Furthermore, they started to accuse Hud of being a crazy lunatic. One day they told him: "We now understand the secret of your madness: you insulted our gods and they harmed you; that is why you have become insane."

Almighty Allah repeated their words in the Qur'an: "0 Hud! No evidence have you brought us, and we shall not leave our gods for your (mere) saying! And we are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods false deities) have seized you with evil (madness). Surah 11: 53-54

Hud had to return their challenge. He had no other way but to turn to Allah alone, no other alternative but to give them a threatening ultimatum. He declared to them: "I call Allah to witness and bear you witness that I am free from that which you ascribe as partners in worship with Him (Allah). So plot against me, all of you and give me no respite. I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth). So if you turn away, still I have conveyed the message with which I was sent to you. My Lord will make another people succeed you, and you will not harm Him." Surah 11: 54-57

The Punishment

Thus Hud renounced them and their gods and affirmed his dependence on Allah Who had created him. Hud realized that punishment would be incurred on the disbelievers among his people. It is one of the laws of life. Allah punishes the disbelievers, no matter how rich, tyrannical, or great they are.

Hud and his people waited for Allah's promise. A drought spread throughout the land, for the sky no longer sent its rain. The sun scorched the desert sands, looking like a disk of fire which settled on people's heads.

Hud's people hastened to him asking: "What is that drought, Hud?"

Hud answered: "Allah is angry with you. If you believe in Him, He will accept you and the rain will fall and you will become even stronger than you are."

They mocked him and became more obstinate, sarcastic and perverse in their unbelief. The drought increased, the trees turned yellow, and plants died.

A day came when they found the sky full of clouds. Hud's people were glad as they came out of their tents crying: "A cloud which will give us rain!"

The weather changed suddenly from burning dry and hot to stinging cold, with wind that shook everything: trees, plants, tents, men and women. The wind increased day after day and night after night.

Hud's people started to flee. They ran to their tents to hide, but the gale became stronger, ripping their tents from their stakes. They hid under cloth covers, but the gale became stronger still and tore away the covers. It slashed clothing and skin. It penetrated the apertures of the body and destroyed it. It hardly touched anything before it was destroyed or killed, its core sucked out to decompose and rot. The storm raged for eight days and seven nights.

Almighty Allah recounts: Then, when they saw it as a dense cloud coming towards their valleys, they said: "This is a cloud bringing us rain!" Nay, but it is that (torment) which you were asking to be hastened! - a wind wherein is a painful torment! Destroying everything by the command of its Lord! Surah 46: 24-25

Allah the Exalted described it thus: And as for 'Ad, - they were destroyed by a furious violent wind which Allah imposed on them for seven nights and eight days in succession, so that you could see men lying overthrown (destroyed) as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees! Surah 69: 6-7

The Believers are Saved

That violent gale did not stop until the entire region was reduced to ruins and its wicked people destroyed, swallowed by the sands of the desert. Only Hud and his followers remained unharmed. They migrated to Hadramaut and lived there in peace, worshiping Allah, their true Lord.