ভূমিকা

“And indeed We sent unto (the tribe of) Thamud their brother Saleh, saying: ‘Worship you Allah!’ but behold, they became two parties quarrelling with each other.” 46. “He said: ‘O my people! Why will you hasten on the evil before the good?

Why do you not ask forgiveness of Allah so that you may be dealt with mercifully?” Next to a part of life stories of Moses, David, and Solomon (as) mentioned in the previous verses, the fourth prophet, a part of whose life story is referred to in this Surah, is Hadrat Saleh, the prophet of Thamud people.

At first, it says: “And indeed We sent unto (the tribe of) Thamud their brother Saleh, saying: ‘Worship you Allah!’…” As it was also said before, the application of the concept of ‘their brother’, which has been used in the story life of several prophets, is a hint to their ultimate love and affection unto their peoples. In addition to this, in some instances, it points to their relationship with those people, too.

However, the entire messengership and invitation of this prophet is summarized in the holy phrase: “Worship you Allah!” Yes, the servitude of Allah is the essence of all teachings of the messengers of Allah. Then, the verse continues saying: “…but behold, they became two parties quarrelling with each other.” Those two groups, who quarrelled with each other, were the believers, from one side, and the obstinate disbelievers, from the other side.

Imam Baqir (as) said: “A group attested the invitation of Hadrat Salih but another group rejected it.” ^1 These two groups are referred to in Surah Al-’A‘raf, No. 7, verse 75 as: ‘The arrogant’ and ‘those who were considered weak’.