Nabi Hud, Nabi Salih, and Nabi Shuayb (AS) — The Prophets of the Ancient Peoples

The Quranic Pattern of the Ancient Peoples

Before the mission of Nabi Ibrahim (AS) established the prophetic lineage that runs through to Islam, the Quran describes a series of prophets sent to the ancient peoples of the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding regions. These stories share a common structure — what scholars call the qissa (narrative) pattern:

1. A prophet is sent to his own people
2. He calls them to tawhid and righteous conduct
3. The people reject him, often mocking and threatening
4. The prophet is protected while the people are destroyed
5. The destruction is specific to the people’s particular sin

The Quran uses this pattern to issue a collective warning to the Quraysh (and all subsequent readers): the peoples before you were also mighty, also proud of their civilization, also disbelieving — and they were destroyed. “Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with ‘Ad?” (89:6) “And Thamud — did any remain of them?” (69:5)

Nabi Hud (AS) and the People of ‘Ad

The People of ‘Ad

‘Ad was a powerful ancient civilization in what is today identified as the southern Arabian Peninsula (possibly the Hadramawt region of Yemen). The Quran describes them as a people of great physical stature and impressive construction: “Do you build upon every height a monument, vainly? And take for yourselves strong fortresses that you might abide eternally?” (26:128-129) They were proud of their power: “Who is greater than us in strength?” (41:15) — a question the Quran answers immediately: “But did they not see that Allah who created them was greater than them in strength?”

The Mission of Nabi Hud (AS)

Hud (AS) was sent to ‘Ad as one of them: “And to ‘Ad [We sent] their brother Hud.” (7:65) He said:

“O my people, worship Allah — you have no deity other than Him. Will you not fear Him?” (7:65)

The leaders of ‘Ad accused Hud of being foolish and lying. He responded: “O my people, there is no foolishness in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds — I convey to you the messages of my Lord and am to you a trustworthy advisor.” (7:67-68)

Hud continued: “And remember when He made you successors after the people of Nuh and increased you in stature extensively. So remember the favors of Allah so that you might succeed.” (7:69) — He reminded them of their very greatness as a ni’mah (blessing) that should generate gratitude, not arrogance.

The Destruction of ‘Ad

When ‘Ad refused, the divine judgment came: “So We sent upon them a screaming wind during days of misfortune to make them taste the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life.” (41:16) And: “The [destructive] wind was made to rage against them for seven nights and eight days in succession, so you would see the people therein fallen as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees.” (69:7)

The wind — the same wind that is subjected to Sulayman AS in another context — became the instrument of their destruction. Those who boasted of their strength were destroyed by the strength of the air itself.

Hud and those who believed with him were saved: “And when Our command came, We saved Hud and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us. And We saved them from a harsh punishment.” (11:58)

Nabi Salih (AS) and the People of Thamud

The People of Thamud

Thamud was a civilization that succeeded ‘Ad in the Arabian Peninsula, traditionally located in the region of al-Hijr in northwest Arabia (the Quran calls them Ashab al-Hijr — companions of al-Hijr, 15:80). The Quran describes their distinctive achievement: “You carve from the mountains, houses, with skill.” (26:149) They carved their homes into the rock — the famous Nabataean city of Petra and the site of al-Hijr (modern Madain Salih) are often associated with these ancient cave-builders.

The Mission of Nabi Salih (AS)

“And to Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih.” (7:73)

Salih’s message was the same: tawhid and righteousness. 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.” (11:61)

The She-Camel — Naqa Allah

The sign given to Thamud was the divine she-camel (naqa Allah) — a miraculous camel that appeared as a divine sign. Salih commanded: “This is the she-camel of Allah — a sign for you. Leave her to feed upon the earth and do not touch her with harm, lest there seize you a painful punishment.” (7:73)

The camel grazed freely; it had rights over the water supply (the tradition says it would drink the well on alternate days and provide milk). For a time, the camel was honored. Then “they hamstrung her.” (7:77) — a group from among them killed the divine sign.

“So he said: ‘Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days — that is a promise not to be denied.’” (11:65) Three days of warning, then:

“And the thunderous blast seized those who had wronged — they became within their homes [corpses] fallen prone.” (11:67)

The thunderous roar (sayhah) — or the earthquake (rajfa, 7:78) — destroyed Thamud. Only Salih and those who believed survived.

Nabi Shuayb (AS) and the People of Midian

The People of Midian

Midian (Madyan) was a people in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula — near what is today the Gulf of Aqaba. They were a commercial people, engaged in trade, and the Quran describes their specific sin as economic: cheating in measure and weight, and creating mischief in the earth.

The Mission of Nabi Shuayb (AS)

“And to Midian [We sent] their brother Shuayb.” (7:85)

Shuayb’s call was distinctive for its economic emphasis: “Give full measure and do not be of those who cause loss. And weigh with an even balance. And do not deprive people of their due and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.” (26:181-183)

The Quran has Shuayb address economic justice as a core religious obligation — the exploitation of others in commerce is not a minor infraction but a rejection of divine guidance: “O my people, be just in measurement and weight, and do not deprive people of their things, and do not go about the earth causing corruption.” (11:85)

The people of Midian threatened Shuayb and those who believed with him. Shuayb’s response: “O my people, work according to your position — I am working. You are going to know to whom will come a punishment that will disgrace him and who is a liar. So watch; indeed, I am with you a watcher.” (11:93)

The punishment: “And a thunderous blast seized those who had wronged — they became within their homes [corpses] fallen prone.” (11:94) — the same sayhah that destroyed Thamud.

Shuayb as Nabi Musa’s Father-in-Law

The tradition identifies Shuayb (AS) as the wise man whose daughters encountered Musa at the well in Midian after Musa fled Egypt. Musa drew water for their flock, and the elder daughter invited him to meet their father. Shuayb offered Musa a place to stay, and in time Musa married one of his daughters and worked for him for ten years.

“He said: ‘I wish to wed you one of these two daughters of mine, on [the condition] that you serve me for eight years; and if you complete ten, it will be [as a favor] from you.’” (28:27)

This connection gives Shuayb a unique position in the prophetic chain: not in the lineage of the six Natiqs, but the teacher-father figure who sheltered Musa during his period of preparation, and from whose family Musa drew his first household of faith. The years with Shuayb in Midian were the period in which Musa moved from Egyptian prince to prepared prophet — and Shuayb’s wisdom and righteousness were the environment in which that transformation occurred.

The Common Teaching of the Three Stories

The three stories — ‘Ad, Thamud, Midian — repeat with variations, and the variations are themselves the teaching:

‘Ad were destroyed for kibr (pride) in their power. Thamud were destroyed for jahd (rejection) of the divine sign. Midian were destroyed for zulm (injustice) in economic practice. Three different expressions of the same root rejection: the refusal to submit to divine authority in the domain of their particular strength (power, signs, commerce).

The Quran pairs these stories with the warning: “So did their transgression fall back upon them” — the principle that the punishment is often a form of the sin itself. Those who relied on their power were defeated by the most minimal of powers (wind and sound). Those who were proud of their permanent stone homes found themselves dead in those homes.

Ta’wil of the Ancient Peoples

The zahir is the historical record: three prophets, three peoples, three destructions — a warning to the listeners that civilizational pride without divine submission ends in destruction.

The batin is the pattern of the soul that receives divine guidance and rejects it in the domain of its particular strength. Every soul has an ‘Ad in it — a domain of power it is proud of. Every soul has a Thamud in it — a divine sign it is tempted to harm when it threatens its comfort. Every soul has a Midian in it — an economic or relational domain where justice can be quietly cheated.

The prophet sent to each is the divine word itself — the inner voice, the Imam’s ‘ilm, the du’a that comes in the moment of trial — calling the soul to submit in the very domain where submission is hardest. The soul that kills the divine she-camel in itself — that suppresses the sign it has been given — has three days of grace, and then the inner sayhah of consequence.

Hud, Salih, and Shuayb were not destroying voices but saving ones: “I do not ask of you for it any payment. My payment is only from the Lord of the worlds.” (26:109, 127, 145, 164, 180) — the same refrain, across all five prophets in Surah al-Shu’ara’, is the message: the prophet asks nothing for himself. The rejection is the people’s loss, not his.

See also: Prophet Nuh, Sayyidna Ibrahim, Prophet Musa, Ismaili Cosmology, Tawhid Divine Unity