Prophet Hud is the son of Shaleh, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem who was the son of Noah. It is also said he was first the son of Eber then Shelah.
Hud's tribe was known as Ad. They were Arabs who lived in the desert, in Yemen, in the mountains between Oman and Hadramout near the sea. They lived in, what they called, Ash-Shahr, and the valley was called Mughith. Their homes were large tents with big pillars.
Did you not see how your Lord dealt with ’Ȃd—89:6
˹the people˺ of Iram—with ˹their˺ great stature,89:7
unmatched in any other land;89:8
It is mentioned in a long hadith narrated by Abu Dhar that the Prophet ﷺ said "four of them were Arabs: Hud, Salih, Shu'aib and your prophet, O Abu Dhar!" (our prophet Muhammad ﷺ). It was said that Hud was the first man to speak Arabic, but Ibn Munabbih said it was his father.
Those Arabs who lived before Ishmael are called 'Arab Aribah', the original Arabs, and they were Ad, Thamud, Jurhum, Tasm, Jadis, Umami, Madyan, Imlaq, Jasim, Qahtan, Banu Yaqtan (all names of tribes) and others.
The people of the Ad tribe were the first to workshop idols after the flood of Noah (but some say instead it was the Thamhud) They had three idols: Samd, Samud and Hara.
And to the people of ’Âd We sent their brother Hûd. He said, “O my people! Worship Allah—you have no other god except Him. Will you not then fear Him?”7:65
The disbelieving chiefs of his people responded, “We surely see you as a fool, and we certainly think you are a liar.”7:66
Hûd replied, “O my people! I am no fool! But I am a messenger from the Lord of all worlds,7:67
conveying to you my Lord’s messages. And I am your sincere advisor.7:68
Do you find it astonishing that a reminder should come to you from your Lord through one of your own so he may warn you? Remember that He made you successors after the people of Noah and increased you greatly in stature. So remember Allah’s favours, so you may be successful.”7:69
They said, “Have you come to us so that we would worship Allah alone and abandon what our forefathers used to worship? Then bring us what you threaten us with, if what you say is true!”7:70
He said, “You will certainly be subjected to your Lord’s torment and wrath. Do you dispute with me regarding the so-called gods which you and your forefathers have made up—a practice Allah has never authorized? Then wait! I too am waiting with you.”7:71
The people of Ad were particularly entrenched in idol worship and when Hud called them to instead believe in Allah, they rejected him and his message, calling him of unsound mind. To them, the belief in their false gods was more sound of mind and hence their rejection of him. Yet, Hud cared deeply about his people. He appealed to them as a sincere advisor. He clarified that he is not a preacher of trivial beliefs in a way they might assume. Instead, he is merely a messenger of Their Lord, without the addition of anything from himself or any falsehood. Conveyance is an important characteristic of the prophets as it implies the integrity of their message.
And to the people of ’Âd We sent their brother Hûd. He said, “O my people! Worship Allah. You have no god other than Him. You do nothing but fabricate lies ˹against Allah˺.11:50
O my people! I do not ask you for any reward for this ˹message˺. My reward is only from the One Who created me. Will you not then understand?11:51
And O my people! Seek your Lord’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. He will shower you with rain in abundance, and add strength to your strength. So do not turn away, persisting in wickedness.”11:52
Hud wanted guidance for his people, he wanted the best for them. He clarified that by conveying this message, he was not expecting any reward from them, he was just carrying out the duties of His Lord. Nevertheless, his people were not happy he did not bring with him a miracle supporting his claims being truthful.
They argued, “O Hûd! You have not given us any clear proof, and we will never abandon our gods upon your word, nor will we believe in you.11:53
Hud challenged them and disowned their false gods. He knew they were unable to benefit nor harm anyone. If, according to their claim, their false gods held any such power then they would have been able to protect them. He was clear he did not fear their gods as they did, so he told them to scheme as they wish and their gods too. This was a clear denunciation of their gods and emphasised his disbelief in them and their non-existent power. Recall this is very similar to the challenges Noah gave to his people in Surah Yunus (10:71) and Ibrahim to his people in Surah Al-An 'am (6:80-81).
All we can say is that some of our gods have possessed you with evil.” He said, “I call Allah to witness, and you too bear witness, that I ˹totally˺ reject whatever you associate11:54
with Him ˹in worship˺. So let all of you plot against me without delay!11:55
I have put my trust in Allah—my Lord and your Lord. There is no living creature that is not completely under His control. Surely my Lord’s Way is perfect justice.11:56
But if you turn away, I have already delivered to you what I have been sent with. My Lord will replace you with others. You are not harming Him in the least. Indeed, my Lord is a ˹vigilant˺ Keeper over all things.”11:57
His people persisted in their disbelief, although they were sent sufficient proof.
But the chiefs of his people—who disbelieved, denied the meeting ˹with Allah˺ in the Hereafter, and were spoiled by the worldly luxuries We had provided for them—said ˹to the masses˺, “This is only a human like you. He eats what you eat, and drinks what you drink.23:33
And if you ˹ever˺ obey a human like yourselves, then you would certainly be losers.23:34
Does he promise you that once you are dead and reduced to dust and bones, you will be brought forth ˹alive˺?23:35
Impossible, simply impossible is what you are promised!23:36
There is nothing beyond our worldly life. We die, others are born, and none will be resurrected.23:37
He is no more than a man who has fabricated a lie about Allah, and we will never believe in him.”23:38
They denied that God could have sent a human messenger and that there would be an afterlife, or resurrection.
The people of ’Âd rejected the messengers26:123
when their brother Hûd said to them, “Will you not fear ˹Allah˺?26:124
I am truly a trustworthy messenger to you.26:125
So fear Allah, and obey me.26:126
I do not ask you for any reward for this ˹message˺. My reward is only from the Lord of all worlds.26:127
˹Why˺ do you build a landmark on every high place in vanity,26:128
and construct castles, as if you are going to live forever,26:129
and act so viciously when you attack ˹others˺?26:130
Prophet Hud told his people that these high monuments they had set up were unnecessary as they lived in tents. We hear of their lofty monuments elsewhere too, as we shared at the start of this section. They did not want to abandon the deluded ways of their forefathers.
They responded, “It is all the same to us whether you warn ˹us˺ or not.26:136
This is simply the tradition of our predecessors.26:137
And we will never be punished.”26:138
The word used for the religion of their forefathers is khuluq which means that the religion which we follow is nothing other than what our forefathers and ancestors followed. They said they would not change their beliefs. This word can also be read as Khalq which means invention of falsification; suggesting they were saying Hud's message was fabricated by himself.
He said, “You will certainly be subjected to your Lord’s torment and wrath. Do you dispute with me regarding the so-called gods which you and your forefathers have made up—a practice Allah has never authorized? Then wait! I too am waiting with you.”7:71
He said to his people that their persistence in upholding the falsehood of their forefathers and disregarding the undeniable truth that has been sent to them, they have earnt Allah's anger.
