The Aad people, too, denied God’s messengers. Their brother Hood said to them: “Will you have no fear of God? I am a Messenger (sent by Him) to you, worthy of all trust. So, fear God and pay heed to me. No reward whatever do I ask of you for it: My reward is only from the Lord of all the worlds.
“Do you build a landmark on every high place, in a vain endeavor, and make for yourselves strong structures, hoping to be immortal? When you exercise your power, you do so like cruel tyrants. So, fear God and pay heed to me. Fear Him who has provided you with all that you know. He has provided you with cattle and children, and gardens and springs. Indeed, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day.
They answered: “It is all one to us whether you admonish us or you never give admonition. This is none but the practice of the ancients. Never are we going to be punished.”
Thus they denied him. So We destroyed them. Indeed, there is in this a sure sign; Yet most of them will not believe. And indeed it is your Lord who is the Mighty One, the Merciful. (The Poets: Al-Shu’ara: 26: 123-140)
The story of Hood and his people has the same beginning as the story of Noah. “The Aad people, too, denied God’s messengers. Their brother Hud said to them: ‘Will you have no fear of God? I am a Messenger (sent by Him) to you, worthy of all trust. So, fear God and pay heed to me. No reward whatever do I ask of you for it: My reward is only from the Lord of all the worlds.’”
It is the same message given by every messenger of God: It is a call to believe in God alone and to fear Him and obey His messenger. This is coupled by a declaration disclaiming any interest in any worldly luxuries or position the people may have to offer. This puts things in the right perspective. Nothing does the messenger seeks from them, but instead he looks up to God for his reward.
He follows this with a look at their special case, conditions and behavior. He criticizes the fact that they build lofty buildings to demonstrate their ability, taking pride in their wealth. He denounces their arrogance which results from their material power and resources that enable them to use different forces and means, in total disregard of God, oblivious to the fact of their accountability to Him: “Do you build a landmark on every high place, in a vain endeavor, and make for yourselves strong structures, hoping to be immortal?”
It seems that they used to build on high places so as to make such structures appear from a distance as a sign. They did so to emphasize their superiority and great ability. Hence the Qur’an describes it as a “vain endeavor”. Had it been intended as a landmark or a sign to show directions, it would not have been described as such. The Qur’anic statement, then, implies the need to direct one’s resources and abilities to what is of benefit, not merely to show off and demonstrate abilities and wealth. It also appears that the people of Aad were well advanced in industry, using machinery to carve positions for their palaces that they built on mountains. It even occurred to them that such strong structures built with the use of heavy machinery could spare their lives, and protect them from severe atmospheric conditions and from enemy attacks.
They have further practices that are strongly criticized by Hood: “When you exercise your power, you do so like cruel tyrants.” They were mighty, hard, tyrannical and would deal with others in all cruelty, like many others who rely on their own material power.
Hood, therefore, reminds them that they must fear God and obey His messenger. This would be sure to redress their cruelty and stop their arrogance: “So, fear God and pay heed to me.” He further reminds them of God’s grace, as it is He who has favored them with His blessings which they use arrogantly and oppress others. They should have remembered God’s favors and given thanks for them. They should have also remembered that the One who has granted them such favors can easily take them back, or punish them for putting His favors to the wrong use: “Fear Him who has provided you with all that you know. He has provided you with cattle and children, and gardens and springs. Indeed, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day.”
Hood’s reminder mentions first the One who granted them such blessings before enumerating them. He “has provided you with all that you know.” It is all present with you, and you know it well as you benefit by it in your lives. He then gives some details of it: “He has provided you with cattle and children, and gardens and springs.” These were the best favors that they could have had during that period of time. They are indeed a great favor at any time. He then warns them against punishment that may befall them on an awesome day. His warning expresses his fear for their end, because he is one of them, their brother, and he wants to spare them the hardship of that day which was certain to come.
But his reminder and warning do not touch those hardened hearts. They stubbornly refuse to mend their ways: “They answered: It is all one to us whether you admonish us or you never give admonition.” It is a derogatory way of speaking, expressing their carelessness for whatever he might say. They add a clear indication that they were hardened in their ways, relying totally on what they inherited from previous generations: “This is none but the practice of the ancients. Never are we going to be punished.” All their argument in defense of all the practices Hood had criticized was that they were followed by earlier generations and they toed their line. They then deny the possibility of being punished for following in their footsteps: “Never are we going to be punished.”
The surah does not mention here any of the argument that took place between them and Hood. It proceeds straight to the end: “Thus they denied him. So We destroyed them.” Two short sentence expressed in the original Arabic text in only two words spell out the end of those mighty people of Aad and their great symbols of power. Nothing is left of their luxuries, cattle, children, gardens and springs.
How many a community followed the same practices as the Aad people, moving further away from God with every new aspect of civilization they achieve. They always think that man can be independent of God. They try to produce weapons to destroy others while providing them with protection. Yet it may be only a day or a night and such a community finds itself subjected to God’s punishment that may befall it from any corner: “Indeed, there is in this a sure sign; yet most of them will not believe. And indeed it is your Lord who is the Mighty One, the Merciful.”
