Sehemu hii ya tatu ya sura inashughulikia swali lake kuu kwa namna tofauti na ile ya sehemu zake zilizotangulia. Inazungumzia hatima ya kaumu ya 'Ad na miji mingine iliyokuwa karibu na Makka. Kwa Hud, ndugu yao, ambaye Mungu alimtuma kuwa mjumbe Wake, walichukua msimamo kama ule wa washirikina wa Makka kwa Muhammad ﷺ, ndugu yao na mjumbe wa Mungu. Wote wawili walitoa pingamizi zilezile. Hud aliwajibu kwa namna nzuri ya Mitume, lakini ndani ya mipaka ya uwezo wake wa kibinadamu na utume aliopewa. Walipopuuza maonyo yake, waliangamizwa na adhabu ya Mungu iliyowaacha wakiwa wameangamizwa kabisa. Ingawa walikuwa na nguvu zaidi, utajiri zaidi na akili zaidi kuliko makafiri wa Makka, hakuna hayo yaliyowafaa. Wala miungu yao waliodai itawakaribisha kwa Mungu haikuwafaa chochote.

This third part of the surah addresses its central question in a different way to that of its earlier parts. It speaks of the fate of the ‘Ad and other townships around Makkah. Towards Hud, their brother, whom God sent as His messenger, they adopted a similar attitude to that of the idolaters in Makkah towards Muhammad, their brother and Gods messenger. Both raised the same objections. Hud answered them in the splendid manner of prophets, but within the limits of his human ability and the mission assigned to him. When they paid no heed to his warnings, they were smitten by God’s punishment that left them utterly destroyed. Although they were more powerful, wealthy and intelligent than the Makkan unbelievers, none of this was of any avail to them. Nor did their alleged deities, which they claimed would bring them closer to God, avail them of anything.

Makafiri wa Makka pia wanakumbushwa juu ya hatima waliyokutana nayo mababu zao, kwa kuwa nao walikuwa wamechukua mtazamo uleule. Wanaambiwa wazi kabisa kwamba nao watapata hatima ileile. Sura hiyo pia inawaonyesha mwelekeo ambao ujumbe wa Mwenyezi Mungu unafuata: ni thabiti na hauna mabadiliko. Vivyo hivyo, sheria ya Mungu inawahusu wote na haibadiliki. Tunauona mti wa imani wenye mizizi imara, matawi yake yakienea mbali katika vizazi vyote. Ni imani ileile kwa nyakati zote na jamii zote.

The Makkan unbelievers are also reminded of the fate their own ancestors met, given they too had adopted the same attitude. They are told in no uncertain terms that they will suffer the same fate. The surah also shows them the line the Divine message follows: it is consistent and unchanging. Likewise, God’s law applies to all and does not change. We see the tree of faith with firm roots, its branches stretched wide across the generations. It is the same faith for all times and communities.

Kumbukeni ndugu yake Ad, aliyewaonya watu wake waliokuwa wakiishi katika Bonde la Matuta ya Mchanga. Waonyaji wengine walikuja na kuondoka kabla yake na baada yake. Alisema: 'Msimwabudu yeyote isipokuwa Mungu. Ninaogopa kwamba adhabu itawapata siku ya kutisha' (Aya ya 21).

Remember that brother of the 'Ad who warned his people who lived in the Valley of the Sand Dunes. Other warners have come and gone both before and after him. He said: 'Worship none but God. I fear lest suffering befall you on a terrible day' (Verse 21)

Ndugu wa kabila la 'Ad ni Nabii Hud (amani iwe juu yake)

The brother of the ‘Ad is the Prophet Hud (peace be upon him)

ni nani anayetajwa hapa kwa cheo chake kama ndugu wa watu wake. Hii inaonyesha uhusiano wa upendo na kujali kwa pande mbili uliokuwepo kati yake na watu wake, ambao ungepaswa kuwafanya waitikie wito wake zaidi na kuwasukuma kumfikiria vyema yeye na yale aliyofundisha. Uhusiano uleule ulikuwepo kati ya Muhammad ﷺ na watu wake, ambao nao walimpinga kwa namna hiyo hiyo.

who is mentioned here by his position as a brother to his people. This highlights the relation of mutual love and care that existed between him and his people, which should have made them more responsive to his call and motivated them to think well of him and what he taught. The same bond existed between Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his people who similarly opposed him.

Watu wa 'Ad walikuwa wakijenga majumba yao juu ya matuta marefu ya mchanga katika bonde moja upande wa kusini wa Rasi ya Arabia, inasemekana karibu na Hadramawt.1 Mwenyezi Mungu, Mtukufu, anamwelekeza Mtume wake ﷺ akumbuke habari ya Hud na jinsi alivyowaonya watu wake katika Bonde la Matuta ya Mchanga. Hii ni kumpa faraja, kwa kuwa anatambua kwamba Hud naye alikataliwa na watu wake kwa namna kama hiyo.

The ‘Ad used to build their homes on the high sand dunes in a valley in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, said to be near Hadramawt.1 God in His glory directs His messenger to remember Hud and how he warned his people at the Valley of the Sand Dunes. This to give him encouragement as he realizes that Hud was similarly rejected by his people.

Ukumbusho kama huu pia unawakumbusha makafiri wa Makka hatima ya zile jamii zilizotangulia ambazo ziliukataa ujumbe wa Mungu.

Such remembrance also serves to remind the Makkan unbelievers of the fate of those earlier communities that rejected Gods messages.

Kwa picha hii ya kifo na uharibifu, sura inawakabili kizazi cha sasa kinachofuata nyayo za kaumu ya 'Ad, na kuwapa ukumbusho wa kuhuzunisha.

With this image of death and destruction, the surah addresses the present generation who follow in the ‘Ad’s footsteps, giving them a telling reminder:

Tulikuwa tumewapa nafasi ya kuimarika katika ardhi kwa namna ambayo Sisi hatujakupa wewe, na tukawapa masikio, macho na mioyo. Lakini masikio yao, macho yao na mioyo yao havikuwasaidia chochote kwa kuwa waliendelea kukanusha ishara za Mwenyezi Mungu. Wakazingirwa na yale waliyokuwa wakiyafanyia mzaha.

We had securely established them in a manner in which We have never established you; and We had endowed them with hearing, and sight, and hearts. Yet nothing did their hearing, sight and hearts avail them since they persisted in denying God's revelations. They were overwhelmed by the very thing which they had mocked. (Verse 26)

Wale watu hao hao walioangamizwa na upepo wa kimbunga walikuwa wamewekwa imara katika ardhi kwa namna ambayo haikupewa Waarabu wa Makka. Hii ni kauli ya jumla kuhusu yale waliyopewa ya mamlaka, utajiri, elimu na anasa za maisha. Pia walijaliwa uwezo mkali wa kusikia na kuona, pamoja na mioyo.

Those very people who were destroyed by the stormwind had once been established in the land in a way that had not been granted to the Arabs of Makkah. This is a general reference to what they had been given of power, wealth, knowledge and life’s luxuries. They were also endowed with sharp faculties of hearing and sight, as well as hearts.

Qur'ani hutumia njia tofauti za kuutaja uwezo wa kuelewa, ikiutaja kama moyo, akili au ubongo, ingawa yote haya yanarejelea uwezo uleule. Hata hivyo, hakuna hata mmoja wa uwezo huu uliowasaidia Waad, kwani walipoendelea "kukataa Ishara za Mwenyezi Mungu" (Aya ya 26) uwezo wao ukawa hauna manufaa. Kukataa ufunuo wa Mungu huzima hisia na uwezo wa kiakili na kuyatenga na chanzo chake cha nuru na ufahamu, na kuyafanya kuwa butu kabisa. "Walizingirwa na kile walichokuwa wakikifanyia dhihaka." (Aya ya 26) Hii inarejelea adhabu waliyoonywa nayo na ambayo waliidharau.

The Qur’an uses different ways of referring to the faculty of understanding, citing it alternatively as heart, mind or brain, when all refer to the same ability. Yet none of these faculties was of any use as the ‘Ad rendered them useless when “they persisted in denying God's revelations” (Verse 26) Denying Gods revelations suppresses senses and faculties and screens them from His source of light and understanding, blunting them altogether. “ They were overwhelmed by the very thing which they had mocked. (Verse 26) This refers to the punishment they were warned about and which they derided.