11: Hud

This chapter contains 123 late Meccan verses, except for vv. 12,17 and 114 which
date from Madina. They are arranged in ten sections. The chapter was revealed
after the previous one on Jonah 10 and is thus the second in the A. L. R. series;
it likewise precedes the next one on Joseph 12.
Hud was an ancient prophet who was sent to the nation of `Ad which lived
in southern Arabia along the Indian Ocean. His story begins at v. 50 in section
V, following that of Noah (III-IV). The chapter also mentions two other Arabian
prophets at length, Shu'ayb (VIII) and Salih (OR Methusaleh in Genesis 5:25-27 in
the Old Testament) (VI); and then Abraham (VII), Lot (VII) and Moses (IX).
A quality of Mercy, God's essential rah ma, flows through this chapter as
each prophet's message to his own people comes up in turn (II, III,, VI, VIII). These
parallel stories which contrast the Arabian prophets with the strictly Biblical or
Hebrew ones show us they are meant to be analogies.
Judgment comes at the end of section ix.
A picture of the Day of