The Example of Prophet Saleh AS- Hearing stories about prophetic stories is something that is quite common among Muslims around the world. Because telling prophetic stories also means studying the history of world development, especially in the perspective of Muslims because from the creation of the first human, namely the prophet Adam AS to the last prophet that must be known, namely the prophet Muhammad SAW, always gave birth to various historical events and the development of knowledge that is useful to this day .
The prophetic story this time that will be discussed is the story of the prophet Saleh AS, who is included in the 25 prophets that must be known, just like the other prophets. He is also tasked with conveying the commands of God Almighty, especially to the Thamud, to leave misguidance towards the path of truth, namely the path that is blessed by God. .
Even though the prophets who have existed are told to have different stories, they have one main characteristic, namely being good role models in dealing with any difficulties they experience in spreading God’s commands and good religious teachings.
Even though it is said that these prophets always faced obstacles in the form of insults, rejection, and even death threats, as God’s messengers they always responded to these unpleasant actions with kindness and always believed in the power of God Almighty.
The prophet Saleh AS was no exception, who was also sent by God to spread goodness. He certainly preached by good example, not by violence and did not force preaching, but always reminded that there is only one God who should be worshiped, namely Allah SWT.
History of the Prophet Saleh AS
Saleh (Arabic: صالح, Shāliḥ) is a character in the Qur’an, namely an apostle who was sent to the Thamud people. Prophet Saleh was blessed with a miracle in the form of a she-camel that came out of the rock as a provision for preaching. As with other prophets in the Qur’an, Saleh’s story also emphasizes the message of the oneness of God
Some religious leaders say that the genealogy of the prophet Shaleh is Shaleh bin Ubaid bin Masih bin Ubaid bin Hadi bin Thamud bin Katsir bin Aram/Iram bin Sem/Sam bin Nuh. According to a valid opinion, Saleh was sent before the time of the prophet Abraham, although some other scholars say later.
Some scholars report that Prophet Saleh AS had a father named Ubaid. Prophet Saleh AS was appointed a prophet by Allah SWT in 2100 BC.
So it can be concluded that Prophet Saleh AS still has the blood of Prophet Noah AS. Prophet Saleh AS came from the Arab nation, especially from the Thamud tribe. According to the history of Abu Dzar, besides Prophet Saleh AS, the other Arab prophets were Prophet Shoaib US, Prophet Hud US and Prophet Muhammad SAW.
Prophet Saleh AS was a prophet sent after Prophet Hud US and Prophet Ibrahim US. Prophet Saleh AS lived in the North Arabian region during his lifetime in Al-Hijr to be precise. During his time in Al-Hijr, Prophet Saleh AS was one of the people who was highly revered and respected by the people of Al-Hijr, namely the Thamud.
The verse which states the story of the prophet Saleh AS is as follows:
“And to the Thamud, (We sent) their brother Saleh. He said, ‘O my people! Worship Allah! There is no god (worship) for you besides Him. Indeed, clear evidence has come to you from your Lord. This (a) she-camel from Allah is a sign for you. Let him eat on God’s earth, don’t hurt him, later you will get a painful punishment as a result.’ — Al-A’raf (7): 73
Saleh was sent to the other Thamudites who came to power after the destruction of the early Ad tribe. The Thamud are said to have built palaces on flat land, while hills and mountains were carved to be used as houses. There are also gardens and springs in the land of the Thamud.
Nabi Saleh AS advised the Thamud people to worship God alone and fear Him. Nabi Saleh AS also stressed that he did not demand anything in return from them while preaching.
Nabi Salih AS was actually one of the respected Thamud people and was supposed to be a follower of their traditions. However, the Thamud leaders were disappointed when Saleh insisted on the oneness of Allah and demanded that they abandon the worship that had been part of their tradition for generations.
Some of the Thamud believe in Shaleh, while some others do not obey him, even oppose him, so that the Thamud are divided into two factions that are mutually hostile. The leader of the Shaleh followers was Junda’ bin Amru bin Mahlab bin Lubaid bin Jawas and he was one of the Thamud leaders.
Several other figures also wanted to follow Saleh, but their intention was thwarted by Dzu’aib bin Amru bin Lubaid Al-Habbab and Rabbab bin Sya’r bin Julmas, who were Thamud figures who opposed Saleh. Saleh also invited his cousin Junda’ bin Syihab to follow his teachings, but Dzu’aib and Rabab prevented him.
His opponents accused Saleh of witchcraft.
They also did not accept that someone who claimed to be a messenger of Allah was just an ordinary person like them, so that Saleh was considered a liar and arrogant person, and his opponents demanded a miracle from Saleh to prove his prophethood.
Follow the story of Prophet Saleh
In conveying da’wah to his people, Prophet Saleh AS certainly encountered various obstacles from his people who did not believe in the existence of the power of God Almighty.
In fact, they do not worship God as an expression of gratitude and thanks. They disobey Allah SWT and worship idols with their disbelief.
Like the previous prophets, this is what happened to Prophet Saleh. When he told the Thamud people the truth, they did not receive it well. And, here are some summaries of the exemplary things we can learn from the story of the prophet Saleh AS.
1. Never Give Up In Conveying Kindness
Hearing the calls repeated by Prophet Saleh AS, the Thamud even became angry and replied:
“O Saleh, in fact you were once one of us whom we trusted. Do you forbid us to worship what our ancestors worshiped? Really, we doubt and worry about the religion you mentioned to us.” (Surah Hud verse 62).
With this answer, a small group of Thamud people did accept Prophet Saleh’s teachings, but the majority of the rich and old people still refused. They think that the words of Prophet Saleh are nothing but nonsense.
Since the Thamud people rejected this call for themselves, Nabi Saleh did not necessarily give up on the situation. Then Prophet Saleh asked Allah to give a miracle so that the people of Thamud believed in him.
God ordered Nabi Saleh to hit the rock face in front of him with his hand. Then a very large and fat camel emerged from the rock by God’s permission.
After the miracle appeared, Nabi Saleh said:
“O my Ummah, this is Allah’s camel as a miracle (showing) all of you the truth, so let him eat in the land of Allah and do not bother him with any disturbance whatever will be. That makes you all close to the punishment of Allah.” (QS Hud verse 64).
Residents of Thamud saw the incident and were immediately shocked. Some acknowledged his prophethood. However, most of them thought that what Nabi Saleh did was a magic trick to deceive them.
Prophet Saleh ordered his people not to disturb the she-camel. He had his people take turns milking and drinking the milk of the magic camel.
However, the presence of the miraculous camel worried some of the Thamud, who opposed the teachings of Prophet Saleh. Because camels drink a lot of water in the Thamud spring. In addition, many of the Thamud livestock lack water.
2. Stay away from Sin to Avoid the Punishment of Allah SWT
Seeing the camels being killed by the Thamud people made Nabi Saleh sad. Then He said that doom awaits the people of Thamud who do not return to the right path.
On the first day before the punishment that killed the camel killers and the lawless Thamud, their faces turned yellow. On the second day, their faces turned red. And on the third day their faces turned black.
Ibn Kathir narrated that on the fourth day after sunrise Allah SWT imposed a severe punishment on the rebellious Thamud people. The punishment they received was a loud voice from above the heavens and a great earthquake. The camel killers and their group against Nabi Saleh AS also died while lying in his house.
It is said that no one who opposed the Prophet Saleh AS survived the doom except for Kalbah bint As-Salq who survived. Kalbah was a slave who ran away to an Arab village during the judgment and informed the people there. A resident gives a drink to Kalbah. But after drinking, Kalba immediately died. Such is the punishment of Allah SWT.
Prophet Saleh AS and his followers who believe in Allah SWT survived the incident.
Although the Qur’an does not tell about the life of Nabi Saleh AS and his followers after the incident with the Thamud people, there are sources that say they moved to the Ramlah area in the Palestinian Territory.
Before the Day of God’s Punishment, Nabi Saleh and his followers left the area. Hearing Nabi Saleh’s threat, Thamud planned to kill Nabi Saleh.
When they were about to kill Nabi Saleh, suddenly there was thunder and a very strong earthquake. Suddenly, a boulder of unknown origin hit their heads.
3. Building a strong brotherhood with his people
As stated in the Qur’an that the prophet Saleh was a prophet sent by Allah SWT for his own people, namely the Thamud, as stated in the following verse:
“And to Thamud (We sent) their brother Shaleh. O my people, worship Allah, for you there is no god but Him. He has created you from the earth (soil) and made you prosperous, therefore ask His forgiveness, then repent to Him, Verily, my Lord is very near (His mercy) and allows (the prayers of His servants) “. (Surah Hud: 61)
Prophet Saleh in his preaching prioritized polite speech and manners even though he received opposition from his own people, especially from the rich and elderly, but Prophet Saleh still did not give up to unite the brotherhood among the Thamud itself through the preaching he conveyed to follow God’s commands Almighty.
4. A Brave Person
The example that we can take from the next story of the prophet Saleh is that he was a very brave man, this was proven by his story during his preaching to the Thamud, even though the Thamud themselves were rich and powerful people.
The Thamud are the descendants of the ‘Ad. They are highly skilled in agriculture, animal husbandry and building architecture. The Thamud are rich and prosperous. They can build beautiful houses and charming skyscrapers.
The Thamud were able to carve and shape mountains into beautiful houses and buildings. The body of the Thamud is tall, slender and strong. The people from the Thamud are the same as the people of ‘Ad who worship idols.
The residents of the Thamud are also arrogant, arrogant, happy to get drunk, cruel, unfair and other criminals.
Then Allah SWT. sent His envoy, namely Prophet Saleh as to preach and improve the morals of the Thamud people.
Conclusion
This is a brief discussion of the example from the story of Prophet Saleh AS. Not only discussing the history of the Prophet Saleh AS, but also discussing what examples we can take from the story and character of Prophet Saleh AS.
From the story of the prophet Saleh AS mentioned above, there are many examples that we can learn and lessons that we can learn to live our daily lives. Reading and emulating the story and character of Prophet Saleh AS teaches us to always do good and be patient with every test given by Allah SWT.
Thus a review of the exemplary story of the prophet Saleh AS. For Sinaumed’s who want to learn all about the story of the example of the prophet Saleh AS and knowledge related to other religions, you can visit sinaumedia.com to get related books. As #FriendsWithoutLimits, sinaumedia always provides the best products, so you have the best and latest information for you.
Author: Pandu Akram
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