir “We witnessed not the destruction of his family, and most surely we are truthful. And they planned a plan, and we also planned a plan, but they perceived it not” (Quran 27:50). Having traveled outside their capital and were awaiting to execute the final stage of their plot God and his angels intervened. Some of the narratives of the history say that the cave gave in and broke on them. Others also said that they were crushed to death by God’s Angel releasing heavy stones on them when they reached the residence of Salih. The sad end of their plot is similarly captured in the Quranic verse: “Then see how evil was the end of their plan! Verily, we utterly destroyed them and their people all together and yonder are their houses empty and in ruins because of their wrongdoing (Qur’an 27:52-53). “We utterly destroyed them” is a reference to the nine plotters who perished in their attempts to kill Salih. Similarly, “and their people” are in reference to the punishment that befall the Thamud in general.
When the killing of the nine plotters became known the Thamud put the blame on Salih and his followers. Salih’s tribe came in his defence and took up arms, he then escaped to a Thamud leader for protection. On Sunday in the night he and his followers escaped to Palestine. Early in the morning on Sunday the punishment over took all of them, according to the Holy Prophet, except one Thamud called Abu Rigaal, who was spared death for the fact that he was in the sacred territory (Haram). On coming out death overtook him instantly. Here are some of the parallels between Salih and Muhammad: First, both hailed from Royal Houses of the Thamud and the Quraish respectively. Second, Salih was very righteous and popular amongst his people likewise was Muhammad amongst the Quraish. The number of plotters who attempted to kill Salih was nine, while the number of plotters who attempted to kill Muhammad was also nine. Due to lack of space let me end here by repeating the names of the nine plotters here as well. They are: Da’maa, Daiim, Harmaa, Harim, Daab, Rayab, Sawaab, Musda, Oudar Bin Salif. (IbnKathir, vol 3 p369). Kindly see the attached figure depicting theThamud engravement of the she camel and its young one. It was discovered recently atJabal Al-Huwaar in Saudi Arabia.
References: TarikhTabari; Al- HamilFilTarikh,IbnAthir; BadaaiulZuhrar, Muhammad Bin Ahmed; Arais Al- majalis, Thalabi ; Al- BidaayaWaNihaayat, IbnKathir.
Conclusion
God miraculously destroyed Salih’s enemies by twarting their plot and killing his enemies.
BY KHALD KOFI AHMAD
