Hud (a)

Priority: b, Quality: c
From wikishia
Hud (a)
Name in
the Qur'an:
Hud (a)
Place of Birth:Ahqaf
Place(s) of
Residence:
Ahqaf
Burial place:Ahqaf
Name of People:people of 'Ad
Before:Prophet Salih (a)
After:Prophet Noah (a)
Repeat in
the Qur'an:
7 times
Important
Events:
Punishment of the people of 'Ad with a freezing gale


Hūd (a) (Arabic: هود) was the prophet of the people of 'Ad and his name is mentioned seven times in the Qur'an and a sura of the Qur'an is named after him. He is considered among the descendants of the Prophet Noah (a). Hud (a) was himself from the people of 'Ad, the story of whose punishment is mentioned in the Qur'an.

People of 'Ad were the first people after people of Noah (a), who became polytheist despite having many blessings and were thus punished by God. From the people of 'Ad, only the Prophet Hud (a) and some believers survived. Some claimed that the story of Hud (a) and his people is not mentioned in any of divine books and only the Qur'an has mentioned it.

Introduction

The shrine attributed to the prophets Hud (a) and Salih (a) in Wadi l-Salam cemetery.

Prophet Hud (a) was one of twenty six prophets whose names are mentioned in the Qur'an.[1] God mentioned him 7 times in the Qur'an.[2]

Hud (a) was among the descendants of Noah (a). His lineage to Noah (a) is mentioned as the son of 'Abd Allah, son of Riyah (or Ribah), son of Halut (Khulud), son of 'Ad, son of Aws (Uz), son of Aram, son of Sam (Shem), son of Noah (a).[3] In Qasas al-Anbiya', 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Najjar claimed that regarding the relationship between Prophet Hud (a) and Prophet Abraham (a), the mentioned lineage is the most acceptable.[4] Ibn Kathir too, claimed that Hud (a) was son of Shalakh (Shelah), son of Arpachshad, son of Sam (Shem), son of Noah (a).[5]

Hud (a) lived among the people of 'Ad in the land of Ahqaf.[6] According to hadiths, he was like Adam (a) or his ancestor, Noah (a) in good manner.[7] Hud (a) is described as good-looking.[8] Some claimed that he was the first Arab prophet and spoke in Arabic.[9]

Prophethood

Some sources referred to hadiths and believe that the Prophet Hud (a) was chosen for prophethood at the age of 40.[10] God gave him the mission to invite his people to worship God.[11] He was the second prophet chosen to fight the polytheism of his people.[12]

Some mentioned that the people of 'Ad were the first people who became idol-worshiper after the Great Flood.[13] They worshiped idols namesake of those of the people of Noah (a).[14] Thus, God chose a person from among them for prophethood, called Prophet Hud (a); and ordered him to invite his people to obey God.[15]

Based on the verses of the Qur'an, despite Hud (a) showed his people some miracles to prove his prophethood, they did not believe in him and asked him other miracles to prove his prophethood.[16] They told Hud (a), "because of your disobedience, our gods have made you mad and stupid."[17]

Based on hadiths, some narrated that Hud (a) warned his people not to insist on their disbelief like the people of Noah (a), because the same way he (a) asked God to punish his people, I too would ask God to punish you. The people of Hud (a) told him, "gods of the people of Noah (a) were weak, but our gods are powerful like ourselves and your God cannot inflict us with any harm."[18]

Some mentioned that Prophet Hud (a) guided his people for 760 years, but they always denied and mocked him.[19]

People of 'Ad

People of 'Ad were descendants of 'Ad b. 'Aws (Uz) and are considered the first ancestors of Arabs.[20] In historical books, there are no mention of them except some vague unreliable stories.[21] Some researchers claimed that the story of the people of 'Ad and the Prophet Hud (a) is not mentioned in any of divine books and only the Qur'an has mentioned it.[22]

Divine Punishment

After the disobedience of the people of 'Ad and Prophet Hud's (a) request for their punishment,[23] he informed them of the divine punishment.[24] By the will of God, there was no rain for seven years in the land of Ahqaf which was a green and productive land and they suffered from famine.[25] Then, God sent a black cloud to punish them. A freezing gale began to blow at them which was so powerful that took them off the ground into air like trunks of palm tree and dropped their corpses on the ground.[26] It killed all the people of 'Ad. From among them, only Prophet Hud (a) and his companions survived the punishment.[27] They had hid in a pit by the order of God.[28] al-Jaza'iri quoted from al-Wahhab that there are reports of some very cold days called days of "Bard al-'Ajuz" (cold old woman) in the history of Arabs and some considered them the mentioned punishment of the people of 'Ad.[29]

Notes

  1. Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 49.
  2. Qurʾān, 7:65; 11:50, 53, 58, 60, 89; 26:134.
  3. Jazāʾirī, al-Nūr al-mubīn, p. 135; Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 49.
  4. Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 50.
  5. Ibn Kathīr, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 93.
  6. Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 50; Jazāʾirī, al-Nūr al-mubīn, p. 135; Ibn Kathīr, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 93.
  7. Rāwandī, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, vol. 1, p. 268.
  8. Rāwandī, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, vol. 1, p. 268.
  9. Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 49.
  10. Rāwandī, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, vol. 1, p. 273.
  11. Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 50-51; Ibn Kathīr, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 93; Rāwandī, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, vol. 1, p. 273.
  12. Ṭabāṭabāyī, Tārīkh al-anbīyāʾ, p. 87-88; Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i mawḍūʿī, vol. 6, p. 290-291.
  13. Ibn Kathīr, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 93.
  14. Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 51.
  15. Najjār, Qiṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 51-53; Ibn Kathīr, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 97; Rāwandī, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, vol. 1, p. 135.
  16. Qurʾān, 11: 53.
  17. Qurʾān, 11: 54.
  18. Rāwandī, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, vol. 1, p. 274.
  19. Rāwandī, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, vol. 1, p. 274.
  20. Ibn Kathīr, Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 93; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 31, p. 142.
  21. Ṭabāṭabāyī, Tārīkh al-anbīyāʾ, p. 86.
  22. Najjār, Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ, p. 49.
  23. Qurʾān, 7: 70.
  24. Qurʾān, 7: 71.
  25. Jazāʾirī, al-Nūr al-mubīn, p. 136.
  26. Qurʾān, 54: 18-21.
  27. Qurʾān, 7:72; 11:58; 69:6-8.
  28. Jazāʾirī, al-Nūr al-mubīn, p. 136.
  29. Jazāʾirī, al-Nūr al-mubīn, p. 136.

References

  • Fakhr al-Rāzī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Mafātīḥ al-ghayb. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1420 AH.
  • Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ. Edited by Muṣṭafā ʿAbd al-Wāḥid. Fourth edition. Beirut: Muʾassisat ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, 1411 AH.
  • Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. Tafsīr-i mawḍūʿī-yi Qurʾān. Qom: Nashr-i Asrāʾ, 1391 Sh.
  • Jazāʾirī, Niʿmat Allāh b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Nūr al-mubīn fī qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ wa l-mursalīn. Translated to Farsi by Fāṭima Mashāyikh. Edited by Aḥmad Sayyāḥ. Tehran: Farḥān, 1381 Sh.
  • Najjār, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-. Qaṣāṣ al-anbīyāʾ. Ninth edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1406 AH.
  • Rāwandī, Quṭb al-Dīn Saʿīd b. Hibat Allāh. Qaṣaṣ al-anbīyāʾ. Edited by ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Ḥillī. Qom: Maktabat al-ʿAllāma al-Majlisī, 1430 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāyī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tārīkh al-anbīyāʾ. Edited by Qāsim Hāshimī. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1423 AH.