An Atheist Explores the Qur'an Part Eighteen: A Compendium of Prophets; Plus Beware of “The Cry” (Hud (Hud) 1-123)

Hud (Hud) 1-123
A Compendium of Prophets; Plus Beware of “The Cry”

Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0

For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com

And now:

Hud (Hud) 1-20

“Alif, Lām, Rā. [This is] a Book, whose signs have been made definitive and the elaborated from One [who is] all-wise, all-aware”

This surah is about the prophet Hud (Hood), who comes after Noah and apparently prophesies to the Ad (Aad) people of the pillared city of Iram. Not, as far as I can recall, something from the Bible. I wonder, however, if there’ll actually be much about Hud, or if it will be like the previous surah Yunus (Jonah) which only briefly mentions the title character.

The first 20 verses are nothing very exciting, merely the usual repetition about “There is no animal on the earth, but that its sustenance lies with Allah, and He knows its [enduring] abode and its temporary place of lodging. Everything is in a manifest Book”  and “They are the ones for whom there shall be nothing in the Hereafter but Fire: what they had accomplished in the world has failed, and their works have come to naught.”

Here the ire is reserved for people who refuse to be convinced by the Prophet’s arguments, such as

“Do they say, ‘He has fabricated it?’ Say, ‘Then bring ten sūrahs like it, fabricated, and invoke whomever you can, besides Allah, should you be truthful’”. It’s all a bit defensive and not very interesting.

Hud 21-40

“Certainly We sent Noah to his people [to declare]: ‘Indeed I am a manifest warner to you,”

This section continues the previous theme for a few verses, and includes a parable of “two parties is that of one who is blind and deaf and one who sees and hears” – plainly the deaf and dumb party are the non-believers.

Then, however, we get onto a re-telling of the story of Noah, and here God first tells Noah to go and preach to his people. In the OT version, God simply selects Noah for no obvious reason, and there’s nothing about anyone being warned – the Qur’anic version, at least, seems a bit more fair since the people of the Earth are given a chance before they are all drowned.

There’s a bit of a debate between Noah and his people, however, the “elite” choose not listen and turn him away, so work begins on the Ark. Oh, those “elite”. They’re probably Liberal Media Elite as well: “But the elite of the faithless from among his people said, ‘We do not see you to be anything but a human being like ourselves, and we do not see anyone following you except those who are simpleminded riffraff from our midst. Nor do we see that you have any merit over us. Rather we consider you to be liars.’”

Hud 41-60

“And it sailed along with them amid waves [rising] like mountains. Noah called out to his son, who stood aloof, ‘O my son! ‘Board with us, and do not be with the faithless!’”

In this version of the Flood, Noah has a son that chooses to stay behind, but gets drowned. God tells Noah that this was no son of his because he chose to refuse God (even though, in fact, the son states that he will place his faith in God to be saved from a mountaintop). Noah, basically, says, “okay, fair enough”.

“Then it was said, ‘O earth, swallow your water! O sky, leave off!’ The waters receded; the edict was carried out, and it¹ settled on [Mount] Judi. Then it was said, ‘Away with the wrongdoing lot!’”

Mount Judi? So, not Mount Ararat, or the Mountains of Ararat. It’s almost like this is all being made up.  God then tells Noah to start up new nations, although it looks like Allah has already decided that the new nations will not please Him, since He says that “and nations whom We shall provide for, then a painful punishment from Us shall befall them”. So; I’ll provide for these nations, but only so I can burn them all later. Okay….

Finally we get to Hud; “And to ʿĀd [We sent] Hūd, their brother. He said, ‘O my people! Worship Allah. You have no other god besides Him: you merely fabricate [the deities that you worship].” There’s nothing in the writing to suggest when Hud was sent, we must assume post-Flood at some point but the language kind of makes his sound contemporary with Noah.

Hud tries to persuade the people of Ad to give up their idol worship and polytheism, but they don’t listen to him.

Hud 61-80

“And to Thamūd [We sent] Ṣāliḥ, their brother. He said, ‘O my people! Worship Allah. You have no other god besides Him. He brought you forth from the earth and made it your habitation. So plead with Him for forgiveness, then turn to Him penitently. My Lord is indeed nearmost [and] responsive.’”

Well, it looks like we’ve already forgotten about Hud. Now we turn to Salih, who is sent to warn the city? Nation? Of Thamud. There’s some stuff here about them ham-stringing a she-camel which seemed familiar; we’ve had this list of prophets before, haven’t we? Where I thought there was going to be an elemental-themed destruction to each place. Here, Thamud is struck by a sickness known enigmatically as “The Cry” – “The Cry seized those who were wrongdoers, and they lay lifeless prostrate in their homes”. I like that, The Cry, it sounds like something from Doctor Who.

Moving on, we get a garbled version of Abraham, Sarah’s late-life pregnancy and the people of Lot. It’s kind of implied here that Abraham is in Sodom at the time, although in the Biblical version he meets the angels of God on the road there. But then we do go to Lot, who offers up his daughters to the angry mob of gay-ers “Then his people came running toward him, and they had been committing vices aforetime. He said, ‘O my people, these are my daughters: they are purer for you. Be wary of Allah and do not humiliate me with regard to my guests. Is there not a right-minded man among you?’” At least here, according to the commentary, it is “purer” for the mob to “marry” the daughters. Sounds like a polite euphemism to me though.

Hud 81-100

“So when Our edict came, We made its topmost part its nethermost, and We rained on it stones of laminar shale”

That’s a very specific detail – Sodom is destroyed by rains of laminar shale. I’m glad we got the geology right, at least (erm…). Lot’s wife isn’t specifically turned into salt here, instead “she will be struck by what strikes them”. So, presumably laminar shale as well. (And I’ve just realised that this is Rocks Fall Everyone Dies).

Moving on quickly, we get another prophet, Shu’ayb, who is sent to Midian to inspect their weights and measures. “O my people! Observe fully the measure and the balance, with justice, and do not cheat the people of their goods, and do not act wickedly on the earth, causing corruption.”

There’s some back and forth between Shu’ayb and the Midianites, and once again I find myself wondering why a God that can see all time and space is particularly worried about trading standards. The Midianites get a dose of The Cry, by the way.

Hud 101-123

“Such is the seizing of your Lord when He seizes the townships that are wrongdoing. Indeed His seizing is painful, severe.”

Yes, no-one likes a painful seizing. The theme of prophets continues a bit, “Certainly We gave Moses the Book, but differences arose about it, and were it not for a prior decree of your Lord, a decision would have been made between them; indeed they are in grave doubt concerning it”. Which is a neat little sidestep about doctrinal differences. But this doesn’t last for many verses before we revert to platitudes.

“So be steadfast, just as you have been commanded— [you] and whoever has turned [to Allah] with you— and do not overstep the bounds” the Qur’an says. To which I say okay, but what are the bounds? Surprisingly, the Qur’an does actually provide some concrete advice – “Maintain the prayer at the two ends of the day, and during the early hours of the night. Indeed good deeds efface misdeeds”. That’s something, at least, although it’s not enormously helpful from a practical standpoint. It then ends with some more about how God does what He wants to, and that’s about it.

There really wasn’t much about Hud in this surah to warrant being named after him; also the notes claim that this was the only prophet where people listened, which isn’t borne out in the actual text. Frankly, I feel a bit conned.