Wahb says that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) mentioned that what drove them to approach men instead of women was this: they had gardens and fruits inside their homes, and gardens and fruits outside as well along the public highway, and a severe drought and hunger struck them. So they said to one another: "If you keep travellers away from these exposed fruits, there will be a livelihood for you in them." They asked: "How shall we keep them away?" So they turned to one another and said: "Make it a law in your land that whenever you find a stranger in your territory whom you do not know, rob him, commit indecency with him and break his head, for when you do this, people will not come to your land." So in this state Iblis came to them in the form of an extremely handsome boy, the sweetest and most comely of the boys people had ever seen. So they targeted him, committed indecency with him, robbed him and broke his head; then he went away. After that, whatever stranger came to them, they did the same to him, and this became their practice, until Allah Almighty sent Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him) to them. Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him) forbade them from this deed, warned them of the punishment of Allah, and left them no excuse, and he said: O my people! 'Indeed, you commit an indecency which no one in the worlds has committed before you.' [Surah al-Ankabut: 28] . Then he mentioned the rest of the hadith from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with them) and other Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when the angels left Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and set out towards the town of Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him), they reached it at midday. When they reached the river of Sodom, they met the daughter of Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him), who was drawing water for her family (and he had two daughters). The angels said to her: "O girl, is there any place to stay here?" She said: "Yes; stay right here and do not enter the town until I come back to you." Then she came to her father and said: "O my father, some young men at the gate of the city want to meet you. I have never seen people with more beautiful faces than them; let not your people seize them and disgrace them." His people had already forbidden him from hosting any man, to the point that they had said: "Leave it to us; we will host the men ourselves." So Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him) brought them in and informed no one of it except his own household, but his wife went out of the house and informed her people. She said: "Men have come to Lut's house the like of whose faces I have never seen." So his people came rushing towards him. When they arrived there, Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him) said to them: "O my people! Fear Allah, 'and do not disgrace me concerning my guests. Is there not among you a single right-minded man?' [Surah Hud: 78] 'These are my (people's) daughters; they are purer for you' [Surah Hud: 78] than the deed you desire." They replied: "Did we not forbid you from hosting men? 'You know that we have no need of your daughters, and you know well what we want.' [Surah Hud: 79] " So when they accepted nothing of what he had put before them, he said: 'If only I had strength against you, or could take refuge in a strong support.' [Surah Hud: 80] . What he (may the blessings of Allah be upon him) meant by this saying was: If only I had helpers who would help me against you, or a clan that would protect me from you, I would have stood between you and these guests whom you intend. And when Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him) said this, at that very moment Jibril (peace be upon him) spread his wings and put out their eyes. They came out from there blind, trampling one another, and saying: "Save yourselves! Flee!" For in Lut's house are the greatest sorcerers on earth. And this is the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: 'And they certainly demanded from him his guests (for evil), so We obliterated their eyes' [Surah al-Qamar: 37] . And the angels said: "O Lut, we are messengers sent by your Lord; these people will never reach you. 'So set out with your family during a portion of the night, and let none of you look back, except your wife' [Surah Hud: 81] ." So walk behind your family, that is, set out with them, 'and proceed to where you are commanded' [Surah al-Hijr: 65] . So Allah Almighty brought them out to Sham. And Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him) said: "Destroy them right now." The angels said: "We have been commanded only for the morning; is not the morning near?" Then when the time of pre-dawn came, Sayyiduna Lut (peace be upon him) went out, and with him were his family and his wife as well. This is the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: 'Except the family of Lut; We saved them at pre-dawn' [Surah al-Qamar: 34] . This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs did not record it. Mention of Sayyiduna Hud (peace be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The Prophet Hud (peace and blessings be upon him) was a man of very strong and powerful build." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs, but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Abd al-Rahman bin Sabit (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "Whenever a nation was destroyed, its prophet migrated to Makkah and remained occupied in worship there until he passed away. And indeed, the grave of Hud (peace be upon him) is located between the Black Stone and Zamzam."

It is narrated from Abu al-Tufayl Amir bin Wathilah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) asking a man from Hadramawt: "Have you seen, in such-and-such an area of Hadramawt, a mound of red sand mixed with red clay, near which there are many lote trees? Have you seen it?" The man replied: "By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, you are describing it as though you have seen it yourself." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No (I have not seen it myself); rather, I was told about it." The man from Hadramawt asked: "O Commander of the Faithful, what is special about this place?" He said: "In it is the grave of Hud (peace be upon him)."

It is narrated from Wahb bin Munabbih (may Allah have mercy on him) that he was asked about Hud (peace be upon him): "Was he the forefather (father) of the Yemenis, from whom their lineage descended?" Wahb said: "No, rather he was the brother of the Yemenis. In the Torah his lineage is traced to Nuh (peace be upon him). When tribal partisanship arose among the Arabs and the tribe of Mudar boasted of their forefather Isma'il (peace be upon him), the Yemenis claimed that Hud (peace be upon him) was their father, so that they too would have a father from among the prophets and his descendants would be among them. Yet he was not their father but their brother, and he was sent only to the people of Ad." The narrator says that Wahb (may Allah have mercy on him) did not like to name the people of Ad, as a mark of censure against them, nor did he relate the lineages of their tribes, nor transmit their poetry. There was no nation on the face of the earth greater than them in number, bigger than them in body, or fiercer than them in grip (strength). So when they saw the wind coming towards them, they said to Hud (peace be upon him): "Do you frighten us with the wind?" Then they gathered their children, their wealth and their livestock in a valley pass, and stood at the entrance of that pass in order to keep the wind from reaching their wealth and their families. But the wind entered from beneath their feet, between them and the ground, until it uprooted them. Wahb (may Allah have mercy on him) further said: "And when Allah Almighty sent to them Hud bin Abdullah bin Rabah bin al-Harith bin Ad bin Aws bin Iram bin Sam bin Nuh, then whatever expanse of sand Allah Almighty had placed in any land, the dwellings of the people of Ad were in those sands. The lands of Ad were the most fertile, the greenest and the richest in rivers and gardens of all the lands of the Arabs. So when Allah Almighty became angry with them and they rebelled against Allah, and they were idol-worshippers who worshipped idols besides Allah, Allah Almighty sent upon them a wind devoid of all good and blessing (that is, destructive)."

It is narrated from Ka'b (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "The Prophet of Allah Hud (peace be upon him) resembled Adam (peace be upon him) more than any other person." [Mention of the Prophet Salih (peace and blessings be upon him)]

It is narrated from Nawf al-Shami (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Prophet Salih (peace and blessings be upon him) was from the Arabs. When Allah Almighty destroyed the people of Ad and their story came to an end, the people of Thamud settled the land after them and were made successors in the land. So they spread out, then they rebelled against Allah. When their disobedience became manifest and they began worshipping others besides Allah, Allah Almighty sent Salih (peace be upon him) to them as a messenger. They (Thamud) were an Arab people, and Salih (peace be upon him) was the noblest of them in lineage and the most excellent of them in standing. Their dwellings extended from al-Hijr to Qurh, which is Wadi al-Qura, and between al-Hijr and the Hijaz there is a distance of eighteen miles. Allah Almighty sent him (Salih (peace be upon him)) in the prime of his youth, and he kept calling them to Allah until his hair turned white and he grew old, but only a few weak people among them followed him. So Ad and Thamud, and those of those nations who were among them, were all destroyed, and they were all from the descendants of Lawadh bin Sam bin Nuh. And no prophet came between Nuh and Ibrahim (peace be upon them both) except Hud, Salih and Ibrahim (peace be upon them).

It is narrated from Ka'b (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "Then came the Prophet of Allah Salih (peace and blessings be upon him), and he resembled (in his form and appearance) Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon them both). His complexion was white tinged with red, and his hair was straight."

It is narrated from Wahb bin Munabbih (may Allah have mercy on him) that, speaking about Salih bin Ubayd bin Jabir bin Thamud bin Jathir bin Sam bin Nuh, he said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty sent Salih (peace be upon him) to his people when he was close to puberty. He was a man with a complexion white tinged with red and with straight hair, and he used to walk barefoot as Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon them both) (used to walk). He did not wear shoes, nor apply oil, nor had he made any house or dwelling for himself. He always stayed with the she-camel of his Lord: whichever direction she turned, he set off in that direction too, and wherever she halted, he stopped there too. He had fasted for forty days before the she-camel was hamstrung. On his right hand there was a mole as a sign. So he remained among them for forty years, calling them to Allah, from his boyhood until his hair turned white, but they (his people) only kept increasing in rebellion."