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Hud was appointed to be the Prophet of Ad tribe. Ad, a fourth generation descendant of Noah. Hud and his people lived in the Yemeni province of Hadramawt. This region is at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, in an area of curved sand hills.
The lineage of Prophet Hud is as follows: He is Hud, the son of ^Abdullah, the son of Rabah, the son of al-Jalud, the son of ^Ad, the son of ^Aws, the son of Iram, the son of Sam, the son of Noah.
People of Ad were skillful masons and were mostly well off. Having abundant wealth as well as a long life made them proud of their achievements and considered themselves to be invincible. The people of the tribe of Ad were very tall and strong. The tallest among them was 100 cubits in height and the shortest was 60 cubits in height (~90 feet).
Since Hud was a man from amongst them, it was certain that they would be more inclined to listen to him.He was enjoying a great patience in guiding people.
“To the ‘Ad People (We sent) Hud, one of their own brethren. He said: “O my people! Worship God! Ye have no other god but Him. You are only forgers. “O my people! I ask of you no reward for this (Message). My reward is from none but Him who created me: Will ye not then understand? “And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him (in repentance): He will send you skies pouring abundant rain, and add strength to your strength: So turn ye not back in sin!” They said: “O Hud! No clear (Sign) hast thou brought us, and we are not the ones to desert our gods on thy word! Nor shall we believe in thee! “We say nothing but that (perhaps) some of our gods may have seized thee with evil.” He said: “I call God to witness, and do ye bear witness, that I am free from the sin of ascribing to Him, “Other gods as partners!”
(11:50-55)
He then stood up and prayed: “Give me victory on what they called me a liar.” Then the order of God came – The punishment of no more rain. There was a terrible drought for three years. The grass and cattle were destroyed. Then a huge black cloud appeared. The people of ‘Ad were very happy when they saw this cloud because they assumed that it contained much rain. They declared that this cloud would bring back the land and the rivers would flow again. Little did they know what was in store for them. Instead, this black cloud brought a terrible wind that would lift men up and then drop them with such force that they would crush. Many men even tried to escape this wind by hiding in the mountain caves. However, there was no escape from this wind. This wind would even follow them in the caves.
The people of ‘Ad used to boast that there was none stronger than they. God surely proved them wrong for their disobedience. God destroyed not only the people of ‘Ad, but the entire city as well.
They did not heed the warnings and were punished with hurricanes so fierce that nothing could withstand it. The people of Ad were punished with the severest of hurricanes, which was unrelenting and smashing their cities for 8 days and 7 nights, continuously!
Afterwards the remnant who survived established themselves in Yemen.
The Story of Prophet Hud (as) is a major lesson for all of us. It is a prime example of how civilizations grow arrogant, haughty and proud and then are brought down with the severest of punishments.
