ভূমিকা
“Allah shall not chastise the heart in which is contained the Noble Qur`an.” [^2] Short Explanation In order to prevent the people from committing crimes and offences an excess of which would result in the disintegration and destruction of the society, Allah ordered all the Prophets to warn their people: “Chastisement awaits you.” The kind of chastisement depends upon the kind of offence and the type of vice.
The Arabs would be punished because of fanaticism, the rulers due to oppression, scholars because of envy, the traders due to unfaithfulness and the villagers as a result of ignorance. Since the levels of hell vary, consequently the intensity and severity of the chastisement also vary. Some shall remain eternally within it while others, as a result of intercession or upon completion of their term, shall attain deliverance and then go on to enter Paradise.
The worst of the chastisements is that a person suffers from hard-heartedness in the world and finds himself in the lowest rank of hell in the hereafter. The Chastisement of the People of ‘Ad When Prophet Hud (a.s) was forty years of his age, Allah revealed to him: “Go to your nation and invite your people towards monotheism and My worship.” The nation of Prophet Hud (a.s) was 'ad, which consisted of thirteen tribes. The people possessed a tall physique and a long life-span.
They engaged themselves in farming and possessed excellent date palms, and their cities were the most prosperous of the Arab cities. For years on end Prophet Hud (a.s) strived to guide his nation, but when it yielded no result, he said to them: “I shall curse you.” His people said: “O' Hud! The people of Nuh possessed a frail and weak physique but our Allahs are strong and so are our bodies.
We do not fear the punishment.” Allah sent down upon them a devastating wind (about which the Commander of the Faithfuls(a.s) said: “I seek refuge in Allah from the devastating wind.”) When the chastisement came upon them it plucked their castles, forts, cities and all the other structures, tossed them into the air as if pebbles and then grounded them into fine powder.