صالح
Also known as: Salih
Nation / People
The Thamud, an ancient Arab people of al-Hijr (Madain Salih in present-day Saudi Arabia)
Period
After Hud; possibly around 2,000 BCE
Lifespan
Not specified in the Quran
Burial Place
Hadramaut in Yemen according to some narrations
Gratitude for Allah's blessings, worship of Allah alone, and avoidance of corruption. The story of Salih teaches that testing a divine sign is an act of grave ingratitude.
ثمود
Thamud
Ancestor (of the tribe)
ماشخ
Mashikh
Great-grandfather
آسف
Asif
Grandfather
عبيد
'Ubayd
Father
صالح
Salih
Prophet (peace be upon him)
Family members named in the Quran and authentic Sunnah.
Father
Ubayd / Asif (variant readings)
Salih is described in the Quran as a prophet sent to the people of Thamud in northwest Arabia (Q 7:73-79, 11:61-68, 26:141-159, an-Naml 27:45-53). Neither the Quran nor authentic Sunnah names his father, mother, wife or children. Classical Ansab literature (Ibn Ishaq, al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir's Qisas al-Anbiya) preserves multiple variant genealogies tracing Salih through Ubayd or Asif back to Iram and ultimately Sam (Shem) and Nuh. These trace back to Isra'iliyyat and pre-Islamic Arab genealogical memory, not authentic scripture; classical scholars report them with the standard caveat.
Salih was from the Thamud themselves, a respected young man before prophethood. The ruins of the Thamud civilisation at Madain Salih (al-Hijr) in Saudi Arabia are visible to this day and serve as a physical reminder of their fate.