Prophets Hūd, Ṣāliḥ and Ibrāhīm: The Ruins of the Mighty
Section 9 of 25 · Lives of the Prophets
You Were a Figure of Good Hope Among Us
What was the message of Sayyidunā Ṣāliḥ?
۞ وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَـٰلِحًا ۚ قَالَ يَـٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَـٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥ ۖ هُوَ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱسْتَعْمَرَكُمْ فِيهَا فَٱسْتَغْفِرُوهُ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى قَرِيبٌ مُّجِيبٌ
“And to (the people of) Thamūd (We sent) their brother, SāliH. He said, “O my people, worship Allah. You have no god other than Him. He has created you from earth and made you settle therein. So, seek His forgiveness, then turn to Him in repentance. Surely, my Lord is near, responsive to the prayers.”” (11:61)
Wa ilā Thamūda akhāhum Ṣāliḥā, qāla yā qawmi-ʿbudū Allāha mā lakum min ilāhin ghayruh: O my people, worship no god other than Allah. The same message of ʿĀd, and the same message of Nūḥ. And he repeated the same thing that they did. What did they also say? Thumma istaghfirū rabbakum: istighfār. Every Nabī is telling his people to make istighfār. So this was the daʿwah of Sayyidunā Ṣāliḥ.
What was the response? Sayyidunā Ṣāliḥ was a young man. And he was very intelligent, and strong. And he was from a noble family; he was from the high class of the society. And they were preparing him to be their leader. They were preparing him: he was a young man, and they were looking forward that one day he will assume responsibility for the people of Thamūd. They had a lot of expectations in Ṣāliḥ. And suddenly, Ṣāliḥ presented them with the message of Islam. So what happened?
قَالُوا۟ يَـٰصَـٰلِحُ قَدْ كُنتَ فِينَا مَرْجُوًّا قَبْلَ هَـٰذَآ ۖ أَتَنْهَىٰنَآ أَن نَّعْبُدَ مَا يَعْبُدُ ءَابَآؤُنَا وَإِنَّنَا لَفِى شَكٍّ مِّمَّا تَدْعُونَآ إِلَيْهِ مُرِيبٍ
“They said, “O SāliH, we had hopes in you before this. Do you ask us not to worship what our fathers used to worship? We have serious doubts that have disturbed us about the faith to which you are calling us.”” (11:62)
Qālū yā Ṣāliḥu qad kunta fīnā marjuwwan qabla hādhā, a-tanhānā an naʿbuda mā yaʿbudu ābāʾunā: they said, O Ṣāliḥ, you have been among us as a figure of good hope. We had good expectations of you, till this. Do you now forbid us the worship of what our fathers have worshipped?