Ad according to Arabian traditions, was the son of Udh, or Uz (the grandson of Shem, Ge 10:23), and the progenitor of a powerful tribe called the Adites, who settled in Er-Raml, or Sandy Arabia (Abulfeda, Hist. Anteislam. p. 17, ed. Fleischer). Like the other kindred tribes of those early times, the Adites soon abandoned the true worship of God, and set up four idols whom they worshipped: Sakia, whom they imagined to supply rain; Hafedha, who preserved them from all foreign and external dangers; Razeka, who provided them with food; and Salema, who restored them from sickness to health (Sale's Koran, p. 122, note). It is said that God commissioned the prophet Hud or Heber to attempt their reformation, but, remaining obstinate in their idolatry, they were almost all destroyed by a suffocating wind. The few who escaped retired with the prophet Hud to another place. Before this severe punishment they had been visited with a dreadful drought for four years, which killed their cattle, and reduced them to great distress (see D'Herbelot, Bibl. Or. s.v. Houd). They are often mentioned in the Koran, and some writers, on the authority of that work, affirm that they were of gigantic stature. SEE ARABIA.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More