اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
The end of the torment of Noah’s people
The torment of Noah’s people ended after the destruction of the disbelievers and the salvation of the believers. The holy Qur’an says:
وَقِيلَ يَا أَرْضُ ابْلَعِي مَاءَكِ وَيَا سَمَاءُ أَقْلِعِي وَغِيضَ الْمَاءُ وَقُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ وَاسْتَوَتْ عَلَى الْجُودِيِّ
Then it was said, ‘O earth, swallow your water! O sky, leave off!’ The waters receded; the edict was carried out, and it settled on [Mount] Judi. Then it was said, ‘Away with the wrongdoing lot!’ (Hood: 44)
“Judy” means a fertile land with suitable environmental conditions for cultivation; it is not the name of a specific place or mountain peak that is not suitable for the agricultural life of the people of that day. Therefore, the holy Quran reports the landing of Noah and his companions in the blessed land: قِيلَ يَا نُوحُ اهْبِطْ بِسَلَامٍ مِنَّا وَبَرَكَاتٍ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى أُمَمٍ مِمَّنْ مَعَكَ؛ It was said, ‘O Noah! Disembark in peace from Us and with [Our] blessings upon you and upon nations [to descend] from those who are with you, and nations whom We shall provide for, then a painful punishment from Us shall befall them.’ (Hood: 48)
The universal prayer of the prophet Noah
After all the hardships he endured to deliver the divine message to the people, and after the long time he fought against his stubborn and rebellious people, he still considered himself indebted to God, and this teaches us that every effort we make and every hardship we endure should not make us proud for a moment if it is done in the way of God; however, we should always consider ourselves indebted and under the burden of divine grace. Therefore, after going through all these difficult stages, Noah asks God for mercy and forgiveness for the shortcomings that have happened by him:
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِمَنْ دَخَلَ بَيْتِيَ مُؤْمِنًا وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ؛
My Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and whoever enters my house in faith, and the faithful men and women, and do not increase the wrongdoers in anything but ruin.’ (No’ah: 28)
This prayer of Noah shows the spirit of all the divine prophets who are always compassionate for the happiness of human beings. Here, too, Noah asks God for mercy and forgiveness for all human beings.
Prophet Hood’s way of living
The prophet who is historically named after the prophet Noah is the prophet Hood. Holy Qur’an says that God chose the prophet Hood as the bearer of His message of guidance to the people of Aa’d:وَإِلَى عَادٍ أَخَاهُمْ هُودًا And to ‘Ad [We sent] Hud, their brother (Hood: 50). From this interpretation of the holy Qur’an, it is known that prophet Hood was a member of the people of Aa’d.
Characteristics of the Aa’d people
The people of Aa’d, like the people of Noah and the people of Thamud, are among the people who have been mentioned in many verses of the holy Qur’an as the great people of human history. Of course, the names of other tribes such as the Madin tribe and Al-Ras tribe are also mentioned in the Qur’an; however they are not as important as the people of Noah, Aa’d and Thamud.
The people of Aa’d were the descendants of Iram, a descendant of the prophet Noah. It is clear from the holy Qur’an that they had a population with advanced civilization in their time, a civilized urbanization, and luxurious and unique buildings and palaces. The holy Qur’an says:
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعَادٍ؛ إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ؛ الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلَادِ
Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with [the people of] ‘Ad; [and] Iram, [the city] of the pillars; the like of which was not created among cities; (Fajr: 6 – 8)
This advanced civilization had caused the pride and arrogance of the people of Aa’d, and they thought that there was no power superior to them in the world, it is a wrong belief that happens to every powerful human being at all times and we are witness of many examples in our time. Forgetting God when a person achieves a particular success causes him to be arrogant, and it is this unwarranted arrogance that sets the stage for man’s failure. The short-sighted arrogant man does not see the hand of God in his successes and will not understand his weakness until he gets into trouble. According to the holy Quran, such a person rebels: كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَيَطْغَى Indeed man becomes rebellious; when he considers himself without need. (Alaq: 6 -7)
The holy Qur’an says about the pride and arrogance of the people of Aa’d:
فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَقَالُوا مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً؟ أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً؟ وَكَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ
As for [the people of] ‘Ad, they acted arrogantly in the earth unduly, and they said, ‘Who is more powerful than us?’ Did they not see that Allah, who created them, is more powerful than them? They used to impugn Our signs; (Fosselat: 15)
The beginning of the invitation of the people of Aa’d by the prophet Hood
Prophet Hood started his invitation with monotheism. He called the people of Aa’d to worship the unique God and to deny the worship of idols that were worshiped as gods. Hood declared that the belief in the idols that humans make with their own hands is nothing but slander and falsehood: قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرُهُ إِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا مُفْتَرُونَ And to ‘Ad [We sent] Hud, their brother. He said, ‘O my people! Worship Allah. You have no other god besides Him: you merely fabricate [the deities that you worship]. (Hood: 50)
The point that the prophet Hood emphasized at the beginning of his call was what all the divine prophets had said to their people. All the prophets had declared that they did not ask for any reward from the people for all the hard work they did in order to lead their people and reform the affairs of their society: يَا قَوْمِ لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِنْ أَجْرِيَ إِلَّا عَلَى الَّذِي فَطَرَنِي أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ ‘O my people! I do not ask you any reward for it. My reward lies only with Him who originated me. Do you not exercise your reason? (Hood: 51)