Ala-Maududi
(7:73) And to Thamud[57] We sent forth their brother. Salih. He said to them: ‘0 my
people! Serve Allah, you have no other god than Him. Truly there has come to you a clear proof
from your Lord. This she-camel from Allah is a Divine portent for you.[58] So leave
her alone to pasture on Allah’s earth, and touch her with no evil lest a painful chastisement
should seize you.
57. The Thamud are another ancient Arab people, next only to the ‘Ad in fame. Legends relating to
them were quite popular in pre-Islamic Arabia. In fact poetry and orations of the pre-Islamic
(Jahiliyah) period abound with references to them. They are also mentioned in the Assyrian
inscriptions and in the Greek, Alexandrian and Roman works of history and geography. Some
descendants of the Thamud survived to a little before the birth of Jesus. The Roman historians
mention that they entered into the Roman army and fought against the Nabateans, their
arch-enemy.
The Thamud lived in the north-western part of Arabia which is still called al-Hijr. In the
present time there is a station on the Hijaz railway, between Madina and Tabuk. This is called
Mada’in Salih, which was the capital town of Thamud and was then known as al-Hijr, the rock-hewn
city. This has survived to this day and is spread over thousands of acres. It was once inhabited
by no less than half a million people. At the time of the revelation of the Qur’an Arab trade
caravans passed through the ruins of this city.
While the Prophet (peace be on him) was on his way, to Tabuk, he directed the Muslims to look
upon these monuments and urged them to learn the lessons which sensible persons ought to learn
from the ruins of a people that had been destroyed because of their evil-doing. The Prophet
(peace be on him) also pointed to the well from which the she-camel of the Prophet Salih used to
drink. He instructed the Muslims to draw water from that well alone and to avoid all other
wells. The mountain pass through which that she-camel came to drink was also indicated by the
Prophet (peace be on him). The pass is still known as Fajj al-Naqah. The Prophet (peace be on
him) then gathered all the Muslims who had been directed to look around that city of rocks, and
addressed them. He drew their attention to the tragic end of the Thamud, who by their evil ways
had invited God’s punishment upon themselves. The Prophet (peace he on him) asked them to
hastily move ahead for the place was a grim reminder of God’s severe punishment and he hence
called for reflection and repentance. (See waqidi, al-maghazi, vol. 3, pp. 1006-8. See also the
comments of Ibn Kathir on verses 73-8 – Ed.)
58. The context seems to indicate that the clear proof referred to in the verse stands for the
she-camel which is also spoken of as ‘a Divine portent’. In( al-Shu’ara’ 26: 154-8) it is
explicitly mentioned that the Thamud themselves had asked the Prophet Salih to produce some sign
which would support his claim to be God’s Messenger. Responding to it, Salih pointed to the
she-camel.
This illustrates clearly that the appearance of the she-camel was a miracle. Similar miracles
had been performed earlier by other Prophets with a view to fulfilling the demand of the
unbelievers and thus of vindicating their claim to prophethood. The miraculous appearance of the
she-camel reinforces the fact that Salih had presented it as a ‘Divine portent’ and warned his
people of dire consequences if they harmed it. He explained to them that the she-camel would
graze freely in their fields; that on alternate days she and other animals would drink water
from their well, They were also warned that if they harmed the she-camel they would be
immediatelv seized by a terrible chastisemen’ from God.
Such statements could obviously only have been made about an animal which was known to be of a
miraculous nature. The Thamud observed the she-camel graze freely in their fields and she and
the other camels drank water on alternate days from their well. The Thamud, though unhappy with
the situation, endured this for quite some time. Later, however, after prolonged deliberations,
they killed her. Such lengthy deliberations demonstrate that they were afraid to kill the
she-camel. It is clear that the object of their fear was none other than the she-camel as they
had no reason to be afraid of Salih, who had no power to terrify them. Their sense of awe for
the she-camel explains why they let her graze freely on their land. The Qur’an, however, does
not provide any detailed information as to what the she-camel looked like or how she was born.
The authentic Hadith too provide no information about its miraculous birth. Hence, one need not
take too seriously the statements of some of the commentators on the Qur’an about the mode of
her birth. However, as far as the fact of her miraculous birth is concerned, that is borne out
bv the Qur’an itself.