“And how many a town did We destroy whose inhabitants exulted on account of their affluence. These are their dwellings in which very few dwelt after them. Eventually it is We who inherited them. Your Lord would not destroy a town until He had sent to its centre a Messenger who would recite to them Our verses. Nor would We destroy any town unless its inhabitants were iniquitous.”
(Al Qur’ān 28:58-59)
The ayah 28:58 suggests that the wealth and prosperity, of which the Makkan unbelievers were so proud and for the sake of which they cling to falsehood and turn away from the Truth, was at one time in the possession of the ‘Ād, the Thamūd, the peoples of Saba’ and Midian and Lot. Did their wealth and prosperity save them from destruction?
After all, the attainment of a higher standard of living is not the only pursuit available to man. It should not become the pursuit for the sake of which he disregards questions of Truth and falsehood. Nor should man decline to follow True Guidance because of some imaginary fear that material prosperity will be lost. Was there any guarantee that the Quraysh would be spared the destruction inflicted on those prosperous nations of the past which had succumbed to conceptual errors and moral corruption? Was there any guarantee that they would not meet a similar fate?
Before destroying those nations that had been steeped in evils, God sent His Messengers to warn them. However, when they did not give up their evil ways, they were totally annihilated.