ʿĀd

‘Ad (Arabic: عاد‎‎, ʿĀd) was an ancient tribe mentioned frequently in the Qur'an.^[1] ‘Ad is usually placed in Southern Arabia,^[2] in a location referred to as "al-Ahqaf" (Arabic: الأحـقـاف‎‎, "the Sandy Plains," or "the Wind-curved Sand-hills").^[1][3] The tribe's members, referred to as ‘Adites, formed a prosperous nation until they were destroyed in a violent storm. It came after they had rejected the teachings of a Monotheistic preacher called 'Hud'.^[1][2] ‘Ad is regarded as one of the original Arab tribes, the "lost Arabs". Their capital may have been what is known as "Iram dhat al-‘Imad" (Arabic: إرم ذات الـعـمـاد‎‎, Iram of the Pillars) in the Qur’an.^[2][4]

Legend

In religious stories, Hud and the tribe of ‘Ad have been linked to a legendary Malik (Arabic: مَـلِـك‎‎, King) called '‘Ad', who ruled over a region whose capital was "Wūbar".^[5]

Ontology of the Qur’an

There are 24 occurrences of the concept of ‘Aad in the Qur’an, namely (7:65:2) (this refers to second word of Surah 7, Verse 65), (7:74:7), (9:70:9), (11:50:2), (11:59:2), (11:60:10), (11:60:15), (14:9:9), (22:42:8), (25:38:1), (26:123:2), (29:38:1), (38:12:5), (40:31:5), (41:13:8), (41:15:2), (46:21:3), (50:13:1), (51:41:2), (53:50:3), (54:18:2), (69:4:3), (69:6:2) and (89:6:6).^[6]

See also

• Madyan (Midian)
• People of al-Ukhdud (Arabic: الأخـدود‎‎, "the Ditch", or a place near Najran)
• People of Lut (Lot)
• People of Ya-Sin
• Saba’ (Sheba)
• Thamud

References

1. E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. 1. BRILL. 1987. p. 121. ISBN 90-04-08265-4.
2. Glassé, Cyril; Smith, Huston (January 2003). The New Encyclopedia of Islam. Rowman Altamira. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7591-0190-6.
3. Quran 46:21 ^{(Translated by Shakir)}. "And mention the brother of ‘Ad; when he warned his people in the sandy plains [al-Aḥqāf] ..."
4. Quran 54 :23–31
5. E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. 8. BRILL. 1987. p. 1074. ISBN 90-04-08265-4.
6. http://corpus.quran.com/search.jsp?q=con%3Aaad