Destroyed With a Sound Wave

Allah (swt) destroyed them with a sound wave: an awful cry, a very, very loud voice. That was so loud — akhadhathumu al-rajfah — it caused the earth to shake. The cry — this awful cry — was so violent and powerful, it made the earth under them shake. Only nowadays are we learning the power of sound waves. And now we hear that they're trying to use — and they're thinking about ways to use — sound waves as a weapon. Allah (swt) destroyed these people with sound.

It is said that it was so violent, it shook their insides, so their hearts were falling. It was so violent. No matter how strong your house is — it's like a microwave. These are waves that came in and could pass through anything: through rock, through walls. It is a sound wave; it can go through anything. It can travel through any medium that Allah (swt) created; there's nothing that can stop it. So the sound reached, and it was shaking their insides and shaking the earth, so their hearts fell down, dead.

Allah (swt) says: wa akhadha alladhīna ẓalamū al-ṣayḥatu fa-aṣbaḥū fī diyārihim jāthimīn, ka-an lam yaghnaw fīhā — and the awful cry overtook the wrongdoers, so they lay dead, prostrate in their homes, as if they never lived. As if they never lived. After moments of the cry, it is as if nobody was living in Thamūd. It's a haunted, deserted area. Alā inna Thamūda kafarū rabbahum, alā buʿdan li-Thamūd: Thamūd disbelieved in their Lord, so away with Thamūd. With Allah (swt), it's kun fa-yakūn.

Allah (swt) says: wa makarū makran wa makarnā makran wa hum lā yashʿurūn — so they plotted a plot, and We planned a plan, while they perceived not. When these nine men were meeting, they were meeting in secret, whispering to each other. But Allah (swt) is listening to them. And they're trying to hide their plan from Allah, but Allah is hearing their plan. But then Allah (swt) is planning, and His plan is hidden from them.

Makarū makran: they planned, but Allah (swt) is also making a plan. But the plan of Allah is secret, and their plan is not, because Allah (swt) is listening to them. Fa-nẓur kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu makrihim annā dammarnāhum wa qawmahum ajmaʿīn: then see how was the end of their plot — verily, We destroyed them and their nation altogether.