Sâlih

Saleh (ˈsɑːli; Ṣāleḥ), also spelled Salih (ˈsɑːlə), is a prophet mentioned in the Quran who prophesied to the tribe of Thamud in ancient Arabia, before the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad. The story of Salih is linked to the story of the She-Camel of God, which was the gift given by God to the people of Thamud when they desired a miracle to confirm that Salih was truly a prophet. The Thamud were a tribal confederation in the northwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula, mentioned in Assyrian sources in the time of Sargon II. The tribe's name continues to appear in documents into the fourth century CE, but by the sixth century they were regarded as a group that had vanished long ago. According to the Quran, the city that Saleh was sent to was called Al-Hijr, which corresponds to the Nabataean city of Hegra. The city rose to prominence around the first century AD as an important site in the regional caravan trade. Adjacent to the city were large, decorated rock-cut tombs used by members of various religious groups. At an unknown point in ancient times, the site was abandoned and possibly functionally replaced by Al-'Ula. The site has been referred to as Mada'in Salih since the era of Muhammad, named after his predecessor Salih. Outside of the Islamic and Baháʼí Faiths, Saleh is not mentioned in any other Abrahamic scripture or contemporary historical text, but the account of Thamud's destruction may have been well known in ancient Arabia. The tribe's name is used in ancient Arabian poetry as a metaphor for "the transience of all things". According to Muslim tradition, the people of Thamud virtually relied upon Saleh for support. He was chosen by God as a Messenger and sent to preach against the selfishness of the wealthy and to condemn the practice of shirk (idolatry or polytheism). Although Saleh preached for a sustained period of time, the people for Thamud refused to hear his warning and instead began to ask Saleh to perform a miracle for them.