The People of Thamud and the Culture of Complicity
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious the Most Merciful
Complicity is a word we’ve heard often in the media. It is described as ‘involvement in a crime or an activity that is wrong.’ In the context of Gaza, it is by aiding and supporting the genocide we’re witnessing today.
There are many complicit in genocide: Western politicians, influencers, Hollywood and the media who are mouthpieces for Zionist slaughter. Opposing them are people of conscience. Activists who defend human rights, equality and protest against violence.
But there is a forgotten group in the middle—the vast majority—who do and say nothing at all. Their focus is on their jobs, families and entertainment. They favour a life of ease and comfort. This is another type of complicity - the refusal to enjoin good and forbid evil.
An example is the nation of Thamud, whose oppression led to their destruction. This article explores the mindset of complicit people and the evil end that awaits them.
The Call of Prophet Salih عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ
The people of Thamud were a unique nation. They were known for their architecture, who carved their homes into rocks. It was a skill no other nation had achieved before. Allah describes this in Surah Fajr:
Did you not see how your Lord dealt with ’Ȃd—˹the people˺ of Iram—with ˹their˺ great stature, unmatched in any other land; and Thamûd who carved ˹their homes into˺ the rocks in the ˹Stone˺ Valley.
Thamud believed their homes made them invincible as they were on high mountaintops, protected from strong winds, fire, earthquakes and floods. Prophet Salih عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ lived amongst them and was from a noble family. The chiefs hoped when he was older he would become their leader.
However this changed when Prophet Salih preached Tawhid (Islamic Monotheism) and to abandon their idol worship. They became hostile and rejected the message.
They argued, “O Ṣâliḥ! We truly had high hopes in you before this. How dare you forbid us to worship what our forefathers had worshipped? We are certainly in alarming doubt about what you are inviting us to.”
They accused him of being affected by magic - a common attack used by disbelieving people against their prophets. Thamud worried Prophet Salih’s followers would increase, so they demanded a miracle. They asked for a she-camel to come out of the mountains, agreeing to believe in the message if it happened. So Allah granted Prophet Salih عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ this miracle.
The people gathered on a specific day, calling out to Allah the Almighty. At that point a pregnant she-camel appeared from the mountains.
And We gave Thamud the she-camel as a clear sign, but they wrongfully rejected it. We only send the signs as a warning.
Some believed after witnessing this miracle but most remained stubborn in their ways and rejected the sign. The camel continued to live in Thamud, it was blessed with enough milk to suffice thousands. The people were commanded to share their water well with the camel: one day it would drink, and the next day the people would take their turn. This led to complaints that it consumed too much water and scared their cattle. Prophet Salih warned his people that harming the camel would lead to divine punishment. Despite this, nine men formed a plot to kill the she-camel of Allah.
Plot and the Punishment
The men waited until the night when the camel was resting and ambushed it. The most evil amongst them struck its legs and hacked it to pieces. The killers were cheered by their people who in their arrogance mocked Prophet Salih. He warned they had three days before their nation was destroyed. The chiefs demanded for the punishment to happen earlier, in which their prophet responded.
“O my people! Why do you ˹seek to˺ hasten the torment rather than grace? If only you sought Allah’s forgiveness so you may be shown mercy!”
Thamud also plotted to kill Prophet Salih عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ and his family, and wanted to cover up the crime with lies if confronted.
They vowed, “Let us swear by Allah that we will take him and his family down by night. Then we will certainly say to his ˹closest˺ heirs, ‘We did not witness the murder of his family. We are definitely telling the truth.’”
Three days went by and nothing happened, they joked that the warning was a lie. On the fourth day a thunderbolt filled the air followed by severe earthquakes, destroying their tribe and homeland. After this, a terrible sound wave came their way which killed them instantly. The nation of Thamud, was no more. Their strong buildings and mountain homes couldn’t protect them from divine punishment.
The Complicity of Thamud
It is important to note that only nine people conspired to kill the she-camel and one threw the first hit, yet all of their nation was wiped out.
This is explained in Surah Al-A’raf when Prophet Salih عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ returned to the place of destruction where its people lay dead. He said to the corpses:
"O my people! I have indeed conveyed to you the Message of my Lord, and have given you good advice but you like not good advisers."
This addresses the whole nation, who collectively rejected the message. Outside of a few violent instigators, the majority believed they could eat, drink, sleep and live comfortably in their houses and not be included in the punishment. What made them complicit is that the public knew of the plot to kill the she-camel and did nothing. Some celebrated the evil act, but most importantly no one confronted or exposed the scheme before it happened. The nine perpetrators represented the approval and consent of everyone. It drives the point that silence equals complicity.
Today’s Complicity Culture
In every age, the people who reject the truth are often the elite of society - the tribal chiefs, kings and rulers. They oppress the believers to retain their power. In America, there is Congress, its politicians, the Jewish lobbyists, corporations and Hollywood who fuel corruption, genocide, tyranny and evil. Opposing them are the activists, humanitarians and citizens of good conscience who sacrifice their wealth, time and freedom to safeguard the rights of humanity.
But these two groups are small. In between are the inactive majority completely unaware of what is happening in the world. The same way the Muslims are being slaughtered today and we are in our houses. For Muslims, particularly in the West, we have an active duty to shed our privilege to understand our government’s complicity in massacring the ummah. We have an obligation to use our voice, efforts and resources to create avenues of resistance.
In the Muslim community, complicity in evil is when a group avoids confronting oppression despite knowing its wrong. When mosques omit politics from their sermons in fear of state retaliation, Islamic schools dilute the Shariah in curriculums to please governments. Or when scholars refuse to criticise oppressive leaders in fear of imprisonment. This collectively fuels a culture of silence and inaction, instead of nurturing a generation who are active and self aware.
The ummah cannot remain silent while the world burns. Thamud were destroyed over a single camel - what is the consequence for the massacre of thousands live-streamed to the world?
We cannot afford to be bystanders any longer. The world is split between the forces of good and evil - there is nothing in between. Neutrality is siding with the oppressor.
The antidote to complicity culture is resistance. When today's activists call out the tyrants on their complicity in aiding a genocide, society must stand by them. The majority must come together to shed our privilege by demonstrating, educating, refuting lies and pushing back against Zionist propaganda. We need to educate Muslims who are politically inactive that this stance is no longer acceptable. When morally conscious believers become the majority, this will allow the forces of good to overcome those hellbent on evil.
May Allah protect us from being complicit in oppression and safeguard us from the punishment of Thamud. Ameen.
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Jazakallah khair for reading. Please benefit the ummah by sharing this knowledge and downloading a transcript below. Feel free to use it for your own research or personal study.
