Life of HUD (PBUH) Part 1 By Sheikh Anwar Al-Awalaki

Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan the 1st caliph of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750 AD) moved the capital of the Muslim Empire from Medina north towards Damascus. From Damascus, the Muslim empire expanded tremendously. The Umayyads gave the world a number of architectural legacies including the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque in Damascus.

In the Jordanian desert the Umayyads built pavilions, caravan stations, secluded baths and hunting lodges known as Desert Castles. Filled with mosaic pavements, fresco paintings, carved stucco depicting people, animals, events and patterns; Desert Castles stand as monuments to the spectacular and original early Islamic art.

On a hilltop, not far from Jerash, you can visit the shrine of Prophet Hud Peace be Upon Him. Here is a modern mosque with a cave inside where Prophet Hud Peace be Upon Him is believed buried. He preached to the people of Ad to only worship the One God The One and Only God instead of their idols. Prophet Hud Peace be Upon Him has the 11th Sura in the Holy Qur'an named after him.

Known in Arabic as Fahl, Pella was the site of the famous Battle of Fahl, fought between Byzantines and the Muslim army led by Khalid ibn Al-Walid May Allah be Pleased with Him and Abu Ubeida Amer ibn Al-Jarrah May Allah be Pleased with Him in January 635 AD. The outcome was a Muslim victory and liberation of Jordan from Byzantine rule.




Allah the Almighty states: And to Ad people We sent their brother Hud. He said: "O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other Ilah (god) but Him; certainly, you do nothing but invent (lies)! O my people I ask of you no reward for it (the Message). My reward is only from Him Who created me. Will you not then understand? And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him, He will send you (from the sky) abundant rain, and add strength to your strength, so do not turn away as Mujrimeen (criminals, disbeliveers in the Oneness of Allah)."

They said: "O Hud! No evidence have you brought us and we shall not leave our gods for your mere saying! We are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness)."

HE said: "I call Allah to witness and bear you witness that I am free from that which you ascribe as partners in worship, and with Him (Allah). SO plot against me, all of you, and give me no respite. I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but HE has grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth). SO if you turn away, still I have conveyed the Message with which I was sent to you. My Lord will make another people succeed you, and you will not harm Him in the least. Surely, my Lord is Guardian over all things." ( 11:50-57 Quran)

Allah recounts his people's attitude towards the Day of Judgment: "The chiefs of his people, whom disbelieved and denied the meeting in the Hereafter, and to who We had given the luxuries and comforts of this life, said: "He is no more than a human being like you, he eats of that which you eat, and drinks of what you drink. If you were to obey a human being like yourselves then verily! You indeed would be losers. Does he promise you that when you have died and have become dust and bones, you shall come out alive (resurrected)? Far, very far, is that which you are promised. There is nothing but our life of this world! We die and we live! We are not going to be resurrected! He is only a man who has invented a lie against Allah, but we are not going to believe in him." (23:33-38 Quran) (more)



Almighty Allah repeated their words in the Quran: "O my Hud! No evidence have you brought us, and we shall not leave our gods for your mere saying! And we are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness)." (11:53-54 Quran)

Hud had to return their challenge. He had no other way but to turn to Allah alone, no other alternative but to give them a threatening ultimatum. he declared to them: "I call Allah to witness and bear you witness that I am free from that which you ascribe as pin worship with Him (Allah). SO plot against me, all of you and give me no respite. I put my trust in Allah, my Lord your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth). So if you turn away, still I have conveyed the message with which it was sent to you. My Lord will make another people succeed you, and you will not harm Him." (11:54-57 Quran)

Hud's people started to flee. They ran to their tents to hide but the gale became stronger, ripping their tents from their stakes. They hid under cloth covers but the gale became stronger and still and tore away the covers. It slashed clothing and skin. It penetrated the apertures of the body and destroyed it. It hardly touched anything before it was destroyed or killed, its core sucked out to decompose and rot. The storm raged for 8 days and 7 nights.

Almighty Allah recounts: Then when they saw it as a dense cloud coming towards their valleys, they said: "This is a cloud bringing us rain!" Nay but it is that torment which you were asking to be hastened! a wind wherein is a painful torment! Destroying everything by the command of its Lord! (46:24-25 Quran)

Allah the Exalted described it thus: And as for Ad, they were destroyed for a firious violent wind which Allah imposed on them for 7 nights and 8 days in succession, so that you could see men lying overthrown (destroyed) as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees! (Ch 69:6-7 Quran)

That violent gale did not stop until the entire region was reduced to ruins and its wicked people destroyed, swallowed by the sands of the desert. Only Hud and his followers remained unharmed. They migrated to Hadramaut and lived there in peace, worshipping Allah, their true Lord.