Page 12 - Perished Nations

them know that He is (no other than) One Allah: let men of understanding
take heed. (Surah Ibrahim: 52)
The news of previous peoples which constitutes a great part of the
Qur’an, is certainly one of the matters we ought to contemplate. A majo-
rity of these people rejected the prophets sent to them and, moreover, sho-
wed animosity towards them. Because of their audacity, they brought
Allah’s wrath upon themselves and have been wiped off the face of the
earth.
The Qur’an tells us that these cases of destruction should be a warning
for succeeding generations. For instance, right after the description of the
punishment given to a group of Jews who rebelled against Allah, it is
revealed in the Qur’an; "So We made it an example to their own time and
to their posterity, and a lesson to those who fear Allah."(Surat al-Baqara:
66)
In this book, we will review some past societies that have been destro-
yed because of their rebellion against Allah. Our purpose is to highlight all
these incidents, each of which is an "example to their own time", so that
they can set a "warning".
The second reason we are examining these destructions is to show the
manifestations of the verses of the Qur’an externally in the world and con-
firm the authenticity of the Qur’an’s account. In the Qur’an, Allah certifies
that His verses are observable in the external world: "Praise be to Allah,
Who will soon show you His Signs, so that ye shall know them" (Surat an-
Naml: 93), and to know and identify them is one of the primary ways le-
ading to belief.
Nearly all the incidents of destruction related in the Qur’an have beco-
me "observable" and "identifiable" thanks to the current archive studies and
archaeological finds. In this study, we will deal with the traces of some of
the cases of destruction mentioned in the Qur’an. (It should be noted that
some of the communities related in the Qur’an have not been included in
the scope of this book, because in the Qur’an no specific time and place
is given for some of them, which are only described for their rebellious
conduct and antagonism towards Allah and His prophets, and for the di-
sasters that befell them as a result. Thus, people are summoned to derive
a warning from them.)

Harun Yahya
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