Salaam and welcome to another episode of our weekly series titled “Path towards Enlightenment” which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an that was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

As you know, we have currently taken up explanation of “Surah Qamar” which was revealed in Mecca and deals mainly with the punishment of disbelievers of the past generations, as a warning to the pagans of Mecca and also to the disbelievers of all times – with the refrain “is there anyone who will be admonished?” running throughout the Surah. The miserable fate of the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement is contrasted to the everlasting bliss the believers will enjoy in paradise. An interesting feature of this Surah is that all 55 of its Ayahs end with the letter R.

We continue from where we left you last week and here are Ayahs 23, 24, 25, and 26, which read:

“(The people of)Thamoud denied the warnings;

“And they said, ‘Are we to follow a lone human from ourselves?! Indeed then we would be in error and madness.

“Has the Reminder been cast upon him from among us? Rather he is a self-conceited liar.

“Tomorrow they will know who a self-conceited liar is.”

If you remember, in our explanation of the previous Ayahs of Surah Qamar last Friday, we dwelt on the fate of the rebellious nations to whom the Prophets Noah and Houd were sent, saying God raised Prophets to invite people towards truth and salvation, but the obstinate disbelievers and sinners brought punishment upon themselves. We pointed out that water, wind, and other forces of nature, are the creation of God Almighty and thus under His control, as both a sign of Divine Mercy or Wrath. We also noted that the Holy Qur’an is not a book of history, but relates selective accounts of the past nations in order to wake up human conscience to discover the truth.

The Ayahs that we recited to you now pertain to the people of Thamoud in northern Arabia amongst whom Prophet Saleh was raised to guide them to the path of the One and Only Creator by warning them of the consequences of idol-worship and committing of abominable sins. They scoffed at his words of guidance and continued their evil deeds by ridiculing his warnings of the consequences of their wicked ways. Their pretext was that he was a human being like themselves and from their own community; so it would be a mistake to heed his call that God has entrusted him with the mission, instead of giving such a mission to the people amongst us who have wealth and power. The disbelievers called Prophet Saleh a “self-conceited liar”, in response to which Ayah 26 means to say that soon it will be known as to who really are self-conceited liars, when Divine wrath will befall the sinners.

From these Ayahs we learn that:

1. Prophets lived a simple life like ordinary people in order to be role models for the society.
2. It is the habit of disbelievers and sinners to spurn the righteous and honest persons, while accepting the rule of the tyrants and indulging in lustful ways including atheism and polytheism.
3. Hypocrisy is the hallmark of Godless societies where the self-conceited and the liars dominate by calling the righteous persons and the seekers of truth as falsifiers.

Now let us listen to Ayahs 27, 28, and 29 of the same Surah:

“Indeed We are sending the she-camel as a trial for them; so watch them and be steadfast.

“Inform them that the water is to be dispensed between them; every drinking will be attended.

“But they called their companion, and he took [a knife] and hamstrung [her].”

When the obstinate disbelievers demanded what they considered an impossible miracle for Prophet Saleh to bring forth from the mountain a red-haired ten-month pregnant camel that gives plenty of milk, the Almighty Creator answered the prayer of His Prophet by splitting a huge rock from which, to the surprise of the disbelievers, emerged such a camel, as a trial, as is indicated by the Divine Words: “So watch them and be steadfast”. Ayah 28 sets the condition that the people of Thamoud should make use of water from the stream one day and leave the stream to the she-camel the next day in order to receive milk in plenty from her in return, and every drinking will be recorded.

As the next Ayah means to say, even this great favour of plenty of free milk was met with ingratitude by the disbelievers of Thamoud, who were determined to oppose Prophet Saleh and decided to kill the she-camel by entrusting the task to commit such an evil to one of their most wicked members.

These Ayahs teach us the following points:

1. Miracles are a form of trial to determine who are really seeking truth and who stubbornly stick to falsities.
2. It is evil nature that responds with ingratitude to favours and blessings.
3. God never punishes any people before sealing the argumentation for them.
4. The enemies of the Prophets and truth use rogues and hardened criminals to commit the most abominable acts of terrorism.

In conclusion of this week’s episode, here are Ayahs 30, 31, and 32 of Surah Qamar:

“So how were My punishment and my warnings?!

“We sent against them a single Cry, and they became like the dry sticks of a corral builder.

“Certainly We have made the Qur’an simple for admonishment; so is there anyone who will be admonished?”

When the she-camel was killed, the All-Merciful Lord after commanding Prophet Saleh and the few believers to leave the region, struck the people of Thamoud with Divine Wrath in the form of a horrible cry that turned the disbelievers into lifeless bodies that resembled dried up and mashed plants gathered as fodder for cattle. The metaphorical expression employed in the Ayah regarding the torment that struck the Thamoud is quite wondrous and meaningful, since God Almighty created a thundering sound that smashed everything within a wide expanse, to shatter their rock-hewn mansions and turn the disbelievers into corpses resembling fodder for cattle.

Ayah 32 poses the question whether such admonitory and excruciating fate is not sufficient to awaken mankind. Is there anyone who receives admonition from the Holy Qur’an and its vivid and crystal clear expressions, accounts, and warnings?

These Ayahs teach us that:

1. A nation whose members are comrades in crimes against humanity is liable to be struck by Divine Wrath.
2. None can stand against God’s Will, which prevails over all and everything.
3. The Qur’an is not a book of history, but it gives an accurate narration of selective events of the past in order to wake up human conscience to help discover the truth.

RM/AS/SS