Now the story of Thamud comes after Äd:-

      ``And as for Thamud we guided them, but they preferred blindness over guidance...''

      Thamud were the inheritors of Äd's evil deeds and faithlessness. They took no lesson of the afflictions of their predecessors, and continued their evil ways. Thamud were a people who lived in the area between Medina and Syria. They were expert farmers with fertile lands, and were also good builders. They easily hewed their mountains into safe and secure houses. They generally had tall and strong bodies.

      Having such a great welfare, they turned to lusts, and lost their morals. So they forsook God, and drowned in evil deeds.

      Salih their prophet advised them and admonished them, but of no use.

      God Has given Man a Free Will; so in spite of their genetic and religious guidance, they preferred blindness over God's guidance deliberately.

      They asked their prophet for a unique miracle which was bringing out a camel from a rock! When the camel was born from the mother rock, they obstinately hamstrung the animal, and incurred the wrath of God through which a dreadful earthquake accompanied by flashes of thunderbolts scourged them when they were asleep or busy with their late night sins. They all perished with the exception of a few believers who had avoided evilِGod saved them.