Saleh
Saleh, peace be upon him, began his
call to his people to worship Allah alone and to leave the worship of
the idols they were worshipping. He called them to believe in Allah
and repent of their sins, and warned them of Allah's punishment if
they continued in their disbelief and tyranny. The Almighty said:
**He said, “O my people, worship Allah, for you have no other god
besides Him.” [Hud: 61] The people of Thamud asked Saleh, peace be
upon him, to leave the worship of idols.
The people of
Thamud asked Salih (peace be upon him) to bring them a miracle to
prove the truth of his prophethood. They said to him: **{Bring us a
sign, for you are but one of the enchanters}** [Al-Shu'araa: 153].
Saleh prayed to his Lord to support him with a miracle, so God
ordered him to bring them a camel out of a large rock.
The
camel came out of the rock in front of the eyes of the people, and it
was a great camel with unique characteristics, as it drank water for
a whole day and no one shared it, and the next day the people drank
and did not share it. The Almighty said: **{This is a camel that has
a drink and you have a drink for a known day}** [Al-Shu'araa: 155].
Saleh asked his people not to harm the camel and warned them of God's
punishment if they harmed it.
Despite the obvious miracle,
most of the people of Thamud continued to disbelieve and disbelieve.
They even began to conspire to kill the camel, as nine men of honor
gathered and conspired to kill it. The Almighty said: **{And there
were nine men in the city who were corrupting in the land and not
reforming**** [Al-Naml: 48].
The people killed the camel, defying
Saleh's command. A woman named Aniza participated in the crime,
convincing a man named Qadar bin Salif to kill the camel. After they
killed it, they challenged Saleh to bring them punishment if he was
truthful.
Saleh warned them of God's punishment and told
them that they would be tortured after three days. The Almighty said:
**{So he said, “Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days, for
that is a promise that is not false”}** [Hud: 65]. The signs of
torment began to appear on them, as their faces yellowed on the first
day, reddened on the second day, and blackened on the third day.
On
the fourth day, the torment descended on the people of Thamud. God
sent a great shout from the sky and a great tremor from the earth,
and they all died in one moment. The Almighty said: **{{The tremor
took them, and they became crouched in their homes}** [Al-A'raf: 78].
God also sent a thunderbolt that burned them, and none of them
survived except Saleh and those who believed with him.
Saleh
(peace be upon him) and those who believed with him escaped the
torment, as they left the village before the torment came. The
Almighty said: **{When our command came, we saved Saleh and those who
believed with him with a mercy from us and from the shame of that
day, for your Lord is the strong and mighty}** [Hud: 66]
After the destruction of the people of
Thamud, their ruins remained as an example for those who came after
them. The Qur'an mentions that they used to carve mountains to make
safe houses, but this did not help them from God's punishment. The
Almighty said: **{And you shall take from its plains palaces, and you
shall carve the mountains into houses, so remember the signs of Allah
and do not wreak havoc on the earth}** [Al-A'raf: 74].
-
**The consequence of disbelief and tyranny**: The people of Thamud
were powerful and empowered, but their disbelief led to their
destruction.
- **Patience for the call**: Saleh, peace be upon
him, was patient with his people and continued to call them despite
their disbelief.
- **God's power and greatness**: The miracle of
the camel and the destruction of the people shows that God is capable
of everything.
- **Reliance on God**: The survival of Saleh and
the believers shows that God saves those who rely on Him.
The
story of Saleh is mentioned in several chapters of the Qur'an,
including Al-A'raf, Hud, Al-Sha'ar, and Al-Naml. The story provides
important details about Saleh's call, the miracle of the camel, and
the destruction of the people of Thamud.
The story of
Prophet Saleh (peace be upon him) remains a lesson for all humans,
showing that believing in God and following His messengers is the
path of salvation, and that disbelief and tyranny lead to
destruction. It is a constant reminder of God's power and greatness,
and that nothing on earth or in heaven is beyond His power.