It is a mansion. Everything about it gives a sense of splendour; of the presence of everything money could buy. From a distance, the passer-by could count chalets of different architectural designs. The roofing sheets, though now jaded and worn out, were the ones only the millionaire of yesterday could buy. Brethren, this is a mansion built by one of the powerful men of yesterday in this region. But alas! It is now desolate and derelict. It is now deserted and rejected. On your way from that other city and back, you could see its new “landlords” and “occupiers”: termites, rodents, maggots and other crawlers. The big mansion of yesterday is now a hut; it is loathed even by the sons and daughters of the big man of yesterday. It is loathed by those for whom they were supposedly built!
Brethren, look around our cities today and you will discover that there are new millionaires in town. Yes! Millionaires and billionaires: men and women who are competing, daily, for the world. They are competing to build new mansions and new estates. They are stealing from the public wealth to build houses that their children would put on sale after their demise. They are busy building mansions that will be ‘inherited’ by termites and caterpillar ants tomorrow!
Now when compared to the ones built by those who came before us, men and women of discernment would agree with me that our dwellings and mansions today, no matter the engineering wizardry that may be ‘inflicted’ on them, are actually like anthills in comparison to the ones built by, for example, the Thamud. Remember, the people of Thamud. Those were ‘great’ men.
Brethren, of peoples and nations mentioned in the Qur’an, the Thamud are the ones about whom we probably have the most extensive knowledge today. Historical resources reveal that a people called Thamud indeed existed. They are the ones referred to as the people of Hijr in the Qur’an. (Q.15). The Greeks also refer to these people as Tamudaei, i.e. Thamud, in the writings of Aristo, Ptolemy, and Pliny. They lived before Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), approximately between 400-600 AD. Eventually, they ceased to exist. They lived in luxurious dwellings. They lived in houses made not of bricks and blocks like yours and mine. They lived in mountains carved out by themselves with their own bare hands. Brethren, imagine how mighty a race the Thamud was! The Almighty alludes to this when He says: The people of al-Hijr denied the Messengers… They carved out houses from the mountains, feeling safe, but the Great Blast seized hold of them in the morning, so all that they earned was of no use to them.
(Q15:80-84)
Brethren, whenever Providence takes you on a trip to Jordan, inquire about the location of the Thamud. There you would see marvelous stonework and the expertise of those people. You would see their landmarks in the Rum Valley in Jordan, better known as Petra. Prophet Salih (a.s) to them: “Remember when the Almighty appointed you as successors to ‘Ad and settled you in the land. You built palaces on its plains and carved out houses from the mountains. Remember the Almighty’s blessings and do not go about the earth, corrupting it.” (Qur’an, 7:74)
In other words, having found themselves in luxury, the Thamud began to see themselves as the centre of the universe. They neglected the lessons that were inherent in their nature and existence: that the power which created them as powerful subjects is that whose power is inimitable.
Brethren, the Almighty has also likened earthly possessions, particularly those of those who disbelieve in His message, to a spider’s web. He says: “The parable of those who take protectors other than the Almighty is like that of a spider who builds for itself a dwelling, and surely the weakest of all dwellings is the dwelling of a spider if they but knew it.” [Q29:41]
Brethren, while visiting the people of Thamud with one of the harshest retributions for their iniquities, the Almighty probably desired to teach us some eternal lessons: that indulgence in wanton disobedience of His injunctions does not pay, neither in the short or long run; that nations that perpetrate evils which their predecessors never imagined, would also be visited by retributions the like of which is unknown to human history.
