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The Story of Prophet Hud
In the Quran the story of the prophet Hud is told to explain the reasons for the rise and downfall of nations. The nation of Hud was the successor of Noah. Nearly two thousand and five hundred years after the deluge, this nation was ruling in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. Add 1 was the other name given to this nation.
First of all, in the Quran God describes all the blessings He bestowed upon the nation of Add 1. They were given flocks of sheep, an abundance of cattle, springs, and gardens. Quickly the people of Add 1 increased in number and established themselves as a powerful nation. One reason for their speedy growth was that they had a scientific bent of mind. They collected data from an observation about horticulture and applied it to their fields and gardens, with the result of abundant yields of fruits and corns.
After Noah, a few generations kept to the principles given by the revelation, but soon the abundance of luxurious items changed their outlook on life. Instead of obedience to one God and a disciplined, simple life, the new progeny desired multifarious indulgences in forbidden pleasures like many other nations. For this they invented many gods and goddesses; these gods and goddesses behaved in various obnoxious ways. By worshipping them, the nation of Add invented excuses for lecherous and inhuman behavior.
Every nation that has the desire to grow and climb the ladder of perfection has to pass two tests. One obstacle is poverty, which can be described as the lack of means to grow and advance in the struggle for betterment. The other enemy is wealth and power; it can cause the most dangerous obstruction in the path to perfection because if not channeled properly it leads to pride and self-deception. The progressing nations quickly forget that the basic materials, such as water, light, earth, and minerals, which have played a dominant role in their advancement, are created by God and not by them. They are simply using them; therefore, the powerful nations have no right to contemptuously treat the weak nations and completely deprive them of the benefits.
The nation of Add is mentioned in the Quran as the nation that used to build huge monuments with numerous pillars on the mountains to show its power. The prophet Hud was sent to this powerful nation; he told them about the wrongs they were doing. One prominent sin was to crush the nations and individuals who fell into their traps. Hud also pointed out that these big monuments were not used for any good purpose; their only use was to show off.
The opposition to these ideas came from the rich leaders.
They contemptuously said to him, “What! You are finding fault with our system; we are the most powerful nation in the world and you can’t appreciate this obvious fact. We think you are a fool or a liar.”
“How can I be a fool? I am a messenger from God,” he said. “I am sent to remind you of the forgotten blessings of God. He has established you after Noah on the earth. Moreover, I am not asking for any wages from you; my reward is with Allah. I am telling you that there is only one God in the universe. No one can defeat his laws, so obey Him and His laws which I am giving you or you will face the ruinous results of your actions.”
Hud was not the only messenger who came to this nation. Before Hud many messengers were sent to this nation, but the people did not pay any heed to them and followed their rebellious, proud leaders.
“We are not going to denounce our gods because you want us to do so,” the unruly leaders declared. “We are going to worship our gods as our ancestors did.”
“What you and your ancestors have been worshipping are only a few names and nothing else, which you and your ancestors have fabricated. You have no reason to obey them or fight with me on their behalf,” Hud pointed out.
