The story in short
- Arabic name
- هود
- English name
- Hud
- Named in the Quran
- 7 times
- Sent to
- The people of Ad, at al-Ahqaf (the sand dunes of southern Arabia)
- Main surahs
- Hud, Al-Araf, Ash-Shuara
- In the list of 25
- 4 of 25
In short: Hud was sent to his own people, Ad, who lived at al-Ahqaf. They were powerful and proud and worshipped idols. Hud called them to worship Allah alone and to seek His forgiveness, asking no payment. They rejected him. Allah sent a cloud they hoped would bring rain, but it was a furious wind that blew for seven nights and eight days and destroyed them. Hud and the believers were saved.
The story of Hud
A strong and proud people
Ad came after the people of Nuh and were given great strength (7:69). They built a landmark on every height for amusement and took for themselves palaces as if they would live forever (26:128-129). When they were warned, they said: "Who is greater than us in strength?" The Quran answers: "Did they not consider that Allah who created them was greater than them in strength?" (41:15).
Hud's call
Hud was "their brother", one of them. He said: "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him" (11:50). He asked no reward from them (11:51), and told them: "Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. He will send rain from the sky upon you in showers and increase you in strength added to your strength" (11:52). They replied that he had brought no clear proof and that one of their gods had possessed him with evil (11:53-54). Hud stood alone against them all: "Plot against me all together; then do not give me respite. Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord" (11:55-56).
The wind
The punishment came as something they had wished for. "When they saw it as a cloud approaching their valleys, they said, 'This is a cloud bringing us rain!' Rather, it is that for which you were impatient: a wind, within it a painful punishment" (46:24). It was a screaming, violent wind that Allah imposed on them for seven nights and eight days, leaving them "as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees" (69:6-7). Hud and those who believed with him were saved by a mercy from Allah (11:58).
Aishah said that when the Prophet ﷺ saw clouds or wind, worry showed on his face. When she asked why, he said he feared it might be like the people of Ad, who saw a cloud and thought it was rain.1 He also said: "I was helped by the east wind, and Ad were destroyed by the west wind".2
Key verses
وَيَٰقَوْمِ ٱسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ يُرْسِلِ ٱلسَّمَآءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًۭا وَيَزِدْكُمْ قُوَّةً إِلَىٰ قُوَّتِكُمْ وَلَا تَتَوَلَّوْا۟ مُجْرِمِينَ ﴿٥٢﴾
Wa yaa qawmis taghfiroo Rabbakum summa toobooo ilaihi yursilis samaaa'a 'alaikum midraaranw wa yazidkum quwwatan ilaa quwwatikum wa laa tatawallaw mujrimeen
And O my people, ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. He will send [rain from] the sky upon you in showers and increase you in strength [added] to your strength. And do not turn away, [being] criminals."
Quran 11:52 · Sahih International · Read in Surah Hud
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ عَارِضًۭا مُّسْتَقْبِلَ أَوْدِيَتِهِمْ قَالُوا۟ هَٰذَا عَارِضٌۭ مُّمْطِرُنَا ۚ بَلْ هُوَ مَا ٱسْتَعْجَلْتُم بِهِۦ ۖ رِيحٌۭ فِيهَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ ﴿٢٤﴾ تُدَمِّرُ كُلَّ شَىْءٍۭ بِأَمْرِ رَبِّهَا فَأَصْبَحُوا۟ لَا يُرَىٰٓ إِلَّا مَسَٰكِنُهُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ ﴿٢٥﴾
Falammaa ra awhu 'aaridam mustaqbila awdiyatihim qaaloo haazaa 'aaridum mumtirunaa; bal huwa masta'jaltum bihee reehun feehaa 'azaabun aleem Tudammiru kulla shai'im bi-amri Rabbihaa fa asbahoo laa yuraaa illaa masaakinuhum; kazaalika najzil qawmal mujrimeen
(24) And when they saw it as a cloud approaching their valleys, they said, "This is a cloud bringing us rain!" Rather, it is that for which you were impatient: a wind, within it a painful punishment, (25) Destroying everything by command of its Lord. And they became so that nothing was seen [of them] except their dwellings. Thus do We recompense the criminal people.
Quran 46:24-25 · Sahih International · Read in Surah Al-Ahqaf
وَأَمَّا عَادٌۭ فَأُهْلِكُوا۟ بِرِيحٍۢ صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍۢ ﴿٦﴾ سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍۢ وَثَمَٰنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًۭا فَتَرَى ٱلْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَىٰ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍۢ ﴿٧﴾
Wa ammaa 'Aadun fa uhlikoo bireehin sarsarin 'aatiyah Sakhkharahaa 'alaihim sab'a la yaalinw wa samaaniyata ayyaamin husooman fataral qawma feehaa sar'aa ka annahum a'jaazu nakhlin khaawiyah
(6) And as for 'Aad, they were destroyed by a screaming, violent wind (7) Which Allah imposed upon them for seven nights and eight days in succession, so you would see the people therein fallen as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees.
Quran 69:6-7 · Sahih International · Read in Surah Al-Haqqah
Lessons from the story
- Strength and buildings do not protect a people who forget the One who gave them.
- Istighfar is a cause of rain and of added strength, as Hud promised his people.
- Reliance on Allah lets one person stand firm against a whole nation.
- The Prophet ﷺ took these stories as real warnings, and turned to Allah when the weather changed.
Where it is in the Quran
The main passages about Hud, with links to read and listen to each surah:
- Surah Hud 11:50-60
- Surah Al-Araf 7:65-72
- Surah Ash-Shuara 26:123-140
- Surah Al-Ahqaf 46:21-26
- Surah Al-Haqqah 69:6-8
- Surah Al-Fajr 89:6-8
What is authentic, and what is not
Descriptions of Ad as giants of enormous height, and the many names given to their kings, come from Isra'iliyyat and later stories. "Iram, who had lofty pillars" (89:7) is explained by some scholars as the name of the tribe and by others as a city. The location of Hud's grave in Hadramawt is a local tradition, not something proven by an authentic text.
We follow Ibn Kathir's Qasas al-Anbiya only where it rests on the Quran and sound hadith. Isra'iliyyat are reports taken from earlier scriptures and storytellers. Scholars allow mentioning them only when they do not contradict the Quran and Sunnah, and they are never treated as certain.
Questions
Who were the people of Ad?
An ancient Arab people who came after Nuh's people, lived at al-Ahqaf and were known for their strength and buildings (7:69, 46:21).
Where did the people of Ad live?
The Quran says al-Ahqaf (46:21), a word that means curved sand dunes. Scholars generally place it in southern Arabia, between Oman and Yemen.
How were the people of Ad destroyed?
By a violent wind that blew for seven nights and eight days (69:6-7).
Why is Surah Hud named after him?
Because it tells his story (11:50-60), alongside those of Nuh, Salih, Ibrahim, Lut, Shuayb and Musa.
Sources
- Sahih Muslim 899, from Aishah.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1035; Sahih Muslim 900.
- Ibn Kathir, Qasas al-Anbiya, chapter on Hud, and his tafsir of 46:21-26.
- Quran: Arabic from the Tanzil Uthmani text, English by Sahih International. In quotations within the text, the prophets' names are given in their Arabic form (Musa for Moses, Ibrahim for Abraham).
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.