How were past nations destroyed?

Allah sent messengers to nations who have passed away and warned them of the presence of the Hereafter and the Day of Reckoning. Yet most of these nations did not pay heed to these warnings, they opposed Allah and His messengers and forgot their Islamic morals, upon which Allah struck them with disasters as a reminder, and destroyed those who did not take heed of the warning. The punishments that befell these nations were varied in nature. However, what is common is that it came to them from where they did not expect, and at an unexpected time, usually while they were asleep. These punishments sometimes destroyed a whole city or an entire nation, they did not leave any trace of the city, and were painful and fearful. Allah refers to such perished nations in many verses in the Qur’an as a reminder to people:

Do they not see how many generations before them We have destroyed and that they will not return to them?(Surah Ya Sin, 31)

Of the punishments mentioned in the Qur’an some are listed as follows:

- Drowning, (Surat al-Isra, 103)

- Plague sent down from heaven, (Surat al-Baqara, 59)

- Earthquake,(Surat al-A’raf, 78)

- Gushing springs, (Surat al-Qamar, 12)

- A great blast, (Surah Hud, 67)

- Raining down stones of hard baked clay, (Surah Hud, 82)

- Howling wind, (Surat al-Qamar, 19)

- Thunderbolt, (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 44)

- Overturning, turning upside down… (Surat an-Najm, 53)

How were past nations destroyed?