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Fatwa CenterClaims that Nabataeans, not Thamood, built Al-Hijr
Question
Assalaam alaykum Brother. I was just wondering if you could answer the following: It is said that Thamood built the buildings in Al-Hijr, but other people say that it was the Nabataeans who did so and that the buildings are dated to 400 BC, and we know that Thamood existed before Abraham and more, and it is likely that Thamood and Ad were close to Noah, and we know that Noah existed at least seventy thousand years BC or probably even before that, so you see the problem there. It does not make sense, and a few hadiths suggest that these buildings were built by Thamood, but the dates say that the buildings were built only 400 BC. An atheist gave me this question, and I did not know what to say.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It is established that the people of Thamood are the ones who hewed their homes out of stones at Al-Hijr region; Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {And certainly did the companions of Thamood deny the messengers. And We gave them Our signs, but from them they were turning away. And they used to carve from the mountains, houses, feeling secure. But the shriek seized them at early morning.} [Quran 15:80-83]
Ibn Katheer 
commented on the verses as follows, “The Dwellers of Al-Hijr were the people of Thamood who rejected their Prophet Saalih...”
The people of Thamood were destroyed by the dreadful cry, as indicated in Soorah Al-Qamar (Chapter 54) and other chapters of the Quran.
The well from which the miraculous she-camel, the miracle with which Allaah aided Prophet Saalih 
used to drink is located in this region. It has been authentically reported in the ahaadeeth that on their way to Tabook, the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, passed by Al-Hijr region and ordered his Companions to cross the region fast and not to drink water from its well. ʻAbdullaah ibn ʻUmar 
narrated that when the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, and his Companions reached Al-Hijr, the dwellings of the Thamood people, he admonished his Companions (saying), “Do not pass by these people who were tormented without weeping; lest the punishment should befall you as it had befallen them.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
ʻAbdullaah ibn ʻUmar also said, “The people arrived at the land of Thamood, called Al-Hijr, along with the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, and they took water from its wells for drinking and kneading the dough. He (i.e. the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, when he heard about it) ordered them to pour out the water that they had taken from its wells and feed the dough to the camels...” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
After careful research in the books and references available for us, as many as they are, we could not find any evidence indicating that the Nabataeans (people of an ancient Arab tribe) built the dwellings of Al-Hijr. Though this view is based on the fact that some inscriptions of the Nabataean alphabet were found in the region, this does not serve as conclusive evidence in this regard, especially because scripts written with the Thamudic alphabet have been found in this region as well. Dr. Jawaad ʻAli wrote, “A number of inscriptions of the Thamudic language have been found in the Al-Hijr region...” [Al-Mufassal min Taareekh Al-ʻArab]
It seems that such groundless claims have been raised by the atheists in their attempt to question and challenge the authenticity of the Quran. Indeed, the Quran is the divine scripture revealed by Allaah about which He says (what means): {Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a (Lord Who is) Wise and Praiseworthy.} [Quran 41:42]
Their lame attempts can be likened to these of a male-goat trying to break a solid rock with its horns and who ends up breaking its horns instead. It would have been better for such people to engage in pondering over their own creation; reflecting on the universe to see the signs of Allaah guiding them to the Truth; and following Islam, the True Religion, and thus attain success in the worldly life and the Hereafter. Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?} [Quran 41:53]
Allaah knows best.
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