The People of 'Ad
The people of 'Ad lived for many generations in the windswept hills of an area stretching between Yemen and Oman. They were physically powerful and known throughout the region for their skill in building, especially tall structures with lofty towers. Among all the nations of their time, they stood out for their strength and wealth, but that same power made them arrogant and boastful. Their political power rested in the hands of unjust rulers, and no one dared speak against them.
The people of 'Ad were not ignorant of Allah's existence, nor did they deny Him outright. Their sin was refusing to worship Him alone. Alongside Allah, they worshipped other gods and idols, a sin Allah does not forgive.
Prophet Hud
Wanting to guide and discipline these people, Allah sent them a prophet from among their own, Hud, a noble man who carried out this task with patience and determination.
Ibn Jarir traced his lineage as Hud Ibn Shalikh, Ibn Arfakhshand, Ibn Sam, Ibn Noah. He also reported that Hud belonged to a tribe called 'Ad Ibn Us Ibn Sam Ibn Noah, Arabs who lived in Al Ahqaf in Yemen, between Oman and Hadramaut, on a stretch of land called Ashar that reached out to the sea. Their valley was known as Mughiith. Some traditions claim Hud was the first person to speak Arabic, while others say it was Noah, or even Adam.
Hud's Message to His People
Hud condemned their idol worship directly. He asked them what benefit there could possibly be in carving stones with their own hands and then worshipping what they had made, calling it an insult to their own intellect. He told them there was only one true deity worthy of worship, Allah alone, and that worshipping Him alone was their duty. He reminded them that Allah had created them, provided for them, and would one day cause them to die. Allah had given them strong bodies and blessed them in countless ways, so Hud urged them to believe in Him rather than remain blind to His favours, warning that the same fate that destroyed Noah's people could overtake them too.
His people were unmoved. They asked him whether he wanted to become their master through this call, and what payment he expected from them. Hud made clear that his reward would come from Allah alone. He asked nothing from them except that they let the truth reach their hearts and minds.
The Qur'an records this exchange directly: Hud told his people to worship Allah alone, since they had no other god, and that their other beliefs were nothing but invention. He asked no reward for his message, since his reward came only from his Creator, and he urged them to seek Allah's forgiveness so that He would send abundant rain and add strength to their strength. His people answered that he had brought them no evidence, that they would not abandon their gods on his word alone, and that they didn't believe him. All they were willing to say was that one of their gods had struck him with madness. Hud responded that he called Allah as witness that he was innocent of the partners they associated with Him, and that they could plot against him however they wished and give him no time at all. He placed his trust in Allah, the Lord who holds every living creature by its forelock, telling them that if they turned away, he had still delivered the message he was sent to deliver, and that Allah would simply raise up another people in their place, since nothing they did could harm Allah in the least (11:50-57).
Hud Explains the Day of Judgment
Hud reminded his people of Allah's blessings: how Allah had made them the successors of Noah's people, given them strength and power, and sent rain to revive their land.
But his people looked around and saw themselves as the strongest nation on earth, and this only deepened their pride and stubbornness. They argued with him constantly, mocking his claim that after death and turning to dust, they would be raised again on the Day of Judgment. To them this seemed absurd. How could a body that had decayed and scattered as dust ever return to its original form? What need was there for any Day of Judgment at all?
Hud received all these objections patiently and explained why belief in the Day of Judgment matters. It reflects Allah's justice. In this life, good does not always triumph over evil, and evil sometimes overpowers good. If there were no Day of Judgment, wrongdoing would go unanswered forever, and that would amount to a profound injustice, something Allah has forbidden for Himself and for His creation. The existence of a day of reckoning, where every soul is rewarded or punished for what it did, is proof of the depth of Allah's justice. Hud explained all of this patiently, but his people listened and still refused to believe.
The Qur'an describes the attitude of the ruling class among Hud's people: those who disbelieved and denied the meeting of the Hereafter, who had been given every luxury and comfort in this life, said that Hud was nothing more than a man like themselves, who ate and drank as they did, and that following a mere human being like themselves would only bring them ruin. They mocked the idea that after dying and turning to dust and bone, they could ever come back to life, insisting that this present life was all there was, that they lived and died and nothing more, and that Hud had simply invented a lie about Allah (23:33-38).
The Disbelievers Mock and Threaten Him
The chiefs among Hud's people questioned why Allah would choose one of their own to deliver such a message. Hud answered that there was nothing strange in it. Allah wanted to guide them to the right path, and so had sent him to warn them, reminding them that the story of Noah's flood was not so far in the past that they should have forgotten it. Every disbeliever destroyed in that flood had been strong once too.
When they asked who could possibly destroy them, Hud answered simply: Allah. They responded that their own gods would protect them. Hud made clear that it was precisely those false gods that would bring about their destruction, that only Allah truly saves anyone, and that no other power on earth could benefit or harm a soul.
As the years passed, the conflict between Hud and his people only deepened. They grew prouder, more obstinate, and more openly defiant. Eventually they turned to mocking him outright, claiming that his own gods, or theirs, had driven him mad because he had insulted them. The Qur'an records this accusation in their own words: that he had brought no evidence, that they would not abandon their gods for his claims, and that they believed one of their gods had struck him with madness (11:53-54).
Faced with this, Hud had no other option but to turn fully to Allah and issue his people a clear ultimatum. He called Allah to witness that he was free of the partners they associated with Him, and told them to plot against him however they wished, without delay. He placed his trust entirely in Allah, his Lord and theirs, the One who holds every living creature by its forelock and who stands on the straight path of truth. If they turned away, he had still delivered the message he was sent with, and Allah would simply replace them with another people, since nothing they did could harm Him at all (11:54-57).
The Punishment
Having renounced his people and their false gods, and placed his full trust in his Creator, Hud understood that punishment was now coming for the disbelievers among them. This is one of the enduring laws of life: Allah punishes disbelief, no matter how rich, powerful, or tyrannical the disbelievers may be.
A drought spread across the land. The sky withheld its rain, and the sun scorched the desert like a disk of fire pressing down on their heads. Hud's people came to him in desperation, asking about the drought. He told them plainly that Allah was angry with them, and that if they believed in Him, He would accept them, send rain, and make them stronger than before.
Instead of listening, they mocked him further and grew even more stubborn in their disbelief. The drought worsened. The trees turned yellow and the plants died.
Then one day clouds filled the sky. Hud's people rushed out of their tents rejoicing, believing rain had finally come. But the weather turned suddenly, from burning heat to a bitter, stinging cold, with wind so fierce it shook everything in its path, trees, tents, plants, men, and women alike. The wind grew stronger with each passing day and night.
Hud's people fled to their tents for shelter, but the gale ripped the tents from their stakes. They tried hiding beneath cloth coverings, but even those were torn away. The wind cut through clothing and skin, entering the body through every opening and destroying it from within. Almost nothing survived its path untouched; whatever it struck was destroyed or killed, hollowed out completely. The storm raged without stopping for eight days and seven nights.
The Qur'an describes the moment they first saw the storm approaching: when they saw what looked like a dense cloud moving toward their valleys, they rejoiced, believing it would bring them rain. Instead, it was the very punishment they had impatiently demanded, a wind carrying painful torment, destroying everything by its Lord's command (46:24-25). Elsewhere the Qur'an describes how Allah unleashed a furious, violent wind against the people of 'Ad for seven nights and eight days without pause, leaving them lying overthrown like the hollow trunks of fallen palm trees (69:6-7).
The Believers Are Saved
The violent storm did not stop until the entire region lay in ruins, its wicked people destroyed and swallowed by the desert sands. Only Hud and those who had believed with him were left unharmed. They migrated to Hadramaut and settled there in peace, worshipping Allah, their true Lord.