7-73 And to Thamud (We sent) their brother Salih.a He said: O my people, serve Allah, you have no god other than Him. Clear proof has indeed come to you from your Lord. This is Allah’s she-camel — a sign for you — so leave her alone to pasture in Allah’s earth, and do her no harm, lest painful chastisement overtake you.b
وَإِلىٰ ثَمودَ أَخاهُم صالِحًا ۗ قالَ يا قَومِ اعبُدُوا اللَّهَ ما لَكُم مِن إِلٰهٍ غَيرُهُ ۖ قَد جاءَتكُم بَيِّنَةٌ مِن رَبِّكُم ۖ هٰذِهِ ناقَةُ اللَّهِ لَكُم آيَةً ۖ فَذَروها تَأكُل في أَرضِ اللَّهِ ۖ وَلا تَمَسّوها بِسوءٍ فَيَأخُذَكُم عَذابٌ أَليمٌ (۷۳)
7-73a: The tribe of Thamud, the progeny of another grandson of Aram, was closely related to the tribe of Ad, but the tribe reached its zenith about two hundred years after Ad. This tribe was settled north of Madinah in the area of Al Hijar which is a mountainous area. Some have said that their name Thamud is derived from ثَمَد which means a small collection of water that does not flow (R). They lived in a mountainous terrain, and it appears that they survived by collecting rainwater as springs were very scarce. Mention of this tribe besides the present section is to be found in 11:61-68, 14:9, 15:80-84, 25:38, 26:141-159, 27:45-53, 29:38, 41:13-14,17-18, 51:43-45, 53:51, 54:23-31, 69:4-5, 89:9, 91:11-15.
7-73b: ناقَةُ اللَّه – The extension of Allah is for reverence, just as the extension is in بیت اللَّه. The extension is to show a trivial attachment because the camel was fixed as a sign by God that whoever kills it will be destroyed. Other things attributed to the camel, that it was born from stone or that it alone drank up the water of the entire tribe are mere fables that have no reality. The sign of the camel was given after the tribe had rejected Divine guidance and given the lie to it. The camel was a mere sign for the coming punishment as is manifest from: جاءَتكُم بَيِّنَةٌ مِن رَبِّكُم (Clear proof has come to you from your Lord), that is the evidence proving the truth had come to them, but they did not care for it and so now the punishment must come. This narration with more details appears in Surah Hud (Chapter 11) and Surah Al Shuara (Chapter 26). In the last-mentioned surah, after a lengthy discussion, the opponents themselves ask for a sign: فَأتِ بِآيَةٍ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصّادِقينَ (so bring a sign if thou art truthful) (26:152). Further the killing of the camel appears to have been a prelude to their plan to kill Salih. Mention of this conspiracy to kill Salih and his companions is made in Surah Namal 27:48-49 where it is stated لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُ وَأَهلَهُ (we shall attack him and his family by night) (27:49). Thus, the killing of the camel was a sign to put the next part of the plan to kill Salih into action. Salih had told his opponents to let the camel graze and drink water, and this was meant to convey to them that their enmity was with him and not with the camel and they should not hurt the harmless animal on that score.
7-74 And remember when He made you successors after ‘Ad and settled you in the land — you make mansions on its plains and hew out houses in the mountains. So remember Allah’s bounties and act not corruptly in the land, making mischief.a
وَاذكُروا إِذ جَعَلَكُم خُلَفاءَ مِن بَعدِ عادٍ وَبَوَّأَكُم فِي الأَرضِ تَتَّخِذونَ مِن سُهولِها قُصورًا وَتَنحِتونَ الجِبالَ بُيوتًا ۖ فَاذكُروا آلاءَ اللَّهِ وَلا تَعثَوا فِي الأَرضِ مُفسِدينَ (۷۴)
7-74a: سُهولِ – It is plural of سَہۡل which means facile or easy. Smooth and flat land is called سَھۡل which is the opposite of حَزۡن (rugged and hard ground) (R).
آلاءَ – Its root is الیٰ and its meaning is blessings or bounties. The singular is اَلًی or اِلًی (R).
تَنحِتونَ – نحت is sculpting, chiseling, carving or hewing wood, stone or other hard material.
7-75 The arrogant chiefs of his people said to those who were weak, to those who believed from among them: Do you know that Salih is one sent by his Lord? They said: Surely we are believers in that wherewith he has been sent.
قالَ المَلَأُ الَّذينَ استَكبَروا مِن قَومِهِ لِلَّذينَ استُضعِفوا لِمَن آمَنَ مِنهُم أَتَعلَمونَ أَنَّ صالِحًا مُرسَلٌ مِن رَبِّهِ ۚ قالوا إِنّا بِما أُرسِلَ بِهِ مُؤمِنونَ (۷۵)
7-76 Those who were haughty said: Surely we are disbelievers in that which you believe.
قالَ الَّذينَ استَكبَروا إِنّا بِالَّذي آمَنتُم بِهِ كافِرونَ (۷۶)
7-77 Then they hamstrung the she-camel and revolted against their Lord’s commandment, and said; O Salih, bring us that with which thou threatenest us, if thou art of the messengers.a
فَعَقَرُوا النّاقَةَ وَعَتَوا عَن أَمرِ رَبِّهِم وَقالوا يا صالِحُ ائتِنا بِما تَعِدُنا إِن كُنتَ مِنَ المُرسَلينَ (ٔ۷۷)
7-77a: عَقَرُوا – عَقُر is the reality of a thing and عَقَرۡتهٗ is to sever the reality or head of a thing. The عَقُر of a date tree is to cut it and the عَقُر of a camel is to slaughter or kill it (R).
7-78 So the earthquake seized them, and they were motionless bodies in their abodes.a
فَأَخَذَتهُمُ الرَّجفَةُ فَأَصبَحوا في دارِهِم جاثِمينَ (۷۸)
7-78a: الرَّجفَةُ – رجف means extreme agitation as in: يَومَ تَرجُفُ الأَرضُ وَالجِبالُ (On the day when the earth and mountain quake) (73:14), يَومَ تَرجُفُ الرّاجِفَةُ (The day when the quaking one shall quake) (79:6). The meaning of ارجاف is to put into severe agitation whether by speech or action, as in: وَالمُرجِفونَ فِي المَدينَةِ (the agitators in Madinah) (33:60). رجفة is earthquake.
جاثِمينَ – جَثۡم is spoken of a bird that has landed and hugs the ground. So, the meaning of جاثِمينَ is that they stayed where they were (R), just as people are who get buried under the rubble after an earthquake. The use of the word الرَّجفَةُ shows clearly that the punishment of Thamud was by an earthquake. Other words used for earthquake are صیحة , صاعقة etcetera because earthquakes are frequently accompanied by a rumbling noise.
7-79 So he turned away from them and said: O my people, I delivered to you the message of my Lord and gave you good advice, but you love not good advisers.a
فَتَوَلّىٰ عَنهُم وَقالَ يا قَومِ لَقَد أَبلَغتُكُم رِسالَةَ رَبّي وَنَصَحتُ لَكُم وَلٰكِن لا تُحِبّونَ النّاصِحينَ (۷۹)
7-79a: The aorist tense is used to show the continuity of the habit under which the opponents of truth do not like good advice. This habit prevailed among the enemies of truth at the time of Salih as well.
7-80 And (We sent) Lot, when he said to his people: Do you commit an abomination which no one in the world did before you?a
وَلوطًا إِذ قالَ لِقَومِهِ أَتَأتونَ الفاحِشَةَ ما سَبَقَكُم بِها مِن أَحَدٍ مِنَ العالَمينَ (۸۰)
7-80a: According to the chronological order, Abraham should have been mentioned next but instead he is completely skipped and the incident with Lot is taken up. There are two reasons for this. First, Abraham has already been mentioned separately in Surah Al Anam. Second, this separate mention is not without reason. The purpose of mentioning the prophets here is to show that their opponents were destroyed. So, only those prophets are mentioned whose opponents opposed the truth and were destroyed. As there is no mention of a punishment overtaking the opponents of Abraham, he is mentioned separately. The treatment of the opponents of the Holy Prophet was like that of the opponents of Abraham, and they were not destroyed. However, their power was broken, and they were eradicated and in that respect, they are included with the opponents of the other prophets.
Noah and the alterations in the Bible: Lot is Abraham’s nephew but was Divinely ordained as a prophet to another nation, the Sodomites. The Bible narrative of Lot portrays him guilty of the worst sinful conduct, namely that he was guilty of incest with his daughters, and I seek Allah’s protection for this statement. Just as there are alterations about several prophets in the Bible and many wrong things about them have found their way into the Bible, the conduct narrated about Lot is another such example and provides additional evidence of Bible tampering. Sale has admitted that Lot was a prophet and although the Christians may want to refute this to save the Bible from the charge of tampering, they cannot do so in light of the clear evidence present in Peter II, 2:7,8 “ And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)” Can someone who is guilty of such sinful behavior, that is have an incestuous relationship with his daughters, be called righteous? And why would he be vexed with similar sinful behavior of others? Thus, the Bible itself gives the lie to the Bible. The right decision is of the Quran that Lot was a prophet.
Apart from here, Lot is mentioned at the following places in the Quran: 6:86, 11:74-83, 15:58-76, 21:71-74,75, 26:160-174, 27:54-58, 29:32-35, 37:133-138, 51:32-37, 53:53-54, 54:33-39, 66:10
7-81 Surely you come to males with lust instead of females. Nay, you are a people exceeding bounds.
إِنَّكُم لَتَأتونَ الرِّجالَ شَهوَةً مِن دونِ النِّساءِ ۚ بَل أَنتُم قَومٌ مُسرِفونَ (۸۱)
7-82 And the answer of his people was no other than that they said: Turn them out of your town; surely they are a people who aspire to purity!a
وَما كانَ جَوابَ قَومِهِ إِلّا أَن قالوا أَخرِجوهُم مِن قَريَتِكُم ۖ إِنَّهُم أُناسٌ يَتَطَهَّرونَ (۸۲)
7-82a: Lot had come from the outside and settled with the Sodomites to try and reform them. He had done this under Divine instructions.
7-83 So We delivered him and his followers, except his wife — she was of those who remained behind.a
فَأَنجَيناهُ وَأَهلَهُ إِلَّا امرَأَتَهُ كانَت مِنَ الغابِرينَ (۸۳)
7-83a: أَهل – All those people are included in the أَهل of a person who relate to each other by sharing the same house, or the same objective, or the same town, or the same religion (R). The أَهل here are followers of Lot (IJ). Without a doubt, the people who are saved with the prophet are his followers and the reference in أُناسٌ يَتَطَهَّرونَ (people who aspire purity) in the previous verse is to Lot’s followers.
غابِرينَ – غَابِر are those who are left after their companions have departed, and غُبار is the dust left in the atmosphere after a dust storm. Derived from it is غَیَرَۃ as in عَلَيها غَبَرَةٌ (will have dust on them) (80:40) which is a metaphor to indicate the change in facial expression because of sorrow.
7-84 And We rained upon them a rain. See, then, what was the end of the guilty!a
وَأَمطَرنا عَلَيهِم مَطَرًا ۖ فَانظُر كَيفَ كانَ عاقِبَةُ المُجرِمينَ (۸۴)
7-84a: مَطَرًا – مطر only means rain, but مَطَرَ is used for rain in a beneficial sense and اَمۡطَرَ is used for rain when it comes as a punishment (R).
The nature of this rain is described elsewhere as a rain of stones (11:82 and 15:74) which indicates a volcanic eruption.
Bayan-ul-Quran 