Do Not Go In, Except If You Are Going to Cry

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was travelling with an army, and they passed by the ruins of Thamūd. So some of the Ṣaḥābah went in, and they took some water from the wells of Thamūd, and they made some bread — actually, they mixed flour with that water to make bread — and they brought some of that water. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told them: don't eat from it; don't eat from that bread, and feed it to the camels. And throw all of the water that you brought. And do not go in there, illā an takūnū bākīn: except if you are going to cry. Do not go in there, except if you are going to cry.

Today, when we go into the ruins of Thamūd, or the ruins of Firʿawn, or the ruins of the Romans, or the ruins of the Greeks, we go and we smile, and we take pictures. And we are fascinated with the civilisation of the Romans, and the Greek civilisation, and the civilisation of Firʿawn, and the advancement of humanity. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is saying: that water that you brought from Thamūd, don't even drink it. And that bread, don't feed it to yourselves; feed it to the camels, because it's evil. And don't go in there — don't go in Thamūd — except if you are going to cry.

Why? You are going in and benefiting from the ʿibrah. Why would you cry? Because you would look at what happened to these people when they disbelieved, and you would fear Allah (swt), and you would ask Allah to save you — so you would cry. So if you're going to go in there and be impressed with their civilisation, don't go in. But if you're going to go and learn the lesson — if you are going to go there and contemplate, and think about what happened to the non-believers, even though they were wealthy and powerful and strong — if you're going to go there with that mentality and thinking, then go in. That is completely opposite of what the people today do.

Unfortunately, some Muslims are even proud of the Pharaonic so-called civilisation. Subḥān Allāh, a Muslim can be proud of Firʿawn? Firʿawn, al-ṭāghiyah: the worst evil in the Qur'an, Firʿawn. And we would be impressed with the civilisation of Firʿawn? Subḥān Allāh, Firʿawn is a symbol of evil. Allah (swt) gave us a symbol of ḥaqq: Mūsā. And on the other side, the symbol of evil was Firʿawn. And the battle and the conflict between Mūsā and Firʿawn was the battle and the conflict between ḥaqq and bāṭil, between truth and evil. And then we go and choose the side of Firʿawn?

That is how we should deal with these ruins. Allah (swt) left them behind for a reason. These are left behind for a reason: so that we would learn the message; so that we can see a physical representation in front of us of how Allah (swt) has destroyed the non-believers. Physical representation. So we read it in the Qur'an, and then we can see it in an actual example.