وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَٰلِحًا ۗ قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥ ۖ قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم بَيِّنَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ هَٰذِهِۦ نَاقَةُ ٱللَّهِ لَكُمْ ءَايَةً ۖ فَذَرُوهَا تَأْكُلْ فِىٓ أَرْضِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَلَا تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوٓءٍ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
11:62; 27:46.
7:78; 11:65; 17:60; 26:156; 54:28; 91:14.
Important Words:
ثمود (Thamud) was the name of a tribe that lived after ‘Ad. The name may have been derived from the Arabic root ثمد. They say ثمدہ i.e. he dug out a hole in the earth so that water might collect in it (Aqrab). The tribe Thamud lived in the western part of Arabia, having spread from Aden northward to Syria. They lived shortly before the time of Ishmael. Their territory was adjacent to that of ‘Ad, but they lived mostly in the hills. For a fuller note on the subject see 11:62.
صالح (Salih) is an Arabic word being derived from صلح i.e. he was or became good or righteous. صالح means, a righteous person. See 2:12, 161. The Prophet Salih lived after Hud and was probably a contemporary of Abraham.
Commentary:
The camel formed the chief means of conveyance in Arabia, and it was on his she-camel that the Prophet Salih used to travel from place to place to preach his message. So he told his people that placing obstruction in the way of the free movements of the she-camel or doing harm to it would be tantamount to obstructing the work with which God had entrusted him, and that if they did not stand out of her way, God’s punishment would surely descend upon them. Thus it was that the she-camel was meant as a sign for the tribe of Thamud. There was nothing unusual about the camel itself. It was an ordinary animal. The sanctity that attached to it was that God had declared it to be a sign and a symbol of the sanctity and inviolability of the person of the Prophet Salih and doing an injury to it was declared to be tantamount to doing an injury to Salih himself and to hampering his work.
The words, leave her that she may feed in Allah’s earth, do not mean that she was to be allowed to graze in any field she pleased. What is meant is only that no obstruction was to be put in her way, and that she was to be permitted to proceed to any place to which Salih might choose to go. The declaration by Salih about the free movement of his she-camel was also in harmony with a time-honoured Arab custom.
7:78; 11:65; 17:60; 26:156; 54:28; 91:14.
11:62; 27:46.
The camel formed the chief means of conveyance in those parts and it was on his she-camel that the Prophet Salih used to travel from place to place to preach his Message. Placing obstruction in the way of the free movements of the she-camel or doing it harm was tantamount to obstructing the work with which God had entrusted Salih. There was nothing unusual about the she-camel itself. It was an ordinary animal. The sanctity that attached to it was that God had declared it to be a Sign and a symbol of the sanctity and inviolability of the person of the Prophet Salih, and so doing an injury to it was tantamount to doing an injury to Salih himself and to hampering his work.
The words do not mean that she was to be allowed to graze in any field she entered. The meaning is that no obstruction was to be put in her way and that she was to be permitted to proceed to any place to which Salih might choose to go. The declaration by Salih about the free movements of his she- camel was in harmony with a time-honoured Arab custom.
The Thamud tribe lived in the western parts of Arabia, having spread from Aden northward to Syria. They lived shortly before the time of Ishmael. Their territory was adjacent to that of ‘Ad, but they lived mostly in the hills.
The Prophet Salih lived after Hud and was probably a contemporary of Abraham.