Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:80
And certainly did the companions of Thamud deny the messengers.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Exalted says: The inhabitants of al-Ḥijr indeed gave the lie — and they were called its possessors because they dwelt there and resided in it, just as the Exalted says: وَنَادَى أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ أَصْحَابَ النَّارِ أَنْ قَدْ وَجَدْنَا مَا وَعَدَنَا رَبُّنَا حَقًّا — they were called the possessors of the Garden and the Fire on account of their dwelling and presence therein. Al-Ḥijr is the city of the Thamūd.
Qatāda used to explain the meaning of al-Ḥijr as Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: the inhabitants of al-Ḥijr — he said: the inhabitants of the valley.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us — he said: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, who mentioned al-Ḥijr as the dwelling-place of the Thamūd — he said: Sālim ibn ʿAbdallāh said that ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar said: "We passed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by al-Ḥijr, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to us: Do not enter the dwellings of those who wronged themselves — unless you are weeping, out of fear that there may befall you what befell them — then he urged on and quickened his pace until he had passed beyond it."
Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abān al-Miṣrī related to us, saying: Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq ibn Abī ʿAbbād al-Makkī related to us, saying: Dāwūd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym, on the authority of Ibn Sābiṭ, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbdallāh — that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said while he was in al-Ḥijr: "These are the people of Ṣāliḥ — Allah destroyed them, except for one man who was in the sacred precinct (ḥaram) of Allah; the sacred precinct of Allah protected him from the punishment of Allah." It was asked: O Messenger of Allah, who is that? He said: "Abū Righāl."
