Surah Al A’araf (7:74) – People of Thamud

 

 

وَاذْكُرُواْ إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفَاء مِن بَعْدِ عَادٍ وَبَوَّأَكُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِن سُهُولِهَا قُصُورًا وَتَنْحِتُونَ الْجِبَالَ بُيُوتًا فَاذْكُرُواْ آلاء اللّهِ وَلاَ تَعْثَوْا فِي الأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ

And remember when He made you successors after Ad and settled you in the land-- you make mansions on its plains and hew out houses in the mountains-- remember therefore Allah's benefits and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief.

M Shakir's Quran Translation

People of Thamud

In this Ayat the incident of People of Thamud or People of Al Hijr is mentioned. Both these terms are used in the Holy Quran referring to the same nation (SEE Tafsir Ibn e Kathir Explanation of surah Al-Raad 15:80 3/139). Historical sources confirm that a people known as the Thamud existed many years ago. That being the case, the word "Thamud" may be the name of a people and al-Hijr one of the cities they founded. In fact, this is exactly what is suggested by the descriptions of the Greek geographer Pliny, who wrote that Thamud lived in places called Domotha and Hegra, the present-day city of Hijr. ((Encyclopedia of Islam: Dictionary of Islamic World, History, Geography, Ethnography, and Bibliography) Vol. 5/1, 475.)

 

The oldest known historical source to refer to Thamud is the Babylonian state records. They relate the details of the victory of King Sargon II of Babylon over that people in the 8th century B.C. Sargon defeated them in a war in Northern Arabia. The Greeks also mention this people and Aristotle, Ptolemy and Pliny refer to them as the Thamudaei" i.e. "Thamud (Phillip Hitti, A History of the Arabs). All trace of them vanished before the time of our Prophet Muhammad in around 400-600 but the Quran mentions them accurately. Today, one can see the finest examples of these peoples' stonework in the ancient city of Petra, in southwest Jordan. (For details see
'Perished Nations' by Harun Yahya)

 

 

See the complete list of Scientific Miracles in Surah Al Aa'raf here

 

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