They Asked for a Sign, and Got One · The story of Salih

What happens to people who get exactly the sign they asked for?0:00

Austin: What happens to people who get exactly the sign they asked for? The Qur'an answers with Thamud, in one line: “And We gave Thamud the she-camel as a visible sign, but they wronged her.”

Tonight is a story night: the story of Salih alayhis salam, told from nine places in the Qur'an, with the books of stories named as we go. About 31 minutes.

Assalamu alaikum, and welcome to the IMATX halaqa.

On the call0:27

All: Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullah.

Austin: Alhamdulillah. A story night, so settle in. Let us open, as always, with the du'a.

Opening du'a.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا. مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ. وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

Al-hamdu lillah, nahmaduhu wa nasta'inuhu wa nastaghfiruh, wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati a'malina. Man yahdihillahu fala mudilla lah, wa man yudlil fala hadiya lah. Wa ashhadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh. — All praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help and we ask His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allah guides, no one can lead astray, and whomever He leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي، وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي، وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي.

Rabbishrah li sadri, wa yassir li amri, wahlul 'uqdatan min lisani, yafqahu qawli. — My Lord, expand for me my breast, and ease for me my task, and untie the knot from my tongue, that they may understand my speech.

اللَّهُمَّ انْفَعْنَا بِمَا عَلَّمْتَنَا، وَعَلِّمْنَا مَا يَنْفَعُنَا، وَزِدْنَا عِلْمًا.

Allahumma infa'na bima 'allamtana, wa 'allimna ma yanfa'una, wa zidna 'ilma. — O Allah, benefit us by what You have taught us, teach us what will benefit us, and increase us in knowledge.

Austin: We began by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, asking His help and His forgiveness, and bearing witness to Him and to His Messenger. Then the words of Musa alayhis salam: open our hearts, make our task easy, and loosen our tongues, so that what we say is understood. And we asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that what we learn tonight benefits us, and that He adds to our knowledge.

All: Ameen.

Where we are1:45

Austin: Most weeks we take one passage. Tonight we follow one man and one people across the Qur'an. Thamud came after 'Ad. Ibn Kathir, rahimahullah, places them at al-Hijr, between the Hijaz and Tabuk, in houses carved from the rock.

The Qur'an tells their story in nine places, never all at once. Tonight we read it in the order it happened: the call, the sign, the deed, the end, and then a day long after, when the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, stood at their stones.

The Qur'an is the spine. Where a book of stories fills in, I'll say whose book it is, and what he says of it.

The call, and their answer2:22

Austin: Salih alayhis salam is one of them, their brother, and the first thing he says to them is the call every messenger made.

Isti'adhah.

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A'udhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim. — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

11:61 in Arabic.

۞ وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَٰلِحًۭا ۚ قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥ ۖ هُوَ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱسْتَعْمَرَكُمْ فِيهَا فَٱسْتَغْفِرُوهُ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى قَرِيبٌۭ مُّجِيبٌۭ

Viraj: And to Thamud We sent their brother Salih. He said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. He has produced you from the earth and settled you in it, so ask forgiveness of Him and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is near and responsive."

11:62 in Arabic.

قَالُوا۟ يَٰصَٰلِحُ قَدْ كُنتَ فِينَا مَرْجُوًّۭا قَبْلَ هَٰذَآ ۖ أَتَنْهَىٰنَآ أَن نَّعْبُدَ مَا يَعْبُدُ ءَابَآؤُنَا وَإِنَّنَا لَفِى شَكٍّۢ مِّمَّا تَدْعُونَآ إِلَيْهِ مُرِيبٍۢ

Viraj: They said, "O Salih, you were among us a man of promise before this. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? And indeed we are, about that to which you invite us, in disquieting doubt."

Austin: Two things in his call. Worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone. And then a reason: He produced you from the earth and settled you in it, so ask His forgiveness and turn to Him. My Lord is near and responsive. Ibn Kathir reads “produced you from the earth” as: your father Adam alayhis salam was made from it, and “settled you” as: He made you prosper in it.

Then their answer, and look at how it begins. You were among us a man of promise before this.

Viraj: That line stays with me. They liked him. He was the one they had hopes for, and the hope ended the day he spoke.

Austin: That is the honest part of their answer, and the Qur'an keeps it. Ibn Kathir says they meant: we had hopes in your good sense, until you said this. And then: we are in disquieting doubt. Not a small doubt; a doubt that unsettles.

The next ayah has his reply. If I have clear evidence from my Lord, who would protect me from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if I disobeyed Him? Ibn Ishaq, rahimahullah, relates, and al-Tabari, rahimahullah, passes it on in his commentary, that only a few of those held weak followed him, and that he called them until his hair turned white. A report, told as a report.

Yu: So basically, years of this. Not one conversation.

Austin: Years. Hold that, because what they ask for next is asked at the end of a long patience, not at the start.

Bring a sign5:02

Austin: Thamud answer the years of calling with a demand, and Surah ash-Shu'ara keeps it in their words.

26:154 in Arabic.

مَآ أَنتَ إِلَّا بَشَرٌۭ مِّثْلُنَا فَأْتِ بِـَٔايَةٍ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ

Salma: You are but a man like ourselves, so bring a sign, if you should be of the truthful."

26:155 in Arabic.

قَالَ هَٰذِهِۦ نَاقَةٌۭ لَّهَا شِرْبٌۭ وَلَكُمْ شِرْبُ يَوْمٍۢ مَّعْلُومٍۢ

Salma: He said, "This is a she-camel. For her is a time of drink, and for you is a time of drink, each on a known day.

Austin: You are only a man like us. Bring a sign. The Qur'an does not say how the she-camel came, and I want to say that first, because the books do.

Ibn Kathir, in the Stories of the Prophets, writes: the commentators have mentioned that Thamud gathered in their assembly, pointed to a rock, and asked for a she-camel out of it, of a shape they described; Salih alayhis salam took their promise to believe, prayed, and the rock split. Al-Tabari, in his History, has it from Abu al-Tufayl, a Companion, radiyallahu anhu: Salih alayhis salam said, go out to a hill, and it shook as a woman in labour shakes, and the she-camel came out of it.

Reports, both, and neither carries a grade in the books; Ibn Kathir names no rock. What the Qur'an says is enough. A she-camel. Hers a day of drink, and theirs a day of drink. A sign that lived among them.

Salma: Ayah. At home we say ayah for a sign before we ever mean a verse. A road sign is an ayah. Is that the word here?

Austin: The same word, and the first of tonight's words. Ayah: a sign, a mark that points past itself. The verses are called ayat for the same reason. In Al-A'raf, Salih alayhis salam says: this is the she-camel of Allah, a sign for you. And in al-Isra', the line we opened with: a visible sign. A camel you can see, drinking on her day, pointing at the One who sent her.

Viraj: Can I push on that a little? They asked for proof and got exactly what they described. What was left to doubt?

Austin: Nothing, and that is the point of the story. Ibn Kathir says many believed, and most stayed as they were.

Viraj: And they still said no?

Austin: Most of them. Keep your question, Viraj. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, answers it himself, near the end.

The she-camel of Allah, and the favours7:28

Austin: Al-A'raf tells the same call, and adds what Salih alayhis salam asked of them about her, and what they had been given.

7:73 in Arabic.

وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَٰلِحًۭا ۗ قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥ ۖ قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم بَيِّنَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ هَٰذِهِۦ نَاقَةُ ٱللَّهِ لَكُمْ ءَايَةًۭ ۖ فَذَرُوهَا تَأْكُلْ فِىٓ أَرْضِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَلَا تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوٓءٍۢ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ

Victor: And to the Thamud We sent their brother Salih. He said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. There has come to you clear evidence from your Lord. This is the she-camel of Allah sent to you as a sign. So leave her to eat within Allah 's land and do not touch her with harm, lest there seize you a painful punishment.

7:74 in Arabic.

وَٱذْكُرُوٓا۟ إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفَآءَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ عَادٍۢ وَبَوَّأَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِن سُهُولِهَا قُصُورًۭا وَتَنْحِتُونَ ٱلْجِبَالَ بُيُوتًۭا ۖ فَٱذْكُرُوٓا۟ ءَالَآءَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا تَعْثَوْا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ

Victor: And remember when He made you successors after the 'Aad and settled you in the land, and you take for yourselves palaces from its plains and carve from the mountains, homes. Then remember the favors of Allah and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption."

7:75 in Arabic.

قَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦ لِلَّذِينَ ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟ لِمَنْ ءَامَنَ مِنْهُمْ أَتَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ صَٰلِحًۭا مُّرْسَلٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ ۚ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا بِمَآ أُرْسِلَ بِهِۦ مُؤْمِنُونَ

Victor: Said the eminent ones who were arrogant among his people to those who were oppressed, to those who believed among them, "Do you actually know that Salih is sent from his Lord?" They said, "Indeed we, in that with which he was sent, are believers."

Austin: Leave her to eat in Allah's land, and do not touch her with harm. Al-Qurtubi, rahimahullah, says her food and her care were not their burden. The sign cost them nothing.

Then Salih alayhis salam turns them to what they already had. Successors after 'Ad. Palaces on the plains, homes carved from the mountains. In ash-Shu'ara he says it with a word of praise: you carve homes out of the mountains with skill. Ibn Kathir says the skill is plain to anyone who has seen what they built. Then remember the favours of Allah. Ala' Allah. Al-Qurtubi says this shows that favours come to people who do not yet believe.

Salma: Fa-bi-ayyi ala'i rabbikuma tukadhdhiban. The refrain of Surah ar-Rahman. Is it the same word?

Austin: The same word, and the same form. In Surah Al-A'raf only Hud and Salih alayhimas salam say it, each to their own people: remember the favours of Allah. The favours came first; the believing was still to come.

Yu: Palaces on the plain, houses in the rock, and the line is remember. That's the part I'd forget first.

Austin: It is the part they forgot. And then the leaders turn, not on Salih alayhis salam, but on the believers among those they held weak. Do you actually know that Salih is sent? That question is a session in itself, and the study pages for that passage take it slowly. Tonight I only say what comes of it. The strong and the weak are two parties now.

Victor: Mm. Two parties in one town. That never ends well.

Two parties, and an omen10:56

Austin: Surah an-Naml names the two parties, and gives Salih alayhis salam a question of his own.

27:45 in Arabic.

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَآ إِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَٰلِحًا أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ فَإِذَا هُمْ فَرِيقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ

Yu: And We had certainly sent to Thamud their brother Salih, saying, "Worship Allah," and at once they were two parties conflicting.

27:46 in Arabic.

قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ لِمَ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ بِٱلسَّيِّئَةِ قَبْلَ ٱلْحَسَنَةِ ۖ لَوْلَا تَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

Yu: He said, "O my people, why are you impatient for evil instead of good? Why do you not seek forgiveness of Allah that you may receive mercy?"

27:47 in Arabic.

قَالُوا۟ ٱطَّيَّرْنَا بِكَ وَبِمَن مَّعَكَ ۚ قَالَ طَٰٓئِرُكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌۭ تُفْتَنُونَ

Yu: They said, "We consider you a bad omen, you and those with you." He said, "Your omen is with Allah. Rather, you are a people being tested."

Austin: Why are you impatient for evil instead of good? They were asking for the punishment to come. Why not ask forgiveness instead, that you may receive mercy? Ibn Kathir, on this ayah: why pray for the punishment, and not for His mercy.

Their answer: we see a bad omen in you and those with you. Whenever something went wrong, Ibn Kathir says, they said: this is because of Salih and his companions. Your omen is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he answers. Rather, you are a people being tested. Qatadah, rahimahullah, read it: tested, to see whether you will obey or disobey.

Yu: Wait, so the she-camel was still there, drinking on her day, and they were blaming him for bad luck?

Austin: The sign was still among them. Surah al-Qamar says the water was shared, each drink attended. Mujahid, rahimahullah, in Ibn Kathir: on her day they drank her milk, and on theirs the water. A long time, Ibn Kathir says, before they tired of it.

Salma: Sharing a well with one animal every second day. I can see a town getting tired of that.

Victor: Tired of a gift. I have seen that too.

Austin: Which is what the next ayat tell.

Nine men and a night plan13:13

Austin: In the city were nine men, and the Qur'an tells what they swore to one another.

27:48 in Arabic.

وَكَانَ فِى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ تِسْعَةُ رَهْطٍۢ يُفْسِدُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا يُصْلِحُونَ

Viraj: And there were in the city nine family heads causing corruption in the land and not amending its affairs.

27:49 in Arabic.

قَالُوا۟ تَقَاسَمُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُۥ وَأَهْلَهُۥ ثُمَّ لَنَقُولَنَّ لِوَلِيِّهِۦ مَا شَهِدْنَا مَهْلِكَ أَهْلِهِۦ وَإِنَّا لَصَٰدِقُونَ

Viraj: They said, "Take a mutual oath by Allah that we will kill him by night, he and his family. Then we will say to his executor, 'We did not witness the destruction of his family, and indeed, we are truthful.' "

27:50 in Arabic.

وَمَكَرُوا۟ مَكْرًۭا وَمَكَرْنَا مَكْرًۭا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

Viraj: And they planned a plan, and We planned a plan, while they perceived not.

Austin: Nine persons who caused corruption and did not amend. Ibn 'Abbas, radiyallahu anhuma, in Ibn Kathir: these were the ones who killed the she-camel; the deed was by their urging. They swore by Allah to kill Salih alayhis salam by night, him and his family, and to tell his heir: we were not witnesses, and we are truthful. They planned a plan, and We planned a plan. The ayah after these: see how was the outcome of their plan; We destroyed them and their people, all.

How the nine ended before the rest, the Qur'an leaves unsaid. Ibn Kathir, in the Stories, says stones were sent on them before their people. Al-Tabari carries two tellings: a rock that fell where they waited, and the ground that gave way under them. Reports, with no verdict between them.

Viraj: So the plan to kill him came after the camel, or before?

Austin: After, in Ibn Kathir's order. He says that when Salih alayhis salam gave them three days, they resolved that same night to finish him first. The Qur'an itself gives the oath and the outcome, not the hour.

Victor: Mm. A plan made at night. Those are the ones that go wrong.

They called their companion15:18

Austin: Surah al-Qamar gives the deed itself in six words.

54:29 in Arabic.

فَنَادَوْا۟ صَاحِبَهُمْ فَتَعَاطَىٰ فَعَقَرَ

Salma: But they called their companion, and he dared and hamstrung her.

Austin: They called their companion, and he dared, and hamstrung her. 'Aqara, the second word tonight. Al-Qurtubi explains it: to cut a leg so the animal falls; and because the cut usually leads to the slaughter, the word came to mean the killing itself. Five times the Qur'an uses this verb, and every time it is this deed.

One man's hand. They called him.

Salma: They called. So it starts with a crowd, and ends with one hand.

Austin: That is the shape. And Surah ash-Shams gives the hand a name of a kind.

The most wretched of them16:05

Austin: Surah ash-Shams: who went forth, what Salih alayhis salam said, and what came of it.

91:12 in Arabic.

إِذِ ٱنۢبَعَثَ أَشْقَىٰهَا

Victor: When the most wretched of them was sent forth.

91:13 in Arabic.

فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ نَاقَةَ ٱللَّهِ وَسُقْيَٰهَا

Victor: And the messenger of Allah Salih said to them, "Do not harm the she-camel of Allah or prevent her from her drink."

91:14 in Arabic.

فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُم بِذَنۢبِهِمْ فَسَوَّىٰهَا

Victor: But they denied him and hamstrung her. So their Lord brought down upon them destruction for their sin and made it equal upon all of them.

Austin: When the most wretched of them was sent forth. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, spoke of this man in a sermon. 'Abdullah ibn Zam'ah, radiyallahu anhu, reports it in al-Bukhari: he mentioned the she-camel and the one who hamstrung her, recited this ayah, and said a tough man went for her, rarely matched, protected by his people, like Abu Zam'ah. The commentators name him Qudar ibn Salif; Ibn Kathir says so, and I leave his name there.

Then: the messenger of Allah said to them, the she-camel of Allah, and her drink. But they denied him and hamstrung her. They. Qatadah, in Ibn Kathir: it has reached us that he did not strike until the young and the old, the men and the women, had all given him their word. So their Lord brought destruction on them for their sin, and made it equal upon all.

Victor: One hand, and the whole town's word behind it. That is what the ayah is counting.

Austin: That is what it counts. And He does not fear the consequence: the last line of the surah.

Three days17:49

Austin: Back in Surah Hud: the deed, three days, and what came at the end of them.

11:65 in Arabic.

فَعَقَرُوهَا فَقَالَ تَمَتَّعُوا۟ فِى دَارِكُمْ ثَلَٰثَةَ أَيَّامٍۢ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ وَعْدٌ غَيْرُ مَكْذُوبٍۢ

Yu: But they hamstrung her, so he said, "Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. That is a promise not to be denied."

11:66 in Arabic.

فَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا صَٰلِحًۭا وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ بِرَحْمَةٍۢ مِّنَّا وَمِنْ خِزْىِ يَوْمِئِذٍ ۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ ٱلْقَوِىُّ ٱلْعَزِيزُ

Yu: So when Our command came, We saved Salih and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us, and saved them from the disgrace of that day. Indeed, it is your Lord who is the Powerful, the Exalted in Might.

11:67 in Arabic.

وَأَخَذَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ ٱلصَّيْحَةُ فَأَصْبَحُوا۟ فِى دِيَٰرِهِمْ جَٰثِمِينَ

Yu: And the shriek seized those who had wronged, and they became within their homes corpses fallen prone

Austin: Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. A promise not to be denied. Ibn Kathir tells the three days in the Stories: the first morning their faces yellow, the second red, the third black, and on the fourth morning the end. Al-Tabari's reports give the colours in two orders. Reports, both, with no grade in the books. What the Qur'an gives is three days, and a promise kept.

The end itself the Qur'an names four ways: here the shriek; in Al-A'raf the earthquake; in Fussilat the thunderbolt; in al-Haqqah the overpowering blast. Ibn Kathir joins them: a cry from above, and a shaking from beneath.

Viraj: So the shriek in Surah Hud and the earthquake in Al-A'raf are one morning, told with different words for it?

Austin: One morning. Each surah names the part of it that serves its own telling, and the commentators read the words together. And before it, the line Al-A'raf does not carry: We saved Salih and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us. An-Naml says it too, and Fussilat: We saved those who believed.

Yu: I didn't know that. In Al-A'raf it just ends. I always wondered about the people who believed.

Austin: Al-A'raf leaves them to Surah Hud and an-Naml. One more thing Al-A'raf keeps. Salih alayhis salam turned from them and said: I conveyed my Lord's message to you and advised you, but you do not like advisors. Before their end or after, the commentators differ. Ibn Kathir says after, and compares the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, speaking to the slain at Badr; al-Tabari says before, as he left; others allow either. Where Salih alayhis salam went afterwards, the Qur'an does not say, and the reports say only: it is said.

Victor: Mm. Leave it where the Qur'an leaves it.

The companions of al-Hijr, long after20:47

Austin: Surah al-Hijr names the place, and it is the place the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, came to, long after.

15:82 in Arabic.

وَكَانُوا۟ يَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ ٱلْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا ءَامِنِينَ

Salma: And they used to carve from the mountains, houses, feeling secure.

15:83 in Arabic.

فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ ٱلصَّيْحَةُ مُصْبِحِينَ

Salma: But the shriek seized them at early morning.

15:84 in Arabic.

فَمَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ

Salma: So nothing availed them from what they used to earn.

Austin: Homes carved from the mountains, feeling secure. The shriek at early morning. Nothing availed them of what they used to earn. Now the ninth year after the Hijrah. The army on its way to Tabuk camps at al-Hijr, by the houses of Thamud. Ibn 'Umar, radiyallahu anhuma, reports in al-Bukhari that the people drew water from its wells and kneaded dough with it; the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, had the water poured out and the dough fed to the camels, and took them on to the well the she-camel used to drink from.

And he said: do not enter the dwellings of those who wronged themselves unless you enter weeping, lest what befell them befall you. Then he covered his head and rode fast until he had crossed the valley.

Victor: He knew the well. The sign they killed still marked the good water.

Austin: The one well he chose was hers. Ibn Ishaq, rahimahullah, relates, and Ibn Kathir notes he gives no chain for it, that he also said: let none of you go out tonight except with a companion; and that two men of Banu Sa'idah went out alone, one was choked where he stood, and the wind carried the other to the mountains of Tayyi'. The hadith of Abu Humayd, radiyallahu anhu, in al-Bukhari and Muslim, puts a night of strong wind at Tabuk itself: no one should stand, tie your camels; a man stood, and the wind carried him to the mountain of Tayy. Story and hadith, each in its place.

And at al-Hijr, two more things he said. Jabir, radiyallahu anhu, reports, in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, and Ibn Kathir says its chain is sound, though the six books left it out: do not ask for signs; the people of Salih asked for them; she came in by this pass and went out by that pass; they hamstrung her, and the cry took every one of them but a man who was in the Haram of Allah. And Abu Kabsha al-Anmari, radiyallahu anhu, in the Musnad too, Ibn Kathir calls the chain good: people were hurrying into the houses to look, and the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, called them to prayer and said, why enter on a people Allah is angry with? Shall I not tell you of something more wondrous? A man from among yourselves, who tells you of what was before you and what will be after you. So be upright.

Viraj: That's my question from the start, answered at the place. Don't ask for a sign. There is one speaking to you.

Victor: And what does a man do with that on Monday morning? Pass the ruins. Don't stop to stare.

Austin: That is the Sunnah at al-Hijr, and it is where the story was taking us.

A sign for us23:50

Austin: Al-Isra' says why signs are no longer sent on demand, and names Thamud.

17:59 in Arabic.

وَمَا مَنَعَنَآ أَن نُّرْسِلَ بِٱلْءَايَٰتِ إِلَّآ أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا ٱلْأَوَّلُونَ ۚ وَءَاتَيْنَا ثَمُودَ ٱلنَّاقَةَ مُبْصِرَةًۭ فَظَلَمُوا۟ بِهَا ۚ وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِٱلْءَايَٰتِ إِلَّا تَخْوِيفًۭا

Viraj: And nothing has prevented Us from sending signs except that the former peoples denied them. And We gave Thamud the she-camel as a visible sign, but they wronged her. And We send not the signs except as a warning.

Austin: We began with a question: what happens to people who get exactly the sign they asked for? Thamud got her. A visible sign, the ayah says, and they wronged her. Nothing has prevented Us from sending signs except that the former peoples denied them.

Ibn Kathir reports under this ayah, from Imam Ahmad, that the Quraysh asked for the hill of Safa to be turned to gold, and that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was given the choice and chose the door of repentance and mercy for them. No grade is given with it, so I tell it as his report. The Qur'an's own line is the one to carry: We send not the signs except as a warning.

Two things for us. The sign we were given is the one Abu Kabsha heard about: a man from among ourselves, telling us what was before us, and this Book in our hands tonight. We do not need a she-camel. And when we come to someone's ruin, a people's or a person's, the Sunnah is not to stare. He covered his head, and wept, and asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to spare him their end.

Your questions, and two for your circle25:32

Austin: Before the two questions for your circle, yours. Salma?

Salma: Mine is about the books. The rock, the colours, the names. The Qur'an gives none of that. How much of it do we carry?

Austin: Carry the Qur'an. The commentators pass the stories on as stories, and most of them have no chain, and they say so: the commentators mention; it is said. Ibn Kathir himself, after the longest telling, writes that part of it goes against what is plain from the Qur'an, and leaves it there. So we tell them the way they told them, with the name on them, and we build nothing on them.

Salma: Then why tell them at all?

Austin: Because the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, told Thamud's story at the place, with the pass she came through in front of him. A story with its source on it is how a circle learns to read the books, and learns the difference.

Salma: That helps. The name on it.

Yu: So basically: name on it, or leave it out.

Austin: Name on it, or leave it out. That is the whole of it.

Viraj: Mine. For years I thought the believers of Thamud died with everyone else, because Al-A'raf stops at the earthquake. Did they?

Austin: Hud says: We saved Salih and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us; an-Naml and Fussilat say it again. Al-A'raf tells the end of the deniers and leaves the rest to the other tellings. That is how the Qur'an tells a story. Nine places, each with its own part.

Viraj: So you need all nine to see the whole?

Austin: You need the nine. Now the two for your circle. Yu, the first.

Yu: Thamud asked for a sign, and got exactly the one they asked for. What sign are we still waiting for before we trust Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and what has He already given us?

Austin: Victor, the second.

Victor: At Thamud's ruins he told his Companions not to enter the homes of people who had wronged themselves unless they entered weeping. When someone falls, online or in a group chat, what would help us pass as he did, not watch like a show?

Austin: The full questions are in the study notes for your circle.

Yu: That second one is going to follow me into every group chat, Victor.

Close27:43

Austin: Anything you're taking with you?

Salma: Ayah. I'll hear the word differently now, in the Qur'an and on the road.

Victor: His head covered. That one is mine.

Austin: Mine is the line Jabir carried: do not ask for signs. I have one. That's one I need this week.

Let us end the way the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, ended a gathering. Abu Barza, radiyallahu anhu, reports he called these words an expiation for what happens in it. Salma?

Salma: Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ashhadu an la ilaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.

Austin: Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except You. I seek Your forgiveness, and I repent to You.

All: Ameen.

Viraj: The study pages for the passage of Al-A'raf that tells of Salih and Lut alayhimas salam are on the halaqa website, for your own circle, with the questions and the words.

Austin: And if this was your first story night with us, you are very welcome back for the next. Jazakumullahu khayran for listening.

Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.