Madain Saleh.. Pause to reflect.

قُلْ سِيرُواْ فِي الأَرْضِ ثُمَّ انظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ

Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): "Travel in the land and see what was the end of those who rejected truth.”

Getting Here

Getting here isn’t too difficult.  Madain Saleh is only a few Kilometres away from Al-Ula.  Enter Madain Saleh in to Google Maps and off you go.  Be warned though: do NOT select ‘Madain Saleh Entrance’ that entrance is no longer being used.  Select Madain Saleh.  That’s the main entrance.

Purpose of your visit

Let’s be clear, you don’t visit Madain Saleh for tourism or a nice day out.  Rather, the purpose of our visit should be to ponder and reflect over the end of a nation who disobeyed Allah and rejected the truth.  Our visit should make us weep.  Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed by (a place called) Al Hijr, he said, "Do not enter the house of those who were unjust to themselves, unless (you enter) weeping, lest you should suffer the same punishment as was inflicted upon them.” 

On that note, be aware that some people also hold the opinion that it is forbidden to visit such place.  Allah knows best.

Important notes

It is not ascertained whether the houses and tombs you see in Madain Saleh today are from the time of Thamud or later.  There is an opinion which says that when Thamud were destroyed, the houses and everything else was destroyed with them. Allah alone knows best.  However, they do give us a good idea, if they are not from the time of Thamud, of how the dwelling places of Thamud would’ve looked like. 

Madain Saleh

Recently, on my long road trip, one of my stopovers was Madain Saleh.  A place I’ve wanted to visit but wasn’t sure what to expect… Standing here really does bring the many ayaahs about Aad and Thamud to life. You can't help but cry... This was a nation so advanced in so many things. Yet, when clear Ayaahs of Allah were brought to them, they not only rejected them but mocked them and mocked His messenger.

I can't help but notice some similarities between the tribe of thamud and some people in today's age. Thamud not only worshipped idols but to an extent believed themselves to be gods, we seek Allah's refuge from such. They believed they were the greatest of people on earth. Carving out houses in mountains and believing no harm shall ever befall them.

Look at our state today. Look at how people mock Islam and ridicule God. Look at how some are so arrogant that they belie God and some even claim they are God... Look at how advanced we claim to be today and see the similarities between us and thamud. And just like thamud, we too have been sent a reminder. The eternal miracle: AlQuran. Yet, many choose to reject and mock it.

Allah tells us to travel the land and see the end of those who rejected the truth, yet, like thamud who didn't learn from the end of Aad, some people in our time too refuse to learn from the mistakes of many before us…

This is the well where the she-camel drank from