ʿĀd (1) were unanimous in their unbelief. They were a mighty, intelligent nation, yet (2) they were utterly wiped out by the punishment.

Thamūd (3) likewise, every last one of them persisted in unbelief even after witnessing the tremendous sign—one before which ordinary people would have believed. In spite of that, they chose unbelief over faith, as the Most High says:
“Yet as for Thamūd, We showed them the way, but they preferred blindness to guidance” (Fussilat 17).
And He also says:
“[Consider] ʿĀd and Thamūd; their dwellings are clear to you. Satan made their deeds seem fair to them and thus barred them from the path, though they had insight” (al-ʿAnkabūt 38).

These two great nations—among the largest ever known—agreed unanimously upon disbelief despite being fully aware. Hence, if the people who incurred wrath and those who went astray should likewise concur in unbelief, it would be nothing unprecedented.

The people of Pharaoh, numerous as they were, also agreed upon denying the prophethood of Moses, even while dazzling signs appeared to them one after another. Not one of them believed save a single man who kept his faith hidden.

Moreover, one may say to the Christians: These Jews—so many in the time of the Messiah that they filled (4) the Levant, as the Most High says: