Madain Saleh (Cities of Saleh) in the Quran

Dear Brothers and sisters - Assalamu-Alaikum,

While Muslims believe in the message of Quran without any doubts, their faith gets even stronger when they see and experience real life proofs for the messages, events and other facts mentioned in the Quran. The sites of the people of Prophet Saleh is one such example.

Madain Saleh (translated as Cities of [Prophet] Saleh and also known as cities of Al-Hijr in the Quran) is a collection of small sites located in North Western Saudi-Arabia near the town of Al-Ula. These sites were inhabited by the Nabataean civilization and the people of Thamud around 6 BC to 4 AD. Due to its historical significance and the magnificence of large tombs and structures that mark this area, the United Nations placed Madain Saleh on its World’s Heritage Sites list.

Al-Ula is a remote and sparsely populated town located about 400 kilometers north of the city of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwara (City of Prophet Muhammad) in western Saudi-Arabia and about 700 kilometers south of Petra, Jordan. The significance of this area is due to the large tombs and dwellings that are carved with great skill in large mountains.

The pictures that you see in this Email provide a sense of the magnificence of these structures.

According to the Quran, these cities were inhabited by the people of Thamud. History books mention these areas to be inhabited by the Nabataean civilization. Whether Thamud was from the Nabataean civilization or not is not known.

This area contains more than a 100 decorated tombs and water wells that show the sophistication of the Thamud and the Nabataean civilization. One can also find sophisticated inscriptions on the inside and outside of these large structures.

This site is amongst many that came under the Nabataean Kingdom, which is known to have ruled over the present day Egypt, parts of Syria, Jordan and North West Saudi-Arabia. Nabataeans are the same people who built the sites at Petra, Jordan. They were known to be one of the most skilled, being experts in trade, construction, hydraulic engineering, and arts. Due to the location of their kingdom, especially in and around the sites in Al-Hijr, they built a sophisticated water management system to preserve and use their water resources.

Madain Saleh in the Quran

The names ‘Thamud’ and ‘Al-Hijr’ are mentioned in the Quran along with what transpired with the inhabitants of that region near Al-Ula. We learn from the Quran that Madain Al-Saleh was inhabited by the people of Thamud. To guide them on the right path and away from their belief in idols and various evil practices, Allah sent to them Prophet Saleh (A.S.). As was quite common, the people of Thamud rejected his calls to believe in the One God and ridiculed him and his signs. Prophet Saleh repeatedly warned them to fear Allah’s wrath and punishment. However, the people of Thamud dismissed his warnings as they felt quite proud and safe because of the large tombs and structures that they had carved for themselves in the large mountains of Al-Hijr or Madain Saleh.

The Quran references these structures by the following verses:

“And you carve houses out of mountains with great skill” — (Quran, Surah Ash-Shuara, 26:149)

Thamud’s harassment of Prophet Saleh continued and things gradually worsened. To further test this nation, Allah commanded them not to harm a she-camel that He had sent to Prophet Saleh as a sign from God. But as the people of Thamud were bent to continue with their harassment of Prophet Saleh, they killed the she-camel out of spite. This invited Allah’s anger on them and Allah punished them by destroying them all in an earthquake.

The Quran mentions this in the following verses (Quran, Surah Ash-Shuara, 26:156–158)

“And touch her (the she-camel) not with harm, lest the torment of a Great Day seize you.”

“But they killed her, and then they became regretful.”

“So the torment overtook them. Verily, in this is indeed a sign, yet most of them are not believers.”

More details on this nation are mentioned in the following Quranic verses (Surah Al-Aaraf, 7:75–79):

And to the Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said, “O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. There has come to you clear evidence from your Lord. This is the she-camel of Allah [sent] to you as a sign. So leave her to eat within Allah’s land and do not touch her with harm, lest there seize you a painful punishment.

And remember when He made you successors after the (people of) Aad and settled you in the land, [and] you take for yourselves palaces from its plains and carve from the mountains, homes. Then remember the favors of Allah and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.”

Said the eminent ones who were arrogant among his people to those who were oppressed — to those who believed among them, “Do you [actually] know that Salih is sent from his Lord?” They said, “Indeed we, in that with which he was sent, are believers.”
Said those who were arrogant, “Indeed we, in that which you have believed, are disbelievers.”

So they hamstrung the she-camel and were insolent toward the command of their Lord and said, “O Salih, bring us what you promise us, if you should be of the messengers.”
So the earthquake seized them, and they became within their home [corpses] fallen prone.

And he turned away from them and said, “O my people, I had certainly conveyed to you the message of my Lord and advised you, but you do not like advisors.”

Through his teachings, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to discourage people to visit such sites as these were the sites where Allah’s punishment was sent to people. However, when passing by these sites, he used to instruct people to take lessons from these sites. He said, “Do not pass through the dwelling place of those who wronged themselves without crying….”. The word ‘crying’ was used to reflect upon the fate of people who violated the commands of God and the punishment that came to them because of such transgressions.

I pray that Allah guides us and learn from these sites and the Quran messages about these sites. (You can read more Quran stories from this book here.)

Sincerely.

Sarah @ IqraSense.com

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