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Prophet Hud (pbuh) was a noble man who handled his task with great resoluteness and tolerance. The eleventh chapter of the Quran, Hud, is named after him.
Ibn Jarir reported that he was Hud Ibn Shalikh, Ibn Arfakhshand, Ibn Sam, Ibn Noah . (i.e. 5th generation of Prophet Noah) He also reported that Prophet Hud(pbuh) was from a tribe called 'Ad Ibn 'Uus Ibn Sam Ibn Noah, who were Arabs living in Al-Ahqaf in Yemen between Oman and Hadramaut, on a land called Ashar stretching out into the sea. The name of their valley was Mughiith.
The people of 'Ad lived many years in the windswept hills of an area between Yemen and Oman.They were physically well-built and renowned for their craftsmanship especially in the construction of tall buildings with lofty towers.They were outstanding among all the nations in power and wealth, which, unfortunately, made them arrogant and boastful.Their political power was held in the hand of unjust rulers, against whom no one dared to raise a voice.
They were not ignorant of the existence of Allah, nor did they refuse to worship Him. What they did refuse was to worship Allah alone.
And to 'Ad (people We sent) their brother Hud. He said, 'O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other AIlah (god) but Him, Certainly, you do nothing but invent (lies)! O my people I ask of you no reward for it (the Message). My reward is only from Him Who created me. Will you not then understand? And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him, He will send you (from the sky) abundant rain, and add strength to your strength, so do not turn away as Mujrimeen (criminals, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah).' - Surah Hud 11:50-52
They said: 'O Hud! No evidence have you brought us, and we shall not leave our gods for your (mere) saying! And we are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness).'- Surah Hud 11:53
He said: I call Allah to witness and bear you witness that I am free from that which you ascribe as partners in worship, - with Him (Allah). So plot against me, all of you, and give me no respite. I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There was not a moving (living) creature but He has grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth). So if you turn away, still I have conveyed the Message with which I was sent to you. My Lord will make another people succeed you, and you will not harm Him in the least. Surely, my Lord is Guardian over all things.' - Surah Hud 11:54-56
Prophet Hud(pbuh) tried to explain the People of Ad about Allah's blessings: how Allah the Almighty had made them Noah's successors, how He had given them strength and power, and how He sent them rain to revive the soil.
Prophet Hud's(pbuh) people looked about them and found they were the strongest on earth, so they became prouder and more obstinate. Thus they argued a lot with him. They asked: 'O Hud! Do you say that after we die and turn into dust, we will be resurrected?' He replied: 'Yes, you will come back on the Day of Judgment and each one of you will be asked about what you did.'
A peal of laughter was heard after the last statement. 'How strange Hud's claims are!' The disbelievers muttered among themselves. They believed that when man dies his body decays and turns into dust which is swept away by the wind. How could that return to its original state? Then what is the significance of the Day of Judgment? Why do the dead return to life?
All these questions were patiently received by Prophet Hud (pbuh), He then addressed his people concerning the Day of Judgment. He explained that belief in the Day of Judgment is essential to Allah's justice, teaching them the same thing that every prophet taught about it.
Prophet Hud(pbuh) explained that justice demands that there be a Day of Judgment because good is not always victorious in life. Sometimes evil overpowers good. Will such crimes go unpunished? If we suppose there is no Day of Judgment, then a great injustice will have prevailed, but Allah has forbidden injustice to be incurred by Himself or His subjects. Therefore, the existence of the Day of Judgment, a day of accounting for our deeds and being rewarded or punished for them, reveals the extent of Allah's justice. Prophet Hud(pbuh) spoke to them about all of these things. They listened but disbelieved him.
Years passed, and the disbelievers became prouder, more obstinate, more tyrannical and more defiant of their prophet's message.
Furthermore, they started to accuse Prophet Hud (pbuh) of being a crazy lunatic. One day they told him: 'We now understand the secret of your madness: you insulted our gods and they harmed you; that is why you have become insane.'
Almighty Allah repeated their words in the Qur'an: 'O Hud! No evidence have you brought us, and we shall not leave our gods for your (mare) saying! And we are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness).'
Prophet Hud(pbuh) had to return their challenge. He had no other alternative but to give them a threatening ultimatum. He declared to them: 'I call Allah to witness and bear you witness that I am free from that which you ascribe as partners in worship with Him (Allah). So plot against me, all of you and give me no respite. I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth). So if you turn away, still I have conveyed the message with which I was sent to you. My Lord will make another people succeed you, and you will not harm Him.'
Prophet Hud(pbuh) realized that punishment would be incurred on the disbelievers among his people. It is one of the laws of life. Allah punishes the disbelievers, no matter how rich, tyrannical, or great they are.
Prophet Hud(pbuh) and his people waited for Allah's promise. A drought spread throughout the land, for the sky no longer sent its rain. The sun scorched the desert sands, looking like a disk of fire which settled on people's heads.
Prophet Hud's(pbuh) people hastened to him asking: 'What is that drought, Hud?'
Prophet Hud (pbuh) answered: 'Allah is angry with you. if you believe in Him, He will accept you and the rain will fall and you will become even stronger than you are.'
They mocked him and became more obstinate, sarcastic and perverse in their unbelief. The drought increased, the trees turned yellow, and plants died
A day came when they found the sky full of clouds. People of Ad were glad as they came out of their tents crying: 'A cloud which will give us rain!'
The weather changed suddenly from burning dry and hot to stinging cold, with wind that shook everything: trees, plants, tents, men and women. The wind increased day after day and night after night.
People started to flee. They ran to their tents to hide, but the gale became stronger, ripping their tents from their stakes. They hid under cloth covers, but the gale became stronger still and tore away the covers. It slashed clothing and skin. It penetrated the apertures of the body and destroyed it. It hardly touched anything before it was destroyed or killed, its core sucked out to decompose and rot. The storm raged for eight days and seven nights.
Almighty Allah recounts: Then, when they saw it as a dense cloud coming towards their valleys, they said: 'This is a cloud bringing us rain!' Nay, but it is that (torment) which you were asking to be hastened! - a wind wherein is a painful torment! Destroying everything by the command of its Lord!
Allah the Exalted described it thus: And as for 'Ad, - they were destroyed by a furious violent wind which Allah imposed on them for seven nights and eight days in succession, so that you could see men lying overthrown (destroyed) as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees!
That violent gale did not stop until the entire region was reduced to ruin and its wicked people destroyed, swallowed by the sands of the desert. Only Prophet Hood (pbuh) and his followers remained unharmed. They migrated to Hadramaut and lived there in peace, worshiping Allah, their true Lord.
