Saleh’s 120-Year-Long Effort to Guide Infidels

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Hazrat Saleh (AS) was chosen by God as a prophet when he was 16 and for 120 years, he tried to invite people to the right path but few people accepted his invitation and were saved from divine punishment.

Salah was an Arab prophet and a descendant of prophet Nuh. The Quran points to his name after Nuh and Hud. According to history books, there has been a 100-year gap between Saleh and his predecessor, Hud. Saleh has been named the third prophet who invited people to monotheism.

The Quran refers to the name of Saleh nine times in different Surahs but other religious texts give no reference to him.

He was given the responsibility of prophethood at the age of 16, assuming the role for 120 years. He was the prophet of the Thamud tribe in ancient Arabia. This tribe was worshipping 70 idols and God sent Saleh to guide them out of the darkness.

For years, Saleh made every effort to grow monotheism in his tribe but to no avail. Eventually, he proposes a challenge in a discussion with the community. He first asks idols for their names but receives no answer. He then asks people to demand something from God Almighty.

People then ask Saleh to tell his God to emerge a camel from stones and upon God’s will, a red she-camel came out of the mountains.

Saleh then asks his tribe to respect the camel but few individuals decide to destroy the animal. Their denial of the truth was the reason that God imposed a divine punishment on Thamud.

Saleh and a group of his followers migrated to areas such as Mecca, Samarra, and Gaza. There are several places in Palestine today under the name of Saleh that historians believe show descendants of the Thamud tribe had lived in these lands. According to some narrations, Saleh passed away aged 280 and was laid to rest in Najaf’s Wadi Al-Salam Cemetery.