The Quran gives another example to explain the laws that govern the rise and fall of nations. This time it is the nation of Thamud. The nation of Thamud was the successor to the nation of Add. It was situated on a highway which runs from Arabia to other important commercial hubs. The land was very fertile, but it was surrounded by volcanic mountains.
Thamud originally was a small tribe when Add was at its zenith; after Add’s downfall, the tribe quickly grew into a powerful nation. They used to build huge castles and carved houses into the mountains. According to some historians, their time is approximately between twenty-five hundred BC to eighteen hundred BC. Their land was fertile; many springs furnished them with water. The big pastures of grass gave them good opportunities to rear goats, sheep, and many other kinds of animals. At that time, cattle were considered to be the best kind of wealth one could acquire. No nation was completely safe without an army that could protect it from aggressors. The nation of Thamud had built a strong army for its safety, along with huge palisades and castles.
The fertile land with springs of running water, verdant pastures and gardens, powerful army, and trade with the foreign countries made them very rich and strong. They earned a lot of fame and honor among contemporary nations, and their neighbors looked at them with awe and fear. In the beginning, they remembered that nations were destroyed by neglecting moral values, but with the passage of time, the intoxication of power made them forget the consequences of immoral acts.
The nation of Thamud adopted all the vices of neighboring nations, such as believing in many gods, worshipping idols, and being cruel to the weak, feeble, and defenseless humans. The elite manipulated all the resources of the land and used them for the good of a small minority, especially for themselves. The rest of the nation was dependent on them for their livelihood. The resources controlled by the Chieftains were the basis for existence, such as water and grasslands. The animals of the poor were not allowed to drink water or graze in the grasslands, so they died. This situation gave rise to great mayhem in the society.
The poor people of Thamud were in great distress, but they had no leader to give voice to their grievances; Saleh, a prominent member of the elite class, received revelation from God and became a spokesman for the poor. Saleh was not the first messenger from God; before him, many messengers came to the nation of Thamud and explained to them about the injustice which a small group was inflicting on the poor, helpless persons and its bad consequences in the society. The nation rejected all of them. When Saleh declared his mission of reform and claimed to be a messenger of God the elites refused to acknowledge his claim, but the poor, depressed class flocked around him.
Saleh said, “I am a messenger from God and He is the only creator and the sovereign authority of the universe. Obey his laws; do not worship idols that you have carved yourselves. He has created the earth and water for all the human beings. The chieftains have no right to reserve the pastures and water only for their animals because they are not their personal property; they are a free gift of God and meant for all human beings.”
“Do you really think that Saleh is a messenger of God?” said one of the leaders. “We think he is a liar. He is only a human being like us. What is so great about him that God has especially chosen him? Moreover, he is so jinxed that he always talks of destruction and doom to disrupt our happiness.”
“We believe in him,” said one of the followers. “He is such a sympathetic person that he wants nothing in return for his work from us, but believes that God will reward him for his actions.”
In the capital city Hijr, nine persons were responsible for the management and keeping law and order. This elite group was the root cause of all the disorder in the land. The extreme disparity between the rich and poor in a society is called fasad.
