UAE, Oman & Yemen
Coordinates: 21.095992, 48.717922
People of Ad
The People of Ad are mentioned in the Quran (24 times) as being the people to whom the prophet Hud عليه اسلام was sent by Allah to guide them back to the righteous path of faith.
According to the story, the citizens did not heed his warnings and the town was destroyed by Allah in a great storm.
The rulers of Ad included Ad ibn Kin’Ad, the first leader of Ad, who lived some time between the 23rd and 10th century BC, Aldahn Khuljan who lived some time in the 4th to 3rd centuries BC, and according to legend, Shaddad, known to the Himyarites as the last leader of Ad, who lived in the 6th to 4th centuries CE.
Ad is regarded as one of the original Arab tribes, the “lost Arabs”.
According to the Quran, the Ad built monuments and strongholds at every high point and their fate is evident from the remains of their dwellings.
Despite this, no archaeologial evidence of their existence has ever been uncovered.
Location
Ad is usually placed in Southern Arabia, in a location referred to as al-Ahqaf (“the Sandy Plains,” or “the Wind-curved Sand-hills”).
Their capital may have been what is known as “Iram of the Pillars” in the Quran although that may have been the name of a region or a people.
Ahqaf (The sand dunes)
Ahqaf was the land where the Prophet Hud عليه اسلام and the People of Ad lived.
In Qur’an, the land is considered as green and flourishing, although it turned into a desert after a divine punishment of the People of Ad. There is a disagreement over the current location of Ahqaf.
Current Location of Ahqaf
According to some scholars Ahqaf is located in southern parts of Arabian Peninsula which no remnants of the land have survived today.
However, there is a disagreement over the exact location of Ahqaf, It is believed by some people to be located in a desert between Oman and al-Mahra in Yemen.
Medieval Muslim geographers believed that Ahqaf was a land in “Rub’ al-Khali” (the Empty Quarter)
Some place their location in the ruins of ancient city of Ubar in Oman.
The Empty Quaters
The Rub’ al Khali (Empty Quarter) is the sand desert encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula.
The desert covers some 650,000 km2 (250,000 sq mi) including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert.
