Building monuments out of extravagance

We human beings have been building and creating ever since the beginning of history. At first it was a necessity, for survival, to protect us from the elements of nature. But later, in some places in history (and even now), it became a means of extravagance, prestige, and amusement.

This mentality is also mentioned in the Quran, describing a group of people from the time of Prophet Hud (AS). The Qur’an calls them the people of ‘Ad. They occupied an area, which is between eastern Yemen and western Oman. The people of ‘Ad had an advanced civilization, and they built high monuments out of extravagance and pride. They beautified their houses and made them into castles, as a result of a twisted delusion that they will live forever. Above all that, they acted like tyrants, being unjust to others that are deemed as lesser than them (the poor and helpless).

Does this not sound somewhat familiar?

Despite their technological success, the people of ‘Ad strayed away from the path of their forefathers, which was to worship God alone without any partners. After persisting in their heedlessness after Prophet Hud’s continuous preaching, the advanced civilization of ‘Ad was completely destroyed.

Even after several millennia, humanity has its extravagance and arrogance very much intact. We see people building buildings and towers out of extravagance everywhere now. The highest tower in the world is currently the Burj Khalifa, which was built in Dubai, a country with huge amounts of debts. Then there is the PETRONAS tower in Malaysia, the Abraj Al Bait towers in Mecca, and the list goes on and on.

The Prophet (PBUH) said that one of the signs of the end of days is when a certain type of people begins to compete with each other in building tall buildings, which is exactly what is happening right now. So we are perhaps very close to the last day. How close is close? God knows best. But anyway, the current state of humanity very much resembles the state of the people of ‘Ad. We build tall buildings out of extravagance and we beautify our homes as if we are going to stay within them forever.

It’s amazing how we, humanity still persist in our extravagance even with all the troubles that we see around us. I am also saying this to remind myself, as I am also guilty of spending on things that I can actually live without. Even more ironic is the fact that we spend while not having the money to do so, such as in the case of those tall buildings that were built. 

The people of ‘Ad were amongst the worst of God’s creation, and one of their noticeable traits was their love to build tall buildings and monuments out of extravagance. We too are currently treading down the same path, and thus should be aware of the consequences of doing so.  

AS: 'Alaihissalaam (peace be unto him)